Twitter Honors American Gymnast Simone Biles With Own Icon

  Simone Biles is the Twitter-certified “Greatest Of All Time”! 

The gymnast was honored by the social media company with her own GOAT icon Thursday, making the

24-year-old the first female athlete and first Olympian to be honored as such. The icon, featuring a gray goat in an orange leotard, doing the splits while wearing a gold medal, will crop up whenever someone uses the hashtags #SimoneBiles or #Simone through the end of the Tokyo Olympics on Aug. 8.

Witness greatness
Tweet with greatness#SimoneBiles#Simone pic.twitter.com/M6RKzP3KB6

— Twitter Sports (@TwitterSports) July 21, 2021

The same day In Tokyo Biles demonstrated why she deserved the honor. On the training platform she nailed a Yurchenko double pike, a move so advanced and dangerous it has never been attempted by another woman at the Olympics before, in a superb illustration of why she has dominated the sport for at least half a decade if not longer, racking up 30 Olympic and World Championship medals along the way.

👀 @Simone_Biles just casually bringing her Yurchenko double pike vault to podium training! 🐐#TokyoOlympics #SimoneBiles pic.twitter.com/V6veMIHUzW

— #TokyoOlympics (@NBCOlympics) July 22, 2021

Artist Formerly Known as Mos Def Exits Thelonious Monk Biopic

One day after we reported that Yasiin Bey, better known to music fans by his former stage name Mos Def, would be headlining a biopic about Jazz legend Thelonious Monk, the superstar has exited the project.

Yasiin Bey

Today, Bey announced that he will not move forward with the project — which was set to begin production next summer under its working title “Thelonious”— without the blessing of Monk’s family, which the musician’s son made clear following the announcement of Bey’s participation that it had not been given to production company Jupiter Rising Film.

TS Monk told Pitchfork that Monk’s estate had not approved the film by: “This project and its announcement are totally unauthorized! I hate the script and I control the music in Thelonious’ catalog. There is no involvement by anyone in the Monk family with this project, and we actually condemn the effort.”

Bey who was set to play the titular role posted a four-minute Instagram video today. In it he claimed that he’d been told that the Monk family approved the film.

“To be clear, I was given every indication by the production company that the family was on board. It was one of my primary questions — just as important as the music, if not more important, that the family supported the project,” Bey said. “I took them at their word, and clearly that wasn’t the case.

A talented musician in his own right, who has also shown flashes of brilliance on the big screen, Bey added that he’s still super-excited and that if there’s an opportunity to tell this type of story in the right way he is up for it but, “… only with the estate’s approval and full involvement and acceptance… Perhaps another time, under better auspices, but not right now.” 

Here is Bey’s full response:

View this post on Instagram

A post shared by Yasiin Bey (@yasiinbey) 

Hip-Hop Icon to Portray Jazz Legend in Upcoming Biopic

 

Mos Def

Yasiin Bey, more famously known by his former stage name Mos Def, will portray American music legend Thelonious Monk in a recently announced biopic. 

According to its producers the film, tentatively titled “Thelonious” will focus on the Jazz sensation's struggles for musical success, mental illness and the “spiritual” love triangle between his wife, Nellie, and one of the world’s richest women, Nica Rothschild.

Thelonius Monk 

Alberto Marzan, cohead of the production company — along with
screenwriter Lord Moreland —Jupiter Rising Film, set to begin working on the film next summer told Rolling Stone that finding an actor able to portray the eccentricities and talent of Monk was a challenge until one of the film’s producers mentioned Bey.

When his name was brought up, there was a silence that I will never forget,” Marzan said. “We all envisioned him. This needed to be somebody that understood Thelonious’ music on an intimate level. It needed to be someone who understood the life and challenges of being a musician, a black man in this universe. Yasiin has Thelonious’ morals and focus on what matters.

Yasiin lives his life with a vibe not easily found in Hollywood, because he’s not Hollywood, point blank,” Marzan adds. “His values and moral compass are intentional and focused on what really matters. Everyone who knows his body of work has seen him boldly transform himself from his music to the Broadway stage, the silver screen and beyond. When he looked at me and said, ‘I am Thelonious,’ I knew we had found him.

Before dying of a stroke at the age of 64 in 1982, Monk had cemented a reputation as one of the founding fathers of Jazz. Brilliant Corners, Criss Cross, and Thelonious in Action brought him to the forefront of the movement in the 50s and showcased the singular vision that would direct his career. 'Til this day he is one of the most covered composers of the genre. 

Bey, who began his career as a child actor before expanding into music and movies, is a founding member of the iconic underground hip hop duo Black Star, along with fellow Brooklyn rapper Talib Kweli.