Following his breakout role as budding rapper Alfred “Paper Boi” Miles on Atlanta, Brian Tyree Henry has become ubiquitous.

In the year since its debut, Atlanta won the Golden Globe for Best Television Series -- Musical or Comedy, as well as several accolades for creator and star Donald Glover, cementing the buzzworthy status of the FX series, which recently returned with season two. Meanwhile, Henry appeared alongside Viola Davis, on How to Get Away With Murder, and his <a href="http://www.etonline.com/features/219501_standout_emmys_performance_brian_tyree_henry_atlanta" target="_blank">good friend Sterling K. Brown</a>, earning an Emmy nomination for his guest appearance on This Is Us. He landed in a list of films -- no fewer than seven slated for release in 2018 -- alongside Gugu Mbatha-Raw, Kate McKinnon, Jodie Foster and Matthew McConaughey. He was directed by Oscar-nominated director Steve McQueen and Oscar-winning director Barry Jenkins in their highly anticipated forthcoming projects Windows and If Beale Street Could Talk, respectively -- and that’s just what he’s willing to share.

Henry’s highs have been incredible, but he’s doing it all in the shadow of the biggest loss one can suffer: the death of his mother. Just after the promotional photo shoot for the first season of Atlanta, which he’d excitedly told his mother about over FaceTime, she passed away in a car crash. “I’ve had people here one minute and gone the next,” he tells ET. “I’ve been through a whirlwind.”

Admitting and welcoming the unknown is empowering for Henry, because it allows him to open himself to the next lesson, the next opportunity, the next role without ego clouding his judgement. “People like to use the word naiveté as a negative, but not for me,” he says. “I don’t ever want to be become a person that can’t grow; that’s a boring-ass life. The humility keeps me going forward.”

To that end, Henry has returned to theater, where he got his start alongside Brown and <a href="http://www.etonline.com/vice-principals-star-kimberly-hebert-gregory-talks-sterling-k-brown-and-breakout-year-87906" target="_blank">Vice Principals actress Kimberly Hébert Gregory</a> in 2009’s <a href="http://www.etonline.com/moonlight-writer-tarell-alvin-mccraney-meeting-oprah-and-new-tv-series-86715" target="_blank">The Brother/Sister Plays at the Public Theatre</a> before making his Broadway debut in 2011 as part of the original cast of The Book of Mormon. Now, he’s earning rave reviews for his return to Broadway in <a href="https://2st.com/shows/current-production/lobby-hero" target="_blank">Kenneth Lonergan’s Lobby Hero</a> with Chris Evans, Michael Cera and Bel Powley. As William, a hotel security supervisor, he’s dedicated to doing what’s right until he finds himself mired between protecting his family and the trappings of being black in America. And despite the dire circumstances his character faces, his portrayal of the blue-collar worker is a mixture of humor, care, nerves and dwindling patience beside Cera, who plays William’s quirky, mediocre employee.

“The topics are still relevant today and this play was written 20 years ago,” Henry says. “I related to it and I was angry that I related to it. It took me aback that we’re still talking about these topics [including systematic racism and sexism] as something people still need to understand.”

<div class="ctd-shortcode" data-ctd-caption="Brian Tyree Henry and Chris Evans on stage in &amp;quot;Lobby Hero.&amp;quot;" data-ctd-entity-type="media" data-ctd-entity-uuid="b25fb896-e2e7-464f-96b7-fb3f3a3b23e2" data-ctd-shortcode-id="image" data-ctd-view-mode="content_full">&nbsp;</div>

Elsewhere, for Paper Boi in the second season of Atlanta aptly entitled “Robbin’ Season” (noting the time just before the holidays when people get what they need by any means necessary), the word of the day is consistently “restraint.”

“You’re going to learn a lot more about the Alfred’s journey and past,” he says. “I’ve never learned more about restraint than this season. I’m being tested at every turn, and what sucks is that no one’s using it with me!”

From a meeting at a mock-Spotify where Alfred walks out mid-performance to aggressive fans approaching and interrupting him mid-conversation, he’s indeed too hot. And as season continues, everyone’s relationships become tenuous.

“It’s a little darker, it’s the fall, whereas the first season was in the summer,” he admits. “It’s really introspective; we’re all trying to figure out who we are. You put in the work and the sweat [for your place], but now people want to draw blood, so it’s like, what does that mean?”

As Henry’s star continues to ascend, his life has begun to parallel Paper Boi’s off-screen. He’s struggling to maintain his real-life privacy, recently <a href="https://www.nytimes.com/2018/02/27/arts/television/atlanta-fx-season-2.html">telling the New York Times</a> that a neighbor in his Harlem, New York, apartment building, whom he’d never spoken to before, recognized him as Paper Boi and then shared on Facebook that they lived in the same building. And now, he’s got some lessons from life’s conundrums to share.

“You can’t share your magic with everyone,” Henry says. “Your job is to live within your magic. And if other magical people find you, then let’s go and make a brew. [My life right now] is really about me waking up every day and realizing that I have no idea what I’m about to accomplish or lose and to just move through that.”

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Hillary Crosley Coker

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Features

‘Atlanta’ Star Brian Tyree Henry Navigates Highs and Lows After a Breakout Year (Exclusive)

In its fourth season, <a href="http://www.etonline.com/tv/transparent" target="_blank">Transparent</a> delves into more of the Pfefferman family ancestry and anxiety -- if the latter were possible. As the crew travels to Israel so Maura can attend a conference, the Holy Land serves as a place for revelations and realizations for everyone. Back home in California, Davina’s origin story becomes clearer as she struggles with her own illness and her place in life and stars in the first nude scene of a transperson on television.&nbsp;
“First, television has never seen a trans person, certainly with the age I am and with the body that I have, naked on television,” says Alexandra Billings, who plays Davina. “There is a care that Jill and the writers took -- it wasn’t about fetishizing or sexualizing, and it wasn’t desexualized. It was simple, plain conversation.”
Soloway, who identifies as nonbinary and uses the pronoun “they,” began Transparent pulling from their own experiences with their transgender parent. In the first season, as Jeffrey Tambor’s character transitions from identifying as Mort to Maura, her personal journey causes reverberations across her family, including her ex-wife Shelly, son Josh and daughters Sarah and Ali. The second and third seasons delve into what people think they want and, instead, their journeys to what they need. Season four is a bit of a reckoning as well, as the next leg of the Pfeffermans’ trip to self-discovery plays out not in Los Angeles so much as on camels and amidst shooting guns at dusty Israeli hills.
Soloway and Billings spoke to ET about the Pfeffermans’ next phase, what <a href="http://www.etonline.com/tv/220642_transparent_season_4_to_feature_more_shelly_pfefferman" target="_blank">Shelly</a>, a cis white woman, might have in common with “baby Davina,” a transgender girl of color, and how they’re aiming to illuminate the true meaning of intersectionality by weaving those stories together in the next phase of this groundbreaking show.
<div class="ctd-shortcode"
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 data-ctd-shortcode-title="MORE: Jill Soloway on Patriarchy, Privilege and Flipping the Male Gaze">MORE: Jill Soloway on Patriarchy, Privilege and Flipping the Male Gaze</div>ET: Each season of “Transparent” has a different theme, and this one seems to be how everyone is interconnected in their sadness, thanks to whatever personal demon they’re fighting.
Jill Soloway: Gosh, I felt like things were getting a little less sad this season.
Alexandra Billings: I did, too.
Soloway: Things are getting funnier and sillier; they’re all on a trip together, there are hijinks.
But there’s a dead person, Rita, following Josh around the whole time.
Soloway: You’re right, there is a dead person. It’ll be less sad in season five. We think of it like a melancholy and uncomfortable pleasure you get from the pain in Transparent.
Because people are growing and moving through it, like when Maura and Ali are traveling to Israel for what they think is just a conference but the trip becomes so much more.
Soloway: Yeah, it’s real, hard and uncomfortable, but then it gives birth to good stuff. A lot of other shows are just all pain or all pleasure -- I’ve been trying to do the roller coaster thing.
Billings: There’s a great moment that Maura has when she’s in the airport, and she puts her hands up and says, “If you need me to be a fucking chicken, I’ll be a fucking chicken!” There’s this horrible thing she’s going through, which as a trans person, you just go, “This is the most awful thing,” and Tambor pulls this gift out of the center of his heart space.
Soloway: The airport scene is a pretty common thing, people want to “out” you. A lot of trans people have been through something just like that.
Billings: Especially if you’re a trans person of color. Every time I travel with my wife, Chrisanne, who’s as white as white can be, security loves to touch my hair -- which I’m like, don’t touch the motherfucking hair -- I am searched and she is not. I’m flying first class now, and I or my suitcase am always stopped.
You’d think going through the airport would be simple, but really… 
Billings: I was talking to some girlfriends of mine about the great juxtaposition in this show between about trans people who are passable and those who are not. Maura falls into the container of not passable. Shea, played by Trace Lysette, falls into the passable, and both have their sets of problems because when you look like Shea, you have to explain. Can you imagine going with someone who looks like that but her transness is completely invisible? However, Maura’s is very, very visible. Then you look at Davina -- and this has been true of my life -- and I’m on a spectrum. It really depends on where I am, if I’m passable or not. I’m very out with transness, but not everybody knows at first sight, and that’s troublesome to me.
<div class="ctd-shortcode"
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 data-ctd-shortcode-title="MORE: How Our Lady J Brings Authenticity -- Not Just Tokenism -- to &#039;Transparent&#039;">MORE: How Our Lady J Brings Authenticity -- Not Just Tokenism -- to 'Transparent'</div>Do you feel like it’s a gift or a curse?
Billings: I think it’s a curse. I don’t like it because I don’t like to have to explain my race or my transness.
Speaking of that, how did you feel about the nude scene? I loved the way it was just so pedestrian, like, Davina is in bed with her man, why wouldn’t she be naked?
Billings: Jill is changing the face of television. First, television has never seen a trans person, certainly with the age I am and with the body that I have, naked on television. There is a care that Jill and the writers took, because the writers need to be given credit, too. It wasn’t about fetishizing or sexualizing, and it wasn’t desexualized. It was simple, plain conversation, and you’re looking and then go, “Oh, what the --” It takes you into the situation.
How did you feel about it, since trans nudity has become so politicized, especially with Laverne Cox having been vocal about saying people don’t have the right to ask her about her body?
Billings: I’ve talked to Laverne about this at length, and she since has gone a little away from that, not too far. I go way away from it. I don’t want it to be my whole life, but it’s actually one of the reasons I wanted to do this. I actually talked to Jill about this and said, “I think it’s time,” because if we don’t have the conversation, the situation gets bigger. If you have the conversation, you can be done with it.
In interviews, <a href="www.out.com/television/2015/12/16/transgender-representation-scripted-tv-oral-history" target="_blank">you’ve said</a> that seeing other trans people on television stopped you from taking a fistful of pills. How does it feel to be on the other side of that coin and be the vision of representation for someone else?
Billings: I feel insanely lucky, truly and deeply blessed and constantly grateful -- constantly. There was a girlfriend of mine who Trace and I went to lunch with recently, she’s of a certain age, and she’s been living in stealth with her transness. During lunch, she turned to Trace, and she said, very sincerely, “Because of you and because of this show, I now have the strength to stop lying.” This is not a 20-year-old child, this is someone who has had to live this way for a very, very long time. There is this show that has cracked open a conversation that certainly I never thought would be possible, so just to even be a small part of this is quite remarkable.
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" data-ctd-view-mode="content_full">&nbsp;</div>Are there going to be any trans characters who become series regulars?
Soloway: In season five there should be, there could be and we want there to be. Maura and Davina will be living in a house together, so between family, the Pacific Palisades, local politics and hijinks, anything is possible.
Jill, a while back <a href="http://www.etonline.com/features/198831_how_jill_soloway_is_planning_to_topple_the_patriarchy" target="_blank">you told ET</a> that there wouldn’t be any backstory for characters like Davina, because the show is focused on the Pfeffermans. Now, Davina has an origin story. What changed?
Soloway: I don’t know, we don’t really plan it. It comes from this organic place, so to be able to say there will be a trans character who will be a season regular, we’ve tried to do things like that. But in the writers room we’re always trying to figure out what the story is organically with the family. I think now that they’re living together, it’ll be easier. It’s so hard to represent the trans community, which the show does, because it’s called Transparent. We have a cis man in the title role, and that’s problematic, and we have this whole other family, these characters who are not trans, who are considered part of the show. It’s always a struggle to tell all the stories we want to tell. Also, I feel like trans men are like, “Where the fuck is our story?” and gay men say, “What do you have against gay men?”
Switching back to Davina’s arc, did the writers cull anything from your personal pageant experience, Alexandra, from competing in the Miss Continental pageant or performing at the Queen Mary?
Billings: I remember talking a little bit about it, but that was mostly from the writers’ brains. They’re feverish little manic things. I’ll tell you, though, that scene with Trace in the dressing room where she’s talking to baby Davina --played by Jaime, a former student of mine from Cal State Long Beach -- she is so freaking good. Trace brings her whole experience so bravely into that room, and just watching it, I fell apart. It resonates so deeply with that time period, and it’s a little portal that very few cis people are privy to. It’s the genius of this show, because you get a real look -- and it’s every dressing room I was ever in -- into where we go, whether it’s by choice or by happenstance or by must, but you get a real peek into that world, and that’s extraordinary.
It was interesting how the show touched on trans homelessness, when Jaime asks, “Can I stay with you?” and two girls say no because “you know I’m staying with so-and-so.” 
Soloway: That’s a big question, especially for women, who they perform for for the rent. Cis women, trans women in patriarchy, a way that a lot of people get their access is through men. So when you’re getting your access through men, whether it’s your rent, your attention, your home, your sense of security.
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 data-ctd-shortcode-title="MORE: &#039;Transparent&#039; Star Kathryn Hahn on Her Most Important Working Relationship">MORE: 'Transparent' Star Kathryn Hahn on Her Most Important Working Relationship</div>I’m glad you brought that up, because I felt like that was another theme.
Soloway: Just the feeling of having to perform and not really getting to be yourself. For Davina, her transness is more about how much freedom she wanted and didn’t have, it was an the economic issue. And then we also had this very tiny little theme running through the season that we in the writers room were aware of in that moment when Davina -- she was David then -- didn’t necessarily have the choice to get up and leave [when the man she’s dating wants to have unprotected sex]. How that was connected with her HIV status, what consent actually means, when there’s that moment where her boyfriend and benefactor Roland says, “Come on, baby.” Can you consent if somebody else is paying your rent? We tie that in with Josh and Rita’s consent story and that moment of Shelly getting pregnant by accident. This is who I live with, this is who is in charge of me, these are my options.
And this is my financial situation…
Soloway: Yeah, we just wanted to draw those little connectors because what I realize [is] we’re always taking about the notion of intersectionality, which as far as I can tell means because of our intersections regarding race, gender and class, we do and don’t have things in common some of the times, and others, we don’t. It’s so broad, but it doesn’t mean solidarity, which people think it means. So that little thing of those two threads is an intersectional storyline, because it asks, what do we have in common here? What does a Jewish woman in the suburbs of L.A. have in common with a little trans girl getting HIV, and the biological results of that, the biological emanations of inability to consent? And for us, we try to weave these things into the background for those who are watching it closely or maybe for a class that people teach. We’re looking for those little sparks of connection to suggest sparks of solidarity within intersectionality.
Transparent has moved from telling a narrative to depicting a revolutionary trans nude scene as just another woman lying in bed with her boyfriend. Alexandra, considering your history <a href="www.out.com/television/2015/12/16/transgender-representation-scripted-tv-oral-history" target="_blank">standing up to the Curb Your Enthusiasm team</a>, who wrote a hurtful scene where a transwoman bails on the line to the ladies’ room for a urinal in the interest of time and you said, ‘I refuse to read for this part and you should change it,’ do you think America has moved past the point of trans people being the butt of the joke?
Billings:&nbsp; Yeah, ish. I think that we have taken a step in the right direction, though we’re at a pause right now with the current government. The people who have kept their true selves silent because they know within themselves what they believe isn’t true, right or kind, have been given permission by all the white cis heteronormative men in power. They are blossoming in this really big way. I’m now a drama professor at University of Southern California, where I’ve been misgendered three times on campus in the three weeks I’ve been there.
How can they misgender you when you’re on a very popular TV show?
Billings: I’m walking down the main path on campus, and one of the buildings I teach in is where all the jocks hang out and also where I teach theater to the masters students. It’s a very long walk past some field -- I don’t understand sports -- and these two very large gentlemen are coming toward me. My sense is really good, so I knew something was going to happen. So I stopped, and I’m very much owning my own space, and they say to me, “That’s a guy,” one of them said. “That’s a tranny,” and they passed by me, laughing. It was horrible. I took all of that into the classroom, and luckily I am helped by these students in this university in a way that’s really extraordinary. We had a really beautiful day, strangely, but the gift was, this show is reaching the people whether they like it or not. The people who feel like they’re now getting bigger are getting bigger because of this government, they know who I am. I had to bless them and thank them because you know what? 10 years ago, you wouldn’t have known who I was. So, are we the butt of jokes? Yeah. Are we still in the center of violence? Oh, yes. Our suicide rate is 82 percent, we don’t survive. However, the glimmer of light is the fact that the portal is open and everyone is going through it, whether they want to or not.

EXCLUSIVE: Jill Soloway and Alexandra Billings Discuss How Far-ish Transgender Storytelling Has Come

Lakeith Stanfield seems effortlessly chill because he’s had plenty of practice. In fact, he’s got the aloof vibe down to a science, and it’s led to him become one of the most buzzed-about actors in Hollywood with roles in Atlanta, Get Out and a starring turn in Crown Heights. His secret is in perception and reality.

“It is relinquishing the need,” Stanfield explains to ET. “You come into an audition like, ‘Hey, everyone’s equal. I’m not coming to you for a job because I’m thirsty,’ although you may be. But don’t come in that way.”

Beginning his acting career with five years of “no” from casting directors, the slim, 6-foot-tall actor says he had to figure out how to readjust his sails.

“A lot of it you learn, like in my audition for The Purge,” he recalls. “I’d been rejected so many times that when they called me back, I was surprised. So I learned [not caring], that’s the thing.”

Hailing from Victorville, California, a neighboring city of Los Angeles, Stanfield endured a tough childhood marred by domestic violence at home and not-always-helpful institutions, like the police and child protective services, outside. He began his craft by pretending to be different characters to entertain his family and his natural talent began to blossom. Eventually those tough years led to a string of dream roles.

Stanfield’s first opportunity came in 2008’s Short Term 12, a short that became a full-length film in 2013, in which Stanfield played Marcus alongside Brie Larson in the group home drama. In 2014, he portrayed fallen Civil Rights martyr Jimmie Lee Jackson in Ava DuVernay’s <a href="http://www.etonline.com/movies/154840_oprah_gets_emotional_talking_about_selma_i_m_proud_of_what_we_were_able_to_do" target="_blank">Oscar-nominated Selma</a>, then Bug, a high school bully in Rick Famuyiwa’s critical darling, <a href="http://www.etonline.com/news/166479_dope_and_instant_classic_teen_films_of_the_past_10_years" target="_blank">Dope</a>. Roles in Straight Outta Compton, Miles Ahead and Snowden followed, leading to his breakout 2016 run as the thoughtful stoner Darius in Donald Glover’s Emmy-nominated FX series, <a href="http://www.etonline.com/emmy-first-timers-stephen-glover-atlanta-85754" target="_blank">Atlanta</a>. Then came his chilling turn as the unsuspecting Andre Hayworth in Jordan Peele’s horror movie Get Out -- the most profitable movie of 2017, <a href="http://www.thewrap.com/get-out-split-box-office-return-investment-2017/">according</a> to The Wrap. Peele recently <a href="http://www.latimes.com/entertainment/movies/la-et-mn-lakeith-stanfield-get-out-atlanta-20170414-story.html">told</a> the LA Times that Stanfield stripped of his cool is a “scary thing;” and it’s clear once you meet him that he’s working to maintain his serenity in the midst of fame’s growing shadow.&nbsp;

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I just can’t put all my focus there or feel it in the way it may seem,” Stanfield says. “I’m glad I can be part of projects I can be proud of and not shroud myself from an embarrassing thing, which it could easily be because I’m just trying to work as an actor. I’ve been lucky to work with these fucking geniuses.”

Over on Netflix, he’s part of The Incredible Jessica James as comedian Jessica Williams’ ex-boyfriend, as well as playing Corporal Billy Cole in Brad Pitt’s War Machine. And earlier this summer, Master of None co-creator Alan Yang asked Stanfield to play Chandler in his all-black adaption of Friends for JAY-Z’s <a href="http://www.etonline.com/music/223597_tiffany_haddish_and_issa_rae_star_jay_z_friends_inspired_moonlight_video" target="_blank">“Moonlight” music video</a> alongside in-demand actors like <a href="http://www.etonline.com/features/219490_standout_emmys_performance_issa_rae_insecure/" target="_blank">Issa Rae</a>, Jerrod Carmichael and <a href="http://www.etonline.com/news/180488_creed_star_tessa_thompson_is_inspired_by_oscarssowhite_proposed_boycott_i_m_hoping_we_ll_see_some_change" target="_blank">Tessa Thompson</a>.

Now, Stanfield gets serious in the biopic Crown Heights about Colin Warner, a Trinidadian immigrant who was arrested and sentenced to life in prison in 1980 for a murder he didn’t commit. Warner’s friend Carl “KC” King, played by Nnamdi Asomugha -- yes, <a href="http://www.etonline.com/nnamdi-asomugha-talks-kerry-washington-and-crown-heights-85917" target="_blank">Kerry Washington’s husband</a> -- spends his own life fighting to free Colin, working as a legal courier to learn the system that’s trapped his friend whose misfortune he believes could’ve been his own. The story is adapted from an episode of NPR’s This American Life.

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Playing a character who is a living person can be tough, because there’s a representation of what a thespian might not be capturing. But Stanfield, who spent time with Warner, who still lives in Brooklyn with his wife Antoinette, and visited a few prisons to hear first-hand inmate experiences, focused on the story’s spirit, the tale of a caged bird.

In the film, Stanfield spends much of his time behind bars, in solitary, trying to tame his mind to be both hopeful and sane as he serves time for something he didn’t do and refuses to lie about, though police, guards and parole board members want to hear his “confession.” As an actor known for lighter fare, his portrayal of Colin is heart-wrenching as he learns the ways of incarceration and navigates the inmates’ political system.

“When I went to prison, I asked the men I spoke to, ‘How many of you consider yourself innocent?’ and all the hands went up,” Stanfield recalls. “It makes for an environment that’s difficult to get your story heard. Colin could’ve emerged a much different person but he’s a well-composed, quiet guy who was very candid and open about his experience.”

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Stanfield wanted to make sure that he conveyed Warner’s true experience and honored his faith in him, an actor he’d just met.

“At the Sundance Festival, when everyone gave us a standing ovation and Colin’s family came down and we were all in tears, I felt like I’d done [his story justice],” he says of the film’s January premiere in Utah. “That was all I needed. That is really why I do this.”

On the horizon, Stanfield’s star is set to continue its rise in the upcoming film Death Note, another Netflix project, where he plays a sharp detective named L, as well as the second season of Atlanta, alongside Glover and Crown Heights co-star <a href="http://www.etonline.com/features/219501_standout_emmys_performance_brian_tyree_henry_atlanta/" target="_blank">Brian Tyree Henry</a>. The trio has been mum about the new season, which is reportedly going into production in September for a 2018 premiere, but the audience is rabidly awaiting new material.

After years of rejection, Stanfield is certainly enjoying an upward swing, making him the runaway star of 2017. “It’s an interesting thing,” he says of the attention. “I’m glad I can be part of projects I can be proud of -- that’s a cool thing.”

However, for all of his credits, Stanfield isn’t allowing anything to take him out of his element. “Be your authentic self and that’s what people what to see,” he says. “When you’re nervous, that’s not really you -- that’s false evidence appearing real.”

EXCLUSIVE: Lakeith Stanfield Reflects on Breakout Year and ‘Crown Heights’

In 2014, <a href="http://www.etonline.com/features/198831_how_jill_soloway_is_planning_to_topple_the_patriarchy/" target="_blank">Jill Soloway</a> burst onto the digital TV landscape 
with <a href="http://www.etonline.com/tv/198662_caitlyn_jenner_s_transparent_cameo_season_3/" target="_blank">Transparent</a> on Amazon and 
quickly became an Emmy darling for its portrayal of a complicated Pfferman clan 
in transition. Now Soloway, who identifies as gender nonbinary and uses the 
pronoun “they,” is serving up a second helping of their particular brand of art 
house matriarchy in the messy, cerebral, hilarious series <a href="http://www.etonline.com/tv/217197_summer_tv_preview_2017_16_shows_you_can_t_miss/" target="_blank">I Love Dick</a>. <o:p />
<o:p> </o:p>
Based on the 1997 book of the same name by Chris Kraus, the 
story follows a married couple, Sylvere and Chris (played by Griffin Dune and 
<a href="http://www.etonline.com/features/205644_scene_stealers_2016_kathryn_hahn/" target="_blank">Kathryn Hahn</a>), as they move to Marfa, Texas, where the husband attends an art 
institute run by a cowboy named Dick. On its face, the show is about Chris 
falling in love with the idea of Dick (Kevin Bacon) and using that stolen 
sexual excitement to reinvigorate her marriage and artistic direction, swapping 
filmmaking for the performance art of writing lusty love letters to Dick, which 
she pastes all over town. In reality, I 
Love Dick depicts Dick himself as a muse and explores how that designation 
unravels him and sends him and the rest of the characters down a rabbit hole of 
feminism, the male gaze, sexuality and gender norms. <o:p />
<o:p> </o:p>
Unsurprisingly, the show was able to plumb those depths 
courtesy of an all-female writers’ room. “It’s about wanting to keep pure that 
rage [of growing up other] and not feel like it had to be softened to keep the 
peace of the room,” Soloway says of the show’s writing staff.
<a href="http://www.etonline.com/features/205644_scene_stealers_2016_kathryn_hahn/" target="_blank">MORE: Kathryn Hahn on Her Most Important Working Relationship</a> 
<o:p> </o:p>
Soloway was born and raised in Chicago and got their start 
on shows like The Steve Harvey Show, United States of Tara and <a href="http://www.etonline.com/tv/191821_my_favorite_scene_creator_alan_ball_six_feet_under/" target="_blank">Six Feet Under</a>. At home, they say they 
were “lucky enough” to have one parent come out as transgender. That experience 
became the basis for their understanding of that community, the foundation for Transparent and the inspiration for 
their own nonbinary identification. Soloway says they spent years as a femme 
lesbian but eventually identified as butch; however, the weight of that box’s 
trappings was crushing. Now, they’ve carved out a new path as nonbinary.<o:p />
<o:p> </o:p>
“For me, I still have all the rage [of growing up other], 
but identifying as nonbinary really calms me because I don’t have to go, ‘This 
is my lot as a woman. F**k, this is what’s expected of me,’” Soloway explains 
while stressing that they’re not abandoning women. <o:p />
<o:p> </o:p>
If I Love Dick, 
another Emmy frontrunner, is any indication of Soloway’s feminist dedication 
and furthering their goal of toppling the patriarchy (also referenced in the 
name of their production company, Topple Productions), the plan is working. On 
the heels of the release of their newest Amazon hit, Soloway spoke to ET about 
flipping the male gaze, female empowerment and that pesky patriarchy.
<a href="http://www.etonline.com/features/219580_emmys_2017_the_standout_performances_on_tv/index.html" target="_blank">EMMYS 2017: The Standout Performances of the Season</a> 
ET: At first, I Love Dick seems to be about unrequited 
love. Then I realized it’s about turning the male gaze on its ear, and how most 
men can’t handle that constant attention. It’s also about the male act of 
looking at women together, whether it’s in porn or just in the everyday. <o:p />
 
Jill Soloway: In 
the pilot, when they’re at dinner and Dick and Sylvere are looking at Chris 
together and ask each other whether or not she’s a good filmmaker, this is the 
moment where Sylvere leaves her and joins Dick in this corroboration of male 
gaze. It is the inciting incident of the whole series, where she’s like, “I 
will not be the object of the male gaze. I am going to try to find my own way 
of seeing the world.” The truth is women are used as the conduit for men to be 
able to enjoy sexuality together.<o:p />
 
How has your own 
identity played out in your work? <o:p />
 
One of the things that’s been so enlightening has been 
moving from femme to butch. When I was more femme, it was my job to hold the beauty. 
Now that I’m butch and am dating more femme women, I’ve noticed that both men 
and other butch women want to see a picture of [the woman I’m dating]. They 
want us to talk about her together because images of hot girls are conduits for 
men to get together and talk about their desires and their worship of beauty. 
That’s one of the hardest things about the male gaze as you try to understand 
it, the ways you’re asked to participate without your consent.<o:p />
 
I love when Sylvere 
asks Dick, “You don’t like being the muse?” and Dick replies, “It’s 
humiliating.” It reminded me of my high school dream to have a video where I’m 
fully clothed, wearing a turtleneck and fur coat, surrounded by nearly nude men 
-- as a reaction to music videos featuring nearly nude women dancing around 
fully clothed men. <o:p />
 
You could see that male gaze back then; you could watch and 
feel that.<o:p />
 
Do you think women 
can objectify themselves for monetary purposes instead of the male gaze?<o:p />
 
If you monetize it, you own it -- and that could be anyone 
from a stripper to a Kardashian. These are people who are incredibly empowered, 
who recognize their body is a tool for empowerment. My problem is that 
empowerment comes one degree away from the male gaze, because you’re trying to 
get a man to do something by engaging their gaze. For me, the dream of being in 
the center of the video in the turtleneck is that you aren’t actually being 
looked at, you’re doing the looking. The fantasy for women, for me, is to be 
invisible and have my work investigated. <o:p />
 
I can’t outrun the problem of people talking about my looks, 
but I do suffer from having spent years working on how I look as a way to feel 
powerful. Now I feel this tragic sense of “Oh, my God, I missed so many years 
of having a full mind.” I could’ve been becoming smarter and creating. <o:p />
 
In I Love Dick, the women are speaking from 
positions of power, regardless of how they identify, their jobs or how much 
clothing they’re wearing. Did that come from the years you wasted on beauty, 
like, “Let me allow these women to be their full selves?”<o:p />
 
Power is the word of the moment for me. It’s shorter than 
intersectionality or solidarity, and both words create questions about who 
stands for whom. We all want power; women want it, people of color want it, 
queer people want it, gender nonconforming people want it. We all want the 
power that comes with being the default subject, that’s why we’re full of rage. 
No man will ever understand what it feels like to grow up other, no white 
person will ever understand growing up as a person of color. There’s so much 
rage over not only wanting to be recognized as we are, but also who we would be 
had we been the original subject, and not been born into this other.<o:p />
 
You hired an 
all-female writers’ room. What was the purpose of that, aside from creating an 
authentic female experience?<o:p />
 
You’re always silently clocking your allies in whatever room 
you’re in, and the idea of what is “good story” or whether a story is “working” 
is the kind of thing that people who’ve had more time in the business might 
say. Like, “Alright, it’s all well and good that we’re just having fun here, 
but as a person with experience/the guy -- and I’m not criticizing what’s going 
on -- I just want to make sure you guys are getting this right.” In doing so, 
cisgender men might be unconsciously advocating for what makes them feel 
comfortable, and that would be versions of the male gaze. That could damage a 
blossoming possibility when you have a group of people in a room together 
who’ve never had the opportunity to do that before. It’s exactly the same thing 
with people of color. I’m sure if Donald Glover had an all-black writers’ room… 
<o:p />
 
He did for Atlanta; I was just going to say the 
same thing.<o:p />
 
What if someone would’ve said to him, “You need to have just 
one white person in there. It’s their job to rein you in because you’re going 
be too black!” Or, for a women’s writers’ room, there was a guy in there like, 
“Too much period blood!” You don’t even want that physics, so that choice was 
to create a room without the male gaze. <o:p />
 
I think that space 
made deeper women-centered scenes possible. Like when the lesbian character, 
Devon, calls out the woman she’s dating, Toby, while the latter is completely 
naked for a performance piece that Devon thinks is exploitive. It was a rabbit 
hole of white feminism versus brown feminism, art for art’s sake versus 
creating something purposeful and a conversation between lovers. <o:p />
 
Thank you for seeing that! I think women viewers do go down 
a rabbit hole with our show. One woman’s empowerment is another people’s 
disempowerment, and how does that get talked about in a story between two people 
who are falling in or out of love? So much fun for a feminist intellectual to 
think about! <o:p />
 
Circling back to the 
man as muse, what kind of direction did you give Kevin Bacon in playing Dick?<o:p />
 
I don’t really get too micro when it comes to a scene, I’m 
more creating a space for everybody to let loose. I’ll talk to Kevin about a 
larger emotion he’s playing and he takes care of the pain and sorrow. I do 
think that who Kevin Bacon is, the six degrees of separation, means something. 
In looking for real connections, he probably felt a little about Hollywood the 
way Dick feels about Marfa.<o:p />
 
How does being nonbinary 
affect your work and topple the patriarchy, your goal and the name of your 
production company?<o:p />
 
Luckily, I have the privilege to try being femme, butch or 
nonbinary. I don’t want to be frivolous about that.<o:p />
 
You don’t want to be 
privileged about your privilege?<o:p />
 
No, I don’t want to be privileged about my privilege, 
because there are so many people who would like to walk into another experience 
and for whatever reason, they can’t. I’ve been able to create space in my life 
to experiment, and my parent coming out was a big deal because it allowed me to 
notice, besides my age and where I am in life, “Where and how do I want to be 
today?” It’s a very strange thought experiment that feels like a little bit 
like your turtleneck: I’m not what you see. I’m not even the other thing, like, 
“Oh, Jill’s a guy now and she’s failing at that!” I don’t want to be failing at 
my butchness either! I just want to be. The nonbinary thing is great because I 
just step out of all of the questions of what I am. <o:p />
 
I don’t hassle people about pronouns because I know how hard 
it is. But when people get my pronoun right, it’s such a lovely feeling to not 
say, “Women are this” or “She is this” or even “Butch is this, masculine is 
this.” I’m neither, I’m both, I’m constantly changing. It really removes me 
from my own self-talk of failure, a lot of which was gender. <o:p />
 
So, the nonbinary 
identity itself is fighting the patriarchy by not subscribing to a label.<o:p />
 
Yeah, it is all off my table. <o:p />
 
What does toppling 
the patriarchy look like for you?<o:p />
 
If Donald Trump could dream of being president, we can dream 
of anything. Things are happening so quickly; I couldn’t have even imagined I Love Dick five years ago, let alone 
that it would be on television. I have to believe that there could be a world 
where the shared values that are currently thought of as religious values, like 
God, actually become shared values like love and justice. I think most people 
prefer peace, but because of capitalism, colonialism, imperialism or any of the 
-isms, we’re where we are right now. <o:p />
<o:p> </o:p>
A toppled world means that the kind of masculine, 
war-mongering, dominance-obsessed men that have their hold on our planet would 
evolve in a positive way. To me, believing that I can change the world through 
culture, television, books or movies, that’s how I get out of bed. I don’t see 
it happening in my lifetime, but I have an 8-year-old, and this could be his 
future. <o:p />
<o:p> </o:p>
This interview has 
been edited and condensed.&nbsp;<o:p />

EXCLUSIVE: Jill Soloway on Patriarchy, Privilege and Flipping the Male Gaze

With an unyielding news cycle churning around 
President Donald Trump and other heads of state, like Turkish President 
Erdoğan, Trevor Noah has found his stride as host of <a href="http://www.etonline.com/tv/show/the_daily_show_with_jon_stewart/" target="_blank">The Daily Show</a>, erasing any apprehension over Jon Stewart’s 
departure. Each episode, he leaps between topics like Erdoğan possibly ordering 
violence against American protestors on U.S. soil to Trump signing things that 
look like bills but are actually just memos he’d like to send to Congress with 
ease because, honestly, unrest often breeds the best jokes.


As a child in South Africa during Apartheid, Noah writes in his book,&nbsp;Born a Crime, that he was the product of an illegal relationship between his black mother and white father when interracial dating and marriage was outlawed. Instead of playing outside like most kids, he was kept indoors, and when he walked on the street with his mother, she dressed like his nanny to avoid questions. Noah credits his mother for her strength and sense of humor in the face of shocking situations like being shot in the face, after which she told him that he was now the best looking person in the family.<o:p></o:p>

<a href="http://www.etonline.com/features/219580_emmys_2017_the_standout_performances_on_tv/" target="_blank">EMMYS 2017: The Standout Performances on TV</a>

With that influence, Noah made a career as a popular comedian on the world stage before joining&nbsp;The Daily Show&nbsp;as a correspondent. In September 2015, he was given the coveted opportunity to <a href="http://www.etonline.com/media/video/trevor_noah_reveals_jon_stewart_best_daily_show_advice-172367/" target="_blank">fill Stewart’s shoes</a> -- a transition that was met with intense scrutiny and media attention. And in some ways, it was almost as if people had forgotten that Stewart, not much older than Noah at the time, had taken over the gig from Craig Kilborn.&nbsp;

Now, a over a year and a half as host, Noah is now drawing record viewer numbers, averaging 1.05 million during the week of May 15. As he continues to strengthen his stride, Noah has picked up a Writers Guild Award nomination and the MTV Award for <a href="http://www.etonline.com/awards/216944_2017_mtv_movie_and_tv_awards_winners_list/" target="_blank">Best Host in 2017</a>, with the promise of adding more hardware to his trophy shelf.

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“I acknowledge the prestige that comes with winning an award, whether it is an MTV Award or an Emmy, but I don’t only work for those things,” Noah says. “But I do acknowledge that recognition helps everyone who comes together to make the show. I don’t take that for granted at all.”<o:p></o:p>

Following his record week on air, ET spoke with Noah about how to engage with those he doesn’t agree with, how he handles shifting public opinions and his responsibilities to viewers.

ET: At the beginning of last year, it was reported by some 
outlets that&nbsp;The Daily Show&nbsp;was floundering, and last month, 
you attracted more viewers than your debut week in September 2015. How do you 
handle the shift in public opinion?<o:p></o:p>

Trevor Noah:&nbsp;I’ve learned that I can’t control 
what people think I’m thinking or what they think I think of the show; all I 
can do is make the show. The only people I have to be worried about are the 
fans; the press is going to press.<o:p></o:p>

With so much breaking news each day, is your head 
spinning to keep the show timely?<o:p></o:p>

If anything, I enjoy it. I used to get so sad whenever&nbsp;House 
of Cards&nbsp;finished, and now I feel like I’m watching&nbsp;House of 
Cards&nbsp;every single day. This is the pace of news that I’m used to in 
South Africa, my President Jacob Zuma has the ability, very similar to Donald 
Trump, to create a lot of news at one time.<o:p></o:p>

Are you exhausted?<o:p></o:p>

Oh, no. I tell people that if you’re doing stand-up right 
you should be chilling. That’s where I go to be by myself and enjoy myself with 
an audience. Stand-up is where I go to be completely at peace with 
myself.&nbsp;<o:p></o:p>

You interviewed conservative online commentator Tomi 
Lahren, and some accused you of normalizing her views. Do you feel it was akin 
to Jimmy Fallon playing with Trump’s hair and normalizing his platform?<o:p></o:p>

You’ve got to be careful. Are you giving a platform or are 
you engaging? There’s a distinction between the two; that’s often why we’re 
criticizing the news. If your views have not been challenged, then you were 
handed a platform. But if people now recognize you for the hypocrite you are, 
then I would safely say that’s what debate is all about. You can’t exist in a 
political space and not talk to people you don’t agree with -- then you’re in 
the world of self-congratulation, not in a world of engagement.<o:p></o:p>

It’s different [from] if I was playing games with people. 
Then, appearing on my show could be considered a platform because there is no 
way that you’re going to walk away unscathed. But if you come on my show -- 
whether you’re John Kasich or Ben Carson or Tomi Lahren -- I will have you on 
the show because I wish to engage you and your views.<o:p></o:p>

A lot of people are confident when no one’s talking back to 
them, and that’s what it’s about as well. You say we got flack for that 
interview, and I’d say that we got more praise for it. You need to be willing 
to go head to head with a person you completely disagree with, and if [their 
opinion] is the truth, it should be able to stand up.<o:p></o:p>

Is there anyone else whose ideas you’d like to challenge?<o:p></o:p>

There are a few, but now they don’t want to come on the show 
anymore. Before Trump was a serious contender and in [the White House], we had 
Republicans on and we’d have conversations that were really spirited about 
their views and ours. It was fun, but I won’t lie to you, once Trump got in, 
everyone became afraid. We had Omarosa booked and then at the last minute, she 
pulled out on us. I’d love to have Speaker Paul Ryan or Senator Mitch McConnell 
on, but I think we’re in an age where people don’t want to engage.<o:p></o:p>

Is there a line you won’t cross when covering Trump?<o:p></o:p>

I will always afford Donald Trump the respect of the 
presidency, but as a person, there’s still a level of respect he has to earn. 
When making the jokes on the show, I don’t set out to be particularly 
disrespectful, and if I can’t make jokes based on what he’s done or said, if I 
have to dig to a personal level, then I’m failing. There are so many real 
things that Donald Trump has done that I don’t need to make up anything to 
bolster my comedy. I stay in the space where I’m not trying to be mean for the 
sake of being mean, rather I’m using the comedy to say something.<o:p></o:p>

Is it weird watching racism tear apart America in the 
same way colonialism has torn apart England?<o:p></o:p>

It’s weird but it’s standard. People don’t often look at 
history; everyone acts like they’re living in an isolated period of time that 
has nothing to do with another period of time. When I see that, I can only 
laugh. Everything has a cause and effect.<o:p></o:p>

When it comes to all of these conversations and what’s 
happening in America, the key is to provide context, because a lot of young 
people don’t know. For many, they are experiencing this for the first time. 
They don’t know the history of how things came to be or how laws come to be 
made. That’s a space I enjoy being in: I get to ask questions that everyone 
feels they know the answer to but oftentimes, they don’t.<o:p></o:p>

What are the biggest lessons you’ve learned from your 
debut as host until now?<o:p></o:p>

The biggest thing I’ve learned is the same thing I learned 
from stand-up comedy: You don’t let the good shows get to your head and you 
don’t let the bad shows get to your heart. You have to keep creating what you 
feel you would want to create and you have to strive to be in the place that 
you’d always want to be in. That’s all I can do.<o:p></o:p>

Is that what sets you apart from the other&nbsp;<a href="http://www.etonline.com/news/217159_stephen_colbert_organizes_daily_show_reunion_with_jon_stewart_and_the_cast_watch_their_hilarious_stories/" target="_blank">Daily 
Show&nbsp;alumni</a>?&nbsp;<o:p></o:p>

The biggest difference between me and many of them is that 
I’m probably the only person that doesn’t share a distinct DNA with Jon 
Stewart. The way I see the world and how I’ve been trained in it is different. 
I remember Jon said his favorite thing about me was that I wasn’t going to try 
to emulate him in any way. I want you to watch&nbsp;The Daily Show&nbsp;in 
two or three years and say, “Man, that show is completely different. It’s 
trying to do something that is still similar -- in that we’re still calling out 
BS -- but in a completely different way.”

Have you thought about an end date at all?

<o:p></o:p>

I’ll know it when I see it. This is my journey, this is my 
world. It’s a responsibility and an opportunity. I don’t take it for granted.<o:p></o:p>

I’ve got a platform and I have people who appreciate the 
many voices that are represented by the show. I remember one young man said to 
me in an airport, “Hey man, I just wanted to say thank you because if it wasn’t 
for you, I don’t know where I’d be seeing anyone in the mainstream talking 
about the police shooting black people, because you guys aren’t afraid to talk 
about it.” That’s a space that needs to be occupied and I’ve come to realize 
that it’s something I don’t have to be afraid of or ashamed about.

This conversation has been edited and condensed.

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EXCLUSIVE: Why Trevor Noah's 'Daily Show' Isn't a Place for Playing Games

Despite her brand of awkwardness and insecurity, a 
sleep-deprived Issa Rae is pretty confident these days. Well, mostly. “Sometimes 
I feel like Khaleesi and other times, I’m like, ‘Who are you, girl? Take a 
nap,’” she tells ET over the phone between editing sessions for the <a href="http://www.etonline.com/news/216956_exclusive_issa_rae_is_feeling_very_secure_about_season_2_insecure/" target="_blank">second season 
of Insecure</a>, which returns on July 23.


Co-created by Rae and Larry Wilmore, the HBO comedy explores the black female experience as Issa (a character played by Rae, not the real person -- but more on that later) and her best friend Molly (Yvonne Orji) navigate work and relationships in south Los Angeles. The show -- an extension of Rae’s hilarious web series&nbsp;The Misadventures of Awkward Black Girl -- debuted its acclaimed first season in October. Six months after the finale aired, Rae’s already turning around another eight episodes, leaving her to only catch three hours of sleep a night.<o p=""></o>

<o p=""></o>

Born to an American mother and Senegalese father, Rae grew up in L.A. after brief periods in Dakar, Senegal, and Potomac, Maryland. She’s&nbsp;<a href="http://www.essence.com/2011/07/26/5-questions-for-issa-rae-on-awkward-black-girl">told Essence</a> that most of her comedy comes from her youth, when she was “chubby, into boys who weren't into me, and [trying] too hard to fit into this ‘blackness’ I was supposed to be.” While attending King Drew Magnet High School of Medicine and Science, she began acting and continued on that path at Stanford University and the Public Theater in New York City.

<a href="http://www.etonline.com/features/219580_emmys_2017_the_standout_performances_on_tv/" target="_blank">EMMYS 2017: The Standout Performances on TV</a>

Rae’s career took off in 2011 with the success of The Misadventures of Awkward Black Girl, which followed a quirky woman named “J” who worked in an office filled with weirdos. She found the funny in the mundane; she’d make up raps in her bathroom but be completely rhythmless at parties. The show’s rabid online following thrust Rae into the spotlight.

<o:p></o:p>

<o:p></o:p>

Soon Pharrell Williams invited Rae to join his iamOTHER YouTube channel, where she launched the second season of the series. In 2012, Shonda Rhimes brought her into the ABC fold after Shondaland bought Rae’s I Hate LA Dudes; the following year, HBO teamed up with Rae and Wilmore to develop a new series. But in mid-2015, after nothing had materialized, The New York Times&nbsp;<a href="https://www.nytimes.com/2015/08/09/magazine/the-misadventures-of-issa-rae.html?_r=0">wondered</a> why Rae couldn’t seem to translate her online success on TV.<o:p></o:p>

<o:p></o:p>

“The ABC project was completely different than Awkward Black Girl. I wasn’t in that at all [as an actor],” Rae says. “I think removing myself completely lead to its voicelessness and non-specificity.” But just as any doubt set in, HBO picked up Rae’s Insecure for a series order. “When I tried this new project with HBO, I put myself back in it and clearly recognized what I wanted to say.”

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Now, on the heels of a hit first season that <a href="http://variety.com/2016/tv/news/westworld-hbo-renew-season-2-divorce-insecure-1201917477/">averaged 
3.2 million viewers</a> each week and earned Rae a Golden Globe nomination, it 
seems like she just needed to do things at her own pace. <o:p></o:p>

<o:p> </o:p>

But she also fully admits Insecure is a team effort. Taking on the roles of writer, producer 
and star, Rae’s learned to delegate to the people she trusts. “You want to make 
sure the show remains true to your voice, but you also have to recognize that 
you can’t do everything yourself and some people are stronger where you’re 
weak,” she says. <o:p></o:p>

<o:p> </o:p>

In addition to Wilmore, Rae brought in Prentice Penny, known 
for his work on Happy Endings and Scrubs, as the showrunner, and 
GRAMMY-winning filmmaker Melina Matsoukas, who also recently directed Beyonce’s 
“Formation,” as executive producer and director for four episodes. “I feel 
blessed and honored to work with a team that makes me feel better as an actor 
and writer. I’m learning so much,” says Rae, who also counts Mara Brock Akil, 
creator of Girlfriends, as a mentor. 
“She always offers a supportive ear; her show paved the way for Insecure.”

<o:p> </o:p>


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That synergy manifests as&nbsp;Insecure nimbly jumps between humorous exchanges like “Why are you looking at me like you’re Stacy Dash and I just told you you’re black,” and piercing heartbreak as it follows Issa Dee and her relationship with Molly. Issa is stuck in a frustrating job at a nonprofit for at-risk kids where co-workers have “secret white meetings” without her. At home, she’s languishing in a long-term romance with her boyfriend, Lawrence (Jay Ellis), who doesn’t seem to have direction.

Issa’s missteps in her relationship have caused such frenzy that fans often confuse Rae for her onscreen character and fuss at her on Twitter. It became the virtual version of&nbsp;All My Children fans slapping Susan Lucci because they couldn’t separate the actress from her role as Erica Kane. “I’m just highly entertained by it all,” she says. “If anything, I’m kicking myself. I should’ve called her Claire or Mila or some sh*t. Now people will think Insecure is an autobiography.”<o:p></o:p>

But as Issa blows up her love life and Molly, a lawyer who excels at work but fails in love, strikes out repeatedly at dating, Insecure betrays its real focus: the bond between Issa and Molly. “Their friendship is a sisterhood, where they’ll constantly call each other out and hold each other accountable,” Rae says. “They may get upset and get on each other’s nerves, but they know each other’s true intention. We’re just watching them grow into secure individuals together through their faults and calling each other to the carpet.’”<o:p></o:p>

Where Insecure will pick up with the two women or even Lawrence is clouded in secrecy, but Rae admits all she cares about is trying to match the show’s success in its sophomore season. “I just want to make a good second season and not to f**k up. Then I can breathe again,” Rae says. Or possibly get some sleep.

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EXCLUSIVE: It's Issa Rae's Time to Take a Bow, or at Least a Nap

For Brian Tyree Henry, all the world’s a stage -- literally. As a black man, he refuses to be pigeonholed into what some may think his 6-foot-2 frame projects, and he enjoys turning those presumptions on their ear.

<o:p> </o:p>


“One day in Atlanta, I was driving my Hyundai Sonata and I saw a Suburban booming Gucci Mane, so I assumed it was a black dude [driving],” Henry recalls to ET over the phone from his Harlem apartment on one of the first summer days in New York City. “When I pulled up, I saw four white boys going crazy to the music and when they saw me, they turned it down. And I said, ‘Hey man, you can turn that up because I’m listening to this.’ I was listening to Kylie Minogue. They were completely thrown off. People meet me on the red carpet and think I’ll be one way and I’m like, ‘That’s your fault, that’s what you get.’”<o:p></o:p>

That’s Brian. For the 34-year-old actor, who jumped into the limelight with his wry portrayal of Alfred “Paper Boi” Miles on <a href="http://www.etonline.com/tv/197410_donald_glover_atlanta/" target="_blank">Donald Glover’s Atlanta</a>, he hasn’t let the momentum die down. From singing Cheryl Lynn’s “Encore” with co-star Keith Stanfield just before they tighten up their tough drug-dealer exteriors for a business meeting to shuffling papers as a flustered public defendant on How to Get Away With Murder to portraying Sterling K. Brown’s <a href="http://www.etonline.com/news/219249_mandy_moore_reveals_she_never_been_hit_on_before_billy_on_the_street_exclusive/" target="_blank">long lost blues-singing cousin</a> on This Is Us, Henry is proving himself to have all of the range.

<a href="http://www.etonline.com/features/219580_emmys_2017_the_standout_performances_on_tv/" target="_blank">EMMYS 2017: The Standout Performances on TV</a>

“I have been so lucky to be on every show I really loved. I’ve loved Shonda Rhimes since&nbsp;Grey’s Anatomy&nbsp;began and now I get to work with Viola Davis and&nbsp;the&nbsp;Cicely Tyson? Come on!” he exclaims.<o:p></o:p>

<o:p></o:p>

Born in North Carolina, Henry is the youngest of five children and the only boy. After his parents divorced, his mother moved herself and her kids to Washington, D.C., where she worked as a special education teacher. After high school, Henry attended Morehouse College in Atlanta and Yale’s School of Drama, where he met Brown and a bevy of other working actors, which has made his recent string of roles as much a family reunion as a coming out party.<o:p></o:p>

<o:p></o:p>

As for Atlanta, the debut began with buzz around creator Donald Glover, a 30 Rock and Community alum who’d enjoyed success but was ready to break out on his own. From the first episode, which opens with Henry’s character, Alfred, pulling a gun on another man outside of a convenience store and Earnest "Earn" Marks (Glover) pleading with him not to shoot and then flashing back to how the pair got there, it was clear -- viewers might’ve thought they knew what was going on in Glover’s head, but they had no idea it was&nbsp;this&nbsp;good. Henry plays Glover’s cousin, a professional weed dealer and part-time rapper. A deadpan but comical Glover is the protagonist, an Ivy League dropout with no real plan and a young daughter to care for who convinces his cousin to let him manage his fledgling rap career. But there are no Champagne bottles or strippers ahead. Instead&nbsp;Atlanta&nbsp;is a brass tacks peek at being poor, educated and black in America and how stressful treading financial waters can be when you seem to be surrounded by glistening yachts. For Henry, who says he became a man while attending Morehouse, he wanted to make sure that his depiction of Alfred was true to the city.

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“It’s so easy for people to label us and see me in a button-up with a gold chain, like, ‘He ain’t gon’ go nowhere, he ain’t read no books,’ and I didn’t want to put that on Alfred,” Henry says. “I didn’t want it to be a buffoonery of people who are from places like East Atlanta. I really wanted him to have a soul, feelings and be the most lovable dude, but it’s hard out here.”<o:p></o:p>

<o:p> </o:p>

The Atlanta cast succeeded in making their first season a critic and fan favorite, and were eventually rewarded with the 2017 Golden Globe for Best Television Series – Musical or Comedy. During the ceremony, Henry and Stanfield embraced through tears and&nbsp;<a href="http://www.etonline.com/awards/goldenglobes/207004_exclusive_donald_glover_compares_migos_to_the_beatles_after_golden_globes_shout_out/" target="_blank">Glover thanked rappers Migos</a> for not only being a part of his series but also making their hit “Bad and Boujee.” Glover’s acceptance speech and win wasn’t just for him and the cast, it was also a triumph for a show about black culture that doesn’t explain itself -- because, let’s be honest, most of the Globes audience probably didn’t know Migos from a can of paint.

<o:p> </o:p>


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“The show was a fresh voice that showed what it’s really like to be black in a way that’s universal,” says Henry, who hopes to be a dual Emmy contender this year for&nbsp;Atlanta and his guest role on This Is Us. “But also, you don’t know everything there is to know about us.”<o:p></o:p>

<o:p></o:p>

Despite the success Henry is enjoying as a working actor -- in addition to a second season of Atlanta, Henry is filming the Darren Aronofsky-produced White Boy Rick and reuniting with Davis in Widows -- it's also a bittersweet time, as he recently celebrated his first Mother’s Day without his mom, who died on the last day of production for Atlanta. “We were shooting the promotion pictures with the peaches in our mouths and I’d been FaceTiming her all day about it,” he recalls.<o:p></o:p>

<o:p></o:p>

Henry was still on set when he received the news of his mother’s passing, and his co-stars supported him. For his first Mother’s Day without his own matriarch this year, Henry spent the day driving to North Carolina with his sisters as a way to center himself despite the career whirlwind he’s enjoying. “Nothing is gonna get too big that I’ll forget where I came from,” he says. “My mom was the biggest cheerleader I had. I was her only son, I was her prince and she believed in me.”

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'Atlanta' Breakout Brian Tyree Henry Enjoys Turning Heads (Exclusive)

To many he was Dr. Cliff Huxtable, America’s dad and 
neighbor. There was nothing he could do wrong -- or at least seemingly so -- and 
so it came as a surprise to many (and probably to him), when in 2014, a 
comedian cracked, “Yeah, but you rape women, Bill Cosby.” Three years later, 
he’s standing trial for sexual assault. <o:p />
<o:p> </o:p>
Broad City star 
Hannibal Buress’ 2014 comedy set in the veteran entertainer’s hometown of 
Philadelphia reignited a firestorm of sexual assault allegations that had 
largely been suppressed thanks to Cosby’s overwhelming star power. During an Entertainment Tonight interview, former 
supermodel Janice Dickinson accused Cosby of raping her in a Lake Tahoe hotel 
room in 1982. Cosby’s then-lawyer Marty Singer, high-powered attorney to stars 
like Kim Kardashian, dismissed her claims as a “lie,” and she responded with a 
defamation lawsuit.<o:p />
<o:p> </o:p>
However Cosby’s attempts to move past the accusations 
weren’t as useful this time. In response to Buress’ set, another alleged victim, 
Barbara Bowman, wrote an op-ed in the <a href="https://www.washingtonpost.com/posteverything/wp/2014/11/13/bill-cosby-raped-me-why-did-it-take-30-years-for-people-to-believe-my-story/?utm_term=.25acbde6b56a">Washington Post</a> asking readers why 
it took a man’s joke for the public to believe that she and others had been 
abused and silenced by Cosby. More women began to come forward, and at 77 years 
old, light years away from his groundbreaking sitcom The Cosby Show, Cosby was primed for a fall from grace.
<a href="http://www.etonline.com/news/154160_timeline_of_bill_cosby_sexual_assault_allegations/" target="_blank">BILL COSBY: A Timeline of Alleged Sexual Assault Claims</a>
To understand Cosby’s celebrity erosion, one must go back to 
2005, when a Temple University employee named <a href="http://deadspin.com/the-former-basketball-player-who-brought-down-bill-cosb-1661203971">Andrea 
Constand</a> accused the comedian of sexually assaulting her in his 
Pennsylvania home one year earlier. After the alleged attack, Constand quit her 
job as director of operations for the women’s basketball program and returned 
home to Ontario, Canada, where she told her mother of the alleged abuse and 
they went to the authorities in the U.S. In his deposition, Cosby said he was 
<a href="https://www.nytimes.com/2017/05/17/arts/television/bill-cosby-andrea-constand.html?_r=0" target="_blank">immediately attracted</a> to Constand and that a mentor-mentee relationship formed 
between the two. Though, she said she had no romantic interest.<o:p />
<o:p> </o:p>
One night, Constand claimed, she went to Cosby’s home for 
dinner and a chat about her career. While there, she says he offered her pills 
to relax, which she claims made her feel “frozen,” and that Cosby allegedly sexually 
assaulted her while she was under their influence. When she regained 
consciousness, she claims that Cosby was standing in his bathrobe and ushered 
her out casually. Upon reviewing the case, Pennsylvania District Attorney Bruce 
L. Castor Jr. decided against charging and prosecuting Cosby. Unable to pursue 
criminal charges against Cosby, Constand sued him in civil court. During a 
deposition, Cosby admitted to “affairs” and characterized his use of Quaaludes with 
women he “wanted to have sex with” as acceptable and consensual. However, 
before their day in court, Constand and Cosby settled for an undisclosed sum 
and a confidentiality agreement. <o:p />
<o:p> </o:p>
In 2006, Dickinson <a href="https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=95TuA6FNtEs">mentioned</a> during an 
interview with Howard Stern that she’d wanted to write about the comedian but claimed 
her publisher, HarperCollins, wouldn’t allow her to include in her 2002 
autobiography&nbsp;No Lifeguard on Duty: The Accidental Life of the World's 
First Supermodel. In 2014, she reiterated her story to ET, and this time 
she was part of a loud chorus of women publicly claiming Cosby was a sexual 
predator as far back as the 1960s. (Cosby’s lawyer responded at the time, 
stating that “HarperCollins can confirm that no attorney representing Mr. Cosby 
tried to kill the alleged rape story (since there was no such story) or tried 
to prevent her from saying whatever she wanted about Bill Cosby in her book.”) Bowman’s 
<a href="https://www.washingtonpost.com/posteverything/wp/2014/11/13/bill-cosby-raped-me-why-did-it-take-30-years-for-people-to-believe-my-story/?utm_term=.25acbde6b56a">Washington Post</a> op-ed hit newsstands, 
and others, like Kristina Ruehli, came forward in <a href="http://www.phillymag.com/news/2014/11/21/kristina-ruehli-says-bill-cosby-drugged-tried-sexually-assault-1965/">Philadelphia Magazine</a>. However, many 
of the television star’s accusers over the past five decades say they hadn’t 
pressed charges because they were intimidated by Cosby’s celebrity and the 
intimation that no one would believe their stories.
<a href="http://www.etonline.com/news/219053_bill_cosby_sexual_assault_trial_day_1/" target="_blank">BILL COSBY: Keshia Knight Pulliam Defends Her Support, Witness Breaks Down in Tears on Day 1 of Trial</a> 
As 2014 rolled on, more and more alleged Cosby victims came 
forward. By year’s end, supermodel Beverly Johnson had penned her own story of alleged 
abuse at the hands of Cosby in a <a href="http://www.vanityfair.com/culture/2014/12/bill-cosby-beverly-johnson-story">Vanity Fair</a> essay, writing he drugged 
her “good” with a coffee during a Cosby 
Show meeting. She claimed to have waded through the haze to call him a 
“mother**ker,” startling him enough to send her home in a taxi. For Cosby’s 
side, as fast as accusers like Tamara Green, Therese Serignese, Linda Traitz, Louisa 
Moritz, Barbara Bowman, Joan Tarshis and Angela Leslie sued him for libel in 
Massachusetts, his legal team adamantly denied all accusations, asserting none 
of their claims were true and even filing countersuits. However, instead of 
looking like he was thwarting attacks by money-hungry opportunists, as he had 
claimed, Cosby appeared incensed by those who were speaking out. <o:p />
<o:p> </o:p>
But soon the conversation surrounding the comedian’s alleged 
behavior became unavoidable, as other pop culture titans started speaking out 
about Cosby. Jerry Seinfeld simply told ET that the situation was “<a href="http://www.etonline.com/news/154697_celebs_at_top_five_premiere_weigh_on_cosby_scandal_it_sad_and_incomprehensible/">sad 
and incomprehensible</a>,” while Chris Rock was at a loss, saying, “[2014 was] 
a weird year for comedy. We lost Robin [Williams], we lost Joan [Rivers] and we 
kind of lost Cosby.&quot; When Tina Fey, whose 2009 joke about Cosby on 30 Rock quickly resurfaced in light of 
the allegations, and Amy Poehler hosted the 2015 Golden Globes, <a href="http://www.etonline.com/awards/goldenglobes/156122_tina_fey_and_amy_poehler_joke_about_bill_cosby_during_golden_globes_monologue/">the 
duo joked</a> that “Sleeping Beauty just thought that she was grabbing coffee 
with” the comedian. Fey also took on Cosby in a Christmas-themed sketch when 
she hosted a December 2014 episode of Saturday 
Night Live. Judd Apatow adamantly defended Cosby’s accusers, even revealing 
his personal connection to one of his alleged victims. “The Cosby thing I took 
seriously because I know one of the victims, who is not going to come 
forward,&quot; he <a href="http://www.rollingstone.com/movies/features/judd-apatow-the-rolling-stone-interview-20150714?page=11">told 
Rolling Stone</a>. Meanwhile, Amy 
Schumer addressed the atmosphere surrounding Cosby head-on with the May 2015 
sketch “Court of Public Opinion: The Trial of Bill Cosby,” on Inside Amy Schumer.<o:p />
<o:p> </o:p>
By July 2015, <a href="https://www.thecut.com/2015/07/bill-cosbys-accusers-speak-out.html">New York Magazine</a> had assembled 35 
of Cosby’s accusers for a photo shoot and recorded each of them describing 
their alleged experiences in short videos. The women’s backgrounds run the 
gamut: actresses, models, comedy writers, bartenders at watering holes he 
frequented. For all of their varied introductions to Cosby, the common thread 
was how they say they were allegedly drugged, assaulted and then dismissed by 
the comedian. Some claim they were assaulted more than once. Publicly, it was became 
unfashionable to say, as <a href="http://www.etonline.com/news/171394_damon_wayans_makes_controversial_unrapeable_comments_about_bill_cosby_accusers/">Damon 
Wayans</a> did, that Cosby’s accusers were “unrapeable,” or that one was 
simply unable to understand how he could ever do something so heinous, as 
longtime Cosby supporter and The View 
co-host Whoopi Goldberg did. The host eventually <a href="http://www.etonline.com/news/179146_whoopi_goldberg_on_bill_cosby_sexual_assault_charge_i_m_glad_it_happening/">admitted</a> 
that Cosby might be guilty of the alleged assaults. Ebony Magazine published a picture of The Cosby Show cast under cracked glass and summoned black America 
to discuss the mounting allegations against a former hero. How could a man 
who’d been so influential in the progress of black people on television and in 
education be accused of such evil? Brown University, among other schools, 
rescinded the actor’s honorary degree, and <a href="http://jezebel.com/black-history-museum-comes-out-from-under-rock-to-celeb-1767507332">museums</a> 
had <a href="http://jezebel.com/smithsonian-doesnt-want-their-art-associated-with-bill-1717952486">no 
idea</a> what to do with their art collections about or donated by star.
<a href="http://www.etonline.com/news/217590_bill_cosby_implies_racism_revenge_behind_sexual_assault_allegations/" target="_blank">BILL COSBY: Comedian Implies Racism, Revenge Behind Sexual Assault Allegations</a> 
Everything was tainted.<o:p />
<o:p> </o:p>
On December 30, 2015, newly elected Montgomery County, 
Pennsylvania, District Attorney Kevin Steele issued a warrant for Cosby’s 
arrest in connection to the sexual assault of Constand in 2004, just before the 
case’s statute of limitations ended. He was arraigned on <a href="http://www.etonline.com/news/178965_bill_cosby_appears_court_as_he_arraigned_sexual_assault_investigation/">one 
charge of aggravated indecent assault</a>. Cosby's bail was set at $1 million 
with additional conditions of surrendering his passport and having no contact 
with the alleged victim.&nbsp;<a href="http://www.etonline.com/news/178972_see_bill_cosby_mug_shot_after_posting_1_million_bail_for_sexual_assault_charge/" target="_blank">He posted $100,000</a>&nbsp;(10 percent of the bail, as 
required) and was released. Altogether, Cosby is charged with three counts of 
aggravated indecent assault in the case. He has pleaded not guilty to all 
charges.<o:p />
<o:p> </o:p>
Cosby has not been convicted in this case or criminally 
charged in regard to the other accusations against him. He has also repeatedly 
denied that any of these allegations are true. Cosby's attorneys gave a <a href="http://www.etonline.com/news/154160_timeline_of_bill_cosby_sexual_assault_allegations/">statement</a> 
to ET, saying, &quot;The charge by the Montgomery County District Attorney's 
office came as no surprise, filed 12 years after the alleged incident and 
coming on the heels of a hotly contested election for this county's DA during 
which this case was made the focal point. Make no mistake, we intend to mount a 
vigorous defense against this unjustified charge and we expect that Mr. Cosby 
will be exonerated by a court of law.&quot;<o:p />
<o:p> </o:p>
The following year was a collection of legal volleying 
between the comedian’s legal team and prosecutors in Pennsylvania, California 
-- where Playboy model Chloe Goins, who alleged that Cosby sexually assaulted 
her at the Playboy Mansion in 2008, <a href="http://www.etonline.com/news/189484_exclusive_holly_madison_on_bill_cosby_hugh_hefner_lawsuit/">filed 
a sexual battery suit</a> -- and Massachusetts, where seven women were suing 
him for libel. During a 2016 deposition, Cosby’s wife, Camille, <a href="http://www.cnn.com/2016/05/21/us/camille-cosby-deposition/index.html" target="_blank">maintained she 
had “no opinion”</a> about whether her husband violated their marriage vows when he 
obtained Quaaludes to have sex with young women. Cosby’s legal team continued filing paperwork to delay his trial and even <a href="http://pagesix.com/2016/02/19/cosby-demands-money-back-from-accuser-in-sexual-assault-case/">sued</a> 
Constand, charging that she broke her confidentiality agreement by speaking 
with police. He later <a href="http://www.nbcnews.com/storyline/bill-cosby-scandal/bill-cosby-drops-lawsuit-against-andrea-constand-accuser-criminal-case-n619316">dropped</a> 
that suit to “focus his efforts on defending himself against the claims that 
have been lodged against him,” his <a href="http://www.nbcnews.com/storyline/bill-cosby-scandal/bill-cosby-drops-lawsuit-against-andrea-constand-accuser-criminal-case-n619316">lawyer 
said in a statement</a>.&nbsp;Cosby also <a href="http://abcnews.go.com/Entertainment/bill-cosby-drops-lawsuit-beverly-johnson/story?id=37200981">previously 
dropped</a> a defamation suit against <a href="http://abcnews.go.com/Entertainment/bill-cosby-drops-lawsuit-beverly-johnson/story?id=37200981">Johnson</a>.
<a href="http://www.etonline.com/news/181939_malcolm_jamal_warner_talks_american_crime_story_and_the_cosby_show/" target="_blank">BILL COSBY: Malcolm-Jamal Warner on His Concern Over Legacy of 'The Cosby Show'</a> 
Ahead of Cosby’s first day of trial on June 5, his legal 
team provided a statement to ET saying, &quot;Mr. Cosby is no stranger to 
discrimination and racial hatred, and throughout his career Mr. Cosby has 
always used his voice and his celebrity to highlight the commonalities and has 
portrayed the differences that are not negative -- no matter the race, gender 
and religion of a person. The time has come to shine a spotlight on the 
trampling of Mr. Cosby's civil rights.&quot; <o:p />
<o:p> </o:p>
But now that Cosby’s court date is upon us, it’s easy to track 
how his star fell, despite last-ditch efforts by his daughter Evin Cosby to 
proclaim her father’s innocence in a recent open letter on <a href="http://www.blackpressusa.com/nnpa-newswire-exclusive-emotional-evin-cosby-defends-her-father/">Black 
Press USA</a>. “The public persecution of my dad, my kids’ grandfather, and the 
cruelty of the media and those who speak out branding my father a ‘rapist’ 
without ever knowing the truth, and who shame our family and our friends for 
defending my dad, makes all of this so much worse for my family and my 
children,” she writes.<o:p />
<o:p> </o:p>
Elsewhere, America is still trying to make sense of the man 
as American as Jell-O being an alleged sexual predator. The Cosby Show reruns are 
cancelled, NBC nixed a new show from the comedian and Netflix scrapped his 
comedy special after protests popped up outside of his performance venues. In 
Dave Chappelle’s recent Netflix standup special, he compared the dichotomy of 
Cosby’s new reputation to discovering ice cream itself was a rapist.<o:p />
<o:p> </o:p>
In a way, anyone who enjoyed The Cosby Show, A Different 
World, Fat Albert or any of the 
comedian’s standup or books is facing, or has already faced, a reckoning.&nbsp;<o:p />

Bill Cosby, the Downfall of a Pop Culture Icon

On April 21, 2016, the world suddenly lost Prince Rogers 
Nelson and, to be honest, we’ve never quite been the same. From the hilarious <a href="https://thumbs.mic.com/N2RkZGRjNmM4NSMvRjM2UVdtZFRXWkxWaHVSTEx0b3VYUmhEY2IwPS9maXQtaW4vOTAweDkwMC9maWx0ZXJzOm5vX3Vwc2NhbGUoKTpxdWFsaXR5KDgwKS9odHRwOi8vaW1hZ2VzLm1pYy5jb20vb3J3OHFncnYwbG5sMjRmN2F4amNxNmpxZGlldXhtb3J4b3JweXpodnJ4a2ZiNXpic3Q3Nnc3emNxdTV5bG9yNy5naWY.gif">faces</a> 
the 57-year-old delivered during the BET Awards to <a href="https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=AP-Wlh9bhM0&amp;feature=youtu.be">kicking</a> 
Kim Kardashian off stage to his uncanny ability to <a href="http://www.baltimoresun.com/entertainment/music/midnight-sun-blog/bs-ae-prince-baltimore-20160421-story.html">blend</a> 
social justice and music during pivotal moments like the 2015 Baltimore protests, few superstars remained relevant like Prince. Even one year after his unexpected 
death due to an accidental opioid drug overdose in his Minnesota home, Prince’s 
influence still reverberates. Here’s a look back at the year since his death 
and how his legacy lives on. <o:p />
April 2016: President Obama, along with the rest of the world, mourned the death of Prince 
by calling him “a virtuoso instrumentalist, a brilliant bandleader, and an 
electrifying performer,” <a href="http://www.rollingstone.com/music/news/president-obama-mourns-death-of-creative-icon-prince-20160421">according</a> 
to Rolling Stone. <o:p> 
 </o:p>
May 2016: Shonda Rhimes used Prince’s “Nothing Compares 2 U” and “Delirious” on two of her hit 
ABC shows,&nbsp;Grey’s Anatomy and Scandal. The Purple One’s jams were 
notoriously hard to clear, but Rhimes gained her green light in just days, she <a href="http://www.rollingstone.com/tv/news/shonda-rhimes-on-dancing-with-prince-at-the-white-house-20160510">told</a> Rolling Stone. Afterward, he sent her 
pictures of himself dressed up saying he was a “gladiator in a suit.”
<a href="http://www.etonline.com/music/214120_lenny_kravitz_to_perform_prince_tribute_at_2017_rock_and_roll_hall_of_fame_ceremony/" target="_blank">
RELATED: Lenny Kravitz to Perform Prince Tribute at 2017 Rock and Roll Hall of Fame Ceremony 
</a>
June 2016: Stevie Wonder, Erykah Badu, Bilal, Janelle Monae, The Roots, Maxwell, Sheila E. and 
more paid tribute to the Purple One during the annual BET Awards, where years 
earlier, during his own living tribute in 2010, Prince gave Trey Songz that 
withering gaze during his yodel-filled rendition of “Purple Rain” and later <a href="http://www.awesomelyluvvie.com/2013/11/prince-patti-shoe-black-awesomeness.html">held 
up</a> Patti LaBelle’s high heel, which she’d kicked off the stage. Don’t you 
miss that?&nbsp;<o:p> 
 </o:p>
<div class="ctd-shortcode"
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 data-ctd-view-mode="related">&nbsp;</div>In 2016, however, everyone kept their shoes on and Bilal was crowned the winner of the tribute for his performance of “The Beautiful Ones” -- panties were thrown.
 October 2016: Prince’s family <a href="http://parlourmagazine.com/2016/10/pop-life-a-tour-of-princes-paisley-park/">opened</a> 
the doors of Paisley Park to tourists and fans, offering a walking tour of his 
studios, soundstage and nightclub and most importantly, an opportunity to meet his doves, 
Majesty and Divinity.<o:p> 
 </o:p>
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 data-ctd-view-mode="related">&nbsp;</div><a href="http://www.etonline.com/news/187321_inside_prince_s_paisley_park_friends_and_fans_remember_the_late_singer_s_enigmatic_estate/" target="_blank">WATCH: Inside Prince's Paisley Park: Friends and Fans Remember the Late Singer's Enigmatic Estate </a> December 2016: More proof of Charlie Murphy’s epic story of playing basketball at Prince’s 
house and being served pancakes afterward -- which was immortalized on The Chappelle Show -- is <a href="http://www.gq.com/story/prince-stories">revealed</a> by Micki Free and 
confirmed by Samuel L. Jackson. <a href="https://www.instagram.com/p/BFeDX42D0ZF/">According</a> to Jackson, the 
Purple One was wearing “church shoes” when he beat Murphy and his friends on 
the court. Turns out, Eddie Murphy wanted Prince to hear his 1985 single, “Party All the 
Time,” and The Purple One was less than impressed. Unfortunately, Charlie Murphy 
<a href="http://www.etonline.com/news/215049_charlie_murphy_dead_at_57_after_battle_with_leukemia/" target="_blank">recently passed away</a> and 2017 sucks too. <o:p> 
 </o:p>
January 2017: Prince becomes the best-selling artist of 2016, moving 2.2 million units, 
beating Beyonce and Adele, <a href="https://www.forbes.com/sites/hughmcintyre/2017/01/25/prince-was-the-bestselling-albums-artist-of-2016-beating-adele/#16d0fa5c2b29">reported</a> Forbes. At this point, it was unclear 
if Tidal, the streaming service most closely identified with Jay Z and where 
Prince pledged to keep his music, would be able to maintain sole streaming 
rights. TMZ <a href="https://www.google.com/url?sa=t&amp;rct=j&amp;q=&amp;esrc=s&amp;source=web&amp;cd=3&amp;ved=0ahUKEwiFxu2MobTTAhUj0oMKHQgZBY0QFggvMAI&amp;url=http%3A%2F%2Fwww.tmz.com%2F2016%2F10%2F26%2Fjay-z-prince-buy-music%2F&amp;usg=AFQjCNH76nJlSzGvyMJnEu9363d_6xTdrQ&amp;sig2=7Msa4tbT7wBHGQsUxoSnyg">reported</a> 
that Jay Z attempted to buy Prince’s unreleased music that was kept in a vault 
after his death but was unsuccessful.<o:p> 
 </o:p>
<div class="ctd-shortcode"
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 data-ctd-view-mode="related">&nbsp;</div><a href="http://www.etonline.com/news/187205_7_times_prince_proved_he_was_the_coolest_human_being_on_the_planet/" target="_blank">WATCH: 7 Times Prince Proved He Was the Coolest Human Being on the Planet </a> February 2017: Prince’s entire catalog, which had been solely streaming on Tidal since 2015 (when 
everyone’s Spotify Prince playlist suddenly disappeared and every search turned 
up Michael Jackson… ) became available on iTunes and Spotify. Fans were excited 
but also baffled because is this what The Purple One would’ve wanted? 
April 2017: Prince’s sought-after unreleased music, a six-track EP entitled Deliverance, was set to be released on the one-year anniversary of his death via Paisley Park audio engineer George Ian Boxill, who recorded the songs with Prince but completed them alone after the star’s death.
<div class="ctd-shortcode"
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 data-ctd-view-mode="related">&nbsp;</div>However, Comerica Bank &amp; Trust and Paisley Park 
Enterprises, which manages Prince’s estate, sued to stop the release, claiming it was &quot;violating the terms of [Boxill's] agreement with Prince 'for his 
personal gain at the expense of the Prince Estate,'&quot;&nbsp;<a href="https://www.nytimes.com/2017/04/19/arts/music/prince-deliverance-ep-lawsuit.html" target="_blank">reported</a> The New York Times. Ultimately, a judge ruled in favor of Prince's estate, stopping the release of the EP, but the pre-released titular single, &quot;Deliverance,&quot; is currently <a href="https://deliverance.is/athand" target="_blank">available for purchase</a>.
Elsewhere, Prince’s first ex-wife, Mayte Garcia, released her 
book about her first love. titled The Most Beautiful, and <a href="http://www.foxnews.com/entertainment/2017/04/10/princes-ex-mayte-garcia-said-singer-had-will-dont-know-what-happened-to-it.html" target="_blank">claimed</a>&nbsp;during an interview that Prince, who died without a will according to his 
family, actually did have one? The drama continues.&nbsp;<o:p> 
<a href="http://www.etonline.com/music/190533_watch_stars_sing_their_favorite_prince_songs_to_celebrate_the_singer_birthday/" target="_blank">
RELATED: Watch Stars Sing Their Favorite Prince Songs to Celebrate the Singer's Birthday 
</a></o:p>
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