Taraji P. Henson

There are few things I’m more excited about right now than the start of Janelle Monae’s acting career. The R&B funk singer made her big screen debut earlier this year in Barry Jenkins Moonlight, which she is wonderful in, and next up she’ll crack some quips in Theodore Melfi’s Hidden Figures. That film, which also stars Taraji P. Henson and Octavia Spencer, is the next thing I’m most excited about.

Hollywood’s troubling pay gap problem doesn’t only apply to gender; it also applies to people of color. And when you’re both a woman and a person of color, that salary discrepancy can be twice as offensive. Just ask Empire star Taraji P. Henson, who detailed her egregious experiences with Hollywood’s pay gap in her new memoir, which reveals that she was paid about two percent of what Brad Pitt made on The Curious Case of Benjamin Button — and that’s just the start.

Jimmy Kimmel will host the show, which is set for Sunday, September 18 on ABC.

So far the Rio Olympics have featured a handful of wins for female athletes, from U.S. gymnast Simon Biles to swimmer Katie Ledecky, which made it the perfect opportunity to debut the trailer for ‘Hidden Figures.’

The Simpsons still has a few surprises left in its old age, and after going live this past season, Springfield will chart a new frontier: the full hour! After 28 years, America’s favorite family will run a full hour-long episode for the very first time, with special guest Taraji P. Henson and more.

True to form, FOX’s Empire has been living large on the road to its September Season 2 premiere, dropping trailer after trailer, and the occasional 20-minute preview. What better way to keep the Empire in power, than to add four more new trailers, as well as our first HD photos of the Season 2 opener?

FOX’s Empire proved an unexpected juggernaut across its first season, but did you know the Lee Daniels drama bucked every trend by its climbing ratings? Or that we almost had Wesley Snipes and Mo’Nique instead of Terrence Howard and Taraji P. Henson? These are just some of the trivial tracks flowing through the eleventh episode of ‘You Think You Know TV?,’ which drip-drops knowledge of FOX’s Empire!

Only weeks earlier FOX confirmed its Empire juggernaut would hold onto its Wednesday timeslot for Season 2, but now the Lee Daniels music drama is first out of the gate with a FOX premiere date. When will Cookie, Luscious and the Lyon family return to rebuild FOX’s Empire for Season 2?

Taraji P. Henson is only the eighth black woman to host SNL in 40 years, which is only half the reason why her appearance on the show is awesome — in addition to her killer role as Cookie on Empire, Henson is a versatile actress who’s been impressing us for some time now. That versatility certainly came in handy as this week’s guest host, although the writers never really figured out how to use Henson’s strengths. Read on as we rank this week’s SNL sketches from great to not-so-great.