For the fourth time in its history, the Oscars are being postponed. The Academy of Motion Picture Arts and Sciences and the ABC Television Network said Monday that the 93rd Academy Awards will now be held April 25, 2021, eight weeks later than originally planned because of the pandemic’s effects on the movie industry.  The Academy’s Board of Governors also decided to extend the eligibility window beyond the calendar year to Feb. 28, 2021, for feature films, and delay the opening of the Academy Museum of Motion Pictures from December until April 30, 2021. “Our hope, in extending the eligibility period and our Awards date, is to provide the flexibility filmmakers need to finish and release their films without being penalized for something beyond anyone’s control,” said Academy President David Rubin and Academy CEO Dawn Hudson in a joint statement.  Karey Burke, the president of ABC Entertainment, added: “We find ourselves in uncharted territory this year and will continue to work with our partners at the Academy to ensure next year’s show is a safe and celebratory event.”  The 12th annual Governors Awards has also been canceled. The event, in which honorary Oscars are bestowed to previously announced recipients, is generally held in Los Angeles during the second week of November. The untelevised event is a major gathering for many of the year’s awards hopefuls.  The film academy has been grappling with how to handle the pandemic’s near shutdown of the theatrical exhibition and film production and festival business since mid-March. With theaters shuttered, release dates pushed and major festivals like Cannes canceled, the academy in April made the unprecedented decision to allow films that did not have a theatrical run to be eligible for the awards — but only for one year.  The Oscars ceremony date was the big lingering unknown, however. The organization’s leadership has acknowledged all along that the situation was fluid and that everything was on the table. Now, Oscars nominations will be announced on March 15 and the nominees luncheon will be on April 15. Still, many decisions need to be made. Academy leadership has not yet addressed the format of the show and whether it will be virtual or in-person. Further, the future eligibility of films for the 94th Oscars and that show date will be announced later. The Oscars have been postponed before, but never this far in advance. The ceremony was pushed back a week because of disastrous flooding in Los Angeles in 1938. In 1968, it was delayed two days following the assassination of Dr. Martin Luther King Jr. And in 1981, it was put off for 24 hours after President Ronald Reagan was shot in Washington D.C. The 1981 decision was made four hours before the broadcast was scheduled to begin.  The eligibility window was extended beyond 12 months once before — in advance of the 6th Academy Awards in 1934.  Other entertainment industry awards shows are also in flux. The 74th Tony Awards, originally set for June 7, has been postponed indefinitely. But the 72nd Emmy Awards is still holding onto Sept. 20. The 78th Golden Globes does not yet have a date.  Even as the country begins to “open up,” studios are still making decisions to delay releases. Just Friday, Warner Bros. announced that it was pushing back what was supposed to be the first major movie in theaters, Christopher Nolan’s “Tenet,” by two weeks.  
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Drake is the leading nominee at the 2020 BET Awards, which will celebrate its 20th anniversary later this month.BET announced Monday that Drake is nominated for six honors, including video of the year and best male hip-hop artist. For both best collaboration and the viewer’s choice award, Drake is nominated twice thanks to the hits “No Guidance” with Chris Brown and “Life Is Good” with Future.
The 2020 BET Awards will air live on June 28 across ViacomCBS networks, including CBS for the first time. The show, which will be a virtual celebration because of the coronavirus pandemic, will also air on BET and BET HER.FILE – This Nov. 20, 2019, file photo shows Megan Thee Stallion during a portrait session in New York. The singer says she works extremely hard in the studio when it comes to writing music.Breakthrough rappers Megan Thee Stallion and Roddy Ricch follow Drake with five nominations each. Megan Thee Stallion, who recently topped the Billboard Hot 100 chart with her Beyoncé-assisted “Savage” remix, is nominated for video of the year, best female hip-hop artist, best collaboration, the viewer’s choice award and album of the year for “Fever.”
Ricch, who won his first Grammy Award earlier this year, also topped the pop charts with his upbeat hit “The Box.” The video for that song is nominated for video of the year alongside DaBaby’s “Bop,” DJ Khaled, Nipsey Hussle and John Legend’s “Higher,” Doja Cat’s “Say So,” Megan The Stallion’s “Hot Girl Summer” and Chris Brown and Drake’s “No Guidance.”
Beyoncé, Minaj, Brown, Lizzo and DaBaby earned four nominations each.
Kanye West, who released a gospel album last year, is nominated for the Dr. Bobby Jones best gospel/inspirational award. He will compete with Kirk Franklin, the Clark Sisters, Fred Hammond, John P. Kee and PJ Morton. 
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Senegalese artists are taking a stand against racism and police brutality after George Floyd died in police custody in the United States. One street art crew is creating a fresco in the capital, Dakar, where Senegalese have held demonstrations this month in support of the Black Lives Matter movement.Camera: Estelle Ndjandjo Produced by: Rod James 
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The COVID-19 pandemic has taken a toll on South Korea’s film industry – one of the world’s most vibrant. And with growing concern over continuing outbreaks, it’s uncertain when audiences will feel safe enough to return to movie theaters.     Most South Korean cinemas never shut their doors during the pandemic even though box office sales have plummeted.  In May, over 1.5 million movie tickets were sold nationwide, down from nearly 17 million in January, according to the Korea Film Council. It was an improvement over April’s numbers, which dropped to a record low of 970,000 tickets.   Jason Bechervaise, who lectures on Korean cinema at Soongsil Cyber University in Seoul says the country’s film industry is “facing its biggest crisis” because of the coronavirus.   It’s a setback for an industry that gained global recognition when the dark comedy “Parasite” prevailed at the Academy Awards ceremony in February, becoming the first non-English language movie to take home the Oscar for Best Picture.  But, compared to film industries in Hollywood, China or Europe, South Korea’s is in a better position to bounce back, Bechervaise says.    “The industry has slowed down but hasn’t ground to a halt like it has in other countries,” Bechervaise says. “It’s resilient and cinemas are still open and as (COVID-19) cases decline, hopefully people will feel more confident about going to see films again.” South Korea was one of the first nations to flatten the curve of the disease, which health officials attribute to rapid testing and technology-based contact tracing.  But, in recent weeks the country has experienced an uptick in new infections, bringing the total number of cases to at least 12,121, the Korea Centers for Disease Control and Prevention reported Monday.    Faced with these rising numbers and what health experts warn could be a second wave of infections later this year, there’s scant expectation that box office revenue will return to pre-pandemic levels soon.   ‘Un-tact cinema’Now, one of South Korea’s largest cinema chains is trying to make movie-fans feel more comfortable about coming back to the theater by limiting contact between guests and staff as much as possible.    CJ-CGV has launched what it calls an “un-tact cinema” at one of its branches in Seoul where the popcorn, hot dogs and soft drinks have been relocated into vending machines and other snack bar orders are placed on kiosks and are delivered through a hands-free box.   Ticket takers have been replaced by two roving robots that provide showtime and other theatre information on their touch-screen torsos.   “It’s more hygienic than being face to face, so guests can feel safer and it’s just a more cool and interesting place,” says Lee Seung-soo, a CJ CGV official.      Lee says his company had been considering rolling-out some of these automated features even before the coronavirus compelled businesses to adopt social or physical distancing policies. But the urgency of preventing disease transmission between customers pushed-up the unveiling of the “un-tact cinema.”   He explains that in addition, CJ-CGV regularly disinfects all its facilities, and rows of theatre seats are left empty to provide more space between audience members.  He adds that employees will not lose their jobs due to automation and will instead be transferred to other positions.  “This un-tact cinema at this branch is just a test for now,” says Lee. “Based on how this program goes, we will decide whether to introduce these services to other locations.” Lotte Cinemas, another multiplex operator, has also introduced contact-free features at some of its venues according to media reports.  For some South Korean film buffs though, automated cinemas still might not provide the desired protection from COVID-19 carrying strangers.   Drive-in theaters Some are instead seeing the big screen from inside the safety of their own cars.  Park Jae-ho, whose family runs Seoul’s only drive in movie theatre says when the pandemic began, ticket sales soared. “Normally, business isn’t so good, but once the coronavirus hit, sales went up by 30-percent,” he says.   But like all cinemas in South Korea, Park’s drive in has mainly screened re-releases, because film production companies have pushed back opening dates for many new movies.   “Ticket sales are getting back to normal,” Park says. “Customers won’t come if they can’t watch new films.”  Lim Yoo-na and her boyfriend Kim Jeong-hak recently attended a screening of 2016’s La La Land at the Seoul drive in. The couple says they used to catch a movie up to three times a week before the pandemic.   “It feels safer inside a car than at a theatre right now,” Lim, a 28-year old baker, says.     Kim says he’s not sure when they will be able to resume their normal dating routine.  “We are going to wait until the pandemic is over before we start returning to movie theaters,” the 35-year old web designer says. “And there would also have to be some new films to watch before we’d go back.”  
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Bollywood actor Sushant Singh Rajput, 34, was found dead in his Mumbai home Sunday.Citing police sources, local media reported that the actor was found hanging in his apartment in an apparent suicide, but that no note was found.“It pains us to share that Sushant Singh Rajput is no longer with us,” Rajput’s publicist wrote in a statement, asking for privacy.Rajput, originally from Patna, Bihar, made his Bollywood debut in the film “Kai Po Che” (I have cut) in 2013. He notably portrayed former Indian cricket captain Mahendra Singh Dhoni in the film “M.S. Dhoni” in 2016.Rajput attended New Delhi University to study engineering before dropping out to pursue acting.Indian social media was flooded with messages from politicians, athletes, and fellow Bollywood stars in remembrance of Rajput.“I can’t believe this at all… it’s shocking… a beautiful actor and a good friend,” Nawazuddin Saddiqui wrote on Twitter.  
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Professional soccer has resumed in Italy after a three-month stoppage caused by the coronavirus pandemic. Juventus played against AC Milan in Turin in the second leg of the Italian cup semi-final. To the happiness of football fans all over Italy, matches in the country’s top league will resume June 20. However, stadiums remain empty of fans for the time being.When the Italian government took the difficult decision to suspend the football season on March 9 due to COVID-19, it was a sad moment for fans across the country. The indefinite suspension of the national sport was tough for many to digest. The resumption of matches Friday night was a moment of joy, despite the fact the game was nothing to write home about. Playing at the Allianz Stadium in Turin were host Juventus and AC Milan – in a game that would qualify one of the teams for the final of the Italian Cup to be played in Rome Wednesday. The atmosphere was surreal with no one in the stands and quality on both sides after such a long break from the field clearly lacking.Juventus defender Leonardo Bonucci spoke after the game.Bonucci said his emotions are strange, playing in an empty stadium after 90 days of no competition. He said it was difficult at the beginning and AC Milan played well despite only having a 10-man team, but said Juventus managed to reach their objective to play in the final.Italy’s top football division, Serie A, will get underway again on June 20. Before the season can end, there are still 110 regular-season games left to play and 4 make-up games. Italian soccer authorities are hoping and working towards re-opening stadiums in July and allowing at least some fans to watch the games live.But until then, most fans will be watching the games from home because even at sports bars social distancing rules are in place. Some soccer teams have thought up innovative ways to avoid the sadness of having to play in front of empty seats.Lazio, one of the two top-division teams in Rome, launched the idea of fans purchasing cardboard cutouts of their image to be placed in the stands when the team is playing. The proceeds will go to the Red Cross. Other teams will play recorded cheers after a team score. The aim is to maintain a semblance of the enthusiastic atmosphere at Italian football games. Inter Milan has said it will be using lights and graphic effects during their matches.       
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Greece has vowed to ratchet up legal pressure against a leading U.S. auction house in a bid to win back a 2,700-year-old bronze statuette allegedly looted by a controversial antiquities dealer and then sold to a family of collectors in New York.
 
The move is part of a new, high-powered drive by Athens to track auction houses around the globe and repatriate looted ancient artifacts — a campaign that could have far-reaching repercussions on the antiquities market.  
 
Greece’s legal offensive follows a U.S court decision this week to reject a bid by Sotheby’s auction house to proceed with the sale of the eighth century bronze horse, ruling that the rights of a country to reclaim an integral part of its cultural heritage trump those deriving from commercial interest and gain.  
 
Culture Minister Lina Mendoni said the court ruling was of “enormous legal importance” and a major victory in the fight against the illegal antiquities trade that robs countries of cultural and historical treasures.  
 
“The ministry will proceed with every legal process to repatriate the statuette, stressing that when stolen and illegally exported monuments are returned… [the country of origin] regains a segment of its history,” Mendoni said.  
 
Sotheby’s had listed the horse, which is 14 centimeters tall, for auction two years ago, asking between $150,000 and $250,000 for its sale.  
 
Suspicious of its provenance, the Greek government intervened three days before its May 2018 auction, ordering the sale to stop because the bronze statuette had been found in the records of Robin Symes, a British art dealer considered to be among the world’s leading traffickers of looted antiquities.Symes is under investigation by Greek and Italian authorities for allegedly playing a pivotal role in trafficking stolen artifacts to private collectors and museums in the West. While convicted by a British court in 2005 and sentenced to two years in prison for lying about the extent and value of his antiquities collection, estimated to be worth more than 125 million British pounds at the time, the 81-year-old has never stood trial or been convicted of illicit antiquities trading.
 
In addition, officials said in a detailed protest letter to Sotheby’s, that the bronze horse lacked the kind of paper trail that typically accompanies ancient artifacts legally exported out of Greece.  
 
Sotheby’s pulled the statue from its auction.   It quickly went on the offensive, though, launching an unprecedented legal crusade against the Greek government, insisting that the bronze horse was legally obtained by the family of the late collectors Howard and Saretta Barnet in 1973 for 15,000 British pounds.  
 
It also demanded the contested sale proceed — a request the U.S Court of Appeals for the Second Circuit rejected this week, siding with Greece. In its ruling, the court said Greece was immune from any legal action from Sotheby’s because the case in question concerned an issue of cultural heritage than a commercial dispute between rival business interests.It was not immediately clear whether Sotheby’s would drop its legal fight.   “While we are disappointed with the decision,” the auction house said in a statement, “it does not impact what is at the heart of this matter — there is, and remains, no evidence to support Greece’s claim to ownership of the bronze sculpture.  
 
‘We, together with our client, are reviewing next steps.”  
 
Under Greek law, all antiquities found in the country are state property. Unable for decades to effectively police its vast sprawl of ancient sites and archaeological digs, though, Greece has seen many of its treasures plundered and secretly siphoned out of the country, often landing in the hands of prized collections and renowned Western museums.  
 
In 2006, a high-gear restitution campaign forced the J. Paul Getty Museum in Los Angeles to relinquish ownership of ancient works Athens proved had been illegally taken.  
 
Together with authorities in Italy, Greece exposed how a network of prestigious museums, wealthy collectors and tony auction houses turned a blind eye to the illicit practices of dealers for years, supplying them ancient art and archaeological treasures.  
 
The campaign remains hamstrung by a mire of legal difficulties, including  producing proof of illicit antiquities smuggling.   
Still, with countries across the globe increasingly pursuing the return of cultural treasures, experts believe the U.S. court ruling could mark a major game-changer for the antiquities market.  
 
“New York courts have long sought to protect the marketplace for from being flooded with looted or stolen goods,” said Leila Amineddoleh, a lawyer for the Greek government involved in the case of the bronze statuette. “This decision enables foreign governments to continue communicating with art market participants to prevent the sale of illicit goods and protect consumers.”  
 
It would be “troubling” she said, “for auction houses or dealers to prevent foreign governments from inquiring about suspicious items on the market due to the fear of litigation.”  
 
Sotheby’s was the first auction house in the U.S. to lodge suit against a foreign government to challenge its trade but others have followed.  
 
Last year, Safani Gallery in New York, among the oldest galleries of ancient art in the United States, filed a lawsuit against Italy asking a federal judge to block Rome’s bid to seize and repatriate an ancient marble statue of Alexander the Great. 
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Vogue’s Anna Wintour has apologized in an internal email for “mistakes” made in her 32-year tenure in not doing enough to elevate black voices on her staff and publishing images and stories that have been racially and culturally “hurtful or intolerant.”
The fashion doyenne wrote in the June 4 email: “I take full responsibility for those mistakes.”
The magazine’s editor in chief, who is also Conde Nast’s artistic director and global content adviser, had no further comment Wednesday on the email obtained by The Associated Press. It was first revealed Tuesday in the New York Post.  
Wintour’s mea culpa surfaced soon after Adam Rapoport, the editor in chief of another Conde Nast title, Bon Appetit, resigned after a photo surfaced of him in brownface, amplifying outrage over how the food magazine treats employees of color.
On Monday, the top editor and a co-founder of the lifestyle site Refinery29, Christene Barberich, resigned after former employees complained on social media of a toxic culture and unfair treatment of staff members of color over the years.  
Meanwhile, Samira Nasr on Wednesday was named the first editor in chief of color in the 153-year history of U.S. Harper’s Bazaar.
In her email, Wintour referenced the country’s “historic and heartbreaking moment” after the death of George Floyd and other black people at the hands of police, events that sparked rage and grief in protests playing out for more than two weeks around the world.
“I want to start by acknowledging your feelings and expressing my empathy towards what so many of you are going through: sadness, hurt, and anger too. I want to say this especially to the Black members of our team — I can only imagine what these days have been like. But I also know that the hurt, and violence, and injustice we’re seeing and talking about have been around for a long time.
Recognizing it and doing something about it is overdue,” Wintour told her staff.
She called for the tumult to be a “time of listening, reflection, and humility for those of us in positions of privilege and authority. It should also be a time of action and commitments.”
Wintour didn’t specify what content she was referring to as offensive, or what steps will be taken to rectify hiring and bring on a new creative approach. She pledged, “On a corporate level, work is being done to support organizations in a real way. These actions will be announced as soon as possible.”
She wrote: “Meanwhile, I want to say plainly that I know Vogue has not found enough ways to elevate and give space to Black editors, writers, photographers, designers and other creators. We have made mistakes too, publishing images or stories that have been hurtful or intolerant. I take full responsibility for those mistakes.”
Wintour said her staff includes “too few” black employees. She didn’t say how many there are.
“I know that it is not enough to say we will do better, but we will — and please know that I value your voices and responses as we move forward.”
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FX’s fictionalized hit show “Pose” introduced many to the underground world of ballroom culture, in which historically black and Latino LGBT youths compete in elaborate performances on a runway.
 
Now “Legendary” on HBO Max is serving up real ballroom battles to the mainstream, with competitors in eight “houses” vying to be declared the best and take home $100,000. Judging the competition are recording artist Megan Thee Stallion, actress and activist Jameela Jamil, stylist and TV personality Law Roach, and ballroom legend Leiomy Maldonado.
During battles, competitors wear elaborate costumes, makeup and wigs. They vogue, dance like acrobats and spin like ice-skaters.
“It’s like if ballet and break-dancing had a baby,” said Jamil, best known for her role on “The Good Place.”  
But “Legendary” is not just about being fierce. It’s about overcoming.
In the first episode, one of the competitors opens up about being ostracized from his family when he came out, a sad truth for many who turned to the ballroom community for acceptance.
“Growing up I already knew my mother wasn’t accepting of my sexuality,” Xa’Pariis Ebony says. “When I did decide to finally come out to her, I was put out. Like, I had to sleep in parks sometimes. But ballroom just really gave me a family. It really did teach me to be comfortable with who I am.”
The ballroom community not only offers a place where LGBT youth of color feel welcome but also powerful, Jamil said.
“These are people who are living a lifestyle that so much of our ignorant society shuns,” she said. “The fact that they are doing it as boldly, as loudly, as colorfully as possible, is so empowering.”
Although widely viewed as a big step by the ballroom community, “Legendary” has been criticized for allowing Jamil and Megan Thee Stallion to be judges, as opposed to others who are a part of the community.
Jamil in particular was singled out when HBO sent out a news release about the show that incorrectly identified her as the emcee. The competition’s emcee is Dashaun Wesley, a ballroom legend.
The backlash grew so much that Jamil worried that too much attention was on the controversy.
“I said to the show, I was like, ‘Do you think it would be better if I leave?'” she said. “And it was the ballroom community and it was Dashaun and Leiomy who got straight on the phone with me and they were like, ‘You’re not going anywhere.’ And the contestants like, grabbed one of the producers and were like, ‘Don’t let her leave,’ and it was because they don’t believe in ostracizing people. They believe in inclusion and not exclusion.”
And that, she said, was her “first big lesson of really experiencing the heart of ballroom.”
She defended her and Megan as judges, saying the show needed Hollywood names to get the proper attention it deserves.
“You need to make sure that you’re going to have eyeballs on a show and therefore you need people who have big followings,” she said. “And unfortunately, because of how our society is set up, the people with those big followings are often cis privileged people. So we are just here to try and do our service as good allies and open the door to let everyone else in.”  
The show’s message of acceptance is so strong, one of the eight houses competing is comprised entirely of cis women.
Wesley said he was involved in making that decision, which also has faced criticism among the ballroom community.
“The powerful thing is that you get to see a house that’s filled cisgender women. You get to see a house that’s filled with nothing but gay men. You get to see a house that’s filled with a cisgendered woman, a Hispanic man, a black man, a drag queen and a trans woman,” Wesley said. “You get to see all genres of everything.”
The message: It doesn’t matter who you are as long as you can bring it to the runway.
Those involved with the show say they hope introducing ballroom culture to a broader audience leads to more understanding and acceptance of LGBT culture.
“There are two different types of people that I’m really looking forward seeing (the show),” Jamil said. “One, are the young kids who might be queer or trans themselves, who haven’t seen themselves reflected back on mainstream television being glamorized and glorified. I think it’s important for them to know that like, ‘Oh, maybe not in my hometown, but somewhere there is a place for me and there’s a community for me where I would be accepted.'”
Next, she said she can’t wait for parents of such children and “people who maybe feared this culture or thought there was something wrong or dirty or shameful about it” to see the show.
“They can see the beauty and the joy of it,” Jamil said. “And, you know, I think that a lot of ignorance and bigotry just comes from fear of the unknown. And so let’s get to know these people.”
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Italian authorities on Thursday unveiled a stolen artwork by British artist Banksy that was painted as a tribute to the victims of the 2015 terror attacks at the Bataclan music hall in Paris.L’Aquila prosecutors said the work was recovered on Wednesday during a search of a home in the countryside of Tortoreto, near the Adriatic coast in the Abruzzo region’s Teramo province. It had been “hidden well” in the attic, prosecutors said.  No arrests have been made.  French officials last year announced the theft of the piece, a black image appearing to depict a person mourning that was painted on one of the Bataclan’s emergency exit doors.Ninety people were killed at the Bataclan on Nov. 13, 2015, when Islamic extremists invaded the music hall, one of several targets that night in which a total of 130 people died.Authorities said they were still investigating how the artwork arrived in Italy, and the role of any Italians potentially involved. They said the discovery was the fruit of a joint Italian-French police investigation.At a news conference Thursday in L’Aquila, a French embassy liaison officer, Maj. Christophe Cengig, said the Bataclan owners were informed that the work had been recovered.  “It belongs to the Bataclan, it belongs to all of France in a sense,” he said. The owners, he added, “were thrilled, very happy.”  L’Aquila Prosecutor Michele Renzo said authorities believed the motivation for the theft was financial, not ideological.  Some Chinese nationals were living in the Tortoreto home, but they appeared unaware that the work was there. Teramo Carabinieri Col. Emanuele Pipola said someone else had access to the attic. 
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The organization behind the Oscar awards elected “Selma” director Ava DuVernay on Wednesday as it slightly increased its number of female and black governors.The Academy of Motion Picture Arts and Sciences has repeatedly been hit with criticism in recent years for a lack of diversity both among its members, and among the Oscar nominees and winners they select.”As a result of this election, the number of female Academy governors increases from 25 to 26, and people of color increases from 11 to 12, including the three Governors-at-Large,” the Academy said in a statement.DuVernay’s election comes well after the #OscarsSoWhite movement was launched in January 2015 in response to the Academy picking an all-white slate of nominees — the same year “Selma” was in contention.The movie about Martin Luther King Jr’s civil rights march did earn a best picture nomination, and won best original song, but was seen to have been snubbed in other categories.Its star David Oyelowo, who failed to pick up a nomination, last week claimed Academy members had threatened to sink “Selma” after cast and crew protested the death of Eric Garner with “I Can’t Breathe” T-shirts at the film’s 2014 premiere.The Academy responded on Thursday, tweeting: “Ava & David, we hear you. Unacceptable. We’re committed to progress.”The expression “I Can’t Breathe” has once again become a rallying cry for anti-racism protesters after the death of George Floyd last month.Garner and Floyd were both African American men who died in police custody.Four of those joining the board for the first time are women, including Lynette Howell Taylor — who produced this year’s Oscars ceremony — while Whoopi Goldberg was among those reelected. 
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NASCAR has banned the Confederate flag from all events and properties. NASCAR says the Confederate flag “runs contrary to our commitment to providing a welcoming and inclusive environment for all fans, our competitors and our industry.” Former chairman Brian France in 2015 tried to ban the flying of Confederate flags at race tracks, a proposal too broad to enforce and one that angered NASCAR’s core Southern-based fan base.   NASCAR banned the Confederate flag from its races and properties on Wednesday, formally distancing itself from what for many is a symbol of slavery and racism that had been a familiar sight at stock car events for more than 70 years.  The move comes amid social unrest around the globe following the death in police custody of George Floyd, an unarmed black man in Minneapolis. Protests have roiled the nation for days and Confederate monuments are being taken down across the South — the traditional fan base for NASCAR. FILE – Bubba Wallace greets fans during a NASCAR Cup Series race at Martinsville Speedway in Martinsville, Va., Oct. 27, 2019.Bubba Wallace, NASCAR’s lone black driver, called this week for the banishment of the Confederate flag and said there was “no place” for it in the sport. At long last, NASCAR obliged.  “The presence of the Confederate flag at NASCAR events runs contrary to our commitment to providing a welcoming and inclusive environment for all fans, our competitors and our industry,” NASCAR said. “Bringing people together around a love for racing and the community that it creates is what makes our fans and sport special.  The display of the Confederate flag will be prohibited from all NASCAR events and properties.” The move was announced before Wednesday night’s race at Martinsville Speedway where Wallace, an Alabama native, was driving a Chevrolet with a #BlackLivesMatter paint scheme. Wallace got a shoutout on Twitter from several athletes, including NBA star LeBron James, for using the paint scheme in the race. The flag issue has been a thorny one for NASCAR. Former chairman Brian France in 2015 tried to ban the flying of Confederate flags at race tracks, angering many fans. NASCAR did not address how it would enforce the policy or indicate any penalties for fans who violate it by bringing the Confederate flag to the track. NASCAR has not raced with fans since the sport resumed last month amid the pandemic and was expected to have minimal fans allowed at races this month in Florida and Georgia. 
 
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The art director of Cairo’s international film festival has resigned amid calls for his removal because of past inflammatory posts on social media, the festival said.  The resignation of Egyptian film critic Ahmed Shawky was announced Tuesday in a statement by the festival’s advisory board. Shawky, who was acting artistic director of the 2019 festival, had been appointed artistic director of this year’s festival earlier this month.  His recent appointment brought criticism from activists and others who pointed to past comments Shawky made that apparently espoused violence. Those include referring to the death of dozens of Egyptian soccer fans in a notorious riot as their being “culled.”The statement said the festival would continue preparing for its 2020 edition and “uphold our principles of championing diversity, bridging cultures, encouraging dialogue, celebrating new voices.” The festival is scheduled for November 19-28.The festival statement did not provide reasons for Shawky’s resignation. The film critic did not answer phone calls and messages seeking comment Wednesday.But Shawky’s resignation came after activists threatened to write to foreign filmmakers invited to the festival to inform them of Shawky’s history.  Among the most controversial statements of Shawky’s were posts about a 2012 soccer riot that left more than 70 people dead in Egypt’s worst sports disaster and one of the world’s deadliest.  In a 2014 post, Shawky referred to the deaths of the soccer fans as their being “culled,” suggesting those who died were somehow inferior and selectively killed. Almost all of those killed were from The Al-Ahly club’s “Ultras” — hardcore supporters of the Cairo-based team and the country’s largest fan association.Shawky used the same word to describe the death of the daughter of a Muslim Brotherhood leader who was killed in the summer of 2013 when security forces descended on supporters of ousted Islamist President Mohammed Morsi.  “No-one should feel sorry for her,” he said. “If I know someone like her … I would kill her with my own hands.”‘Hurtful words’Following the recent backlash on social media, Shawky apologized this week, saying in a statement that he used “hurtful words” that were “painful to the families of the dead.”He has since shut down his social media accounts.Shawky was also sharply critical of Syrian filmmakers documenting the country’s civil war, accusing them of taking advantage of the suffering to gain Oscar nominations.
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A toppled statue of an Englishman involved in the slave trade in the British city of Bristol will be retrieved from the harbor and placed in a local museum to educate residents about the history of racism, the City Council announced Wednesday.A statue of Edward Colston, a local philanthropist who worked for the Royal African Company in the 17th century, was toppled by anti-racism protesters and thrown into the harbor on Sunday.In statement on the Council’s website, Mayor Marvin Rees announced the creation of a new commission that will explore more fully the southern city’s ties to racism and inequality.”As a city, we all have very different understandings of our past,” he wrote.Rees noted that “Education of our history has often been flawed,” and called for an increased “accuracy of our city’s history which is accessible to all (and) will help us understand each other, our differences, our contradictions and our complexities.”FILE – A banner is taped over the inscription on the pedestal of the toppled statue of Edward Colston in Bristol, England, June 8, 2020.As part of the new exploration of the city’s history, Colston’s statue will be placed in a museum alongside signs from Sunday’s Black Lives Matter protest.It has not yet been determined who or what will replace Colston on the plinth.Some activists have advocated for a statue of civil rights campaigner Dr. Paul Stephenson to be erected as a replacement, the BBC reports.Stephenson spearheaded the Bristol bus boycott in the 1960s, which ultimately resulted in overturning a ban on ethnic minorities working on city buses.Famed artist Banksy submitted an informal proposal on Instagram, suggesting that the statue be resurrected and restored to its plinth — with the addition of bronze protesters in the act of removing Colston.”Everyone happy. A famous day commemorated,” he wrote.Edward Colston was a senior official in the Royal African Company, which in the late 1600s trafficked 80,000 African men, women and children to slavery in the Americas. According to the AP, Bristol’s port transported at least half a million Africans into slavery before Britain outlawed the slave trade in 1807.Upon his death in 1721, Colston bequeathed his fortune to charity. Many streets and schools in Bristol are named for Colston.
 
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HBO Max has temporarily removed “Gone With the Wind” from its streaming library in order to add historical context to the 1939 film long criticized for romanticizing slavery and the Civil War-era South.  
Protests in the wake of George Floyd’s death have forced entertainment companies to grapple with the appropriateness of both current and past productions. On Tuesday, the Paramount Network dropped the long-running reality series “Cops” after 33 seasons. The BBC also removed episodes of “Little Britain,” a comedy series that featured a character in blackface, from its streaming service.  
In an op-ed Monday in the Los Angeles Times, the filmmaker John Ridley urged WarnerMedia to take down “Gone With the Wind,” arguing that it “romanticizes the Confederacy in a way that continues to give legitimacy to the notion that the secessionist movement was something more, or better, or more noble than what it was — a bloody insurrection to maintain the ‘right’ to own, sell and buy human beings.”
In a statement, the AT&T-owned WarnerMedia, which owns HBO Max, called “Gone With the Wind” “a product of its time” that depicts racial prejudices.  
“These racist depictions were wrong then and are wrong today, and we felt that to keep this title up without an explanation and a denouncement of those depictions would be irresponsible,” said an HBO Max spokesman in a statement.  
The company said that when “Gone With the Wind” returns to the recently launched streaming service, it will include “historical context and a denouncement of those very depictions, but will be presented as it was originally created, because to do otherwise would be the same as claiming these prejudices never existed.”
Based on a 1936 book by Margaret Mitchell, “Gone With the Wind” is a historical epic about a romance between Scarlett O’Hara (Vivien Leigh), the daughter of a Georgia plantation owner, and Rhett Butler (Clark Gable), a gambler who joins the Confederacy.  
“Gone With the Wind” has long been denounced for featuring slave characters who remain loyal to their former owners after the abolition of slavery. It remains the highest-grossing film of all time when adjusted for inflation. It won eight Academy Awards including best picture and best supporting actress for Hattie McDaniel, the first black actress to be nominated or win an Oscar.
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The Recording Academy is making changes to several Grammy Awards categories, including the often-debated best new artist title, and having nomination review committee members sign disclosure forms to prevent conflicts of interest.
The new rules announced Wednesday will affect the 63rd annual Grammy Awards, which will air live on Jan. 31, 2021.  
The best new artist award has been criticized for decades, and the academy has tried to evolve with the ever-changing music industry by continually updating the category’s rules. In recent years, the award has been scrutinized because the academy placed a song and album limit, disqualifying certain performers. But the new rules say, “there is no longer a specified maximum number of releases prohibiting artists from entering” the category.
The change will benefit younger artists, specifically rappers, who tend to release many singles and therefore did not qualify in recent years because they surpassed the 30-song limit. Whitney Houston and Lady Gaga missed out on being best new artist nominees because of the category’s rules in the years they marked their breakthroughs.
The academy also said musicians invited to participate in a nomination review committee — in place to safeguard a specific genre’s integrity and to serve as additional checks and balances — will have to agree to the terms of a conflict of interest disclosure form. Committee participants will have to reveal if they would benefit from an artist’s nomination for that category, whether the ties are financial, familial or creative.
If a conflict is discovered, that person would not be allowed to sit on that committee that year.
Some of the new changes could be a response to former Recording Academy CEO Deborah Dugan, who was fired only months into her job and days before the 2020 Grammys, held in January. Dugan had said the awards show was rigged and muddled with conflicts of interest. Questions have loomed for years around the nominations process for the Grammys, but the doubts reached a new level following Dugan’s comments.
The academy has said that nominees are selected from contenders voted into the top 20 in each category. But critics have called the voting less than transparent, because the choice of finalists happens behind closed doors. That has stirred claims that members of key nominating committees promote projects they worked on or projects they favor based on personal relationships.
The academy’s board of trustees approved the new changes last month. The organization also said it is making its 66-page rules and guidelines book public for the first time, at Grammys.com, starting Wednesday.
Songs and albums released between Sept. 1, 2019 and Aug. 31, 2020 will be eligible for nominations at the 2021 Grammys. There are 84 categories.  
Other changes approved by the board:
— The best rap/sung performance Grammy will now be called best melodic rap performance. The category was originally titled best rap/sung collaboration and was established at the 2002 Grammys for collaborations between rappers and R&B or pop singers. For the 2017 Grammys, the academy renamed it and allowed solo artists who sing and rap on a song — from Drake to Chris Brown — to compete. The newly titled category, available to solo performances or collaborations, now “requires a strong and clear presence of melody combined with rap cadence, and is inclusive of dialects, lyrics or performance elements from non-rap genres including R&B, rock, country, electronic or more.”
— The best urban contemporary album award, which debuted at the 2013 Grammys and represented R&B albums that fused elements of other genres, from rock to dance, has been renamed to best progressive R&B album. Qualified albums should “include the more progressive elements of R&B and may include samples and elements of hip-hop, rap, dance, and electronic music.”
— The Latin pop album Grammy has expanded and been renamed to best Latin pop or urban album, while the best Latin rock, urban or alternative album will now be called best Latin rock or alternative album.
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The editor-in-chief of Bon Appetit, Adam Rapoport, resigned after a photo of him dressed in a stereotypical Puerto Rican costume surfaced on social media.Staffers at the magazine had criticized him after the photo, of him and his wife, circulated on Twitter. That tweet featured a screenshot of a 2013 Instagram photo by Rapoport’s wife that depicted the two dressed up in costume. In the screenshot, his wife tagged the photo “boricua,” a reference to Puerto Ricans, and called Rapoport “papi.” He was wearing a large, heavy chain, a do-rag and a baseball cap. His wife’s account is private.  In an Instagram post, Rapoport said he was stepping down as editor “to reflect on the work that I need to do as a human being.” He said the photo was of an “extremely ill-conceived” Halloween costume 16 years ago. He acknowledged “blind spots” as an editor and said the magazine’s staff and readers deserved better leadership.Furor over the photo unleashed other employee complaints. One staffer, Sohla El-Waylly, claimed on Instagram that she hasn’t been paid for appearing in videos for Bon Appetit’s popular YouTube channel, in contrast to white editors who did likewise. She called for Rapoport’s resignation and for people of color on staff to receive “fair titles, fair salaries, and compensation for video appearances.” She received support online from several of her colleagues. At least four said they would not appear in the publication’s videos until their colleagues of color received equal pay.  Condé Nast, the magazine’s publisher, did not address those concerns directly. But in a statement it said it is “dedicated to creating a diverse, inclusive and equitable workplace.”Several of Bon Appetit’s staff, including El-Waylly, are YouTube stars. Devoted fans devour videos of them making dishes, sometimes with celebrities; recreating junk-food classics from scratch, like Oreos and Warheads, in the magazine’s test kitchen; and just chatting about food, food media and each other. Videos get millions of views.Bon Appetit has been trying to tap into a national moment, saying recently that it will be highlighting more black-owned food businesses and “tackling more of the racial and political issues at the core of the food world.”Media companies are facing their own moment of reckoning around racism as rallies protesting police brutality against black people  spread across the U.S., touching off broader conversations about race.  Reporters, editors and other staff members, particularly people of color, are speaking up about racist content and policies at their publications. New York Times editorial page editor James Bennet resigned Sunday over publication of an opinion piece by Sen. Tom Cotton, an Arkansas Republican, that advocated for using military force to quell unrest. That followed a revolt by many Times employees, some of whom argued that publication of Cotton’s argument endangered the lives of black staff.The Philadelphia Inquirer’s top editor resigned  Saturday after the paper’s staffers pushed back against a “Buildings Matter, Too,” headline on a column about buildings damaged in the protests. The headline was a play on the Black Lives Matter movement that the paper acknowledged was “offensive and inappropriate.”Colleagues of a black reporter at the Pittsburgh Post-Gazette  are supporting her after the paper told her she could not cover the police brutality protests because she was biased.Also on Monday, Christene Barberich, the founder and top editor of Refinery29, a website owned by Vice and aimed at women, said she was stepping down after seeing “the raw and personal accounts of Black women and women of color regarding their experiences” at the company. Several former staffers had posted on social media about racism they experienced, including pay disparities.  In a memo to staff, Vice CEO Nancy Dubuc said the company will begin a company-wide and systematic overhaul of “how we hire, develop and retain a globally diverse workforce.” Barberich will remain with the company through a “transition period,” Dubuc said. 
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Former World Athletics’ Chief Lamine Diack was in a Paris courtroom Monday as a corruption trial opened against him. The case involves a Russian doping scandal. Eighty-seven-year-old Lamine Diack seemed relaxed as he made his court appearance Monday, sporting a dark grey suit. Arguments in the case were originally due to start in January, but postponed when new documents containing testimony from his son and co-defendant were submitted to the court. Lamine Diack is the former head of World Athletics – which was once known as the IAAF. As head of the IAAF from 1999 to 2015, Diack was once one of the most powerful figures in world athletics. Today, he lives under house arrest in Paris, charged with corruption and money laundering.  Prosecutors allege Diack solicited millions of dollars to cover up Russian doping tests.  Some of the money allegedly went to finance Macky Sall’s 2012 presidential campaign in Senegal. Sall won the election.  If found guilty, Diack faces up to 10 years in prison.  Diack denies wrongdoing. The trial is being held in Paris as the alleged money-laundering happened on French soil.  One of Diack’s lawyers, Simon Ndiaye, told reporters that people were unfairly lashing out against his client without any precise elements to back up their accusations. Ndiaye said Diack’s accusers have forgotten others surrounding the ex-chief. His client’s only concern, Ndiaye said, was to defend the IAAF and preserve its financial resources.  One of Diack’s sons, Papa Massata Diack, also faces corruption among other charges. He remains in Senegal, which has refused to extradite him, and will be tried in absentia. Four others are also on trial.  Briton Sebastian Coe replaced Diack as the association’s head. He is trying to rebuild trust in athletics and has introduced changes in how sport is governed. 
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To entice a European TV executive shopping for programs a few years ago, ABC offered up glossy fare including “Scandal” starring Kerry Washington and “How to Get Away with Murder” with Oscar-winner Viola Davis.
 
“‘This is great, but when are you going to start bringing us shows that don’t have black leads?'” the buyer asked in the 2015 meeting, as then-ABC executive Channing Dungey recounts. “I was sitting in a room in the 21st century, and I thought I was being slapped across the face.”
 
The remark was unusually blunt but the attitude is a familiar one within Hollywood’s own ranks: African American actors and stories make for poor exports, an assertion that’s burdened black artists and limited their opportunity and influence.
 
Until now. Box-office hits like “Black Panther” and the ethnically diverse “Fast & Furious” franchise increasingly undercut what filmmaker Ava DuVernay calls a “longstanding myth,” joined by a new generation of successful small-screen fare.
 
It’s an issue with resonance, as American torment over to the videotaped death of a black man in police custody is reflected in demonstrations held far outside this nation’s borders. Protesters carrying “We Are All George Floyd” and “Black Lives Matter” placards have gathered in cities including Montreal, London, Paris, Rio de Janeiro and Auckland.
 
Dungey, who at ABC became the first African American to head a major broadcast network and now is Netflix’s vice president for original series, says diversity’s appeal is proven by the streaming service’s globally distributed programs and closely held viewership figures provided to The Associated Press.
 
Racial discrimination and injustice are themes of some, but not all, of the Netflix projects that have drawn widespread audiences. The characters tend to be African American, created by the black writers, directors and stars whose progress in the U.S. entertainment industry has outpaced that of other people of color.
 
“When They See Us,” DuVernay’s Emmy-winning miniseries about the Central Park Five case, was watched by 31 million households worldwide in its first month of release, according to Netflix, with 51 percent of the audience outside the United States. “American Son,” about a missing black teenager that was produced by and starred Washington, was watched in 17 million homes worldwide in its first month, with non-U.S. subscribers making up 46 percent of viewers.
 
“Raising Dion,” about a black youngster with superpowers, drew attention from 32 million households, with 60 percent outside the U.S.
 
“I thought we might be in trouble when it’s called ‘American Son,'” Washington said of her film’s global prospects. “But the (African) diaspora was vast and large and the struggles that people of color have in facing prejudice when dealing with people in authority, that is not an American phenomenon. Racism and the prejudice expressed particularly toward young men of color happens all over the world.”
 
Multinational consumption is critical to the streaming service, with about 65 percent of its subscribers outside the U.S.
 
Netflix has begun sharing viewership results with its creators, resulting in what DuVernay called “astounding numbers” that are in dismaying contrast to how her major studio films, “A Wrinkle in Time” and “Selma,” fared with limited international releases.
 
“It wasn’t until I made a small documentary about prisons in America that I felt the world watching my work, and that was because Netflix made ‘13th’ available in 100-plus countries,” she said of her Oscar-nominated 2016 film.
 
The numbers provided by Netflix to the AP aren’t wholly revelatory: they represent one of the service’s viewing yardsticks — households that watched at least two minutes of a program. Netflix declined to provide overall program rankings.
 
Where viewers of black-led projects are found varies widely. “When They See Us” was most popular in Britain, Ireland, the Benelux countries (Belgium, the Netherlands, Luxembourg), and in Africa. “American Son” did well in France, Africa, Mexico and Latin America.
 
“If you think about the global market, what does the rest of the world look like? The rest of the world looks like America’s diversity. It does not look like Europe,” said Darnell Hunt, a University of California, Los Angeles, professor and lead author of annual research on diversity and profitability. “The rest of it is Africa, it’s Asia, it’s Australia, all these other countries that look like America’s minority groups.”
 
Kenya Barris, creator of ABC’s sitcom “black-ish” and Netflix’s new comedy “#blackAF,” saw the bias at work with the 2017 big-screen romp “Girls Trip,” which he co-wrote. It was a U.S. box- office hit with $115 million but drew only $25 million internationally, which Barris attributed to a lack of support.
 
The result is different when a TV show such as “black-ish” is widely seen.
 
“I was in England, gave a waiter my (credit) card and he was like, ‘Oh my God, are you Kenya Barris? I love your show.’ And I was shocked,” said the writer-producer.
 
Studios and others resisting inclusiveness risk a “death knell” as newcomers such as Netflix open their doors, DuVernay said.
 
“Now there is a way to say, ‘I’m not going to deal with the trauma of this lie that handcuffs my work,'” she said. “I’m going to make work where it is embraced and where it will be shared widely.”
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Until last week, if you clicked the hashtag #whitelivesmatter on Twitter, Facebook or Instagram, you’d find a smattering of right-wing posts by those opposed to the wave of global protests against racism and police brutality.  But follow that hashtag now, and you’re likely to find something much different: random, fan-created videos of South Korean pop music stars.  Over the past week, K-Pop fans around the world have commandeered the #whitelivesmatter hashtag, as well as #alllivesmatter and #bluelivesmatter, as a way to drown out racist posts that have also used those labels. It’s not just hashtags. When the Dallas, Texas police department set up a mobile app for users to submit videos of “illegal activity” from the protests, K-Pop fans quickly overwhelmed the site with tributes to their favorite stars, forcing the police department to take it down because of “technical difficulties.”  The online disruption, combined with the millions of dollars donated by K-Pop celebrities and their followers to Black Lives Matter causes, underscores how international fans of Korean music have emerged as a formidable organizing force for social causes around the world. “Their ability to massively coordinate action is just unparalleled. I’m serious when I say they are the most potent online force in the world right now,” says TK Park, who has written about Korean pop culture and runs the “Ask A Korean!” blog. Organizing skills It may seem random, but the closer you look the more sense it makes. K-Pop has become a global phenomenon, with massive fan bases in every part of the world. In the United States, many of those fans are African Americans. As Park points out, K-Pop fans everywhere are very skilled at massive online campaigns with very specific goals. Usually, that means coordinated efforts by fans to push certain songs or videos up the music charts by streaming them obsessively or posting about the content on social media.  “These groups of fans have accumulated a lot of [organizing] experience while supporting their idols,” says Hong Seok-kyeong, a communications professor at Seoul National University. “It requires a great deal of logic and strategy, like setting a timeline or choosing a channel.”  But K-Pop fans are increasingly aiming their grassroots organizational powers at charitable and other causes, such as A group of protesters take a knee while marching in lower Manhattan, June 6, 2020, in New York.But those efforts have been turbo-charged with the reemergence of Black Lives Matter protests, which were spurred by the most recent police killings of African Americans.  After BTS on Sunday donated $1 million to the Black Lives Matter organization, the group’s fans, known collectively as the “ARMY,” matched that donation within 24 hours, according to the OIAA website — a stunning display of online fundraising ability.  우리는 인종차별에 반대합니다.
우리는 폭력에 반대합니다.
나, 당신, 우리 모두는 존중받을 권리가 있습니다. 함께 하겠습니다.
We stand against racial discrimination.
We condemn violence.
You, I and we all have the right to be respected. We will stand together.#BlackLivesMatter
— 방탄소년단 (@BTS_twt) June 4, 2020“We’re happy to help ARMY organize and support the Black Lives Matter movement,” said an OIAA spokesperson. “We stand in solidarity with black ARMY. They’re an important part of our family. And we stand with black people everywhere. Your voices deserve to be heard.” Political past It’s not the first time K-Pop fans have influenced international politics.  In 2019, Korean music fans in Chile were partly responsible for a series of protests calling for more social and economic equality, a report by the country’s interior ministry concluded.  During those protests, K-pop fans criticized alleged human rights violations by the Chilean police force, according to a report by CNN Chile.  Why K-Pop? 
But why are K-Pop fans more politically active, especially on explicitly progressive causes, than fans of other types of music?  After all, most K-Pop songs aren’t particularly political, at least no more than the music of any other country. The answer, according to Park, may be that K-Pop seems to have a special appeal to racial minorities and immigrants across the world — groups that don’t necessarily see themselves reflected in white-dominated western pop culture.  In the United States, Asian-Americans and then African Americans were among the first to embrace Korean music, Park says. He notes there has been a similar trend in Europe. It’s possible, he speculates, that K-Pop is “essentially serving as a pop culture conduit connecting the marginalized around the world.” It could be “the pop culture representation of Third Worldism,” he says, referring to the diplomatic stance of non-aligned countries during the Cold War between the U.S. and the Soviet Union. The explanation may not be all-encompassing. After all, not all Korean music fans are marginalized or even minorities.  But whatever is behind the activism, one thing is certain: the organization of K-pop fans is organic, with both the strategies and targets developing naturally online.  “This collective action takes place as voluntary support, not a top-down order,” says Professor Hong. “They learn from themselves, by themselves.” While some K-Pop fans have at times been accused of cyber bullying, groups like OIAA are now trying to harness the community’s collective power to accomplish “global good,” the group’s website says. To do that, the collective selects a different non-profit group every month to which it directs fan contributions.  “Many people giving small amounts,” it says, “can create a substantial impact when we work together.”   Lee Juhyun contributed to this report.
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Bubba Wallace donned a black T-shirt with the words “I Can’t Breathe” and NASCAR paused before Sunday’s Cup race at Atlanta Motor Speedway to acknowledge the country’s social unrest. The governing body vowed to to do a better job of addressing racial injustice in the wake of George Floyd’s death. During their warm-up laps, the 40 cars pulled to a stop in front of the empty grandstands and shut off their engines so NASCAR President Steve Phelps could deliver a message over their radio sets. “Thank you for your time,” Phelps said. “Our country is in pain and people are justifiably angry, demanding to be heard. The black community and all people of color have suffered in our country, and it has taken far too long for us to hear their demands for change. Our sport must do better. Our country must do better.” A black NASCAR official took a knee along pit road, mimicking a gesture used by protesters in tribute to former NFL quarterback Colin Kaepernick. All 40 crews stood on the wall in front of their pit boxes. “The time is now to listen, to understand and to stand against racism and racial injustice,” Phelps said. “We ask our drivers … and all our fans to join us in this mission, to take a moment of reflection, to acknowledge that we must do better as a sport, and join us as we now pause and take a moment to listen.” Wallace, the only African American driver in NASCAR’s top series, has been the sport’s most outspoken voice since Floyd died while in the custody of Minneapolis police, sparking massive protests in all 50 states and around the world demanding an end to law enforcement brutality against people of color. Wallace’s T-shirt carried Floyd’s pleading words when an officer, identified as Derek Chauvin, pinned a knee on his neck for more than eight minutes while he was handcuffed. Chauvin and three other officers have been fired and charged in the incident, which followed the deaths of Breonna Taylor and Ahmaud Arbery. Protesters have cited all three African American victims in their demands for social justice. After Phelps spoke to the NASCAR drivers, they observed a 30-second moment of silence. Then, as the cars refired their engines and slowly pulled away for the green flag, the Fox broadcast cut to a video made by a number of Cup drivers, including Wallace and seven-time champion Jimmie Johnson, as well as retired star Dale Earnhardt Jr. Several drivers also posted the video on their Twitter accounts, vowing to “listen and learn” from the protests that have rocked the nation. The vowed to “no longer be silent” and pledged to “work together to make real change.” With its roots in the South and one-time embrace of Confederate symbols, NASCAR has a checkered racial history. The organization has launched diversity programs but still struggles to shake its reputation as a largely white sport. During a shutdown caused by the coronavirus pandemic, NASCAR driver Kyle Larson was fired after casually uttering a racial slur while competing in a video racing game. “We need step up more than we ever have before,” said former Cup star Jeff Gordon, now a Fox broadcaster. “We are listening, we are learning and we are ready to change.” 
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Social distancing in the age of COVID-19 bars crowds from dense gatherings like movies or rock concerts.  This ‘new normal’ changes the business model of venues relying on turnout for profit.  VOA’s Arash Arabasadi cues up this story of a nightclub selling tickets and embracing the new normal.
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