Celebrity Buzz Page 2 of 23
Celebrity news from Ghana, Africa and Hollywood — interviews, relationships, red carpets, milestones and behind-the-scenes stories.
Celebrity Buzz A Tony, an Emmy and a Grammy before her first Oscar nomination: Cynthia Erivo, one award short of EGOT
Cynthia Erivo, the British actress and singer of Nigerian heritage, won a Tony, an Emmy and a Grammy for The Color Purple on Broadway. Her roles as Harriet Tubman and Elphaba in Wicked brought Oscar nominations. An Oscar would complete her EGOT.
Celebrity Buzz Stormzy headlined Glastonbury in a stab vest designed by Banksy. His mother is from Ghana
On 28 June 2019, Stormzy became the first Black British solo artist to headline Glastonbury's Pyramid Stage, wearing a Union Jack stab-proof vest that Banksy later revealed he had designed. The British-Ghanaian rapper also funds Cambridge scholarships for Black students.
Celebrity Buzz Born in Kumasi, champion at WrestleMania: Kofi Kingston waited 11 years for his WWE title shot
Kofi Kingston, born Kofi Nahaje Sarkodie-Mensah in Kumasi in 1981, beat Daniel Bryan at WrestleMania 35 in April 2019 to become the first African-born WWE Champion, after 11 years with the company.
Celebrity Buzz Lupita Nyong’o won an Oscar for her first feature film role. She was a year out of drama school
Lupita Nyong'o was born in Mexico City to Kenyan parents and graduated from the Yale School of Drama in 2012. Her first feature film role, Patsey in 12 Years a Slave, won her the Oscar for Best Supporting Actress in March 2014.
Celebrity Buzz Michael Blackson made his name joking about Africa. Then he built a school in the Ghanaian town where he grew up
Michael Blackson was born in Nsaba, Ghana, spent part of his childhood in Liberia and started his comedy career in Philadelphia. In January 2023, a school he built in Agona Nsaba opened its doors.
Celebrity Buzz Born in Vienna to a Ghanaian doctor and a German psychologist: Boris Kodjoe’s route to Hollywood started on a tennis court
Boris Kodjoe was born in Vienna in 1973 to Eric Kodjoe, a Ghanaian physician, and Ursula, a German psychologist. A tennis scholarship took him to Virginia, a modelling scout found him there, and Soul Food made him a star.
Celebrity Buzz He read the European football results in his own English and the internet fell in love: the Akrobeto story
Akwasi Boadi, known as Akrobeto, had made more than 100 Kumawood films before November 2020, when clips of him reading European football results on UTV's The Real News went viral worldwide.
Celebrity Buzz Shatta Wale’s Beyoncé moment: how a Ghanaian dancehall star ended up on “Already”
On 19 July 2019, Beyoncé released The Lion King: The Gift, and the track "Already" featured Ghana's Shatta Wale alongside Major Lazer. A year later, its video appeared in Black Is King. Here is how Shatta Wale got there.
Celebrity Buzz Michaela Coel turned down a reported $1 million Netflix deal to keep her rights. Then she won an Emmy
Michaela Coel, born Michaela Ewuraba Boakye-Collinson to Ghanaian parents in London, became the first Black woman to win the Emmy for writing a limited series with I May Destroy You in 2021.
Celebrity Buzz Idris Elba’s father came from Sierra Leone. His mother, Eve, came from Ghana
Idris Elba was born Idrissa Akuna Elba in Hackney in 1972 to a Sierra Leonean father and a Ghanaian mother. The star of The Wire and Luther has spent years connecting his fame to both West African countries.