INFEMNITY™ Entertainment News

Grammy-nominated singer, songwriter, and fashion icon Nona Hendryx presented the second annual Rock Solid Women’s Festival: Celebrating Women in Art & Music, at the Gramercy Theatre (127 East 23rd Street in Manhattan) on May 9th. Performers included Be Steadwell, Betty, Divinity Roxx, Judy Gold, Kiki Hawkins, Sarah Jaffe, Sophia Ramos, Ultra Naté, Vivian Sessoms, and Liza Colby.

After three sold out nights at Joe’s Public Theatre in 2018, 2019 brought Rock Solid Women to The Gramercy Theatre where we were treated to some amazing performances. Hendryx invokes the #MeToo and #TimesUp movements with this festival and creates a platform where women’s voices can be heard and celebrated.


Hendryx is known for her work as a solo artist as well as for being one-third of the trio Labelle, who had a hit with "Lady Marmalade." Her music has ranged from soul, funk, and R&B to hard rock, new wave, and new-age. She stated in an interview that her family's last name was originally…

The Gay and Lesbian Alliance Against Defamation celebrated its 30th anniversary last Saturday in a star-studded event at the New York Midtown Hilton. Madonna, Rosie O'Donnell, Sarah Jessica Parker, Andy Cohen, and Don Lemon were present to receive and present awards at this year's gala, and INFEMNITY Productions was on the Red Carpet to interview the celebrities for The Noshing with Nina Show.


Nominees were recognized in 25 categories including Outstanding Film, Drama Series, Comedy Series, Individual Episode, and TV Movie or Limited Series. There were additional nominees for Outstanding Documentary, Family Programming, Reality Program, Music Artist, Variety or Talk Show Episode, TV Journalism - Newsmagazine, Newspaper and Magazine Article, etc. There were also 5 Spanish-Language nominees.

Trans women were in abundance both on the Red Carpet and on the stage; but unfortunately, there was not one African-American cisgender woman presented on stage or on the Red Carpet at this …

Before presenting the evidence found in the Jussie Smollett case, Chicago Police Superintendent Eddie Johnson stated the following:
"Before I get started on why we're here, as I look out into the crowd, I just wish that the families of gun violence in this city got this much attention, because that's who really deserves the amount of attention that we're giving to this particular incident. I'm left hanging my head and asking why. Why would anyone, especially an African-American man, use the symbolism of a noose to make false accusations? How could someone look at the hatred and suffering associated with that symbol, and see an opportunity to manipulate that symbol to further his own public profile?"
Actor Jussie Smollett had claimed that he was attacked by two men yelling racist and homophobic slurs, who poured alcohol on him and put a noose around his neck. He claimed the attackers yelled "This is MAGA country!" so we were led to believe that the …

For our Black History Month presentation for The Noshing with Nina Show, we decided to produce a two-part series on the documentary film Matthew Kennedy: One Man's Journey on the life of Nina's father Matthew Kennedy. The film had its world-premiere at the Nashville Film Festival (NaFF) in 2007, where it was awarded the prize for Best Film by a Black Filmmaker. The film went on to be requested and screened at International Film Festivals worldwide.

Matthew Kennedy (1921-2014) was a world-renowned concert pianist, and was probably more recognized for his work as director of The Fisk Jubilee Singers of Nashville. Founded in 1871, the Fisk Jubilee Singers set out to raise money for the fledgling Fisk Free Colored School, known today as Fisk University, one of America's first HBCUs. The singers traveled internationally, performing for the crowned-heads of Europe, including Queen Victoria who proclaimed, "They sing so beautifully they must be from the Music City of the Un…

What a difference a year makes! Last year when we were on the Red Carpet covering the 2017 NYWIFT (New York Women in Film and Television) Muse Awards, we were green members of the press corps, struggling elbow-to-elbow with our colleagues trying to get the stars to stop for an interview or pose for our camera on its tripod. This year, we were full on maniacs! I unceremoniously stuck my microphone into the faces of all of the guests who walked the carpet, and April - this time with her camera on a mono-pod - flew up and down the carpet to get the best shots and camera angles, at times hoisting her camera into the air for aerial shots. For the 2018 Muse Awards, INFEMNITY Productions was a pro!

The honorees for this year were NYWIFT out-going Executive Director Terry Lawler; television producer and film director Tricia Brock; VP of Original Documentary and Comedy Programming at Netflix Lisa Nishimura; actor, comedian, writer, and disability activist Maysoon Zayid; five-time Academy Awar…

Congratulations to the former Martina Mehta and Stacey Drayer who officially tied the knot this month in what they called "Martina & Stacey's Wiccan Spiritual Wedding" at the Maritime Aquarium in Norwalk, Connecticut.


Martina has performed often in April and Nina's Salons, and her gutsy, Broadway-style voice has repeatedly thrilled audiences. Sergeant First Class Stacey Drayer is a Senior Non-Commissioned Officer for the US Army's Recruiting and Sustainment Program (RSP).

The ceremony was officiated by Afua Kafi-Akua, and Nina Kennedy cast the Circle and summoned the powers of the Four Directions in her role as Wiccan Priestess. Martina's mother had practiced Wicca, so it was very important to her to have a Wiccan wedding. Though she was not present in body, she was certainly there in spirit.





April Gibson welcomed the guests which included Stacey's mother, sisters, step-daughter and cousins; and Martina's aunt, sister, and cousins. April also produce…

Hello friends!

I know I've been pretty silent this month. The reason is that I am fully involved in the completion of the first book of my memoirs. For those of you who read the condensed version of my memoir in this blog, you might recall that at the end of it I wrote: "For the juicy details of my romantic life, you'll have to wait for the book." Well the book I'm finishing is that book!


Meanwhile, on Pride Weekend we taped another episode of The Noshing with Nina Show with special guest, author/actor/producer Tina Alexis Allen, whose new book Hiding Out: A Memoir of Drugs, Deception, and Double Lives is all the rage. I interviewed Tina about the book, her acting career, and the one-woman-show which she wrote, directed, and starred in titled Secrets of a Holy Father. Tina and I met at the Out Women in Business NYC Conference few months ago, where she did a reading and book-signing. I handed her my card. and she emailed us a few days later. After Googling her, w…

In early January, some of the MNN producers were given VIP tickets to sit in the studio audience for a taping of “The Harry Connick Jr. Show,” so April and I took advantage of this opportunity. The lavish set in the gigantic studio was most impressive; and I, of course, was immediately struck by the beautiful white 9-foot concert grand Steinway prominently positioned on the stage.


We were told by the staff and the floor manager to prepare to have a good time, because we were about to hear some great music. And they were right! Harry Connick Jr.’s band is one of the best groups of musicians in the talk show circuit. These were top-quality instrumentalists, many of whom have played with Harry for years. But again, as I have observed so many times, Harry Connick Jr. did not have one female in his band. 


Now I’m sure that, if questioned about it, Harry would say that his band members travel together, sometimes in tight quarters, and sometimes must change clothes while in the same room, etc.…

The annual New York Women in Film and Television Muse Awards took place Thursday December 14th in the Grand Ballroom of the New York Hilton in midtown Manhattan. INFEMNITY ProductionsandThe Noshing with Nina Show had an official capacity this year as members of the press corps, and as such we were invited to cover the Red Carpet arrivals. Honorees included celebrated filmmaker Julie Dash, actors Laura Dern and Judith Light, Amy Emmerich (Chief Content Officer at Refinery29), and Regina K. Scully (filmmaker and CEO of the Artemis Rising Foundation). Emmy Award-winning contributor to CBS News Sunday Morning, and our dear friend and colleague Nancy Giles served as emcee.


The program kicked-off with an inspiring speech by NY Lieutenant Governor Kathy Hochul, stressing the importance of assisting and supporting female colleagues in the industry, and lifting each other up. Harvey Weinstein’s ears must have been burning as virtually every honoree had a story to tell about sexual harassment an…

Congratulations to Daresha Kyi and co-director/producer Catherine Gund whose documentary film Chavela has won numerous awards and prizes throughout the international film festival circuit this year. After a hugely successful world-premiere at Berlin’s International Film Festival – where the film won the 2nd place Audience Award (with 1st place going to I Am Not Your Negro) – Chavela has been requested for screenings at film festivals worldwide, and is being aggressively sought out by international distributors.


To quote the film's website:

 “Through its lyrical structure, Chavela will take viewers on an evocative, thought-provoking journey through the iconoclastic life of game-changing artist Chavela Vargas. 





Centered around never before-seen interview footage of Chavela shot 20 years before her death in 2012, and guided by the stories in Chavela’s songs, and the myths and tales others have told about her – as well as those she spread about herself – the film weaves an arresting port…