E! is reviving its daily E! News show that was cancelled in mid-2020 after 29 years, with the "reimagined" E! News which will debut on Monday 14 November on E! (DStv 124) with two Adrienne Bailon-Houghton and Justin Sylvester as the two new presenters.
E! cancelled multiple of the NBCUniversal pay-TV channel's shows in 2020, with the schedule of the E! channel feed for Africa that has been padded by more and more content from the E! sister channel Bravo not available in sub-Saharan Africa. E! also recently cancelled The Daily Pop and The Nightly Pop shows.
E! News was synonymous with E! presenters and reporters like Giuliana Rancic, Ryan Seacrest, Jason Kennedy, Terrence Jenkins, Samantha Harris, Catt Sadler and a range of others, until the show's production moved from Los Angeles to New York for a short-lived period and was axed, with the E! News brand continuing as a web-only presence for the past two years.
"The reimagined E! News serves as the premiere late-night destination for movie, music, television and pop culture fans," says E! in a statement.
"Justin Sylvester and Adrienne Bailon-Houghton will break down the hottest entertainment news of the day, conduct in-studio celebrity guest interviews and bring all the hottest trends and exclusive scoop from movie premieres, award shows and concerts, making sure viewers are kept current on all the day's top stories."
Tracie Wilson, executive vice president at NBCUniversal syndication studios and E! News, in the statement says "E! News has a long history of entertainment news excellence and we are excited to bring the show back and continue its legacy".
"John Redman and John Pascarella are strategic, respected executive producers with stellar reputations and Justin and Adrienne are charismatic, seasoned hosts with a genuine interest in pop culture. This is the perfect team to bring a fresh take to this franchise."
The American presenter and talk show host Ryan Seacrest has announced that he is done doing red carpet awards show duty for E! Entertainment (DStv 124) after 14 years and is exiting to "new adventures".
Ryan Seacrest who is now co-hosting the American weekday TV talk show Live with Kelly & Ryan, started co-hosting E!'s Live from the Red Carpet coverage together with Giuliana Rancic in 2006 and became a red carpet mainstay for all of the big American awards shows.
Announcing his exit from E!'s Live from the Red Carpet coverage on social media, Ryan Seacrest wrote on his Instagram that "After 14 years of hosting E!’s Live from the Red Carpet I’ve decided to move on to new adventures".
"I’ll miss the whole crew that works so hard behind the scenes and of course my amazing partner Giuliana. Thanks to everyone for watching all these years."
E! didn't issue a press statement but said on its website that "E! has long enjoyed our relationship with Ryan over the years especially as co-host of E!'s signature red carpet series".
"He has been instrumental in giving viewers a front row seat to some of Hollywood's biggest nights. We are extremely appreciative of his many contributions and he will always be part of the E! family."
New episodes of E!'s (DStv 124) late-night talk show Nightly Pop, that was shelved due to Covid-19 pandemic that includes the United States, will return to the schedule from Tuesday night at 21:00.
Production shut down on Nightly Pop with hists Morgan Stewart, Hunter March and Nina Parker in mid-March when multiple Hollywood TV productions temporary shuttered because of the novel coronavirus spread.
Nightly Pop that started in October 2018 is seen in South Africa from Tuesdays to Saturdays, with the first new episode that will debut in America on Monday and with South Africa running a day behind.
Morgan Stewart, Hunter March and Nina Parker comment on everything pop culture in their nightly talk show and remained connected during the shutdown while they hosted a digital video version called Micro Pop of their show the past few weeks.
NBCUniversal International Networks' E! Entertainment (DStv 124) channel is getting wider carriage with MultiChoice making the channel available to DStv Compact subscribers in South Africa from Tuesday 14 April 2020.
E! is currently available to DStv Premium and DStv Compact Plus subscribers. E! is already available to DStv subscribers on DStv Compact in the rest of
Africa.
"We are delighted that E! will now be available to a broader audience in Africa," says Lee Raftery, the managing director, for the Europe, Middle East and Africa (EMEA) region at NBCUniversal International and chief marketing officer.
"This is an exciting evolution in our partnership with DStv, and new viewers to the channel will be able to enjoy ever-popular series such as Keeping Up With the Kardashians and Botched. We remain committed to bringing African audiences local content, with brand-new episodes of the Safta-nominated Celebrity Game Night."
Thabisa Mkhwanazi, MultiChoice South Africa head of marketing, says "We’re thrilled that our Compact subscribers will now also have access to the wide range of content that the E! Entertainment channel has to offer".
"We continue to strive to bring our customers the best content available so they get the greatest viewing experience possible."
The new season of Keeping Up
With the Kardashians just started on E! on Sundays at 20:00with Kourtney's recent revelation that she's no longer happy working with her sisters, while Kris gets creative to encourage a reluctant Khloe to start dating again, while Kylie
undergoes a frightening medical procedure.
Meanwhile Anele Mdoda is back as the host of Celebrity Game Nightfrom Sunday 19 April at 21:00 withteam captains Jason Goliath
and Ayanda Thabethe for brand-new episodes of Celebrity Game Night.
Based on the
Primetime Emmy Award-winning series Hollywood
Game Night, Anele Mdoda recently received a Safta nomination for Best TV Presenter for
hosting the local version of this show, while the production for Celebrity Game Nightis also up for an
award in the category Best International Format Show. The E! presenter Jason
Kennedy takes E! viewers inside celebrity homes for in-depth interviews in
the new series In The Room on Mondays at 21:00 from 11 May as he meets Kourtney
Kardashian, Tom Brady and Chris Pratt to discuss their latest projects, products,
passions and more.
E! also has new episodes of Botched on Mondays at 20:00 from 8 June revolving around the plasticsurgeons Dr Paul Nassif and Dr Terry Dubrow, as well as the
latest season of Total Bellas on Sundays at 20:00 from 10 May.
It’s reality drama that’s been screaming for big-screen
treatment and now Kim Kardashian’s shocking Paris robbery ordeal where she was
tied up and robbed of millions of rand in jewellery will be made into a movie,
entitled Fashion Week.
AFP reports that the Kardashian gem heist that filled
tabloid pages for weeks is being turned into a dramatic feature film.
The real-life crime that engulfed the reality star of Keeping Up with the Kardashians on E! (DStv 123) saw 11 people caught and charged in connection with the
break-in and robbery that involved one of pop culture’s most influential people.
It was the biggest jewellery robbery in France in over two decades and took place during fashion
week in Paris in October 2016.
To date, only one piece of jewellery has been recovered.
Aomar Ait Khedache (61), the alleged ringleader, told the police that
it turned out to be virtually impossible to find a potential buyer for her Kim
Kardashian’s 18.88-carat ring which she showcased on her Instagram page before
the robbery and that was a gift from her rapper-husband Kanye West.
Fashion Week will be based on a comic by the French
writer Joann Sfar, “liberally based on the raid on Kim Kardashian” and
revolving around “a group of old school crooks who eye up the jewellery of an
influential celebrity and find themselves swept up in the whirlwind of the
fashion world”.
Adam Stotsky is leaving as president of E! and will be existing the entertainment TV channel from NBCUniversal International Networks after just 3 years, with no immediate replacement.
Frances Berwick, president of NBCUniversal Cable Entertainment's lifestyle channels will take over Adam Stotsky's responsibilities for the time being.
In a note to "Team E!" staffers Adam Stotsky writes that "the past 5 years with E! has been incredible".
Here is Adam Stotsky's note:
Team E! (and colleagues across NBCU),
I wanted to share with you that after 18 years I will be leaving NBCUniversal, a company I respect and people I have loved working with. It’s been a journey of great pride and accomplishment.
I feel blessed to have had four distinct lives inside NBCU -- SYFY, NBC, Esquire Network, E! Entertainment. Each offered a different challenge, yet there was always a passionate and dedicated team ready to rise to the occasion and push the brand and business forward.
The past 5 years with E! have been incredible. Together we transformed a singular hour of TV news and a popular website into the market-leading multi-platform publisher of pop culture/entertainment news, now delivering over a billion engagements a month.
We launched our first scripted efforts, expanded E!’s signature live coverage beyond red carpets to our own award show with “People’s Choice Awards” and earned our status in fashion via partnerships with The Met Gala and New York Fashion Week. And most importantly, we cemented E!’s position as a global pop culture powerhouse.
Thanks to our extremely talented team, we have accomplished what we set out to do and E!’s future is bright. I will be working closely with Frances over the next few weeks to ensure a smooth transition. It has been an honor and privilege to work by your sides.
The 15th birthday party Thursday night of E! Entertainment (DStv 124) that was held at the retro-styled, avant-garde nightclub-restaurant Alice & Fifth in Sandton was fine but not exclusive enough, filled with too many people not interested in or knowledgeable about E! at all, with standing-room only for the majority of well-heeled guests if they were not MultiChoice or NBCUniversal International Networks executives.
To mark its presence of a decade and a half since December 2004 on MultiChoice's DStv satellite pay-TV service, NBCUniversal International Networks (NBCUIN) United Kingdom division also responsible for Africa as an emerging market, organised a 15th anniversary red carpet media event and celebration that took place on Thursday.
It was attended by a team from NBCUniversal International Networks who flew in to South Africa for the event, MultiChoice representatives, local stars like Bonang Matheba, Minnie Dlamini, local E! on-screen talent like Kat Sinivasan and Roxy Burger and Nigeria's D'banj rapper who all appear in E!'s latest TV commercial as part of its new Africa marketing campaign; as well as advertising executives, ad buyers and sponsors, TV producers, press and socialites.
The new venue was great but either NBCU and E! invited too many people, or the venue was too small. It made the average event fine but far from great due to feeling cramped.
It was very difficult to walk with a very long waiting time at both of the two open bar areas and difficult to get any of the food on the platters circulating, making the occasion more "college-years nightclub night out" in vibe and feel that 15th anniversary celebration.
It was a shoulder-to-shoulder push-through crowd for the entire night for the majority of guests unless you were one of the VIP celebrities, or MultiChoice or NBCUIN executives and representatives, who were ensconced in their security guard roped-off alcoves in the main restaurant area.
They apparently had access to another restricted VIP area as well with good food, further back inside the adjacent La Luna, away from the crowd.
There didn't seem to be enough glasses. I didn't eat anything and only had a glass of Bonang Matheba's new House of BNG Methode Cap Classique (MCC) sparkling wine and nothing else.
The party had a beautiful selfie booth with centre couches and gold-and-floral themed walls. Sadly there was no access control here. Some guest obsessed with selfies would hog the time and physical space and not move on, causing excruciating waits for other people who also wanted to snap pics.
How many photos of yourself is enough?
A TV screen showed selected rolling social media messages and photos in real time from guests at the E! event and was smartly in-theme with the event and what E! does.
The celebration event had a beautiful flower installation at the main entrance although it was a bit too dark for people to properly appreciate it.
There was also a beautiful gold-and-white "15"-adorned cake just inside of the entrance.
Halfway through the night the cake disappeared, leaving a black table and a rope line around it with nothing on/inside it.
Once again as in the past and not unique to E! (and not the organisers fault although it still detracted from the atmosphere and evening) liquored-up guests couldn't care less for the proceedings or the real reason for the party.
They loudly and crassly continuing to cackle and talk during the short formal presentation and speeches part of the night, with no sense of decorum or how to behave at an event like this.
Several times NBCU reps and other people involved in the event and in the crowd during the speeches said "shhhhhh" to try and get the crowd to quiet down but to no avail.
The music was too loud (am I old?) making it awkward to make small talk or really engaging in any audible conversation.
There were no highlights package looking back at 15 years, or anything besides two speeches and the new promo. A 15th anniversary like this needs and feels like it deserves a little bit more in terms of a formal presentation.
Had I organised this I would have gone for a more exclusive gathering and a more exclusive guest-list with people who have walked somewhat of a journey in whatever aspect with E! over a number of years already - not the flavour-of-the-moment Laziswe's and starstruck Pinkygirl's of the world.
It would have allowed not just all guests to breathe but actually, the stunning venue to breathe and be appreciated as well.
E!'s 15th birthday celebration was fine, it was just too full, and filled with some people for whom it's just another night's party and who shouldn't have been allowed in.
Congratulations to E! on 15 years on television in South Africa and Africa.
E! Entertainment (DStv 124) marks 15 years of existence as a TV channel in South Africa and across sub-Saharan Africa, since MultiChoice added the capital E stylised as an exclamation mark to its DStv satellite pay-TV service in December 2004 - a story scoop about TV that this journalist still broke first a decade and a half ago.
The channel from NBCUniversal International Networks, that itself has seen massive changes over the past 15 years, has experienced and undergone tremendous changes ever since I first was able to watch it.
I soaked up its programming like when E! News was still E! News Live, when the E! was orange, the set white and Steve Kmetko and Jules Asner were the co-anchors and sat alongside a big E! that at one point even had a goldfish swimming around inside.
In appreciation of E!'s 15th birthday in South Africa and Africa, here are 15 things that E! brought into my life that I'm truly grateful for:
1. E! News
I knew about Entertainment Tonight in the United States but South Africans could never see it since no broadcaster or TV channel carried it.
E! News Live (later just E! News) was always the cheaper, having less "exclusives", pay-TV version as an also-ran alternative but when E! finally became available in South Africa it made it possible to see E! News.
Finally I could keep up to date with America's showbiz culture and see celebrity interviews, as well as its addictive scandal-of-the-day stories.
The joy and fascination of E! News was and is how it does news about entertainment but treat it as real and important.
I've watched E! News (and continues to) and have been following its ongoing evolution all through Steve Kmetko and Jules Asner, John Burke, Giuliana Rancic and Ryan Seacrest, Giuliana Rancic and Terrence Jenkins, Jason Kennedy and Maria Menounos, and now Giuliana Rancic and Jason Kennedy.
Most indelible E! News moment ever was with my TV set tuned to E! and E! News, complete with ticker scroll, breaking the news in 2005 that Brad Pitt and Jennifer Aniston were getting divorced.
2.Kristin Veitch, now Kristin Dos Santos
In a desert of news about TV, Kristin Veitch (until she got married and became Kristin Dos Santos), E!'s original "Watch with Wanda" TV insider, is a herald angel right from television heaven.
Then, and now, I've read her, I've watched her, and I've tried to be like her but for South Africa in bringing insider scoop and news about television to people who like TV and who are desperate and passionate for real news and information about not just what's on it, but what is going on behind-the-scenes of it.
3. E! True Hollywood Story
The definitive pop culture documentary series. Like VH1's Behind the Music documentary series E! True Hollywood Story episodes are absolutely must-watch educational programming for anyone who dreams of working or is working in entertainment reporting in whatever medium.
Firstly, the episodes are encyclopedic - it tackled(s) issues, cases, celebrities, shows, films, musicians, bands and scandals with in-depth background, giving a true historical perspective on Hollywood things and people that you should now.
Secondly, it shows how to tell a good story about entertainment, coupled with great research, interviews, and little-known details.
4. Live from the Red Carpet
Nuclear scientists will scoff at its seemingly vacuous nature but I know better: you can learn a lot in life by watching red carpet coverage and red carpet interviews.
Struggling to make small-talk at parties and events? Watch the red carpet reporter pro's. Wondering how to mingle, how to break-off and end conversations politely, how to ask open-ended questions where people can choose to engage to whatever degree they feel comfortable?
Watch the seemingly superficial, yet delicate discourse and non-verbal interaction between great reporters and celebrities alongside the red carpet.
Even if you're not a journalist, you can learn and mimic some of the tricks of the trade to converse better with other people wherever you go.
5. Brooke Burke
For a good couple of years Brooke Burke was the de facto biggest "face" and personality of E!. Although she wasn't the E! News anchor she was the presenter of Wild On!; before Keeping Up with the Kardashians probably the biggest show E! ever had.
Absolute escapism (with nudity!) and hugely aspirational, Brooke Burke would travel to far-flung exotic locations around the world in this travel show long before selfies and Instagram and showcase unbelievable destinations.
How is it possible to have and do such a job where you're on vacation for a living? Brooke Burke on E! lived the high-life and took viewers along for the ride.
6. Reali-trash that I call call but that I can't stop watching
Gawd, what is wrong with me? The Anna Nicole Show, Filthy Rich: Cattle Drive, The Gastineau Girls, The Girls Next Door, Kill Reality, Ice Loves Coco, Dirty Soap, Giuliana and Bill, So Cosmo, Eric & Jessie: Game On, What Happens at the Abbey.
There are and have been many, many more reality shows on E! that I have watched way too much of - from the Kardashians to Kimora - but of these ones on E! over the years I have watched every single episode ever made - mostly on Saturday mornings in omnibus screenings while other people have lives and collect mail from their postboxes. We can literally do a quiz and I'll win.
Some call it sad. I call it, well, sad too (but sad with a smiley face).
7. E! Fashion Police
Never before, and never again, will there be a show like Fashion Police at its peak when the legendary Joan Rivers held sway with panellists Kelly Osbourne, Giuliana Rancic and George Kostiopolous.
I uncontrollably laughed just like George during the Peak Fashion Police era at episodes that were truly, truly "appointment television".
Few things I would set DStv recordings for in advance, watch it, and afterwards not delete it but keep it. Fashion Police episodes with Joan Rivers were and are keeper recordings for forever.
8. Voyeurism and titillating nudity
E! has always been a little bit edgy, hovering on the very fine line and sometimes stepping over like the problem child two years older at your primary school who everybody except the teachers knew secretly smoked, and who you'd actually catch glimpsed of, while knowing it's so wrong.
Profiles about porn stars, docu-exposes about strippers, Playboy personalities, skimpy clothing, risque discussions and Joan Rivers and the Kardashians' filthy mouths - E! is a pay-TV channel and over the years it got away with now and again showing and saying just that little bit too in reality series that took it fully beyond "family viewing".
9. E!'s Glamcam 360 and glambot
E!'s so-called "Glam Cam 360" that it introduced as an additional feature as part of its red carpet award show coverage a few years ago is really one of the few evolutions that elevated its coverage and that hasn't been repeated successfully anywhere else by anybody.
Capturing beautiful people in slow motion moving images - a nano-second in real-life slowed down as a drawn-out glimpse that's truly moving art - is often something you can watch over and over and over again, and each time notice something new in these "moving pictures" that you didn't notice or appreciated before.
10. Joel Stein and pop culture commentary
Otherwise titled as "Watch Joel Stein on E! and learn to comment good".
One of the people who appeared a lot, if not the most, on E! as one of the talking heads to weigh-in on celebrities and showbiz in various E! documentaries and profile shows were the TIME columnist Joel Stein.
A TIME person.
On E! it/he often elevated E! content and commentary from the banal to pop culturally significant, interesting and bitingly funny.
Joel Stein in his E! commentary was funny and witty.
If you studied him and tried to emulate him as an entertainment commentator you'd learn and know that you need to not only come across as - but really be - very informed, be well-read, and also work in some humour, usually as the kicker at the end of your explanation or insightful remark.
11. Schadenfreude galore
Long, long before Netflix's must-see Fyre: The Greatest Party That Never Happened documentary, E! was the home of cringe-worthy, utterly arresting, jaw-dropping "shame television" - but in a good way.
E! made it okay to indulge and enjoy other people's misfortune - especially rich people whose own shame switch is off anyway.
I realised this for the first time when Anna Nicole Smith in The Anna Nicole Show hired this person called Bobby Trendy as her interior decorator. Why Anna hired Bobby I don't know.
Of course Bobby made Anna's place ugly. Which started a feud that went on and on and on and that was unmissable television.
From Kendra to Kim, from Caitlyn to Kris and even Blac Chyna, E! has given us permission to indulge in other people's unbelievable fights and problems. What a blessing.
12. Being taught the art of zen and no longer karing by the Kardashians
I still do so-called "celebrity" interviews but a lot fewer and are way more selective on who I give my time to as a journalist and why, and the moment it really changed for me was after Bruce Jenner (now Caitlyn Jenner) cancelled on me ... twice.
A couple of year back E! reached out to me asking me if I wanted to interview then-Bruce for Keeping Up with the Kardashians and I agreed.
You prepare, you work out questions, you wait by the phone late at night South African time, you sort out the international dialling and then half an hour before you're messaged by E! that it's cancelled and will be rescheduled.
Then you reschedule, re-prepare, re-wait and it re-happens, as in re-cancelled at the last minute. I was done.
The Kardashians taught me to be more patient, not to succumb to press mob mentality ("but everyone is after the 'Special K's' so you must stampede as well for the photo, the "exclusive", the precious soundbyte and drop quote!"), and to be far more judicious about who and what gets my time in the fame-world industrial complex.
Will Marfuggi and Melanie Bromley as the hosts are doing a great job of giving their take and insider knowledge on "hot topics" of the day, discussing breaking entertainment news and pop culture issues, as well as movie trailers that dropped and looking forward to upcoming things on the Hollywood entertainment diary.
It's likeis a daily talk show about pop culture.
14. Aspirational channel and brand promos
Ever since always, whether the programming and content actually lived up to it or not, E! has consistently created and rolled out extremely well-done channel promotional videos.
It's always beautifully produced, high-gloss and even more than that, very aspirational. Somehow E! has always managed to find just the right music, at the right time, and infusing it with on-trend colours and stars.
Even E!'s short on-air promos for things like upcoming award show coverage have consistently been well-done for years. It makes you feel that you need to watch, or will miss out.
15. My E! lanyard for my most important keys
Over the years as a journalist I've received a lot of promotional gifts from various TV channels, including a lot of lanyards. Of all of the hundreds I've got, I use only one.
There is only one lanyard going with me through my life on a daily basis, and it's my old and worn, trusted black E! lanyard with my keys locking and unlocking my life.
Over the years the white printed E!'s on the black cord has faded. Yet I have full confidence that my keys won't get lost on the sturdy clip, and after all this time it is still the only lanyard I hang around my neck and will wear whether I open my garage door or lock my front door.
During Thursday night's 15th anniversary celebration event of E! Entertainment (DStv 124) in Johannesburg I spotted the Idols presenter and producer ProVerb on the red carpet when he arrived and posed for photos - but something subsequently happened that made me think about, and decide to do this editorial column, about what is, and maybe isn't, reasonable to expect from TV stars who decide to show up and appear at a red carpet event.
Firstly, I have to say upfront that I've never had even the slightest issue with, and that I've always actually admired and liked Tebogo Thekisho - ProVerb or "Pro's" real name - whom I first met over 8 years ago just before he joined Idols from the 6th season back in 2010 as co-presenter.
I've watched and tracked, with respect, Tebogo Thekisho's career in South Africa's TV industry since the rapper - who launched his TV career on M-Net's Channel O on MultiChoice's DStv satellite pay-TV service - moved from just being a presenter to also taking on a producer role.
From the 8th season of Idols in 2012 he also took on added responsibility behind-the-scenes when he became co-executive producer of Idols on Mzansi Magic (DStv 161) together with Gavin Wratten at [SIC] Entertainment.
We once both stayed over in the Big Brother house as part of a media group experience and over the past 8 years during the various Idols seasons I had some quick chats with him, made jokes and would congratulate him - all off-the-record - mostly after Idols season finales during the after-parties and when the winner and runner-up would get their prizes and where he would be the MC on stage.
While most of the press attending would hang around at the bar-side and barely pay attention, I always listened, followed and would stand close to the front of the stage and give my attention, time and applause because to me it matters.
The last time before Thursday that I saw Pro in person was two weeks ago when I did a set visit for Idols' upcoming 15th season where I sat for hours during the new batch of contestants' performances for the judges as they had to make their decisions during Theatre Week as to who they're going to cut and who they're going to keep.
At the end of the day's recording when everybody got up and left, I decided to walk to ProVerb to go and say hello and made a quick joke about one of the contestants who will be part of a wonderful unfolding twist for viewers when the episode is broadcast sometime during August.
Cue Thursday night, and when I spotted Pro, dapperly dressed up in a snazzy bronze jacket on the red carpet at the party of NBCUniversal International Networks to mark the 15 year presence of E! as a channel in South Africa, as a journalist I instinctively approached him to ask him a question for one of the articles I'd be doing covering the event.
When I went to say hi and asked him on the red carpet if I could quickly ask him just one question, his response was not now.
I stood to the side and waited for him to finish the photo-taking and as he then headed towards the Alice & Fifth nightclub where the E! party was taking place, I quickly walked alongside him and asked again if I can just ask him one question.
"No, no, no, no no," he said as he kept walking and disappeared inside as I stopped and he looked back a last time.
To be honest, I didn't know what to make of it and it rarely happens that I feel that way and so weird, but I felt extremely awkward as I was just left standing there, wondering what happened.
On Friday morning I was surprised to see a tweet and photo from ProVerb on social media when I looked and scrolled through the Twitter feed for E!'s party. (Neither Pro nor I have up to now followed each other on Twitter but when I discovered him I clicked follow.)
Then I commented on his post of "Popped into Sandton to congratulate E! on their 15th anniversary in Africa!", with how I felt, saying: "But won't stop to answer just one question for the media asking about E!. Disappointing."
Later Friday morning I heard from him in a direct message and responded, and he messaged again - the conversation of which I won't recount here since it was a private chat - and when my flight landed there was another message from Proverb who, after sending another message, also "blocked" my Twitter account making any personal response back impossible.
And been blocked.
Weird how TV presenters and producers sometimes react and act out towards the media. Do we as press expect too much of them? https://t.co/kJPx9faos4
After what happened with ProVerb it made me think: Do we as press and the media next to the rope line at red carpet events expect too much of the people on it?
Is what reporters covering red carpet events think they can do and ask there, perhaps too big of an ask? And on the other side of the coin: Are journalists allowed to say "I'm disappointed that so-and-so didn't come to play"?
When people in the public eye and who choose to be in the public eye, appear at media launches and events, is it a right or a wrong assumption for the working press and journalists to have an expectation that the people are there to, and willing to, interact with the media?
Of course people - famous, infamous and the non-famous - have the right and personal choice to decide whether they want to answer a question, "that" question, or any question, and the freedom to say what they want to say, as well as who they want to, or don't want to talk to.
And what about media management - the building, creating, maintaining, and investing in media relationships with the press and journalists?
Does going to a red carpet event where you know media will be present necessarily mean it comes with a type of "responsibility" to engage with that media to whatever degree? Or can you attend in a type of incognito mode and leave personal and professional brand building for another day and other events as and when you choose?
Why would people go to a media event where they know media will be but then not want to talk or engage with the media? Personally, I don't know the answers to all of these questions and I don't know what people think.
What I do know from my side, is that when I'm at a media event I'm there to work - which is why I RSVP'ed. Insofar as people go to a "party", my assumption is that they're also actually there as part of work.
I seek out people that I know, and who are part of my work to know, and I will continue to cover them and the events I'm at, as I constantly seek information and try to ask whoever, questions about whatever, on behalf of the public.
As a TV critic and as a journalist I look forward to the upcoming 15th season of Idols on Mzansi Magic and how it will play out this time. Who knows, maybe next time I might just get lucky, and get ProVerb to answer a question.
On Thursday night NBCUniversal International Networks for the emerging markets region including Africa, celebrated with a red carpet event and party to mark the 15th anniversary of the carriage of its E! Entertainment (DStv 124) channel on MultiChoice's DStv satellite pay-TV service in South Africa and across sub-Saharan Africa.
The event took place with the registration desk set up in the lobby of the Sandton Sun Hotel in Johannesburg, and red carpet rolled out and the press rope line right behind it between the two sets of escalators.
The red carpet and step-and-repeat E! banner led to the back corner and the entrance of the new Alice & Fifth underground avant-garde nightclub.
Some of the recipients of its first-ever E! Africa Pop Culture Awards attended the event, along with local celebrities and TV presenters, NBCUIN and MultiChoice executives, other TV executives and producers, advertising executives and sponsors, as well as the press.
Aletta Alberts, MultiChoice's content boss, has congratulated NBCUniversal International Networks on the anniversary of 15 years of its E! Entertainment (DStv 124) channel being carried on the DStv satellite pay-TV service in South Africa and across Africa, saying that African viewers and talent "have always been, and will continue to be, part of the E! story".
On Thursday night NBCUniversal International Networks (NBCUIN) held a red carpet party to celebrate the 15th anniversary of the presence of the entertainment channel in South Africa and Africa.
Some of the recipients of its first-ever E! Africa Pop Culture Awards attended the very full event held at the new Alice & Fifth underground avant-garde nightclub in Johannesburg inside the Sandton Sun Hotel, along with local celebrities and TV presenters, NBCUIN and MultiChoice executives, other TV executives and producers, advertising executives and sponsors, as well as the press.
The new campaign features a blend of E!'s Hollywood talent along with South African stars and one from Nigeria. Besides the TV commercial NBCUIN will also do billboard-sized "building wraps" in Cape Town and Johannesburg in South Africa, and Lagos in Nigeria for a 6-week period from mid-April.
Lee Raftery, NBCUniversal International Networks content and marketing boss for the Africa region and based in London, had a short on-stage speech Thursday night about E!'s 15th anniversary milestone in Africa.
Aletta Alberts, MultiChoice's head of content strategy, said on-stage that "I can't believe it's been 15 years and what an amazing journey it's been".
"E! has always been very, very close to my heart," she said. "The first thing was The Girls from the Playboy Mansion and I thought that was the gift that kept on giving. But then, the Kardashians arrived."
"And how did we underestimate Kris Jenner and the Kardashians! I must say I saw Kendall and Kylie - I saw that show coming. When they were still little I thought: 'They're going to grow up and be fabulous and they're probably going to be the next generation."
"But what I didn't see coming was Caitlyn Jenner. Trust me, I don't think even Kris saw that coming," said Aletta Alberts.
"E! has always been a trendsetter as was the case with its reimaging from the red E! channel to the black-and-white channel and the slogan 'Pop of Culture'."
"Africans have always been, and will continue to be, part of the E! story, as we see more and more extraordinary talented people from this continent make their way to LaLa-land," said Aletta Alberts.
Minnie Dlamini, who features in the E! Africa TV commercial, told TVwithThinus on Thursday night that "What E! has done in terms of being the leaders of pop culture has truly been revolutionary. Thank you for sticking around for 15 years. Thank you for coming to Africa".
A planned NBCUI interview with Lee Raftery on Thursday didn't work out and wasn't possible.
