After heavy criticism ViacomCBS Networks Africa backtracks on 'activist' Pearl Thusi's tone deaf planned interview on BET with alleged rapist Tall Ass Mo in 4th season of Behind the Story.

by Thinus Ferreira

Following heavy criticism of its controversial decision, ViacomCBS Networks Africa is retreating and will no longer broadcast an interview between Pearl Thusi and Tol Ass Mo - accused of alleged gender-based violence and involved in an ongoing court case - in the upcoming 4th season of the celebrity profile series Behind the Story on BET (DStv 129).

Controversy erupted when BET Africa announced that Mongezi Mahlangu, known as Tal Ass Mo, together with his wife Mome, would be included in the next series of sit-down interviews in the upcoming 4th season of the celebrity profile series Behind the Story fronted by Netflix's Queen Sono star Pearl Thusi.

With MultiChoice and ViacomCBS Africa running gender-based violence (GBV) campaigns and TV ads during Women's Month over the scourge of violence against women in South Africa, Pearl Thusi was accused of being "tone deaf" after she shared that she would be interviewing Tol Ass Mo who is facing ongoing court action after allegations of rape brought against him by actress Lerato Moloi.

In a statement earlier this month on 4 August 2020 Lerato Moloi revealed that she was allegedly sexually assaulted and raped by the comedian while working on a TV production in 2014 in Paarl in the Western Cape.

Pearl Thusi who initially defended her right to interview Tol Ass Mo later deleted her social media post and has now also locked her Twitter account, with BET and ViacomCBS Africa that initially also supported the celebrity interview inclusion in the upcoming season.

Pearl Thusi initially compared her upcoming Tal Ass Mo interview to that of CBS News' Gayle King in the United States. Gayle King interviewed R Kelly for a news special specifically about the multiple rape allegations swirling around him. Pearl Thusi said that she is not a judge but "an activist".

When Pearl Thusi was asked when she will be interviewing Lerato Moloi, she said she is "still waiting for her to agree".

On Sunday afternoon ViacomCBS Networks Africa in a statement made a a U-turn and announced that the Pearl Thusi sit-down with Tol Ass Mo will no longer be happening as part of Behind the Story.

"BET Africa confirms that the Tol Ass Mo and Mome interview from the upcoming new season of Behind the Story with Pearl Thusi will not be aired on the channel out of respect for the current environment, legal proceedings and the basis of impartiality," ViacomCBS Networks Africa said.

Pearl Thusi stays getting L's for her absolute and utter tone deafness..

Sis cannot read the room for anything..

Nobody wanted some feel good interview about a rapist. Especially not now when were in the midst of a GBV epidemic..

— A Black Woman 🇿🇦 🇿🇦 (@SneKhumaloSA) August 22, 2020

You are missing the point! Your tone to interviewing Tol Ass Mo was completely different compared to Gayle’s. You were excited to be interviewing him whereas Gayle was seeking to hold R Kelly accountable. It’s ridiculous for you to flip it as if it’s the same thing. pic.twitter.com/Z5voqfp4Fj

— Busi Lethole #JusticeForShoni (@BusiLethole) August 23, 2020

@pearlthusi it would be great to understand what made you want to interview him with the current allegations when GBV is robbing the country of its women. What happened to Wathintabafazi wathintimbokodo? Where is your empathy 🤔

— Lancaster (@Lancast06187973) August 23, 2020

Over the weekend TVwithThinus asked ViacomCBS Networks Africa why Pearl Thusi and BET Africa is doing an interview with an alleged rapist, while a courtcase is ongoing and how such an interview aligns with MultiChoice's latest gender-based violence campaign and Viacom Africa's statements and campaigns about the issue.

ViacomCBS Networks Africa said that "BET Africa and Behind the Story supports the ongoing fight against gender-based violence and we are consistently creating content and using our platforms to amplify and support a positive and urgent change in attitudes and behavious towards gender-based violence. There is an immediate need to drive and champion education of this crucial societal issue".

ViacomCBS Networks Africa was also asked what specifically it and the BET Africa channel's policy is regarding giving exposure to alleged perpetrators of gender-based violence.

ViacomCBS Networks Africa in response to this question said that it is "concerned about the seriousness of this matter, the mature of the allegations and respect the sensitivities".

When asked if ViacomCBS Networks Africa is also interviewing Lerato Moloi and giving her the same airtime as the glossy profile celebrity interview to be aired with Tall Ass Mo, ViacomCBS Networks Africa said "we continue to engage with all parties concerned in relation to the interview".

Netflix's first South African drama series Queen Sono produced by Diprente renewed for a second season.

by Thinus Ferreira

Netflix has renewed its South African drama series Queen Sono for a second season.

Headlined by Pearl Thusi and produced by Diprente in Johannesburg, South Africa with showrunner and director Kagiso Lediga, the 6-episode trope-filled spy drama tale made its debut at the end of February 2020 to mostly lukewarm reviews.

Diprente will continue to produce the second season of Queen Sono with the cast who have not yet been signed but according to Netflix are all expected to return, including Pearl Thusi, Vuyo Dabula, Sechaba Morojele, Chi Mhende, Loyiso Madinga, Rob van Vuuren, Kate Liquorish, Khathu Ramabulana and Enhle Mbali Mlotshwa.

Production is expected to start later in 2020 once more clarity exists over TV and film production given the multiple national lockdown periods in effect in South Africa and across sub-Saharan Africa because of the global Covid-19 coronavirus pandemic.

Queen Sono's second season renewal is the first African Netflix production renewal handed out under Dorothy Ghettuba who took up the position to head up the commissioning of Netflix's African originals in mid-2019 and is tasked to expand Netflix's content slate from the African continent from Amsterdam in the Netherlands. 

"The first season of Queen Sono marked the beginning of our journey to introduce the world to exciting stories that are made in Africa. It was an unprecedented representation of a strong female black lead in African television," says Dorothy Ghettuba in a prepared statement issued on Tuesday announcing the second season renewal.

"Kagiso Lediga and the Diprente team delivered a compelling story that resonated with our viewers and we can’t wait to see what they have in store for Queen Sono in this coming season."

Kagiso Lediga in the press release says "I am so excited by the appetite for African stories and that Netflix is continuing to partner with us to bring to life the next chapter of Queen’s story and showcase it to the world".

Tamsin Andersson, executive producer, in the statement says "We are thrilled to continue our production of Queen Sono season 2 with Netflix. The hard work from season 1 paid off and we're excited that the brand is investing further in the growth of our local production team."


ALSO READ: REVIEW. The flawed Queen Sono's first season on Netflix is an unremarkable, uneven and missable spy trope-filled tale.

REVIEW. The flawed Queen Sono's first season on Netflix is an unremarkable, uneven and missable spy trope-filled tale.

by Thinus Ferreira

Regretfully, the flawed Queen Sono on Netflix is an uneven, unremarkable spy-trope filled drama series that offers the viewer little new, while etching Pearl Thusi with some stilted acting in front of pan-African wallpaper scenery as she channels a bruised-yet-determined James Bond Afro'ed femme fatale stock character.

Long story short: You've seen all of this already years before streaming services like Netflix came along.

Netflix's first local African commissioned series, created by director Kagiso Lediga and Tamsin Andersson's production company Diprente comes up short in several areas with wooden acting, pacing issues and other problems that detract from Queen Sono's 6-episode first season (no word on whether there will be more).

Visually Queen Sono has some moments of wonderful travelogue-like cinematography but overall the first season - with showrunner Kagiso and Tebogo Malope who took turns to direct episodes - is missable fare and lacking a binge-watching quality.

On its own Queen Sono sadly isn't worthy of a Netflix subscription or worth the data, time and gawk-interest as the "first African Netflix Original" with an ever-present unevenness across the season and a lot of padding and badly done exposition all through the first three episodes.

Compared with M-Net's recent local spy thriller series Trackers that looks and feels better, Queen Sono feels very much like more of the same.

The story takes too long to get going for a property that was created to live on a streaming service where it should inspire a "I can't wait to watch more" feeling. The scriptwriting and fragmented plot are served lukewarm given the rich potential available in the story matter and themes that Queen Sono tries to weave into the episodes.

Change some of the names, places and faces (and diamonds for weapons) and Queen Sono looks like a cluttered Trackers Repeat with a plopped-in Bambi-like, cynical protagonist who this time is a field agent (channelled by Pearl) at the fictional Special Operations Group (SOG) of the South African government. Queen is searching for the killer of her mother Safiya.

On an interesting meta-level Queen is investigating a foreign company's incursion into Africa and trying to figure out what it all means and how the outside interests in Africa are connected. It's similar to Netflix itself and its global streaming aspirations and why Netflix spent money to create Queen Sono in the first place.

Amidst a seesaw of sappy melodrama and action scenes, Queen Sono peppers the often-odd and awkward dialogue with obviously forced and weird "F"-words and things that people won't say in front of grandma - as if to somehow try and emphasise that the series isn't your regular SABC1 Sunday night drama.

The sound design and jarring soundtrack transitions is another production pitfall and also needed some more refinement in studio in post. It's simply all over the place. Among the often stilted portrayals in Queen Sono, especially Sechaba Morojele as Dr Sid and other actors with distracting and changing accents, there are some gems. Bright sparks include the acting chops of James Ngcobo.

Queen Sono is additive but not groundbreaking and sadly not stand-out in any way besides that it will have a footnote in the TV history books as "the first African Netflix Original".

The dreary, tedious and drawn-out quality of Queen Sono is as disappointing as what The Girl from St. Agnes was as MultiChoice's first Showmax Original and unfortunately doesn't live up to the hype that Netflix probably hoped there would be around it's first original South African series.

Maybe give it a try if you already have Netflix - although you'll probably struggle to sit through and watch the entire 6 episodes - but don't waste money buying a Netflix subscription just because of it. It's not actually worth it.

As Netflix does more African commissioned series it will probably, hopefully, do better in future.

Filming starts on Netflix's first South African Netflix Original drama series, Queen Sono; cast and directors announced.

Filming has started in Johannesburg, South Africa on Queen Sono, Netflix's first commissioned Netflix Original series for Africa with the 6-episode spy drama, produced by Diprente, that will likely be released globally on Netflix during 2020.

Rounding out the Queen Sono ensemble cast beyond the already-announced Pearl Thusi are Vuyo Dabula, Enhle Maphumulo, Kate Liquorish, Loyiso Madinga, Sechaba Morojele, Chi Mhende, Rob Van Vuuren, Khathu Ramabulana, Abigail Kubekha, Otto Nobela, Connie Chiume and James Ngcobo. 

Pearl Thusi portrays an unconventional spy "working for an undercover South African agency devoted to protecting the people of Africa".

Vuyo Dabula from Generations: The Legacy fame plays Shandu, an ex-spy who has taken a different path, while Sechaba Morojele who starred in Yizo Yizo, Rhythm City and Hard Copy will be seen as Dr Sid, director of the SOG.

Chi Mhende (also previously from Generations: The Legacy), Loyiso Madinga of The Bantu Hour, and comedian Rob Van Vuuren are agents on his team.

Kate Liquorish of The Bantu Hour plays Ekaterina, the heiress of an oligarch family with ulterior motives, while Khathu Ramabulana of Scandal! and Generations plays Queen’s childhood friend, William, now in a relationship with Nova, played by Enhle Maphumulo who previously appeared in Scandal!, Broken Vows and Rockville. 

Abigail Kubekha will appear in Queen Sono as Mazet, Queen's beloved Gogo, who has always supported her irrespective of the trouble she might find herself in.

Tamsin Andersson is the executive producer with directors Tebogo Malope and Kagiso Lediga who will both be directing three episodes of Queen Sono each.

While Netflix had the debut of Shadow in March this year, Netflix didn't commission the series but merely acquired the rights to it, making Queen Sono its first real South African produced Netflix Original show. 

Netflix has since commissioned another drama series, Blood & Water as a high school set series produced by Gambit Films; as well as an animation series, Mama K's Team 4 produced by Triggerfish Animation Studios and CAKE.

Pierre van Pletzen abruptly drops out of Comedy Central Africa and Showmax's Comedy Central Roast of AKA without any reason.

Pierre van Pletzen on Thursday abruptly dropped out of Comedy Central Africa (DStv 122) and Showmax's Comedy Central Roast of AKA as a panellist without a reason, hours before the show was recorded on Thursday night at the Teatro at Montecasino in Johannesburg.

No reason was given with Viacom Africa citing "unforeseen circumstances" that wasn't explained.

It left the Comedy Central Roast of AKA  (real name Kiernan Forbes) with one less panellist on stage at the sold-out show that will be broadcast on 11 March on Comedy Central, with an uncensored version that will become available on 12 March on MultiChoice's video streaming service Showmax.

Pierre van Pletzen was originally announced to form part of the panellists including Nigeria's Davido, Moshe Ndiki as well as Papa Penny, Joey Rasdien, Moonchild Sanelly and also including Mark Fish, Nina Hastie and Francois van Coke, with Pearl Thusi as the roastmaster.

"However, due to unforeseen circumstances, Pierre van Pletzen is unable to participate in the panel of the Comedy Central Roast of AKA," Viacom Africa said in a statement received on Thursday night before the start of the recording of the show.

Viacom Africa's Comedy Central Roast of AKA adds Davido, Moshe Ndiki and Pierre van Pletzen as Roast panellists.

Viacom Africa's Comedy Central Roast of AKA on Comedy Central (DStv 121) has added Davido, Moshe Ndiki and Pierre van Pletzen as roaster panellists, in addition to the already announced Papa Penny, Joey Rasdien, Moonchild Sanelly as well as Mark Fish, Nina Hastie and Francois van Coke.

Viacom International Media Networks Africa (VIMN Africa) announced the third set of roasters who will be taking on the notorious rapper when the Comedy Central Roast of AKA is recorded on 21 February at The Teatro at Montecasino, Johannesburg with Pearl Thusi as the roastmaster.

The Comedy Central Roast of AKA (real name Kiernan Forbes) will be broadcast on Comedy Central, with the uncensored version going to MultiChoice's Showmax video streaming service.

 The Comedy Central Roast of AKA will be broadcast on Comedy Central on 11 March 2019, with an extended and uncut version that will be released a day later on Showmax on 12 March.

Davido (real name David Adedeji Adeleke) is the first Nigerian to ever join the Africa/South African version of Comedy Central Roast.

"At VIMN Africa we continuously evolve and innovate content to create unique and engaging experiences for our audiences that drive culture," says Alex Okosi, the executive vice president and managing director at VIMN Africa.

"In a continental first, this Comedy Central Roast now transcends boundaries by welcoming Africa's international star, Davido, to the panel."

"This is going to be a hilarious night," says Davido. "I'm ready, Africa are you ready? This is a Roast so nothing is off limits."

Moshe Ndiki says "This wil lbe a platform for me to query aspects of how AKA believes he is the first guy to invent blond hair in December, he might as well have pioneered the passion gap for coloured folk. I mean, he is the first coloured guy on Earth according to his tweets".

Pierre van Pletzen says "It feels wonderful to be part of the Comedy Central Roast of AKA, whom I'd like to address as the non-humble infamously popular rapper, about a few things; his no-show at performances, his knowledge of geography and since he says he loves soccer, I would like to ask if he's practising is technique by kicking fans off the stage?"

Pearl Thusi to be the roast master of AKA’s Africa Comedy Central Roast in February.

Pearl Thusi will be the roastmaster of the Comedy Central Roast of AKA that will be broadcast on Comedy Central (DStv 122) and Showmax.

The Comedy Central Roast of AKA (real name Kiernan Forbes) will be recorded on 21 February at The Teatro at Montecasino in Johannesburg and broadcast on Comedy Central (DStv 122) with the uncensored version going to MultiChoice's Showmax video streaming service.

The Comedy Central Roast of AKA will be taking place and be recorded at The Theatro at Montecasino on 21 February 2019 where the musician will be roasted by a panel of people that will still be announced.

Pearl Thusi is the first woman in Africa to host the localised African version of Comedy Central Roast.

"I'm very excited to be the Roast Master and to work with Comedy Central for the first time," says Pearl Thusi.

"To be the first female Roast Master in Africa and first black woman globally is a great achievement. To AKA - we've talked a lot of mess on Twitter and in private, but now we're going to settle this in front of the world, with no one to protect you."

"This is deeper than rap beef. It will be on stage and to your face. I honestly can't wait. Oh, and I won't be alone as I've got a team of Roasters with me. So poetic. Just remember: Composure, composure".

Dillon Khan, vice-president for Comedy Central and creative services at Viacom International Media Networks Africa (VIMN Africa), says "Our phones have been inundated with celebrities who want to be on the Comedy Central Roast especially with AKA in the firing line".

"Having someone as fierce as Pearl at the helm means AKA is guaranteed to be hit close to home. The revelations will be televised."

Candice Fangueiro, Showmax's head of content, says "Showmaxers love to laugh but we still had to take our brave pills to put the last Roast on Showmax fully uncensored. This fresh Roast led by Pearl is set to take things even further - viciously funny and downright rude, just the way our viewers like it. I can't wait."

Netflix's largest-ever price hike not affecting South Africa.

Netflix's largest-ever price hike in the history of the global video streaming service won't affect South Africa where prices won't change.

On Tuesday Netflix announced a double digit percentage increase of between 13% and 18% to its various monthly subscription fees in the United States where Netflix has over 58 million subscribers. Netflix's most popular plan will see the largest price increase from $11 to $13 per month.

The increase announcement comes just before Netflix is scheduled to report its earnings for the fourth quarter of 2018 on Thursday.

Netflix's price hike comes as the company dramatically ramps up its investments in original content including movies and series, marketing and technology, as well as regionalised commissions, for instance, a first local drama series in South Africa starring Pearl Thusi.

The latest increase will also affect Netflix users in 40 countries in the Caribbean and South America where Netflix bills in dollar, for instance, Uruguay, Barbados and Belize. The Netflix price increase will however not come into effect for Mexico and Brazil where Netflix subscribers are billed in local currencies.

While Netflix's growth in the United States is tapering off, its international expansion keeps growing including in South Africa where Naspers' MultiChoice in 2018 blamed Netflix for a decline in the percentage of its top-tier DStv Premium subscribers.

Netflix nearly had 79 million subscribers outside America by September 2018  - its fastest-growing group - and in 2018 spent nearly $10 billion on content and marketing as it ramped up its slate of original programming instead of licensing shows from other studios and producers.

Netflix in response to a media enquiry told TVwithThinus on Wednesday that Netflix South Africa won't increase prices in line with the United States now where users are now also billed in rand as local currency.

Netflix South Africa says "Price increases are specific to each country and the United States increase does not influence or indicate a global or local price change".

Netflix commissions Queen Sono as its first African original drama and spy series with Pearl Thusi.

Netflix has commissioned its first African original drama, Queen Sono, a spy series with Pearl Thusi cast as the title character.

Queen Sono, filmed in South Africa, will be produced in 2019 and become available on Netflix later next year.

Queen Sono will revolve around a "highly trained, top spy in a South African agency", with the series following her most dangerous missions while the relationships in her personal life comes under strain and change.

Although a drama series, Queen Sono will contain some humouristic elements as well and will be produced by the Johannesburg-based Diprente production company.

The South African comedian Kagiso Lediga is the director, with Tamsin Andersson as co-executive producer together with Kagiso Lediga, and both who created Queen Sono.

"We are excited to be working with Kagiso Lediga and Pearl Thusi to bring the story of Queen Sono to life, and we expect it to be embraced by our South African users and global audiences alike," says Erik Barmack, vice-president of international original series at Netflix.

"We are delighted to create this original series with Netflix, and are super excited by their undeniable ability to take this homegrown South African story to a global audience. We believe Queen Sono will kick the door open for more awesome stories from this part of the world," says Kagiso Lediga.

Pearl Thusi dumps the SABC's Live AMP on SABC1 with immediate effect; joins MTV's Lip Sync Battle Africa as co-presenter with D'Banj.

Pearl Thusi is dumping the SABC's Live AMP on SABC1 with immediate effect to become the co-presenter together with D'Banj of the Viacom International's new African version of Lip Sync Battle that will be produced for MTV Base and e.tv.

Pearl Thusi's final appearance on SABC1's Live AMP which she co-hosted for the past 3 years will be tomorrow evening, 4 March, after which she will be focusing on the African and South African version of the show in which well-known personalities lip sing on other artists' well-known hits.

"We're pleased to have played a significant role in her growth within the SABC family," says Zandile Nkonyeni, SABC publicist, "and we wish her well in all her future projects".

"Working with Pearl has been an absolute pleasure, losing her on the show is sad but also we're extremely proud to have played a role in her growth within the entertainment industry," says Sjula Dlamini, Live AMP producer.

Lip Sync Battle will start on 14 April on MTV (DStv 130) at 20:30, on MTV Base (DStv 322)  from Saturday 16 April at 11:30, and e.tv (DStv 194 / OVHD 104) in high definition from Saturday 23 April at 18:30.

Pearl Thusi will join Afrobeat singer D'Banj on Lip Sync Battle Africa and says she's "so excited to be a part of bringing it to African audiences".

D'Banj says he is "excited, willing and ready to entertain the continent" and that he's "looking forward to seeing how well my fellow celebrities battle each other and entertain the world".

TVwithThinus asked Lip Sync Battle Africa but executives declined to reveal any names of personalities who've agreed so far to appear on the show.

"We are thrilled to translate this global franchise to Africa for the first time," says Alex Okosi, the senior vice president and managing director of Viacom International Media Networks Africa (VIMN Africa).

"Lip Sync Battle Africa cannot fail to emulate the success of the franchise in the United States and spin-offs in territories such as the United Kingdom, Canada and Chile".

"Lip Sync Battle Africa is guaranteed to capture the attention and affection of our audience in Africa," says Dillon Khan, head of MTV and VH1 in Africa.

"The high-energy format of the show will be complimented by the two hosts who are massive stars of the entertainment industry on the African continent," says Keshni Rajoo, the head of local productions at e.tv. The free-to-air commercial broadcaster is doing Lip Sync Battle in conjunction with VIMN Africa.

"Our homegrown talent will be given the opportunity to show off their lip sync skills alongside some of the biggest names in Africa. e.tv is proud to be a partner of Lip Sync Battle Africa."

Lip Sync Battle Africa will be mainly South African and Nigerian artists, Dillon Khan tells TVwithThinus, "but we will have a sprinkling from East Africa too".

"Once the show is established, we'd look at involving more countries and artists in the second season".

Asked if songs will all be performed in English, or also include songs in other African languages, Dillon Khan says "our only stipulation is that one of the songs must be an African hit and one an international hit - there's no restriction in terms of language".

I asked what about the Lip Sync Battle format would be different for the localised version of Lip Sync Battle Africa, and Dillon Khan says its a "tried and trusted" format "and if it ain't broke, don't fix it!"

"Much of what you'll see will look a little familiar, albeit with a touch of African flavour. The set is inspired by the United States one. We will have 2 hosts, and 2 contestants singing 2 songs each. Our key differences are the use of African hosts and African contestants and the stipulation about one song being from Africa," says Dillon Khan.

Why ANN7 dumped Pearl Thusi as a SATY 2015 nominee: Star didn't keep to signed agreement from her management to film her needed TV insert.

ANN7 (DStv 405) dumped Pearl Thusi as a nominee in the Trendsetter category for the upcoming ANN7 2015 South African of the Year Awards since the star made it impossible for the TV news channel to film what needed to be done for the made-for-TV campaign and which her representation agreed to.

Earlier the week Pearl Thusi revealed on Twitter that she "was" a nominee in the Trendsetter of the Year category for the second South African of the Year Awards set to take place on 17 October and which will be broadcast live.

In the run-up to the glitzy awards show which last year boasted high quality production values, ANN7 is broadcasting a second season of I Am South African at 18:00 presented by Maps Maponyane and Avashnee Vandiar.

I Am South African as a TV show needs visual content, and profiles the various personalities and nominees in 83 episodes in the run-up to the awards show.

Pearl Thusi tweeted that "I was removed because I refused to have my friends and family motivate for a video insert" and called the process of allowing friends and family on camera "degrading".

While true it's not the whole truth: Pearl Thusi's management who represent her actually signed and confirmed beforehand the acceptance letter and agreed to the stipulations of being a nominee for the South African of the Year Awards.

The SATY's are a made-for-TV production, as is companion show I Am South African and ANN7 therefore needs people nominated to grant access to themselves and those pivotal to the actual reason they're nominated to appear on camera.

ANN7 tells TV with Thinus the TV news channel tried several times to get time to film with Pearl Thusi to package her special episode and inserts but that it proved impossible.

"Following several attempts by the SATY team to secure time with nominee Pearl Thusi in order to package her episode insert for the I Am South African show, the committee has resolved that in the interest of both parties we recall Pearl Thusi's nomination," Fungayi Kanyuchi tells me in response to a media enquiry.

"Pearl Thusi and her management has not been able to fascilitate the key requirements of being a nominee which are stipulated on the acceptance letter that was signed by her team on her behalf," says ANN7.

NOT IM(PRESS)ED. 2015 MTV Africa Music Awards 'imprisons' red carpet press in a steel pen; 'please come to the fence' reporters beg.

PR organisers of the 2015 MTV Africa Music Awards on MTV Base (DStv 322) which took place on Saturday evening showed little love to the media, literally banishing them from the red carpet and bizarrely putting them in a waist-high steel pen alongside the carpet like animals.

The fenced-off red carpet at Durban's International Convention Centre not only dramatically curtailed the way TV, print and online media platforms interviewed and photographed the stars who had arrived from across Africa, but also limited the access the media traditionally get for snap interviews and quick pics of celebrities and TV executives.

It's not clear why Viacom International Media Networks Africa (VIMN Africa), which runs MTV Base and the MAMAs, made the drastic break with last year's traditional red rope to separate the strolling celebrities and the press for a walled-off approach.

A black steel wall to push the press aside is never seen alongside American red carpet events or even hyper-security events like the Oscars, Grammys and Golden Globes as it wouldn't be tolerated by reporters in America.


'Please come to the fence'
Several shorter female reporters struggled for whom the steel fence was basically almost shoulder-length high, and who could only lean over with an arm and outstretched microphone.

Stars who walk the red carpet because they and their publicist want the exposure, are usually gently grabbed and steered or softly "hand-guided" over for a quick question or five seconds to smile for camera flashes before moving on a metre to the next media outlet against the sponsors’' backdrop – the wall-length banner and the process both known in the trade as a Step and Repeat.

This year it was harder for all media who had to call celebrities to "please come to the fence" with several stars who simply walked on by.

While electronic media create the illusion that the interviewer is also on the red carpet although they're actually standing on the very edge, VIMN Africa made that impossible this year.

Reporters had to stretch microphones, dictaphones and smartphones over the fence, hoping to catch some celebrity lightning in a bottle.

The units used to separate the press were more solid and heavier than even the customary crowd control barriers, wrapped with black fabric, which were used inside the auditorium this year to separate the standing crowd from the actual stage and walkways to prevent them from touching it and the on-stage talent.

Comedian and actor Trevor Gumbi, who represented MultiChoice and was DStv's reporter alongside the red carpet, was one of a few reporters who initially dared to step onto the side of the red carpet to conduct on-camera interviews.

TV with Thinus observed how VIMN publicists banished Trevor Gumbi from the red carpet – twice – saying reporters must stay behind the steel barrier.


'Too difficult'
"What next year? Floor to ceiling transparent plastic with a little hole like at the bank to shout through so the famous don’t have to breathe the same air as us?" remarked one journalist on Saturday evening.

"This is too difficult. They don't see and can't hear us," said another journalist, as a female reporter from GoldMyneTV in Nigeria valiantly battled for whatever celebrities were willing to give soundbytes.

At the end, while stars like Basetsana Kumalo were still walking the red carpet and doing interviews, VIMN Africa suddenly announced the red carpet over and said "the press must now leave".

There were positive changes from last year however. The first was a reversal of the red carpet direction – with celebrities who started from a back entrance and elevator and walked towards the front of the Durban ICC. Also better and more audible were the announcements of who was entering the red carpet.


Bewildered
Several African artists and celebrities at the 2015 MAMAs appeared clueless about the inner workings of the red carpet walk, appearing without their publicist, several failing to stop once as journalists dropped expletives off the side about why the stars are bothering if they’re just going to walk by without doing interviews or stopping for photos.

The dismissive Anthony Anderson who was the host this year, only did interviews at the top of the press run where media like CNN, AFP and CNBC Africa were allocated their A4 paper spots after which he walked the whole length of the red carpet without stopping once for photos or interviews until the very end for another short media engagement.

While most South African stars yet again seemed bewildered and somewhat overwhelmed by having to walk the red carpet, some South African and African stars showed the difference that real red carpet know-how and experience make.

Without wasting time, local celebrities like Boity Thulo, Bonang Matheba and Bucie proved red carpet pro's as usual, making time for any media which called, yet moving along at a steady pace.

Stars like Pearl Thusi remembered the golden rule as she twirled in her ice blue dress – giving individual media outlets covering the red carpet all something worthwhile which took brief seconds each time, instead of sprinting for the end.

The majority of stars appeared unbriefed about keeping to the imaginary straight line down the middle to ensure the best exposure to the Step and Repeat whilst remaining accessible to the media, opting instead to scuttle down the carpet the furthest away from the press against the back wall.

Bonang Matheba dropped, Lerato Kganyago and Pearl Thusi added as the South African talk show hosts of Moments on EbonyLife TV.

Bonang Matheba has been dropped and replaced with Lerato Kganyago and Pearl Thusi in the new talk show Moments starting today on EbonyLife TV (DStv 165).

Bonang Matheba would have been seen in the new Moments with Mo talk show spin-off simply entitled Moments, but was barred from finalising the deal after extending her existing Top Billing work on SABC3 to become one of the talk show presenters of the weekday talk show Afternoon Express which started at the beginning of May.

"We wanted to work with her but unfortunately she has a talk show on SABC3 whose format is the same as ours, so we couldn't proceed because it was a conflict of interest," says Sandra Amadio, head of entertainment at EbonyLife TV in a statement.

EbonyLifeTV turns two years old today and is launching Moments as a spin-off talk show from Mo Abudu's Moments with Mo which EbonyLife TV calls "Africa's first and only syndicated daily talk show".

Moments will closely mirror Moments with Mo in structure and style.

Mo Abudu, who is also the EbonyLifeTV CEO, will now only "appear occasionally for only a limited number of very important interviews," says EbonyLife TV. Moments with Mo will have fewer episodes as Moments become the main talk show.

Moments will be broadcast in South Africa, Nigeria, Kenya and Ghana. Lerato Kganyago and Pearl Thusi will only be seen in South Africa as would have been Bonang Matheba.

Earlier reports erroneously reported that Bonang Matheba would have been seen continentally on EbonyLife TV but it's not true.

Each of the four countries get their own local talk show presenters for the Moments' spin-off, with Wanjira Longaue and Amina Abdi presenting Moments in Kenya, Berla Mundi and Ama K. Abebrese presenting the version in Ghana and Bolanle Olukanni, Toke Makinwa and Michelle Dede the talk show trio of Moments in Nigeria.

Each of the spin-off's versions will also have its own guests.

"We are excited to see the Moments with Mo brand expand across the continent of Africa," says Mo Abudu.

"The purpose behind the creation of Moments is not only to connect more with audiences across the continent as well as offer a much wider and more divergent platform for truly pan African conversations, it is also calculated to be an exponential brand extension strategy targeted at delivering greater brand visibility and larger market shares," says Mo Abudu.

"With nine beautiful, intelligent and stylish presenters spread across four African countries, Moments is set to capture an even wider audience by connecting Africa like never before," says Damilola Amele, the series producer.

Pearl Thusi dumps RGB on SABC1 as stand-along presenter; Amanda Du Pont to take over, possibly with Sinazo Yolwa as well.

With so much drama behind the scenes it's been an open secret within the local TV biz for a long time, but Pearl Thusi has finally dumped RGB on SABC1 with Amanda Du Pont who will be taking over as the stand-along presenter next to Phat Joe Kambule.

RGB is also set for other overhauls very soon of the weekly Saturday lifestyle and entertainment magazine show which pulls a weekly TV audience of 5,6 million viewers on SABC1.

Although SABC1 strangely announced that Sinazo Yolwa will also be joining RGB as a co-presenter, Sinazo Yolwa has not signed any contract with the show yet and who is still involved with the current season of So You Think You Can Dance SA on SABC1.

Pearl Thusi decided to dump RGB just over a year and a half after she joined, saying she has too many things going on and that RGB, compared to all the other things, takes a lesser priority.

"Everyone at the show has been amazingly supportive with my decision to move on," says Pearl Thusi. "I had to make a tough decision on what to focus on."

"We and our viewers are going to miss her," says Dichaba Phalatse, SABC1's portfolio marketing manager for entertainment, saying SABC1 will continue to work with Pearl Thusi on "other projects".

While SABC1 announced that Pearl Thusi will be replaced by Amanda Du Pont and Sinazo Yolwa as co-presenters, Sinazo Yolwa has not signed any contract.

Pearl Thusi will make her final appearance on RGB on Saturday 9 November; Amanda Du Pont will start from Saturday 16 November - possibly with Sinazo Yolwa.