{blackbabes} US Open glance: Sharapova, Venus, del Potro in action

 

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A quick look at the U.S. Open :

LOOKAHEAD TO WEDNESDAY

Maria Sharapova plays in the second round in Arthur Ashe Stadium against Timea Babos, trying to follow up on her upset of No. 2 seeded Simona Halep on Day 1.

Sharapova is a five-time major champion, including at the 2006 U.S. Open, and a former No. 1 who needed a wild card from the U.S. Tennis Association to get into the field after a 15-month doping suspension caused her ranking to plummet.

Babos, meanwhile, is ranked 59th and has only once made it as far as the third round at a Grand Slam tournament, getting to that stage at Flushing Meadows a year ago. She lost in the first round at the other three majors this year.

Other past major champions in action Wednesday include Venus Williams (against Oceane Dodin of France) and Juan Martin del Potro (against Henri Laaksonen of Switzerland).

The night's final match in Ashe is intriguing: No. 8 seed Jo-Wilfried Tsonga of France, the runner-up at the 2008 Australian Open, against 18-year-old qualifier Denis Shapovalov of Canada. Shapovalov became the youngest man to reach a Masters semifinal, doing so this month at a hard-court tournament in Montreal.

WEDNESDAY'S FORECAST

Sunny. High of 81 degrees (27 Celsius).

TUESDAY'S WEATHER

Rain. High of 68 degrees (20 Celsius). All but nine matches were postponed to Wednesday.

TUESDAY'S WINNERS

Seeded winners in the men's first round: No. 1 Rafael Nadal.

Seeded winners in the women's first round: No. 1 Karolina Pliskova, No. 12 Jelena Ostapenko, No. 15 Madison Keys, No. 23 Barbora Strycova.

TUESDAY'S LOSERS

Seeded losers in the women's first round: No. 6 Angelique Kerber, No. 28 Lesia Tsurenko.

STAT OF THE DAY

2 - Number of defending women's champions at the U.S. Open who have lost in the first round in the professional era, which began in 1968: Angelique Kerber on Tuesday and Svetlana Kuznetsova in 2005.

QUOTE OF THE DAY

''All the noise stays inside and this is difficult.'' - Rafael Nadal, complaining about how loud it is in Arthur Ashe Stadium with the roof closed.

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{blackbabes} Williams wins at U.S. Open to stay in No. 1 hunt; Konta out

 

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NEW YORK — Venus Williams stayed in the crowded hunt for the No. 1 ranking — even though she had no idea that she has a shot at that spot.

Johanna Konta, a Wimbledon semifinalist just last month, dropped out of that chase with a first-round exit as the U.S. Open got started Monday.

The No. 9-seeded Williams overcame a mid-match lapse to pick up a 6-3, 3-6, 6-2 victory in Arthur Ashe Stadium against Viktoria Kuzmova of Slovakia, a 19-year-old qualifier who is ranked 135th.

It was the first tour-level, main-draw match of Kuzmova's career, and the 967th for Williams, who won the title at Flushing Meadows in 2000 and 2001, in addition to her five Wimbledon championships. Williams is in her 19th U.S. Open; she reached the final in her 1997 debut, about eight months before Kuzmova was born.

"I had no idea what she looked like, who she was, anything. But she played amazing. She played well, served well, competed well. Definitely a match I had to earn," said Williams, who at 37 is the oldest woman in the field. "I definitely wasn't expecting or planning on dropping sets today. But things happen. That's why we play the match, because you have to win the match. So it's just all about regrouping. It's the first round. You figure out what's going on."

She was up a set, plus a break in the second at 2-0, when she faltered. Kuzmova broke for 2-1, then pulled at even at 3-all before taking three games in a row to force a third set. But Williams righted herself there, breaking for a 2-0 lead, then digging out of a love-40 hole with five consecutive points for 3-0 and was on her way.

Williams entered the U.S. Open as one of eight women with a chance to rise atop the WTA rankings by tournament's end.

Not that it was foremost on her mind. Indeed, she said she was unaware of that possibility.

"I just want to win, and if you get the win, you get the ranking," said Williams, who was already at No. 1 in 2002.

Before the American's match was over, that number of ranking contenders was reduced to seven, because the No. 7-seeded Konta was bounced by 78th-ranked Aleksandra Krunic of Serbia 4-6, 6-3, 6-4.

"I don't take anything for granted," said Konta, who was a semifinalist at Wimbledon just last month. "I think it would be quite obnoxious of me to come in here expecting I have a right to be in second week."

Konta, who lost to Williams in the Wimbledon semifinals, figured to be Britain's best chance for a deep run these two weeks, because the country's top male player, Andy Murray, withdrew on Saturday with an injured hip.

Instead, she was among a crop of seeded players on the way out the door at a tournament already missing several top names, including the biggest in women's tennis: Williams' older sister Serena, who is expecting a baby.

"We always coach each other, pretty much," Williams said.

While the most anticipated matchup of Day 1 was scheduled for Monday night — five-time major champion Maria Sharapova's first Grand Slam action since her doping suspension, against No. 2 seed Simona Halep — the afternoon was filled with quite a few seeded players joining Konta on the way out.

For every victory by someone such as Wimbledon champion Garbine Muguruza or 2014 U.S. Open champion Marin Cilic, there was a surprise or two.

The men's seeded losers included No. 21 David Ferrer, who was the runner-up at the 2013 French Open, No. 25 Karen Khachanov and No. 32 Robin Hasse. On the women's side, there as No. 21 Ana Konjuh, No. 24 Kiki Bertens and No. 32 Lauren Davis.

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{blackbabes} Dwyane Wade and Gabrielle Union splash around in Mykonos.

 

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{blackbabes} Nicki Minaj isn’t here for Taylor Swift’s new song

 

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Cue the snake emojis.

Add Nicki Minaj to the list of celebrity names who are apparently anti-Taylor Swift. Shortly after Swift dropped her new single, "Look What You Made Me Do," early Friday, Minaj tweeted, "N—a sit down. Be humble."

While some fans are speculating that it could simply be a reference to Kendrick Lamar's song "Humble," many pondered on social media that Minaj could be reigniting her feud with Swift, which began in 2015 after MTV announced that Swift's "Bad Blood" music video was nominated for Video of the Year but Minaj's video for "Anaconda" wasn't.

"If your video celebrates women with very slim bodies," Minaj tweeted at the time, "you will be nominated for vid of the year."

Swift caught sight of the message and responded, "I've done nothing but love & support you. It's unlike you to pit women against each other. Maybe one of the men took your slot.."

After a few more exchanges on social media, the two musicians let bygones be bygones and — predictably — performed together at the VMAs, because of course they did.

In addition to releasing "Look What You Made Me Do," Swift also teased the accompanying video on "Good Morning America" Friday. The seconds-long preview was all it took for people to start calling it a ripoff of Beyoncé's "Lemonade."

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{blackbabes} ‘Condor’: Mouna Traoré & Ellen Wong Join Audience Network Series

 

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Mouna Traoré (Murdoch Mysteries) and Ellen Wong (GLOW) are set to recur opposite Max Irons in Condor, AT&T Audience Network's 10-episode straight-to-series drama produced by MGM Television and Skydance TV.

Inspired by Sydney Pollack's 1975 political thriller Three Days of the Condor, and written by Jason Smilovic and Todd Katzberg, Condor follows Joe Turner (Irons), a young CIA analyst whose idealism is tested when he stumbles onto a terrible but brilliant plan that threatens the lives of millions. William Hurt, Bob Balaban and Mira Sorvino also star.

Traoré will play Iris Lorimer, the wife of a CIA officer. Wong is Sarah Tan, one of Joe's best friends and work confidante.

Traoré stars on hit Canadian series Murdoch Mysteries and can next be seen in features Acquainted opposite Giacomo Gianniotti, and the adaptation of Nalo Hopkinson's novel Brown Girl in the Ring. She's repped by Don Buchwald and Associates, The Characters Talent Agency, and Thruline Entertainment.

Wong most recently played Jenny Chey (aka Fortune Cookie) on Netflix's GLOW, which was just renewed for a second season. She's repped by Innovative Artists, Premier Artists, and Thruline Entertainment.

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{blackbabes} Factbox: List of U.S. Open women's singles champions

 

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(Reuters) - List of U.S. Open women's singles champions since the open era began in 1968:

2016 - Angelique Kerber (Germany) beat Karolina Pliskova (Czech Republic) 6-3 4-6 6-4

2015 - Flavia Pennetta (Italy) beat Roberta Vinci (Italy) 7-6(4) 6-2

2014 - Serena Williams (U.S.) beat Caroline Wozniacki (Denmark) 6-3 6-3

2013 - Serena Williams beat Victoria Azarenka (Belarus) 7-5 6-7(6) 6-1

2012 - Serena Williams beat Azarenka 6-2 2-6 7-5

2011 - Samantha Stosur (Australia) beat Serena Williams 6-2 6-3

2010 - Kim Clijsters (Belgium) beat Vera Zvonareva (Russia) 6-2 6-1

2009 - Clijsters beat Wozniacki 7-5 6-3

2008 - Serena Williams beat Jelena Jankovic (Serbia) 6-4 7-5

2007 - Justine Henin (Belgium) beat Svetlana Kuznetsova (Russia) 6-1 6-3

2006 - Maria Sharapova (Russia) beat Henin 6-4 6-4

2005 - Clijsters beat Mary Pierce (France) 6-3 6-1

2004 - Kuznetsova beat Elena Dementieva (Russia) 6-3 7-5

2003 - Henin beat Clijsters 7-5 6-1

2002 - Serena Williams beat Venus Williams (U.S.) 6-4 6-3

2001 - Venus Williams beat Serena Williams 6-2 6-4

2000 - Venus Williams beat Lindsay Davenport (U.S.) 6-4 7-5

1999 - Serena Williams beat Martina Hingis (Switzerland) 6-3 7-6

1998 - Davenport beat Hingis 6-3 7-5

1997 - Hingis beat Venus Williams 6-0 6-4

1996 - Steffi Graf (Germany) beat Monica Seles (U.S.) 7-5 6-4

1995 - Graf beat Seles 7-6 0-6 6-3

1994 - Arantxa Sanchez-Vicario (Spain) beat Graf 1-6 7-6 6-4

1993 - Graf beat Helena Sukova (Czech Republic) 6-3 6-3

1992 - Seles beat Sanchez-Vicario 6-3 6-3

1991 - Seles (Yugoslavia) beat Martina Navratilova (U.S.) 7-6 6-1

1990 - Gabriela Sabatini (Argentina) beat Graf 6-2 7-6

1989 - Graf beat Navratilova 3-6 7-5 6-1

1988 - Graf beat Sabatini 6-3 3-6 6-1

1987 - Navratilova beat Graf 7-6 6-1

1986 - Navratilova beat Sukova 6-3 6-2

1985 - Hana Mandlikova (Czechoslovakia) beat Navratilova 7-6 1-6 7-6

1984 - Navratilova beat Chris Evert-Lloyd 4-6 6-4 6-4

1983 - Navratilova beat Evert-Lloyd 6-1 6-3

1982 - Evert-Lloyd beat Mandlikova 6-3 6-1

1981 - Tracy Austin (U.S.) beat Navratilova 1-6 7-6 7-6

1980 - Evert-Lloyd beat Mandlikova 5-7 6-1 6-1

1979 - Austin beat Evert-Lloyd 6-4 6-3

1978 - Evert beat Pam Shriver (U.S.) 7-5 6-4

1977 - Evert beat Wendy Turnbull (Australia) 7-6 6-2

1976 - Evert beat Evonne Goolagong (Australia) 6-3 6-0

1975 - Evert beat Goolagong 5-7 6-4 6-2

1974 - Billie Jean King (U.S.) beat Goolagong 3-6 6-3 7-5

1973 - Margaret Smith Court (Australia) beat Goolagong 7-6 5-7 6-2

1972 - King beat Kerry Melville (Australia) 6-3 7-5

1971 - King beat Rosemary Casals (U.S.) 6-4 7-6

1970 - Smith Court beat Casals 6-2 2-6 6-1

1969 - Smith Court beat Nancy Richey (U.S.) 6-2 6-2

1968 - Virginia Wade (Britain) beat King 6-4 6-4

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{blackbabes} World’s best tennis pros fail at playing badminton

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As the US Open gets underway, the world's elite tennis stars played some decidedly un-elite badminton.

At the Palace Invitational, badminton novice Venus Williams — wearing a floral romper and leather sandals — gamely took on Rafael Nadal.

Despite being dressed in wholly inappropriate suede loafers, jeans and a crisp white dress shirt, Nadal even ventured a dramatic diving return.

Williams also ended up on the ground, flopping around in exasperation at a flubbed volley.

Meanwhile, Eugenie Bouchard — in a T-shirt that proclaimed "I'm the Kylie, You're the Kendall" — took on Aussie Nick Kyrgios.

After a rough start (appearing not to know the rules), Bouchard rallied to win the match, in the courtyard of the Lotte New York Palace Hotel.

The Zverev brothers, Alexander and Mischa, faced off against a pair of besuited hotel executives, who put on such a hapless display that Alexander ducked under the net to make a three-man team against his older brother.

Also there was Jill Zarin, who was spotted taking a selfie with Nadal.

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{blackbabes} Tom Hanks, Angela Bassett among Creative Arts Emmys presenters

 

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The stars will be out at this year's Creative Arts Emmy Awards. Among the celebrities lined up to present at the annual awards show are Tom Hanks, Alexis Bledel and Angela Bassett.

The two-night ceremony, which will be held on Sept. 9 and 10, honors outstanding artistic and technical achievement in a variety of television program genres, guest performances in weekly series, as well as exceptional work in the animation, reality and documentary categories.

The first group of celebrities scheduled to present awards on Sept. 9 include Derek Hough ("World of Dance" and "Dancing with the Stars"), Julianne Hough ("Grease: Live!"), Lisa Kudrow ("Who Do You Think You Are?"), Kenan Thompson ("Saturday Night Live") and Neil deGrasse Tyson ("StarTalk with Neil deGrasse Tyson").

Sunday's presenters include Hank Azaria ("Brockmire" and "Ray Donovan"), Angela Bassett ("911" and "Black Panther"), Alexis Bledel ("The Handmaid's Tale"), Laverne Cox ("Orange Is the New Black"), Joseph Gordon-Levitt ("Are You There Democracy? It's Me, The Internet"), Tom Hanks ("Saturday Night Live"), Jane Lynch ("Dropping the Soap" and "Hollywood Game Night"), Wendi McLendon-Covey ("The Goldbergs") and Niecy Nash ("Claws").

The awards show, which will be produced again this year by Bob Bain, will be held at the Microsoft Theater in Los Angeles. The event begins at 5 p.m. PDT each evening. FXX will also broadcast the show on Sunday, September 16 at 8 p.m. ET.

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{blackbabes} Naomi Campbell calls out British Vogue for lack of diversity

 

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Naomi Campbell criticized British Vogue after it published a photo of its very white editorial staff in its September issue.

"This is the staff photo . . . under the previous editor" Alexandra Schulman, Campbell captioned the pic on Instagram. "Looking forward to an inclusive and diverse staff now that [Edward Enninful] is the editor."

Campbell's a contributing editor under Enninful, who started on Aug. 1. Changes included firing Vogue vet Lucinda Chambers, who wrote an essay slamming the mag.

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{blackbabes} Titans Casts 24's Anna Diop as Starfire

 

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Titans' latest casting is (Star)fire.

24: Legacy's Anna Diop will play alien princess Starfire in the upcoming DC Comics adaptation, TVLine has learned.

The character, also known as Koriand'r (photo at right), hails from a warrior planet and seeks asylum on earth. That's how she'll come into contact with the Titans. Per the official character description, Starfire is "no-nonsense" and "take-no-prisoners." She also can fly and shoot energy bolts.

Executive producers Akiva Goldsman, Geoff Johns, Greg Berlanti and Sarah Schechter will bring the up-and-coming superheroes to life in 2018, in a series that will stream exclusively on a DC-branded direct-to-consumer digital service. Written by Goldsman, Berlanti and DC Entertainment Chief Creative Officer Johns, Titans will follow Dick Grayson as he emerges from the shadows to become the leader of a fearless band of young, soon-to-be superheroes recruited from every corner of the DC Universe.

The live-action series was in development at TNT until January 2016; the move to DC's digital service took place this past April. In August, Australian actress Tegan Croft was cast as Raven, a powerful empath and daughter of a demon.

Diop's TV work also includes Quantico, Greenleaf, The Messengers and Everybody Hates Chris.

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{blackbabes} ‘Insecure’ star proud to be a 33-year-old virgin

 

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Despite her character Molly having tons of sex on HBO's "Insecure," 33-year-old Yvonne Orji is saving herself for marriage.

"I wasn't going to hide it just because I'm on TV," the Nigerian-born star told People. "I'm grounded in who I am."

Orji is so proud of her decision to wait, she's created a clothing line to promote abstinence. "I have a clothing company called Rock Your Stance, and we sell shirts that say 'Keeping it locked till I get that rock.'"

"Entertainment chose me," she added. "Before any of this happened, I sat down with myself and with God. I said, 'I know why I'm here. It's to make you proud.'"

Deciding to be an actress wasn't easy. Her parents were fully expecting her to become a doctor.

"It sounded noble," she said. "But then I took organic chemistry and I was like, 'Well, maybe not.' I ended up getting my master's degree in public health and then working in war-torn Liberia to stall from crushing my parents' hopes and dreams."

Things shifted for Orji when she summoned the courage to tell her family that being a physician wasn't her dream.

"'It would take me eight years to become a doctor, but give me eight years to make it in entertainment,'" she recalled telling her family. "And I'm happy to say, I did it in seven!"

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{blackbabes} Serena Williams Is ‘Exercising for as Long as Possible’ During Pregnancy: ‘I Want the Baby to Be Healthy’

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Serena Williams isn't letting pregnancy slow her down.

In a new interview for The Telegraph, the mom-to-be gets candid about how she is prioritizing fitness as she and fiancé Alexis Ohanian prepare to welcome their first child in September.

"I intend to keep exercising for as long as possible while pregnant," says the 35-year-old tennis champ. "I want the baby to be healthy and for that you need a healthy life."

"Also, when I come back to tennis it'll be better if I've kept as fit as possible all the way through the pregnancy rather than having to lose a lot of weight afterwards in order to get fit again," adds Williams. "Eating healthily is a must, but being healthy is a lifestyle."

Williams hasn't been shy about the fact that she plans on returning to the game soon after giving birth, spending time on the courts throughout her pregnancy and opening up to Vogue for its September issue about attempting to match Margaret Court's record of 24 major titles.

"I am looking forward to becoming a mother and coming back to the courts already," she tells The Telegraph. "I'm always thinking about what's next: the next victory, the next trophy."

Her next big athletic goal? The 2018 Australian Open (Williams took home the title at the 2017 event while pregnant). "Determination is key, whether you're on or off the court," she says. "You have to feed it, work on it constantly."

Adds Williams, "What drives me daily is my love for what I do — I wake up and I want to be the greatest athlete. That's more than enough."

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{blackbabes} Lawyers to see Venus Williams’ cellphone data after crash

 

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WEST PALM BEACH, Fla. — Records from Venus Williams' cellphone will be turned over to attorneys representing the family of a 78-year-old Florida man who died after a June car crash with the tennis star.

The Sun Sentinel reported Tuesday that an agreement for the records was reached prior to a court hearing in a lawsuit filed against Williams. Jerome Barson's family sought the records to find out if Williams was on the phone and distracted just prior to the crash.

Williams' lawyers said they will turn over phone records that span a two-and-a-half-hour period before and after the June 6 crash. Her lawyers say Williams wasn't distracted.

Barson died 13 days after police say Williams drove into the path of the sedan Barsons' wife was driving. Williams hasn't been cited or charged.

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{blackbabes} ‘Ballers’: Brittany S. Hall Upped To Series Regular For Season 4 Of Dwayne Johnson HBO Comedy

 

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Brittany S. Hall, who recurred in Season 3 of HBO comedy series Ballers, has been promoted to series regular for Season 4.

Hall plays Amber, a sassy girl from the Miami party scene who had a past with Ricky (John David Washington).

Created by Stephen Levinson (Boardwalk Empire), Dwayne Johnson-starring Ballers looks at the whirlwind lifestyles and real-life problems of former and current football players. Johnson plays ex-superstar Spencer Strasmore, who has reinvented himself as a financial manager for today's players in sun-soaked Miami.

Cast also includes Rob Corddry, Omar Benson Miller, Donovan Carter, Troy Garity, London Brown, Jazmyn Simon and Dulé Hill.

Levinson also exec produces with Mark Wahlberg, Dwayne Johnson, Dany Garcia, Peter Berg, Evan Reilly, Rob Weiss, Julian Farino, Denis Biggs, Karyn McCarthy.

Hall's recent television credits include Quarry, Being Mary Jane, and Survivor's Remorse. Feature roles include Drumline: A New Beat. She is repped by APA, Stokes Management, Myman Greenspan Fineman Fox & Light and AWA.

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{blackbabes} Mariah Carey- Paper cover

 

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{blackbabes} Lynn Whitfield Joins Sanaa Lathan In ‘Nappily Ever After’

 

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Actress Lynn Whitfield has signed on to co-star in the Netflix comedy Nappily Ever After, joining Sanaa Lathan and Ernie Hudson in the film based on Trisha R. Thomas' book of the same name. Haifaa Al-Mansour is directing the pic from an original script by Tina Chism with rewrites from Lisa Loomer, Adam Brooks and Gina Prince-Bythewood.

It follows Violet Jones (Lathan), whose a seemingly flawless life is interrupted after an accident at the hair dresser leads to the realization that she isn't living the life she that she really wanted.

Whitfield will play Violet's mother, Paulette. Tracey Bing, Marc Platt, Jared Leboff and Lathan are producing the film, while Benedict Carver, Vincent Cirrincione and Mark Moran serve as exec producers. Shooting will take place this month in Atlanta.

Whitfield, who currently stars in the OWN drama series Greenleaf, is repped by J Pervis Talent Agency and Authentic Talent and Literary Management.

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{blackbabes} Why Whitney’s downfall was imminent — even before she met Bobby

 

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It might be the greatest myth in modern pop music: Whitney Houston was America's sweetheart until Bobby Brown corrupted her — a tragedy that ended in her drug-intoxicated drowning in 2012.

But in "Whitney: Can I Be Me," the Showtime documentary film directed by Nick Broomfield and Rudi Dolezal which airs on Friday, that narrative is exposed as a construct put together by her record label and very much maintained by her protective family.

"It's a fairy tale," Dolezal told The Post. "The idea that Whitney was a great girl until Bobby came along is simply not true. Whitney took drugs and smoked weed a long time before she could even spell 'Bobby Brown.' "

The documentary — comprised of previously unseen 1999 tour footage shot by Dolezal and newer interviews with Whitney's friends and family — goes into detail about the singer's rise to fame, the rumors about her sexuality, and her slow, narcotic downfall. But the film also makes an effort to peel back the flawless image of the singer that was built up primarily during the 1980s.

Whitney was born in 1963 to parents John, a theatrical management executive, and gospel singer Cissy, who also sang backup for her niece Dionne Warwick. The youngest of three kids, she was raised in and around Newark, NJ. The city had been torn apart during the race riots of 1967, sliding into a long decay of crime, poverty and segregation.

"She was from the 'hood," explained Dolezal. In the film, her friends remember a Whitney who could be classy, singing in church on Sunday with her mom, but also one who knew her way around the streets.

"They [Whitney and her two brothers] did drugs," recalls Ellin LaVar, Whitney's longtime friend and stylist, in the documentary. "It was the thing you do. You go out, you party, you drink, you do a little drugs. Everybody did it. And her brothers gave it to her. It was just something you do to have fun."

In a 2013 interview with Oprah Winfrey, Michael Houston confessed to getting his sister started on cocaine in her late teens. "At the time, the '80s, it was acceptable . . . [drugs] wasn't a bad word like it is now."

Whitney became a part of the entertainment industry early on, performing onstage with Cissy during the 1970s and taking on the occasional modeling gig. As word of her vocal abilities spread, Arista Records president Clive Davis went to see her perform in Manhattan in 1983 and immediately signed her. Davis unveiled his new princess' talents during a famous appearance on "The Merv Griffin Show" just weeks later.

At the time, radio was still heavily segregated, and African-American artists were largely ignored by MTV. So the label made a concerted effort to make Whitney more "palatable" to white audiences.

Asked by Broomfield in the film about how Whitney was marketed to white America, Arista's former vice president of R&B promotion Tony Anderson flatly replied, "put the past behind [her] and don't focus on it. And that's what we did."

Any music that sounded too funky, too R&B or just too black was rejected for Whitney by the label. Her first No. 1, 1985's "Saving All My Love For You," is about as syrupy as they come; the guitar riff from 1987's "So Emotional" could have been lifted straight from a Van Halen track.

The tactic worked. The singer's first two albums, "Whitney Houston" (1985) and "Whitney" (1987), both went to the top of the album charts. She racked up seven No. 1 singles in a row and won her first Grammy — for Best Female Pop Vocal Performance, not R&B.

In 1986, Whitney graced the cover of People Magazine, which crowned her "America's Top New Star," while a Time article in 1987 pegged her "The Prom Queen of Soul." In that story — which ran alongside a photo of a 23-year-old Whitney cuddling a teddy bear — Cissy recalled her daughter's teenage rebellion as simply "staying out late, not washing the dishes." The drug experimentation was all but wiped away.

But the goody-goody image began to backfire. In 1989, the singer was booed at the Soul Train Awards — a move felt by her inner circle to be a backlash against the whitewashing of her image and music.

"It was emotionally devastating — I don't think she ever recovered from it," Kirk Whalum, her saxophonist, says in the film.

But that night, something happened that would change her life: She met Bobby Brown.

"Someone [was] hitting me on the back of the head, and I turned around and it was Whitney Houston," Brown told MTV in 2009. "She was trying to get my attention, because I was fly."

"When they met, Bobby was the bigger star. A lot of women wanted to f – – k him, full stop," said Dolezal.

The pair's chemistry was immediate, in no small part because Bobby represented a part of Whitney's life that had been brushed under the carpet for years.

"Bobby was street, Bobby was 'hood, Bobby had swag," Doug Daniel, then a member of Arista's R&B promotion team, says in the film. "They came from a similar culture."

The arrival of Bobby wasn't the destructive moment it has long been framed as, but it did create tension. Since Whitney's childhood, the singer's closest friend had been Robyn Crawford, whom she had known since her adolescence in New Jersey. In the 1987 Time article, Whitney referred to Crawford as the "sister I never had," and she was installed as the singer's assistant early on.

"Everyone always thought that Robyn was [Whitney's] boss or manager," recalled Dolezal, who first interviewed her for Austrian TV in 1985. "Whitney trusted her with everything — the way she looked, the lighting, the way she was sitting, everything. [Crawford] gave her security."

By the end of the '80s, rumors had begun swirling in the tabloids and the music industry that Crawford and Houston's relationship may have been more than platonic. Their obvious closeness, coupled with the fact that they lived together, added fuel to the fire.

"I don't think she was gay — I think she was bisexual," LaVar states in the film. In a 2016 interview with Us Weekly, Brown appeared to confirm that Crawford and Whitney's relationship had been physical but didn't specify whether this was before his wedding to Whitney in 1992 or after.

The suggestion that Houston was romantically involved with a woman rankled Cissy, who said in her 2013 book, "Remembering Whitney," that she "didn't want Robyn around my daughter." Asked by Oprah if she would have been bothered if her daughter had been gay, Cissy replied, "Absolutely."

When Brown entered Whitney's life, it helped dispel rumors about her sexuality but created other problems behind the scenes.

"It was obvious that there was tension between Bobby and Robyn," said Dolezal.

In the film, Whitney's former head of security David Roberts recalled that the two competed for her attention — and got into physical altercations. "There were numerous fights between Robyn and Bobby . . . serious fights. There were times when he wasn't always the winner!"

Although Dolezal never saw violence, he did capture the tension while filming backstage on Whitney's 1999 tour. In the doc, Brown is seen putting his arm around Crawford in a show of unity. But Crawford looks painfully uncomfortable, avoiding his eyes and pulling away.

One day, seemingly out of the blue, Crawford was no longer part of the tour, Dolezal recalled. "Everybody . . . was sad when Robyn left, because she was a very positive force."

Brown has indicated that it was Cissy who forced her out of Whitney's entourage. But Dolezal has a different opinion.

"In retrospect, I think [Crawford] left because she said to herself, 'Whitney has a child [daughter Bobbi Kristina was 6 years old at the time], this child needs a family, and the family needs to be the father and a mother, and so now I'm going to make space.' As hard as that probably was for her, she made that sacrifice because it was how much she loved Whitney."

Over the years, Crawford had attempted to rein in Whitney's drug usage. As Cissy recalled in her book, Crawford had sounded the alarm about Whitney's taste for cocaine as far back as 1987. But with Crawford out of the picture, Whitney's descent only seemed to speed up. In early 2000, she was fired from a planned Oscars performance just hours before the broadcast, after allegedly turning up to the rehearsal high.

For her last decade, Whitney was known more for her drug problems than her music. In 2006, the National Enquirer published allegations of crack use and photos of drug paraphernalia in the Atlanta house she shared with Brown. Whitney filed for divorce the same year.

The only time Crawford has spoken about Whitney's death was to Esquire in 2012, when she attempted to dispel the idea that Whitney — a mythological princess to begin with — had been led astray by Brown's influence.

"People thought they had to protect her," said Crawford. "She hated that. And that's what people don't understand . . . She did what she wanted to do."

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{blackbabes} ‘Shut Eye’ Casts Rowena King; Jeremy Bobb In ‘Escape At Dannemora’

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Rowena King (Of Kings and Prophets) is set for a key recurring role in Season 2 of Hulu's Shut Eye. Created and executive produced by Les Bohem, Shut Eye centers on Charlie Haverford (Jeffrey Donovan), a scammer with a small chain of fortune-telling storefronts and who contracts building tricks for a family that controls the business in the greater chunk of Los Angeles. King will play Maggie. Once a high level advertising executive, Maggie was known for her ability to read and manipulate consumers' desires. She is the backbone to "Psychic to the Stars", Paz Kapoor's (Aasif Mandvi) business and the one responsible for taking his street corner mystic act to its world famous status. Charlie (Jeffrey Donovan) will shortly learn that the British-born Maggie is not only his rival in charm, but also in skill. King, repped by Domain and Thirdhill Entertainment, just finished shooting a lead role in ITV drama Trauma, opposite Adrian Lester and John Simm and had a supporting role in ABC's Of Kings and Prophets.

The Knick alum Jeremy Bobb has been tapped for a recurring role in Showtime's limited series Escape At Dannemora, directed and executive produced by Ben Stiller. Escape At Dannemora, starring Benicio del Toro, Paul Dano and Arquette, is based on the headline-making true story of a 2015 prison break in upstate New York, which spawned a massive manhunt for convicted murderers Richard Matt (played by del Toro) and David Sweat (Dano). The pair were aided in their escape by married female prison worker, Tilly Mitchell (Arquette), with whom they both became sexually entangled. Bobb will play Dennis Lambert, a corrections officer who supervises Tilly's (Arquette) tailor shop at Clinton Correctional and is good friends with her husband, Lyle ((Eric Lange). Bobb, repped by Gersh and Suskin Management, can currently be seen in Manhunt: Unabomber for Discovery Channel, and also will be seen in the upcoming Godless for Netflix.

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{blackbabes} ‘Mary Mary’ To End After Season 6; Gets Premiere Date On WE tv

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Mary Mary will not see a Season 7. WE tv said today that its popular docuseries will return September 28 for its sixth and final season.

The series, which chronicles the lives of Erica and Tina Campbell, sisters and members of the contemporary gospel group Mary Mary, will wrap with six hourlong episodes.

Mary Mary is going out on a high note. The fifth season drew 12.7 million total viewers and was the No. 1 cable program in its time slot among African-American women 25-54, according to WE tv and Nielsen stats.

Mary Mary is produced for WE tv by Entertainment One and executive produced by eOne's Tara Long, John Morayniss, Mark Herwick and WE tv's Lauren Gellert, Kate Farrell and Lauren Lazin, and Erica Campbell, Tina Campbell, Laura Halperin, and Mitchell Solarek.

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{blackbabes} Shondaland's For the People Adds Leftovers' Jasmin Savoy Brown as Lead

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ABC's For the People is bringing on a new co-counsel. Jasmin Savoy Brown (The Leftovers) has been added to the legal drama, filling in a lead role re-cast after the pilot, our sister site Deadline reports.

Brown will play Allison, roommate of Britt Robertson's Sandra, in Shondaland's midseason series. Lyndon Smith (Parenthood) played the part in the pilot.

In July, Robertson (Girlboss) replaced Britne Oldford as Sandra, a fiercely independent public defender who was driven to become a lawyer after her family suffered a grave injustice. Brown's Allison is Sandra's best friend from law school, who now works with her in the Federal Public Defender's Office.

In addition to The Leftovers, Brown has had roles on Grey's Anatomy, Will, Stitchers and Brooklyn Nine-Nine, among other series. She joins a cast that includes Anna Deavere Smith (Nurse Jackie) and Ben Rappaport (The Good Wife).

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