By Jonathan Landrum Jr., Entertainment Writer
LOS ANGELES (AP) --Eddie Murphy will be inducted into the NAACP Image Awards Hall of Fame this month.
The NAACP announced Thursday that Murphy will be inducted during the March 27 ceremony, which will air on CBS. The actor-comedian will be presented the award by his longtime friend and "Coming 2 America" co-star Arsenio Hall.
The hall of fame induction is bestowed on an individual who is viewed as a pioneer in their respective field and whose influence shaped the "profession for generations to come."
Previous inductees include Oprah Winfrey, Stevie Wonder, Spike Lee, Ray Charles and Sidney Poitier. The most recent honorees to be inducted were Cheryl Boone Isaacs and Paris Barclay in 2014.
"To this day, Eddie Murphy's work continues to bring joy and laughter to individuals around the world, and he is an amazing example of Black excellence, creativity, and artistry," said Derrick Johnson, the president and CEO of the NAACP.
Murphy began his career as a stand-up comic while a teenager and eventually joined the cast of "Saturday Night Live." He starred in the box office hit "48 Hours" and made his mark in a slew of films such as "Beverly Hills Cop," "Coming to America," "The Nutty Professor," "Dr. Dolittle" and "Dolemite Is My Name." His latest film "Coming 2 America" released on Amazon last week.
The organization announced that singers Maxwell and Jazmine Sullivan are set to perform during the live telecast. The NAACP Image Awards honoring entertainers and writers of color will also simulcast on BET, MTV, VH1, MTV2, BET HER and LOGO.
Harvey Weinstein hit with new sex crime charge in New York
Harvey Weinstein pleaded not guilty Wednesday to a new sex crime charge in New York, as he awaits retrial in his landmark #MeToo case.
Details of the new allegations were not immediately available. He was charged with committing a criminal sex act.
The jailed ex-movie mogul has long maintained that any sexual activity was consensual.
Prosecutors revealed last week that Weinstein had been indicted on additional sex crime charges that weren't part of the case that led to his now-overturned 2020 conviction. But the new indictment was sealed until his arraignment.
Prosecutors have said that the grand jury heard evidence of up to three alleged assaults — two in hotels in the Tribeca neighborhood and one at a lower Manhattan residential building. The purported incidents took place from the mid-2000s to 2016, prosecutors said.
But it's not clear whether any of those allegations underlie the new indictment.
While bracing for the new charges, Weinstein also is awaiting retrial after New York state's highest court this spring overturned his 2020 conviction on rape and sexual assault charges involving two women. The high court, called the Court of Appeals, ordered a new trial, which is tentatively scheduled to begin Nov. 12.
The Court of Appeals ruled that the then-trial judge unfairly allowed testimony against him based on allegations that were not part of the case. That judge's term expired in 2022, and he is no longer on the bench.
Prosecutors have said they'll seek to fold the new charges into the retrial, but Weinstein's lawyers say it should be a separate case.
Weinstein, who also was convicted in 2022 in a Los Angeles rape case, remains behind bars while awaiting his New York retrial.
Weinstein,... Read More