In this April 14, 2016 file photo, Nate Parker, director of the upcoming film "The Birth of a Nation," accepts the Breakthrough Director of the Year award during the CinemaCon 2016 Big Screen Achievement Awards in Las Vegas. (Photo by Chris Pizzello/Invision/AP, File)
LOS ANGELES (AP) --
The American Film Institute has canceled plans to screen writer-director Nate Parker's "The Birth of a Nation" for students this week amid controversies surrounding a 17-year-old rape accusation against Parker and his co-writer.
The school planned to show the film and host a Q&A with Parker for its fellows, but late Tuesday, AFI dean Jan Schuette sent a note to students saying they would postpone until later in the year.
It would have marked the first time Parker has appeared in public since the case resurfaced nearly two weeks ago. Parker was acquitted.
Schuette said the school plans to hold a moderated discussion to explore issues of "messenger and message, gender, race and more."
Fox Searchlight still plans to release "The Birth of a Nation" on Oct. 7.
Cynthia Erivo attends the National Board of Review Awards gala at Cipriani 42nd Street on Tuesday, Jan. 7, 2025, in New York. (Photo by Evan Agostini/Invision/AP, File)
Cynthia Erivo, who is starring in the hit musical "Wicked," was named Tuesday as the 2025 Woman of the Year by Harvard University's Hasty Pudding Theatricals.
The theater group, which dates to 1844 and claims to be the world's third-oldest still operating, said Erivo will receive her Pudding Pot award at a celebratory roast Feb. 5. Afterward, she will attend a performance of Hasty Pudding Theatricals' 176th production, "101 Damnations." Actor Jon Hamm, who came to fame starring as ad executive Don Draper on the AMC series "Mad Men," is the 2025 Man of the Year. He will receive his Pudding Pot Jan. 31.
"We are holding space for Cynthia Erivo's arrival," Man and Woman of the Year Events Coordinator Hannah Frazer said in a statement. "We're sweeping out our broomstick closets and prepping some wicked smart humor as we eagerly await her in February. Before she flies off with her Pudding Pot, she'll have to work a little magic to earn it."
Along with starirng in the smash hit musical, the British entertainer is a two-time Oscar nominee and an Emmy Award, Tony Award and Grammy Award winner.
Erivo burst onto the scene with her brilliant performance in the Broadway revival of "The Color Purple." winning her the 2016 Tony for best actress in a musical. She performed songs from the play on the "Today" show, earning the Daytime Emmy for outstanding music performance in a daytime program. And the show's soundtrack won best musical theater album at the 2017 Grammys.
Last year, Erivo starred in and produced "Drift," which follows a young Liberian refugee who has escaped her war-torn country to a Greek island. In 2021, Erivo was nominated for an Emmy for her portrayal of Aretha Franklin in the National Geographic series "Genius:... Read More
