Deon Cole kicked off the 57th NAACP Image Awards with spicy jokes and name-dropping! His opening prayer had the audience gasping, laughing and clapping it up. But not everyone found his jokes sweet! Late Sunday, Deon shared some reactions to his comments, namely about Nicki Minaj and Tourette’s. And spoiler alert: it’s all hate mail with lil’ extra hate sprinkled in.

RELATED: NAACP Image Awards 2026: The Best Dressed Stars Who Owned The Night (PHOTOS + VIDEOS)

Deon Cole Let The Jokes Fly At The NAACP Image Awards

The jokey jabs that landed Deon Cole in hot water with the Barbz (Nicki Minaj fans) and Tourette’s advocates happened right at the start! The comedian opened the show with a non-serious prayer. He started by asking the Lord to bless Teyana Taylor, and to keep her single and away from extremely handsome men so the “average man…woman” can get a chance. Taylor was in the audience, cracking up!

Later in his prayer, Cole asked God to bless Nicki Minaj. The audience immediately laughed as her picture appeared on the stage screen.

“She’s been going through a lot lately Lord…hasn’t been herself Lord. I believe whatever’s in her a** is affecting her brain Lord. Take it out her a** Lord, we bind that spirit in her a** Lord.”

Afterward, Cole joked about how anyone with Tourette’s in the audience should read the NAACP Image Awards room before a tic. As previously reported, Tourette’s campaigner, John Davidson, recently caught heat after shouting the n-word as Michael B. Jordan and Delroy Lindo took the stage at the BAFTA Awards. Cole’s joke was a reference to that firestorm!

RELATED: Tourette’s Advocate John Davidson Breaks His Silence After Shouting N-Word During BAFTA Awards (UPDATE)

Comedian Reveals Hate Mail In His DMs

After his prayer jokes, Deon Cole hopped on Instagram to show how folks behind IG pages were poppin’ off in his DMs. Some of the responses appeared to come from Barbz, per their word choices while others seemed offended by the comment about people with Tourette’s reading the room. From calling Deon the n-word (hard -er at times) to wishing death on him, his DMs put the HATE in hate mail. He didn’t caption the post, but nearly 8,000 people weighed in on the multi-slide insults, including Jamie Foxx, who wrote: “Bro I love you! You are brilliant.” 

BET Releases Statement In Support Of Deon Cole 

As the hate mail went viral, BET stepping in to show Deon Cole some love! It shared a post on Instagram, tagging accounts for the comedian, the NAACP and the NAACP Image Awards. All the photos featured Cole on the stage, or posing with other celebs.

“Comedians are truth tellers. Tasked with making the hard parts digestible, bringing laughs to our darkest days, equal parts intelligence and humor, @deoncole, what you did last night was a lesson in showmanship. Thank you for being our #NAACPImageAwards host for the second year in a row. We see you.”

The post received over 1,800 comments and more than 16,000 likes, even Jamie Foxx slid by that comment section, too. He wrote, “Incredible job!!!” See additional comments below. 

RELATED: Delroy Lindo Addresses BAFTA Incident At NAACP Image Awards After John Davidson Speaks Out (VIDEOS)

Claressa Shields is clapping back at internet users after she sparked heat for saying she wishes she could “surprise” Papoose with a baby for his birthday.

RELATED: Victory Night! Claressa Shields & Papoose Hit The Club After She Defeated Franchón Crews-Dezurn & Retained Heavyweight Title

Claressa Shields Claps Back After Saying She Wishes She Could “Surprise” Papoose With A Baby

During the early hours of Monday, March 2, Claressa Shields took to X, formerly known as Twitter, to share a few words about her man, her man, her man, Papoose.

“My man deserve everything. I wish for his bday I could surprise him with a baby,” she wrote, while sharing a photo of her and Pap.

Shields’ words immediately sparked reactions, with one user, @nichnyati, writing, “Girl bye, begging for a baby on the internet while he’s still rapping about being single in 2025 is wild…  Keep that undefeated energy in the ring, not in the delivery room.”

This prompted Shields to reply:

“Are you ret**ded?”

But that wasn’t it. Additionally, another X user, @sheis_hennessy, wrote, “Girl he’s married , pls be fr ! You have entire legacy to maintain , pls be fr !”

To which Shields replied:

“Sybau, it’s called divorce goofy ass”

Furthermore, another X user, @easterlycahrles, wrote, “Why don’t you. Quit boxing for a year, and make a baby. It’s easy. Go home get in the sack. Get real hot and bothered- foreplay- yes fore play. , sense it’s birthday…”

This prompted Shields to dish more on her and Pap’s apparent baby plans.

“Hell naw lol. We planning for end of year”

Peep her tweet, the reactions, and her replies by swiping below.

To note, Shields also opened up about her baby plans in December 2025. As The Shade Room previously reported, at the time, Shields noted that she wants to have a baby in 2026 and is supportive of Pap’s hopes of it being a boy.

Social Media Weighs In After Claressa Shields Claps Back

Social media users shared their thoughts on Claressa Shields’ initial tweet and clapbacks in TSR’s comment section.

She Also Sparked Reactions Dancing To Shoutout From Megan Thee Stallion

Claressa Shields’ latest baby comments arrived on the heels of Megan Thee Stallion shouting her and Papoose out on her ‘B.B.B.’ remix verse. As The Shade Room previously reported, the track was released last week, and on it, Meg raps, “Just like Claressa, he love this Papoosey, Get In that flow state, he don’t wanna lose me.”

But that wasn’t it. Over the weekend, Shields showed Meg’s verse some love by dancing to it in footage shared online. In turn, Meg slid in her comment section, hyping her up.

RELATED: Claressa Shields & Papoose Set Timelines Off After Megan Thee Stallion Drops SPICY Lyrics About Them On ‘B.B.B.’ Remix (VIDEO)

Genre:

Action, Adventure, Fantasy, Martial Arts

Release Date:

May8, 2026

Director: 

Simon McQuoid

Cast:

Karl Urban, Hiroyuki Sanada, Tati Gabrielle, Jessica McNamee, Mehcad Brooks, Lewis Tan, Joe Taslim, Ludi Lin

Plot Summary:

The fan favorite champions — now joined by Johnny Cage himself — are pitted against one another in the ultimate battle to defeat the dark rule of Shao Kahn that threatens the very existence of the Earthrealm and its defenders.

President Trump
I’m Sticking My Scabby Neck Out … For America!!!

Published
March 2, 2026
11:21 AM PST

Bridgerton has gone through some onscreen recasts and book changes, which has caused some fans to worry that more main characters will look different in future seasons of the hit Netflix series.

Based on Julia Quinn‘s book series, the Regency show follows different members of a wealthy family as they each search for love in 19th century London. After the show premiered in 2020, Bridgerton went through cast changes when Regé-Jean Page left the show after season 1 and his onscreen love interest Phoebe Dynevor‘s screen time was cut as a result.

Other former leads had significantly less scenes from season to season while one member of the Bridgerton family — Francesca — was recast with Hannah Dodd taking over for Ruby Stokes. With there being eight seasons planned in total and multiple years before seasons, some have questioned whether more cast changes are coming up.

Keep scrolling for a breakdown of the recasting concerns:

Related: ‘Bridgerton’ Cast: See the Hit Netflix Show’s Stars Then and Now

Bridgerton fans have watched the cast change on and off screen since the series first debuted. The historical drama, which is based on the book series written by Julia Quinn, follows the members of the wealthy Bridgerton family as they search for love in 19th century London. When Bridgerton premiered in 2020, the show centered […]

The Key Players

Season 1 of Netflix’s Bridgerton centered around Daphne Bridgerton (Dynevor) and Simon Basset (Page), who were the leads of the first book, The Duke and I.

Season 2 took inspiration from The Viscount Who Loved Me, which followed Anthony Bridgerton (Jonathan Bailey) as he found love with Kate Sharma (Simone Ashley). Despite Benedict Bridgerton (Luke Thompson) being the subject of the third novel — An Offer From a Gentleman — his love story with newcomer Sophie (Yerin Ha) wasn’t explored until season 4.

The third season instead focused on Colin Bridgerton (Luke Newton) and Penelope Featherington (Nicola Coughlan) as seen in Quinn’s book Romancing Mister Bridgerton.

The Gist

Showrunner Jess Brownell confirmed in January 2026 that Eloise (Claudia Jessie) and Phillip Crane (Chris Fulton) or Francesca (Dodd) and Michaela (Masali Baduza) are next in line.

With the long filming schedules causing years between seasons, some fans have expressed concern that Fulton could be replaced as Phillip after being gone since season 2. There were also questions about whether younger Bridgerton siblings Hyacinth (Florence Hunt) and Gregory (Will Tilston) will be played by other actors despite being cast in the show as kids.

Related: Which ‘Bridgerton‘ Couples Ended Up Together in the Books?

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As soon as Netflix debuted Bridgerton, fans became invested in the stories still yet to be told. Based on Julia Quinn‘s novels of the same name, the series began with the love story of Daphne Bridgerton (Phoebe Dynevor) and Simon Basset (Regé-Jean Page). Season 2 of Bridgerton told the story of Anthony Bridgerton (Jonathan Bailey) […]

What Has Been Said

Quinn broke her silence in February 2026 on possible changes in future seasons.

“I don’t necessarily know how they’re gonna spin it or write it or what they’re going to keep and change,” Quinn exclusively told Us Weekly while teasing Eloise’s upcoming season.

Quinn also weighed in on Hyacinth and Gregory’s respective seasons.

“It’s funny because they were, like, 12 and 13 when they started. If you asked me that back then [about the same actors playing them as adults], I’d be like, ‘I don’t know.’ But when I saw them again at the premiere, they were both drinking wine,” she told Us. “They’re both 18 now and Will was there with his girlfriend.”

The author pointed out that there were still a few years before It’s In His Kiss and On the Way to the Wedding will be featured with their own seasons.

“[Showrunner] Jess [Brownell] has said the next two seasons will be either Eloise and then Francesca or Francesca and then Eloise, which makes sense. It takes a few years to film, so by the time we get to Hyacinth and Gregory, the actors are going to be well into their 20s,” Quinn explained. “So I think it’ll probably be OK. Will it be weird that we knew them when they were 12? We see child stars grow up all the time.”

She continued: “As a writer, it was hard to write those two books at first. I really had to let them grow up in my mind a bit and that was hard for both of them. I was really glad it took several years — but even so — I can’t remember how much time passed in the writing. I really had to let them grow up. It was tough.”

Brownell, meanwhile, confirmed that Eloise’s romantic future won’t change. “I think we are interested in honoring the love interest from Eloise’s book. I can dispel, she’s not ending up with Theo. She’s ending up with the love interest from her book,” she told Swooon.

The showrunner also shut down other possible recasting — such as Daphne and Simon. “We are not interested in recasting the characters,” Brownell told Variety in February 2026. “I think it would feel like a disservice to everything Regé and Phoebe set up in season 1, and all the beautiful work they put into those characters.”

What’s Next

In addition to Eloise’s To Sir Phillip, With Love and Francesca’s When He Was Wicked, Hyacinth’s It’s In His Kiss and Gregory’s On the Way to the Wedding are the only remaining books left to bring to life.

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