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Chris Rock reveals how much money he missed out on with the film “Shrek.” Rock is a South Carolina native raised in Brooklyn, New York. He dropped out of high school, earned a GED, studied broadcast journalism for a year at a community college, and worked various jobs to sustain himself, including as a busboy at Red Lobster, according to Oprah. He held on to his aspirations for a career in comedy. “By the time I was 7 or 8, I wanted to be a comedy writer. When I’d see the credits roll after a comedy show, I’d say to myself, ‘I’m going to write for one of these shows one day,'” he said, per Oprah. While in line for a ticket to comedian Eddie Murphy’s stand-up show at Radio City Music Hall in 1985, he stumbled upon a newspaper ad promoting an open-mic session at comedy club Catch a Rising Star. He auditioned and performed there as part of his entry into comedy. Rock credited Murphy as the first to inspire him “to be in front of the camera as a comedian” during a conversation with...
will.i.am was an early investor in several tech companies, including OpenAI. In 2025, Fortune estimated his net worth at $50 million, attributing it to his music career and investments in early-stage companies such as Tesla, Pinterest, and OpenAI. “I did some pretty cool investments in the past,” will.i.am told Fortune. He described OpenAI as one of his smartest investments to date. OpenAI launched in 2015 with support from billionaires such as Reid Hoffman, Elon Musk, and Peter Thiel, as well as Amazon Web Services and other industry giants. Hoffman played a significant part in will.i.am’s investment in AI, according to Forbes. Hoffman initially wanted the musician to invest in OpenAI’s rival, Inflection AI, which he co-founded with Microsoft AI CEO Mustafa Suleyman. “One day, Reid called me and said, ‘There’s this guy you should meet named Mustafa. I know you’re interested in AI, and there’s not that many people from the industry that have the vernacular and understanding of the...
Wyclef Jean has big plans ahead for his music career. In an interview with Yahoo Finance, Jean, a Haitian-born musician, took a blast to the past to reflect on making music in his basement, where he built a studio. One of Hip-Hop’s best-selling albums, The Fugees’ 1996 album “The Score,” was created there. According to BET, the album, which includes “Killing Me Softly With His Song” and “Ready or Not,” sold 22 million copies. “‘The Score,’ one of the, you know, the biggest Hip-Hop selling albums, is done out of a basement. So, which is normal today. For a young kid to have a computer, be in their room, and literally lay out the entire music,” Jean told Yahoo Finance. “ We was doing this 30 years ago inside of a basement and making it cool to do music in your bedroom. ‘Ready or Not,’ I did that in my small little bedroom in the Booga basement in the hood.” Now, that many years later, Jean is not only planning to release a new album but also to explore nearly every genre he has...
A course on Beyoncé and her album “Cowboy Carter” (2024) has arrived at Harvard University. According to The Harvard Gazette, a course titled “American Requiem: Beyoncé, Benefits and the Gap Between Promise and Delivery,” is being taught by Ayushi Roy , an adjunct lecturer at Harvard Kennedy School. The course uses the Grammy-winning album to explore digital technology and how to leverage it to improve government services. In conversation with The Harvard Gazette, Roy discussed her inspiration for the course. She said she saw a pattern in the album of overlooked women and marginalized people, which was similar in government assistance programs such as Medicaid and the Supplemental Nutrition Assistance Program (SNAP), which often fail to fully consider constituents in their design and delivery. “She frames the album as a conversation about the erasure of African American people from country music,” said Roy, per The Harvard Gazette . “You realize that she’s actually making a...
Kevin Hart’s deal with Authentic Brands Group (ABG) has impacted his media company Hartbeat. As previously reported by AFROTECH™, the multi-platform media company released projects across TV, film, digital, and audio, and had a $650 million valuation in 2022. This coincided with the merger of Laugh Out Loud and HartBeat Productions, bringing both companies under the HartBeat banner, as well as a $100 million investment from Abry Partners. As for where the venture stands today, film and television projects have declined, and new podcasts that were pitched have not been produced, according to Bloomberg. Hart, who was appointed CEO of Hartbeat in 2025, is no longer playing a significant role in the company. A small group of executives is now managing the day-to-day responsibilities of Hartbeat. Additionally, there have been shifts in the workforce. Hartbeat laid off around a dozen employees in December 2025. Eric Eddings and Lesley Gwam were among the staff laid off by the company....
Stephen Curry has established a scholarship at his former college. As AFROTECH™ previously reported, Curry attended Davidson College in North Carolina from 2006-2009 and became the Wildcats program’s all-time leading scorer. However, he did not complete his degree at the time, opting instead to pursue an NBA career. He was drafted by the Golden State Warriors in 2009, per Spotrac. He later returned to earn his bachelor’s degree in sociology in 2022. Davidson College Curry Scholars Program Curry is now partnering with the school to launch the Davidson College Curry Scholars Program, which will provide individualized college and career coaching to high-achieving high school students from under-resourced communities hailing from the Bay Area, according to a press release. California’s Oakland Unified School District and non-profit College Track are partners in the program. “Ayesha and I started our foundation in Oakland 7 years ago with the vision of making sure every kid has access to...
Will.i.am has completed his first semester teaching an agentic AI course at Arizona State University (ASU). As previously reported by AFROTECH™, will.i.am, founder and CEO of FYI.AI, began a 15-week journey in January 2026 to teach students “The Agentic Self” at ASU’s The GAME School. Will.i.am said the opportunity marked a new era in his life. “From creating global unifying music to establishing my i.am Angel Foundation, which empowers 15,000 Los Angeles area high school students with STEM skills and sends thousands to college, I find the answer to my question ‘Where’s the love?’ in this course,” he said. When considering the future — and the next generation — he has not overlooked AI’s role. He views the ASU course as “a solution to AI replacing human jobs.” Across two locations and 16 class meetings, he taught 75 students ages 18 to 70 years, including undergraduate, graduate, and non-degree learners, according to a press release shared with AFROTECH™. Students learned about a...
Usher is paving the way for the youth to access opportunities in the entertainment industry. As previously reported by AFROTECH™, Usher has been intentional about supporting youth from the start of his career. Five years after the launch of his self-titled album, he founded the nonprofit Usher’s New Look®, driven by a desire to ensure children have greater access to resources than he did. His mother, Jonnetta Patton, and Shawn H. Wilson are the co-founders. Wilson also serves as president and chief executive officer of the Boys & Girls Clubs of Greater Detroit (BGCGD), which has been instrumental in several efforts to empower the next generation. In December 2025, BGCGD announced a $1 million investment from Usher and Big Sean in a Detroit incubator that prepares youth ages 14 to 24 for careers in fashion, film, television, music production, AI, 3D, and other immersive technologies. Now, Usher is leveraging his upcoming R&B Tour to prepare young people for careers in entertainment....
Jamie Foxx is investing in AI. He has added ElevenLabs to his portfolio. ElevenLabs is a free AI voice generator and voice agents platform, as described on its website, on a mission “that redefines how businesses communicate with their audiences,” according to a blog post. Its mission, it says, will be aided by its investors, who are experts within their fields. Foxx joins a group that participated in the third close of ElevenLabs’ Series D funding round, following its crossing of $500 million in annual recurring revenue in 2026, per the blog. The funding will support research and the scaling of its platform both domestically and abroad. Planned updates include combining image and video generation with audio tools to support creatives and marketing teams, the source notes. Additionally, the company says it is developing agents that can better serve customers and employees across voice, chat, email, and other channels. New investors also include BlackRock, Wellington, NVIDIA (via...
Reality television or not, entrepreneurship was always in the cards for Porsha Williams. Reality TV Before making her debut on “ The Real Housewives of Atlanta ” for its fifth season in 2012, Williams was already a business owner. In a conversation on “ Forbes Talks Shop, ” she revealed that her mother had owned child care centers since Williams was two. At 24, she began following in her mother’s footsteps . “Twenty-four is when I started my very first child care center myself. So I’ve always been in business,” she told Forbes. “I think that since I transitioned from being a child care center owner and then closed it to being a wife, then straight to reality TV, people don’t know the business side of me. But that’s what I lean on. That’s what I’ll do. Even when reality TV is gone. So for me, being an entrepreneur is very important. It’s something that when you have a dream or you have an idea, you build off of it. You work hard, and you stick to it.” “The Real Housewives of Atlanta”...
Miguel is carving out time to educate the youth on the music industry. Scholar-in-Residence The Grammy-winning musician and producer, who released the album “CAOS” in 2025, is the 2025-2026 Scholar-in-Residence at New York University’s (NYU’s) Steinhardt School of Culture, Education, and Human Development, according to a press release. Students will be able to take part in seminars, masterclasses, cross-disciplinary collaborations, and the “CAOS Curriculum,” which will shed light on his creative process, marketing, and the business of the music industry, from negotiating contracts to intellectual property. “We are excited to host Miguel as this year’s Scholar-in-Residence,” said Jack H. Knott, the Gale and Ira Drukier Dean of NYU Steinhardt, in the press release. “As a successful artist and music entrepreneur, Miguel has many first-hand lessons and practical strategies to share with our students to help prepare them for their future careers.” Miguel also spoke candidly of his post...
Taylor Rooks is helping people in her hometown erase medical debt. Foundation As AFROTECH™ previously reported, the Emmy Award-nominated journalist and producer launched the Taylor Rooks Foundation in 2025 to empower Black families in education, health, and opportunity regardless of “zip code, background, or bank account.” Its three pillars of focus are reach (educational resources, community wellness initiatives, small business support, and direct giving), relieve (support for health and recovery, crisis assistance, and essential living needs), and represent (mentorship for journalists, storytelling workshops, and the launch of Rising Rooks Award). “I believe that equity starts with access — access to care, to confidence, to opportunity,” Rooks said in a press release shared with AFROTECH™ at the time. “My work is rooted in trust, community, and the radical idea that a single act of support can rewrite someone’s story.” Erasing Medical Debt In January, the foundation announced in...
Former NBA player J.R. Smith can soon celebrate earning a bachelor’s degree. As AFROTECH™ previously reported, the two-time NBA champion, who retired from the league in 2020 and played his last season with the Los Angeles Lakers, enrolled at North Carolina Agricultural and Technical State University (North Carolina A&T) in 2021. In doing so, he overcame a fear of education that he had developed while in elementary school and middle school, Uproxx reports. It was during those early years that he was bullied in school after being diagnosed with learning disabilities . “I know I was pretty decent athletically compared to everybody else in growth and stuff like that, but just mentally, how I function and how I focused and how I couldn’t read as good or just comprehend as good as the rest of the kids. I think that was the biggest thing for me…,” he told Uproxx. Professors and tutors have supported Smith throughout his time at North Carolina A&T, a Historically Black College and...
Cardi B’s new and improved, “old school” haircare brand is in demand. When she was a teenager, the “Am I the Drama?” artist learned how to make hair masks and hair oils, but she hadn’t been consistent with her hair health, she told Elle. She was also perming, bleaching, and dyeing her hair, and admitted to gluing tracks directly onto her hair at 17. “You know what’s so crazy that I think about, why the hell would I do that? What the hell was going on? Why were we doing that? That’s how much I was mistreating my hair. I kept flat-ironing my hair every day,” she said, according to the outlet. Eventually, she adopted a healthy hair routine, which she has remained vocal about on social media, as AFROTECH™ previously reported. In a 2020 Instagram post, she shared the ingredients for her hair mask, including avocado, two eggs, mayonnaise, and black castor oil. Her journey resonated with audiences, and fans encouraged her to turn it into a business. “For a long time, my fans were asking me...
Whoopi Goldberg wants to open doors for other authors. The actress, comedian, and co-host of “The View” is also an author, with her most recent work being a memoir titled “Bits & Pieces: My Mother, My Brother, and Me,” published by Blackstone Publishing. It was released in May 2024 and became a New York Times and USA Today bestseller, honoring her late family members and recognizing her upbringing in a New York City housing project, which played a part in her success, according to commentary from Gayle King on “CBS Mornings.” “I used to take the bus for 15 cents … You go wherever, but my mother, what you have to know about her is she was interested in everything. She wanted to know what was out there, too. She, I think, always felt that if she could expose us, we could find different things for ourselves,” Goldberg said on “CBS Mornings.” WhoopInk Goldberg has published more than 12 books, the Associated Press reports. She now wants to make it easier for others to do the same and...