Celebrity Culture Roundup – July 2025
By Kenya Miles, Culture Editor
1. Beyoncé to Headline World Culture Festival in Lagos
Beyoncé has announced she’ll headline the closing ceremony of the World Culture Festival in Lagos, Nigeria this August — her first African performance since 2019’s The Lion King: The Gift. The tour merges fashion, film, and food activations and is already being hailed as “a return to royal Black cosmopolitanism.”
2. Colman Domingo Joins Obama-Produced Biopic
Harlem favorite Colman Domingo has officially signed on to portray civil rights legend Bayard Rustinin a biopic produced by Barack and Michelle Obama’s Higher Ground Productions. With filming set in Harlem and D.C., Colman told Mood he’s “coming home for this one.”
3. Rihanna Expands Fenty Maison — First Harlem Pop-Up Confirmed
Rihanna’s Fenty Maison is opening its first NYC flagship — but before that, she’s bringing a Harlem-exclusive pop-up to 125th Street, featuring limited edition fashion, fragrance, and furniture. Opens July 19 in partnership with Black-owned design firm RIVR.
4. Zendaya to Star in Nina Simone Miniseries for HBO
In a bold casting move, HBO has confirmed Zendaya will play Nina Simone in a new prestige miniseries tracing Simone’s early years through her political exile in Liberia. Simone’s estate has publicly blessed the series, and filming begins in Harlem this fall.
5. Diddy Pledges $10M to Black Arts Institutions
Sean “Diddy” Combs has pledged $10 million toward Black arts organizations, including a $1 million grant to Harlem’s National Black Theatre. The fund launches this month under his Love Impact Foundation and is part of a broader “reparative giving” push.
