Celebrity Culture Roundup

Celebrity Culture Roundup – July 2025 By Kenya Miles, Culture Editor 1. Beyoncé to Headline World Culture Festival in Lagos…
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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.

Jarvus Ricardo Hester

JARVUSHESTER

Jarvus Ricardo Hester Founder, Artistic Director, Editor-in-Chief, and Cultural Storyteller Jarvus Ricardo Hester is an opera singer, arts administrator, media executive, and entrepreneur dedicated to making the arts more accessible while preserving and amplifying the stories that shape communities. He is the Founder and Artistic Director of Harlem Collective Opera, Harlem Boys Choir, and the Harlem Chamber Orchestra, organizations committed to expanding access to classical music through innovative performances, educational initiatives, and community engagement. As Editor-in-Chief of Mood Magazine NYC and the founder of the Mood Media Network, Hester oversees a growing multimedia ecosystem that includes WHRL Mood Radio Harlem, The Morning Show NYC, After Hours NYC, and Mood TV. Through these platforms, he curates stories that explore culture, travel, wellness, food, literature, business, and the arts from Harlem to communities around the world. An alumnus of the University of North Carolina School of the Arts, Hester has performed with professional opera companies and has dedicated his career to reimagining how audiences experience classical music. His work consistently bridges the worlds of performance, journalism, tourism, education, and community development. His signature initiative, The Black Composer Project, celebrates the contributions of Black classical composers through immersive concert experiences that combine music, storytelling, and historical exploration. Whether through a live performance, a magazine feature, a radio broadcast, or a community partnership, Hester's work is guided by a simple philosophy: Stories create connections. Art builds communities. Culture preserves legacy. Harlem to the world. Be a part of the story.
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