• Tyler Perry officially christened his sprawling new film studio Saturday, beaming as his fellow entertainment industry luminaries descended on Atlanta and strode a red carpet to the complex for an opening gala. The attendees warmly greeted Perry, a man who had once been homeless and yet now helmed his own studio, one of the nation's largest."I think it's pivotal in everything that we've done, everything that we're doing still, that we continue to try to motivate and inspire people," Perry said as he shook hands with well-wishers. Oprah Winfrey, Spike Lee, Cicely Tyson, Samuel L. Jackson, Halle Berry and others all helped Perry christen his new facility, a 330-acre studio that once served as a Confederate army post. Winfrey praised Perry and said the new studio head is a force to be reckoned with. "He didn't wait for other people to validate or to say you should go this way or that way. He said I'm going to create my own way and as we can see here, become a force for himself," Winfrey said. "I remember when he was thinking about buying this place and I said 'You'd be crazy not to take it.'" she added. Jackson pointed to Perry's vision as the key to his ascent. "This is more about Tyler the entrepreneur. The visionary. A guy who understands that ownership means that you can do what you want," Jackson said.
• Thousands of people showed up to an outdoor shopping center in Utah to see rapper Kanye West perform what he calls a worship service. Saturday's concert was held right before the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints held its twice-yearly conference in Salt Lake City. West took the stage late in his worship service and performed one song -- "Jesus Walks," from his 2004 album The College Dropout. Afterward, the Salt Lake Tribune reported that West prayed and testified to the crowd about his religious journey. He also talked politics and what he called the dangers of social media. The Deseret News reported that between 7,000 and 10,000 people attended the event.
• A Mexican judge says it was OK for Jared Kushner to get a top national award despite derogatory comments about Mexican migrants that were made by his father-in-law, President Donald Trump. A nonprofit group in Mexico, the Center Against Discrimination, said Saturday that the judge rejected its argument that Mexico should recall the award given to Kushner. In 2018, Mexico's previous government gave the Order of the Aztec Eagle to Kushner, a White House adviser, for contributions toward negotiating a new free trade agreement between Mexico, the U.S. and Canada. The award is the highest honor that Mexico gives to foreigners.
A Section on 10/07/2019