Racism is still alive, they just try to conceal it! They didn’t do too well in this situation. What are your thoughts on the racist math questions? Check out Whoopi and Sherri’s reactions below.

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What would you do if you were in that situation? Has that ever happened to you? Sound off in the comments.

Spotted @ Mediaite.

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In the past, Black actresses were slandered for stepping out with white men. In these “post-racial” times, it’s commonplace to see a black woman with a white man. Black women have decided to stop complaining about black men leaving them for white women when they get an ounce of success. Black women are now playing the interracial dating game without shame. With the recent split of Zoe Saldana and her fiancee, Keith Britton, The Urban Daily decided to offer up a list of eleven starlets who have no issue with bringing a white guy home for the holidays.

Garcelle Beauvais

Known for her roles on The Jamie Foxx Show and NYPD Blue, Garcelle Beauvais married Mike Nilon in 2001. Nilon and Beauvais looked like the perfect couple. Fans sympathized with them as they struggled with infertility for nearly five years. By 2007, the infertility issue was laid to rest as Garcelle gave birth to twins. By the time 2010 came around, the actress and her agent husband were in the headlines after she found out he had been having an affair for five years. Beauvais didn’t get mad, she got even. She embarrassed her husband by emailing his co-workers and detailing his affair. Didn’t Redd Foxx say something about not crossing Creole women in Harlem Nights? I’ll take a guess that Mike Nilon didn’t take that advice.

Diana Ross

The ultimate diva, Diana Ross, has never been shy about dating and marrying white men. If you think about it, her relationships parallel the happenings in her career. Ms. Ross was messing with Berry Gordy when she was recording music with The Supremes. She gave the legendary record executive a daughter in 1971, but gave the child the last name of her white husband, Robert Ellis Silberstein. It wasn’t revealed until years later that Diana’s eldest daughter, Rhonda, was Berry Gordy’s. After divorcing Silberstein in 1977, Diana Ross upgraded herself by trading nuptials with billionaire, Arne Naess, Jr. The power couple parted ways in 2000 and their children use Ross as their surname.

Paula Patton

Paula Patton is one of the sexiest women in the game right now. Plenty of guys are hating that she is married to blue-eyed soul singer, Robin Thicke, instead of them. This is a couple you have no choice but to respect. They met when they were teenagers and remained together through every false start of their respective careers. In a way, Thicke introduced Patton to the world. When he dropped his overlooked debut album, A Beautiful World, it was Paula’s naked body gracing its cover. Thicke expressed his feelings about the drama the couple has endured on the 2008 song, “Dreamworld.” “There would be no black and white, the world just treat my wife right. We could walk down in Mississippi and no one would look at us twice,” he sang. It’s looking like we’re slowly but surely inching toward his dream.

Kerry Washington

When it comes to Kerry Washington’s experiences in the love department, life has imitated art. Washington landed on moviegoers’ radar as Chenille Reynolds in Save The Last Dance. Kerry played the sister of a guy in an interracial relationship. Her character felt some trepidation about her brother’s choice, but grew to accept the relationship. In real life, she was engaged to an actor named David Moscow from 2004 until 2007. It was alleged she was dating with Common once her engagement was broken off. The only evidence of the rapper and actress being together was her appearance in his video for “I Want You.” Would it be considered reaching if we used that as proof? Yes?  We thought so.

Diahann Carroll

There’s no mistaking Diahann Carroll is a treasure in Black Hollywood. She always plays her characters perfectly. Having been married four times, it’s easy to say finding the one hasn’t been a walk in the park. Her most attention grabbing marriage was to singer, Vic Damone. Carroll admitted her marriage to Damone was a turbulent one. They wed in 1987 and legally separated in 1991. The pair attempted a reconciliation soon after, but officially divorced in 1996. Was Dominique Deveraux too much for the Italian-American crooner? Maybe so.

Janet Jackson

In 1989, Janet Jackson dropped an album with the mission to rid the world of color lines and racial boundaries. The notions that drove Rhythm Nation 1814 have manifested themselves in Janet’s love life. After annulling her quickie union to James Debarge in 1985, Jackson married Rene Elizondo Jr. in 1991. The public didn’t discover the couple exchanged vows until Elizondo filed for divorce in 2000. Janet came back to the “dark side” when she began dating hip-hop producer, Jermaine Dupri. Seven years and a creepy tattoo later, Janet was hit by jungle fever again. She’s been involved with Wissam Al Mana for a while now. Damn, there goes my dream of marrying her!

Whoopi Goldberg

Whoopi Goldberg has never been considered the classic beauty. Despite that fact, she has always been able to bag a man. Whoopi entered into an affair with actor, Ted Danson in 1993. Their relationship was marred by a few media firestorms. Danson infamously roasted her at the Friar’s Club dressed in blackface. On top of the negative attention from the comedy roast, Danson and Goldberg’s affair led to Danson’s divorce, which was one of the most expensive divorces of the time. Ted Danson paid $30 million to ex-wife for his few months with Whoopi. She must have a diamond encrusted box. Goldberg must really know what she’s doing behind closed doors.

Rutina Wesley

To True Blood fans, Rutina Wesley is the angry black best friend to the main character, Sookie. Wesley’s introduction in the first episode featured her cussing out a white man for saying her name was pretty. Rutina’s character, Tara, continues to scream on the man by telling him she was named after a plantation. In the real world, Rutina Wesley doesn’t have an issue with a white man trying to spit game. She’s happily married to actor, Jacob Fishel. So much for life imitating art in this scenario.

Stacey Dash

Since entering the acting game, Stacey Dash has covered the walls of every black male teenager born in the 80s. Although Dash had plenty of black men checking for her, those gorgeous green eyes were focused on white guys. Brian Lovell took Dash’s hand in marriage in 1999 and gave it back in 2005. After a brief union with James Maby, Stacey thought she found the one in Emmanuel Xuereb. Their matrimony ended last year with Dash filing a restraining order. Inquiring minds want to know what she does to these guys to make them go so crazy?

Halle Berry

She might be the first Black actress to win the Best Actress Oscar, but she has begun to follow the trend in dating white men. Halle Berry’s love life has been well documented. Berry has been in dead end romances with Wesley Snipes, Christopher Williams, David Justice, Eric Benet, and Michael Ealy. With all of that, it’s no wonder Halle decided to add some milk to her coffee. Gabriel Aubry gave Halle something no man had given her before–a child. Once things went left for those two, French actor, Olivier Martinez became her resident arm candy.

Lena Horne

The legendary Lena Horne is revered for her beauty, grace, and performing abilities. Ms. Horne was also known for her honesty. After a short lived marriage to Louis Jordan Jones, Horne wed music conductor and arranger, Lennie Heyton. In her autobiography, she recounts the struggles they faced as an interracial couple in the 50s and 60s. In an 1980 interview with Ebony Magazine, Ms. Horne spoke about marrying Heyton to gain mainstream attention and learning to love him later. While I don’t condone that kind of thing, she had to get in where she fit in. It was hard out there for a black actress so she gets a pass.

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Citing an article in The New York Times pointing out the growing acceptance of vibrators, the hosts swapped stories of getting sex toys as gifts over the years. Who has the most? Watch the clip to find out. (spotted @TVsquad)

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In the video, dated August 9, 1992, Goldberg admits to smoking a “wonderful joint” to help calm her nerves before she won the Best Supporting Actress award for her role in the film Ghost.

Goldberg also says that her mother called her after the ceremony and said that she knew that she was high because of her “glistening eyes.”

Check out Whoopi’s acceptance speech here!

Spotted @ TMZ

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Also see: 25 Reasons We Love “Love Jones”

Nia had to audition five times, and on her last attempt she bumped into Whoopi on the elevator.  Whoopi assured her that she had the role and imparted some words of wisdom to the then up and coming actress.  “Whoopi told me I needed to develop a second layer of skin (for this business).” Nia graciously thanked Whoopi for her sage advice.

Nia also plugged her new movie Mooz-lum, which just received a glowing review from The New York Times. Nia also shared her experiences as a single mother, “There’s no nannies. Just me. I make the food, I do the carpool, to take him (son Masai) to school in my pj’s.” However, she was quick to add that Masai’s father “is amazing.”

The conversation then turned into a debate on whether fathers were necessary in raising and disciplining their children to which Nia responded “I didn’t value traditional relationships in my 20’s because I grew up with my parents not being together, had a baby in my 30’s and now that I’m in my 40’s I’m asking, ‘where is the man?”

Things really got interesting with featured guest of the day, musician and actor Harry Connick Jr. When asked on his feelings about Esperanza Spalding winning the Best New Artist Grammy, Connick stated bluntly “I don’t know who she is.”  Connick felt that Justin Bieber should have won.  “Justin Bieber is doing something Esperanza hasn’t. He has done the most for the record business.  He has kept the record business alive.”

In summary, Nia made a great addition to the show. Beautiful, smart, and personable, here’s hoping ‘The View’ will ask her back for a second round of co-hosting duties.

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“He is an alcoholic, he is a drug user,” Goldberg said referring to Sheen. “He knows he has a lot of people he’s responsible for.”

“Having been a drug addict, I feel I can say this. I was a functioning drug addict, I showed up for work because I knew a lot of people would be out of work and I wouldn’t get a check that I needed to buy my drugs.

“I ended up sitting on a bed for three or four days scared there was something under the bed.

“I wet the bed, I pooped the bed. I was so scared. I hit bottom. I did that a long time ago,” Goldberg admitted.

Whoopi now says that she’s as “straight as an arrow.”

Video spotted at TVSquad.com

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1. Oprah Winfrey
Initially The Oprah Winfrey Show was just another talk show when it debuted in 1986. But what made it stand out and rise above the rest was the show’s host. Now The Oprah Winfrey Show is only a small part of Oprah’s empire, and in 2011, will cease to exist in its current format. But not because the show is cancelled, Oprah is moving onto something bigger than her own show. She’s starting her own network, appropriately called OWN.

2. Arsenio Hall
The Arsenio Hall Show revolutionized late night television. Just ask Bill Clinton who many say would have never won the 1992 presidential election had it not been for his surprise appearance on that show.

3. Mo’Nique
Unlike Arsenio, The Mo’Nique Show has a lot more competition in that late night slot. But the Oscar-winning comedienne has been able to hold her own against, pulling in her own unique audience on BET. While the rest of America was tuning into the drama of the late night talk show wars between Conan O’Brien and Jay Leno, plenty others tuned them out and tuned into Mo’Nique.

4. Tyra Banks
A show about service as much as it was celebrity, through The Tyra Show, Tyra used her beauty and brains for good. What Oprah is to the stay-at-home moms of America, Tyra was to the teenagers of America who came home after school and needed a big sister to understand them.

5. Wendy Williams
The popular radio DJ has successfully taken her format and gift of gossip to the small screen. Though Vh1 would air her radio show, The Wendy Williams Show has shown the queen of talk radio can also sit down on a couple of comfortable couch chairs and ask questions with the best of them.

6. Whoopi Goldberg

The moderator of The View is fearless and isn’t afraid to call it like she sees it. And if someone else is calling it like she sees it on the show, she’s not afraid to retort or even walk away.

7. Montell Williams
As a former Marine, and a victim to multiple scoliosis, Williams — an Emmy Award winning talk show host — used his show as a platform to bring awareness to various social issues in an aggressive style.

8. Star Jones
The controversial panel member on The View during it’s early years was one of the sharpest and most entertaining women on the panel.

9. Tavis Smiley
Many people were shocked when BET let Tavis Smiley’s contract as host of BET Tonight expire, but the charming media personality has landed on his feet. Now the host of his very own PBS show, Tavis Smiley, Smiley is doing what he does best, interviewing the people we’ve always wanted to talk to ourselves, asking them the questions we’ve always wanted to ask.

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“It was a pretty popular audition. At the time were not many Afrocentric films so it was an event. Plus it was Spielberg,” she remembers. “I read the book right when it came out. It was a pretty big sensation. Not much fiction gets written about us so it’s important to read it.”

In celebration of its 25th anniversary and Blu-Ray release on January 25, 2011 Rae Dawn Chong shares some candid thoughts and memories about making the film and what kind of progress we’ve made since.

Playing Squeak….

I auditioned specifically for Squeak because she was the only one that was mixed. I liked the fact that she was a hero and went to the jail to rescue Sophia. In the book she gets raped by the jailer but they cut it in the movie. They were really nervous about the movie so they created that churchy musical for Sug. That was an added piece to spice up the film. It was a bone of contention for me because I may not have been interested in the movie because there was no part for me after that. I’m on the periphery of the film. It wasn’t a step up for me.

The voice…

I had to raise my voice a bunch of octaves [but] I can sing. I’ve been a singer my whole life so I can make my voice do a lot of things. I’ve played a cave woman. In “Quest For Fire” I had a really high voice so it was nothing.

Getting punched by Sophia

“I learned a lot about stunts. That was me. I did the fall. It added levity. When the movie starts to get really intense it cuts away to a chicken or a chicken coup. They were concerned that it was being too heavy so they added things like Squeak falling into a hole, which is just physically impossible. If you read the books it might have made you question the motives but people love the movie.”

On the current state of Black Films…

I’m sort of appalled that we’re not further along and segregated in the community. The film community is relegated to the BET network and that’s it. We’re tokenized still. In films it’s Tyler Perry and Spike Lee occasionally. Not many strides have been made. I don’t know if it’s because it’s a narcissistic business. The writers and directors aren’t integrated in their personal lives [so] why woud they be professionally? It’s great that we have a movie like Precious, but is that our only story? It’s frustrating. It always has to be the “other.”

Up-Coming projects

I have three movies; The Blood of Pegasus on Sy Fy playing Mayda the witch, Jeff Who Lives At Home and I just finished a movie called Shiver where I play a detective.

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But what they do best is argue, with each other and their guests. TVSquad has compiled their most  entertaining arguments of 2010. Click HERE to see them go toe-to-toe with Bill O’Reilly, Kathy Griffin and more.

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His Royal Badness strolled on stage in the middle of a discussion the hosts were having and presented them with tickets to one of the many shows he is doing in New York City throughout the month of December as part of his “Welcome 2 America” tour.

Sherri Shepherd, co-host of morning talk show, seemed most surprised by Prince’s presence and brought the Purple Rain star’s appearance to an abrupt end when she admitted that she’d wanted to have sex with him ever since she was a girl.

Video source: Gawker.com

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The incident occurred during a heated debate about the proposed Islamic cultural center near Ground Zero in New York City. O’Reilly said President Obama’s qualified support of the center was evidence of the “gulf” between him and the American people. 61% of Americans polled think the center should be moved, but the President has recognized their Constitutional right to have it there. Goldberg and Behar objected strongly to O’Reilly’s claim.

“This is America!” Behar said.

“Listen to me because you’ll learn!” O’Reilly interrupted her, to gasps from the audience.

SOURCE

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The film boasted an all-star cast including Danny Glover, Adolph Caesar, Margaret Avery, Laurence Fishburne, Rae Dawn Chong, Whoopi Goldberg and Oprah Winfrey.

Here are a few of our favorite, and most quotable, scenes from this shoulda-swept-the-Oscars film!

1. Mister separates Celie and Nettie

Don’t act like this didn’t make your eyes water the first time you saw this movie.  “Me and you, us never part!”

2. “You told Harpo to beat me!”

Celie (Whoopi Goldberg) gives Harpo (Willard Pugh) a bad piece of advice…

3. “Celie’s Fixin To Shave Mister!”

After putting up with Mister’s (Danny Glover) abusive ways for decades, Celie (Whoopi Goldberg) is nearing her breaking point.

4. “I’m poor, black… I may even be ugly, but dear God, I’m here!”

As the movie draws to a conclusion, Celie finally stands up to Mister.

What are your favorite scenes from The Color Purple? Let us know in the comments!

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VIA Empire:

Religious leaders could learn a lot from Sister Act: A Divine Musical Comedy at the London Palladium. The last act sees a chorus of nuns dressed in robes entirely covered in silver sequins dancing around the stage Saturday Night Fever-style, before forming a chorus line (!) for some high-kicks. Spotlights drench them, a giant silver plated statue of the Virgin Mary rotates behind them and disco lights flash through the stained glass windows that line the stage. The effect is literally dazzling – Empire‘s theatregoing companion had to avert her eyes – and demonstrates one thing conclusively: if religion were actually like this, no one would miss church on Sunday*.

But how good, we hear you cry, was the musical itself? Was it as divine as advertised? Well, it’s at least saintly. The show takes its inspiration from the 1992 Whoopi Goldberg film of the same name (Goldberg is a producer of the musical) and follows a nightclub chanteuse forced to hide out from her gangster boyfriend after witnessing a murder. The police place her in the last place anyone would look, a convent, and there she butts heads with the conservative Mother Superior before learning to fit in by reformulating the nuns’ choir. It’s a film I have a guilty love of, because a) you can take the girl out of Catholic school but apparently you can’t take Catholic school out of the girl and b) the music – Motown girl group classics repurposed as hymns – is terrific.

So how does the musical compare? Well, there have been a few changes. It’s now a period piece set in 1978, with the Motown numbers (not available due to rights issues) replaced by a funky new selection by Alan “The Little Mermaid AND Little Shop of Horrors” Menken. The music, for the most part, is pretty groovy: Take Me To Heaven has a rollicking, ballsy disco thrust to it; Raise Your Voice starts slow but raises the rafters by the end, and there’s even a quick ballad in The Life I Never Led. The big final number, Sister Act, is victim to some overstretched lyrics that squish in the title of the piece, but the whole lot keeps the toes tapping, and has welcome echoes of Little Shop of Horrors and Menken’s Disney work which fans will enjoy, as well as homaging Abba, the Bee Gees and the rest.

The cast, too, are pretty great. Patina Miller as Dolores Van Cartier has a powerful set of pipes on her, and if she’s a broader and more agressive character than Goldberg’s was, well, that’s OK. Sheila Hancock is excellent as Mother Superior, sharing some vocal similarities with Maggie Smith’s original turn but also singing well when called upon to do so – and betraying some impressive comic timing with most of the show’s best lines. Julia Sutton’s Sister Mary Lazarus is also a scene-stealer, followed closely by Claire Greenway’s Sister Mary Patrick (apparently channelling Kathy Najimy) and Katie Rowley Jones’ Sister Mary Robert.

To find out more about Sister Act from the screen to the stage, please click here!

My new crush, Nicole Beharie (Habana Outpost, remember?!), sat down with The Urban Daily to talk about her role in American Violet – in select theaters today. While doing the interview, she dropped dime about maybe lacing up the thigh high boots, donning something leather and coming to my, err, I mean society’s rescue.

With that in mind, be sure to check out our review of American Violet [click here to read and listen] and check out these casting decisions if Marvel or DC Comics ever decide to put together a black female superhero summer blockbuster movie.

Still need saving? Check out our Black Superheroes gallery by clicking here! To see all the Black Super-heroines check out this video here!

Whoopi Goldberg, co-host of daytime talk show The View, is coming to Michael Phelps’ defense. Goldberg offered her own admission: “I have smoked weed,” on Monday’s episode. Goldberg added, “That doesn’t surprise me that he’s smoking pot at a party… Pot is one of those things kids do try.”

The widely circulated photo of Phelps hitting a bong was one of the show’s “hot topics” on Feb. 2. While Goldberg and Joy Behar supported Phelps’ marijuana use, Elizabeth Hasselbeck and Sheri Shepherd contended he’s guilty of shirking his responsibility of being a role model, and Barbara Walters stayed fairly neutral, as reported by Celebstoner.com.

“He’s being paid to be a spokesperson for companies,” Goldberg went on. “That’s different than being someone’s role model… He’s being asked to be perfect – he’s not being paid for that. That’s not his job.” Rather than attend high school, Goldberg got into drugs at a young age and became addicted to heroin. “Junkies never know they have to stop and I don’t know now how I did,” she has said. “All the people who stopped me are dead now. I’m the living legacy of this group of talented, wonderful dope fiends who cleaned me up and made a lasting impression.”

On Perez Hilton, word has been given that Phelps is suspended by USA Swimming for three months for this incident.

Check out the episode below:

Do you think that with all the performance enhancing cases that Phelps got a slap on the wrist? Or should the issue be legalized? Speak on it in the comments section!

It was another banner day at “The View” on Monday, as the co-hosts welcomed – or rather tolerated – conservative author Ann Coulter for a discussion about her book “Guilty: Liberal ‘Victims’ And Their Assault On America.” [View clip below.]

In the segment before Coulter was introduced, co-host Barbara Walters read a passage that accused famous bi-racial personalities such as President-elect Barack Obama, Alicia Keys and Halle Berry of “race-bait[ing] their way to success.”

Coulter writes in the book:

“Even grifters know that to be embraced by the cool people in America, you must claim to be a victim, preferably abused by religious fundamentalists.

In a related phenomenon, various half-black celebrities insist on representing themselves simply as “black” — the better to race-bait their way to success.

Actress Halle Berry, singer Alicia Keys and matinee idol Barack Obama were all abandoned by their black fathers and raised by their white mothers. But instead of seeing themselves as half-white, they prefer to see the glass half-black. They all choose to identify with the fathers who ditched them, while insulting the women who struggled to raise them.

In 2002, Berry engaged in wild race-baiting to win her Oscar and then ate up most of the awards show with an interminable acceptance speech claiming that her award was “so much bigger than me.” People who say “it’s bigger than me” always mean it’s just about them. During the 2008 campaign, Barack Obama repeatedly said the exact same thing: “This election is bigger than me.” Would they be able to pawn off their personal victories as transformative events for the nation if they were not claiming to be doing it for the blacks?”

Maya Rudolph’s return guest spot and Kenan Thompson’s role in a digital short were the lone African American appearances on Saturday Night Live over the weekend – other than musical guest Kanye West.

New York’s African American governor David Patterson was played by Fred Armisen, a cast member of Venezuelan, German and Japanese heritage who also plays President-elect Barack Obama.

Of the 90 or so actors to grace the SNL stage since its 1975 premiere, only eight have been African-American. And that’s an issue for The View co-host Sherri Shepherd.

In an AOL interview, she points out that there aren’t even enough African-Americans for a proper skit of her ABC daytime show. While Thompson portrays co-host Whoopi Goldberg, Shepherd’s character is simply left out of the sketch.

“Couldn’t they have gotten Maya Rudolph to play me?” Shepherd asked. “She is so awesome! They need more black people in their cast!”

“I agree with her,” Baron Vaughn, a black comic, told the New York Daily News. Diversity “doesn’t seem to be something that interests them.”

“Plenty of black people that I know have been on ‘SNL,’ and they haven’t been utilized to the best of their abilities. As much as I love Fred Armisen, there needs to be someone who can do a better Barack [Obama],” Vaughn added.

Harlan Halper, co-owner of Comix comedy club, told the Daily News: “Fred has done an admirable job, but they should try to address this issue with renewed diversity by looking for comedians who would play the role of Barack, but go way beyond that.”

A spokesperson for SNL said: “Casting is an ongoing process at the show. We are constantly looking for new people. We’ve been auditioning every couple of months or so, and we’ve seen numerous African-American performers and continue to look.”

Whoopi Goldberg, Tyra Banks, Oprah Winfrey and Tyler Perry appear on Entertainment Weekly’s 25 Smartest People in TV, a list of small-screen titans who are driving today’s sharpest shows and deals.

Goldberg and her co-hosts on “The View” were listed at No. 25.5 for “juicing their ratings by pumping up their political banter.” During election week, “The View” reached No. 1 in total daytime viewers for the first time in 12 seasons.

Banks, 35, ranked No. 23 on the list. EW noted, “She’s still in the running towards becoming America’s next top TV mogul. Her talk show (moving from syndication to The CW next fall) has the youngest median age in daytime, and ‘America’s Next Top Model,’ which just completed its 11th cycle, remains The CW’s highest-rated series. (Spin-off ‘Operation Fabulous’ launches next year.) Now the Emmy winner is developing other reality projects that fit the Banks ‘brand,’ like ABC’s upcoming ‘True Beauty,’ and she recently branched into film with the direct-to-DVD tween drama ‘The Clique.’”

Winfrey came in 6th on the tally because “her talk show still rules daytime, her first foray into reality (‘Oprah’s Big Give’) averaged 11.6 million viewers, and she’ll launch her own network — appropriately named OWN — in 2009,” said EW. “Her production company, Harpo, responsible for daytime hits ‘Dr. Phil’ and ‘Rachael Ray,’ will debut a new series next fall with Oprah staple Dr. Mehmet Oz. All this and she was funny on 30 Rock (‘Sweater capes!’).”

Atlanta-based mogul Perry ranked 4th for proving that “one need not exist within the borders of Hollywood to become an industry heavyweight. Through his Tyler Perry Studios, he created and produced ‘Tyler Perry’s House of Payne’ — and persuaded TBS to buy 90 additional episodes in 2006 after a 10-show run earned major ratings. Then in August, he struck a deal with the cable net to produce a new sitcom, ‘Meet the Browns,’ based on his hit play and movie. The biggest sign of his growing success? This fall, Perry ditched his 70,000-square-foot studio for a twice-the-size production complex in Atlanta, which includes five soundstages and a backlot.”

Seth MacFarlane, the executive producer of “Family Guy,” “American Dad” and the forthcoming “The Cleveland Show,” topped the list. EW noted: “The apple-faced prankster secured a full-season order for a ‘Guy’ spin-off called ‘The Cleveland Show,’ and he still manages to find time to shoot his Cavalcade of Cartoon Comedy Web shorts (and animated ads) for a separate deal with Google. With Guy reruns airing approximately 20 hours a week on various networks, it’s no wonder MacFarlane is now the highest-paid writer in TV.

If the rumors are true, the lead single is “Chocolate High” featuring fellow dirty backpacker, Musiq Soulchild

As with most India.Arie singles, “Chocolate High” is no doubt a love song, but it also has those thematic under tones of how much she loves being a black woman in love with a black man– ala “Brown Skin.”

[CLICK HERE TO LISTEN TO "CHOCOLATE HIGH"]

Since the release of Testimony Vol. 1 in ’06, India has appeared on Broadway in the Whoopi Goldberg produced revival of Ntozake Shange’s “For Colored Girls Who Have Considered Suicide When the Rainbow Is Enuf.”

She’s also signed long time collaborator Anthony David as the first artist on her new label Soulbird Music.

So what do you think? Anybody out there feeling her new joint “Chocolate High?”