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Actors/comics Cedric the Entertainer and Deon Cole among those being recognized for breaking barriers in Hollywood.

On March 8 at the Sunset Room Hollywood, Lexus and UPTOWN Magazine collaborated once again — this time to proudly honor the contributions of Black comedians to American culture, arts, and entertainment. The event coincided with the 50th anniversary of hip hop (2023), as Guy Torry’s iconic documentary “Phat Tuesdays: The Era of Hip Hop Comedy,” explores the intersection of the music genre and Black comedy during a significant time in the 1990s.

“This year’s Lexus UPTOWN Honors Hollywood spotlights the complex history of Black comedians while at the same time telling our stories and making us laugh, even during times of trial,” said Mia Phillips, Senior Manager, Lexus Advertising and Media. “These comedians broke barriers and should be applauded, so we’re delighted to continue the tradition of celebrating those who are impacting the culture.”

Honorees included Guy Torry, creator of “Phat Tuesdays: The Era of Hip Hop Comedy,” Cedric the Entertainer, one of the “Original Kings of Comedy” which won a NAACP Image Award, a Chicago Film Critics Association award, and National Film Critics Award; and star of CBS’s “The Neighborhood.” Also being honored is Deon Cole, who starred in “Black-ish,” earning him nominations for two NAACP Image Awards and two Screen Actors Guild Awards, and now featured in the Netflix special, “Deon Cole: Charleen’s Boy.”

Lexus has been a long-time supporter of UPTOWN Honors Hollywood, with nearly a decade as its title sponsor. UPTOWN developed the annual pre-Oscar, invitation-only, black-tie affair with Lexus to establish a legacy of recognizing Black excellence in entertainment by bringing together the industry’s most prolific Black creators, writers, producers, filmmakers, and actors to pay tribute to the contributions of Black talent in Hollywood. Lexus UPTOWN Honors Hollywood will be hosted by actor, comedian, writer, and producer Chris Spencer and award-winning media personality Tai Beauchamp.

NEW YORK—(DECEMBER, 2022)— Hero Media, a 100% Black owned digital media and technology company committed to building digital communities around culture while supporting those that create it, today announced the launch of Goodfeed.com, the first women’s social-wellness network. 

As a new Black-owned online community and social media platform, Goodfeed.com is committed to providing bold and discerning people who identify as women from all diverse backgrounds, with a safe space to tell their full story. 

“We are not just a media company in the traditional sense,” said Joe Anthony, Founder and Chairman of Hero Media, which wholly owns Goodfeed.com, “We are a technology and innovation-driven business that is also focused on building platforms that help creators monetize their content in more dynamic ways.”

The site is focused on building positive connections across a variety of women’s interests. Unlike other media platforms that try to be all things to everyone, Goodfeed’s goal is to activate and empower influential women across a myriad of industries.  “Let’s face it, social media isn’t what it used to be and has completely been built on vanity metrics, and gamifying end goals that are frequently unattainable.  We are bringing substance back to social by encouraging women to write again. We are bringing blogging back,” again says Anthony. 

GoodFeed’s user experience is described as YouTube meets medium.  Users can launch a channel, write articles, share videos of varying lengths, create episodic shows amongst a variety of additional tools.  The platform is currently web based with plans on launching both android and iOS during the first half of 2023.

While all women can contribute to the curated group of editorial topics, the platform will be catalyzed by a select group of female experts, who will act as the platform’s in-house team of journalists.  These experts will contribute content about nutrition, fitness and training, career counseling, wellness, clean beauty products, etc. Content will be published in the form of articles and video tutorials focused on providing their followers with actionable information.

Anthony described the target audience as “woke and real, who wants the perfect combination of style and substance regarding politics, the environment, her health, and her community.”

The site is ad-supported, and offers royalties to writers from the ad revenue generated from their pages.  GoodFeed will also be introducing a series of additional features to help creators from subscription, PPV, and other bespoke services that help connect them directly to brands.  GoodFeed is also working with several women on creating proprietary content and shows, reinforcing their focus on investing in talent. 

About Hero Media

Hero Media is a Black-owned digital-first media and technology holding company focused on becoming the most diverse and profound media company of our generation. One committed to building platforms and communities around culture, inclusive of content that works for everyone, especially those who’ve been historically underserved. For more information, please visit: https://heromediainc.com/

Arturo Nunez joins Hero Media’s Advisory board, with a focus on strategic partnership development, investor relations and helping to build the company’s emerging original entertainment division, Hero Studios. Mr. Nunez is currently the founder of AIE Creative, a recently created marketing consultancy, providing immersive experiences to a highly curated selection of brands looking for unique ways to connect with diverse customers.

Arturo was previously CMO of Latin America for Apple, where he was responsible for marketing and corporate communications, product marketing, education content, enterprise marketing and developer relations across all 38 countries in Latin America and the Caribbean with special focus on Brasil, Mexico, Colombia, and Chile. Arturo Joined Apple in Oct of 2014.

In 2012 Nunez, became Vice President Global Marketing for Nike Basketball, where he was challenged with executing the brands marketing vision and strategy globally. Mr. Nunez’s daily responsibilities includes but were not limited to the development of the overall brand positioning, communications strategy, public relations, event activations, retail programs, digital marketing, E-commerce and creative strategies. Nunez was pivotal in the creation of campaigns for Lebron James, Kobe Bryant, Kevin Durant, Kyrie Irving and Paul George.

Prior to joining Nike, Nunez worked at the NBA and for some of the most accomplished brands in the world, including LVMH and Diageo. Nunez also sits on the boards of The Miami Underline and The Playing for Change Foundation. A native of Harlem, New York and son of Venezuelan and Cuban parents, Nunez attended Florida A&M University, where he studied Business Administration and Economics. He is fluent in English, Spanish and Portuguese. He currently resides in Pinecrest, Florida with his wife Ana, son Marcelo and daughter Karina. In his spare time, Arturo collects art, DJ’s and is a member of a number of groups with the mission of helping others realize their dreams. These include Summit Series, Conversations in The Park and the New Fania Collective.

As Hero Media continues to diversify beyond a traditional agency, it taps longtime Urban/Black media veteran Leonard Burnett, to become Hero Media’s first Head of Urban/Black Media Innovation. Burnett brings an impressive list of accomplishments and achievements to the position including being the former Publisher of Vibe Magazine, Vice President of Vanguard Media and Co-Founder of Uptown Media, where he is helping brands reach affluent African American audiences.

Burnett will be leading a team to develop new and innovative media platforms and technologies that serve diverse audiences. “It’s no secret that Black, Hispanic and urban media platforms have not evolved at the pace necessary to compete in a rapidly changing media landscape,” says Burnett. Burnett will be working closely with Hero Media CEO, Joe Anthony to ideate and develop new platforms primed and positioned to disrupt the Black/Urban media industry. “I’ve known Len for almost 20 years and am excited to finally be working with him to redefine the urban/black media landscape,” says Hero Media CEO, Joe Anthony.

Burnett will continue to operate Uptown Media, which will undoubtedly benefit from the new collaboration. The group’s efforts will be centered on the development of platforms for healthcare, wellness, fintech, financial literacy, local news and short form content. The team is currently working with their partners to accelerate the beta release of several applications before the end of the year. “We are focused on taking back ownership of our content and our narrative, long overdue change is coming,” says John Frazier, Head of Curation & Group Creative Director.