By John Solomon
How the government's punishing of the exposure of official wrongdoing can linger for years
The son of The Hollywood Reporter founder Billy Wilkerson is apologizing for his father's and the trade paper's role in the 1947 Hollywood Blacklist that destroyed the careers of writers, actors and directors accused of having communist ties.
Aretha Franklin has a lot more than her 70th birthday to celebrate: She's reuniting with one of her musical mentors, Clive Davis, for a new album.
Aretha Franklin has a lot more than her 70th birthday to celebrate: She's reuniting with one of her musical mentors, Clive Davis, for a new album.
Aretha Franklin won't be getting fitted for a wedding gown after all: She's called off her engagement. A statement released Monday by her representative said Franklin's wedding to Willie Wilkerson wasn't going to happen.
Aretha Franklin won't be getting fitted for a wedding gown after all: She has called off her engagement.
Newly engaged queen of soul Aretha Franklin, Mary J. Blige, Stephanie Mills and Charlie Wilson are among entertainers set to perform at this summer's Essence Music Festival in New Orleans.
Willie Wilkerson says it's possible that his father would have apologized for "creating something that devastated so many careers" had he lived long enough.
"In his maniacal quest to annihilate the studio owners, he realized that the most effective retaliation was to destroy their talent," Willie Wilkerson writes. "In the wake of this emerging hysteria surrounding communism, the easiest way to crush the studio owners was to simply call their actors, writers and directors communists. Unfortunately, they would become the collateral damage of history. Apart from being charged with contempt, for refusing to name names, none of these individuals committed any crimes."
