“THE WINE DOWN WITH MARY J. BLIGE” ADDS AWARD-WINNING RAPPER, ENTREPRENEUR, ACTOR, AND PRODUCER CURTIS “50 CENT” JACKSON TO THE GROWING ROSTER OF A-LIST GUESTS IN BET’S MUCH-ANTICIPATED TELEVISION EVENT

“THE WINE DOWN WITH MARY J. BLIGE” WILL AIR
WEDNESDAY, MARCH 1 AND WEDNESDAY, MARCH 8 AT 10 PM ET/PT ON BET AND BET HER

WATCH AND SHARE THE EXCLUSIVE PROMO HERE: https://app.shift.io/review/63ec1f96a400da1527c6e363

New York, NY – February 15, 2023 – BET’s much-anticipated television event “The Wine Down with Mary J. Blige” adds another megastar to its list of guests and announces its premiere dates. Award-winning rapper, entrepreneur, actor, and producer Curtis “50 Cent” Jackson will join previously announced guests Taraji P. Henson and Caresha “Young Miami” Brownlee for the innovative unscripted special event hosted by Grammy and Emmy Award-winning and Oscar-nominated artist, actress, producer, and entrepreneur Mary J. Blige. “The Wine Down with Mary J. Blige” will bring together the hottest, most outspoken, highly sought-after people in entertainment, sports, social media, and politics to uncork a bottle to take a sip and have raw, provocative, insightful, and honest conversations. In the episode featuring Curtis “50 Cent” Jackson, Blige talks with the superstar, and longtime friend, about professional and personal highs and lows, relationships, love, and family. Ranging from the recovery of his life-threatening bullet wounds to labels dropping him and Curtis “50 Cent” Jackson creating his own path to becoming a multiplatinum selling artist in his path of redemption with no remorse. These stories have never been told so candidly. “The Wine Down with Mary J. Blige” is the first unscripted project developed under the first-look deal with BET. “The Wine Down with Mary J. Blige” will air Wednesday, March 1 and Wednesday, March 8 at 10 PM ET/PT on BET and BET Her.

Watch and share an exclusive promo HERE: https://app.shift.io/review/63ec1f96a400da1527c6e363

• The first special featuring Taraji P. Henson and Caresha “Young Miami” Brownlee premieres Wednesday, March 1 at 10 PM ET/PT on BET and BET Her.
• The second special featuring Curtis “50 Cent” Jackson premieres Wednesday, March 8 at 10 PM ET/PT on BET and BET Her.

“The Wine Down with Mary J. Blige” is executive produced by Blige, Ashaunna K. Ayars and Nicole Jackson for Blue Butterfly. Lisa Erspamer will executive produce for Lisa Erspamer Entertainment. Jordan Davis and John Davis will serve as executive producers for the series for Davis Entertainment. Connie Orlando and Angela Aguilera will executive produce for BET.

About Mary J. Blige

Iconic Grammy and Emmy Award-winning and Oscar-nominated artist, actress, producer, and entrepreneur Mary J. Blige is a figure of inspiration, transformation, and empowerment. With a track record of eight multi-platinum albums, nine Grammy Awards (37 nominations), an Emmy award, two Academy Award nominations, two Golden Globe nominations, and a SAG nomination, Blige has cemented herself as a global superstar. Influenced at an early age by the music of Aretha Franklin, Chaka Khan and Gladys Knight, Blige brought her own gritty, urban-rooted style—fusing hip-hop, soul, and honest, frank lyrics—to the forefront on her 1992 debut album What’s the 411? Blige continued to redefine R&B and began forging a unique niche for herself on her second album, 1994’s My Life. Each subsequent album she released reads like a chapter from an autobiography leading to February 2022, when Blige released her 15th studio album Good Morning Gorgeous, which has since earned her six 2023 Grammy nominations including Album and Record of the Year. The album release led into a historic performance at the Pepsi Super Bowl LVI Halftime Show.

On the acting side, Blige starred as Florence Jackson in the 2017 Netflix breakout film Mudbound, to which she received critical acclaim including two Academy Award nominations for Best Support Actress and Best Original Song. Among many other credits, Blige is currently starring in STARZ’s POWER BOOK II: GHOST, which will premiere its third season in March 2023.

On the producing side, Blige launched her production company, Blue Butterfly, and signed a first-look TV deal with Lionsgate. Blige also signed a first-look non-scripted deal and a second-look scripted deal with BET. In 2021, Blige worked with Oscar-winning filmmaker Vanessa Roth and Amazon on her documentary Mary J. Blige's My Life celebrating the 25th anniversary of her famed album My Life, of which she was the focus and EP.

Blige is represented by The Ayars Agency, APA, The Lede Company, and Granderson Des Rochers.

About BET

BET, a subsidiary of Paramount Global (NASDAQ: PARAA; PARA; PARAP), is the leading provider of premium entertainment, music, news, digital and public affairs content for Black audiences worldwide. BET linear is in 125 million households and can be seen in the United States, Canada, Brazil, the Caribbean, the United Kingdom, sub-Saharan Africa, and France. BET is one of the most well-known Black consumer brands worldwide, with multi-platform business extensions including BET Studios, an unprecedented studio venture that offers equity ownership for Black content creators; BET+, the preeminent streaming service for the Black audience; BET Digital, including BET’s wide reaching social platforms and BET.com, a leading Internet destination for Black entertainment, music, culture, and news; BET HER, a 24-hour entertainment network targeting the African-American Woman; BET Music Networks - BET Jams, BET Soul, and BET Gospel; BET Home Entertainment; BET Live, BET’s events and experience business; and BET International, which operates BET around the globe.

About Blue Butterfly Productions

Blue Butterfly Productions is a film, television and digital content company founded in 2019 by Grammy Award winning and Academy Award nominee Mary J. Blige. Blige is expanding her already iconic career of telling stories through music, to creating diverse stories and narratives for all audiences on film. The endeavor comes on the heels of Blige executive producing, producing and starring in a variety of film and television projects. In 2019, Blige signed a first-look scripted television deal with Lionsgate, where she will develop and produce television series under her Blue Butterfly Productions banner and create content across the company’s other business platforms. Blue Butterfly also struck a first look deal in non-scripted and second look deal in scripted content with BET Studios. Most recently, Blige executive produced her deeply personal and celebrated documentary with Amazon Studios, Mary J. Blige’s My Life, through her banner. Upcoming projects include the films Real Love and Strength of a Woman with Lifetime and Sony Pictures Television,and series including The Wine Down.

About Davis Entertainment

Davis Entertainment is a film and television production company, founded by John Davis, that has produced over 115 feature films and 13 television series, with various projects at networks and cable broadcasters, streaming platforms, major studios and independent distributors.

Davis recently produced JUNGLE CRUISE with Dwayne Johnson and Emily Blunt, Lifetime’s LOVE YOU TO DEATH, inspired by the story of Gypsy Rose Blanchard, and the movie PREY, which is the most watched television series or movie in Hulu history. John and collaborator Jordan Davis are in post-production with Netflix on THE UGLIES, based on the best-selling book series, with McG directing and Joey King starring, as well as HAROLD AND THE PURPLE CRAYON, with Zachary Levi starring and Carlos Saldanha directing, for Sony Pictures. Additional films include GAME NIGHT, DOLEMITE IS MY NAME, I, ROBOT, the PREDATOR FRANCHISE, THE FIRM, WATERWORLD, and CHRONICLE. They also have numerous additional projects in production and development.

In Television, Davis Entertainment's new projects include a pilot based on the Witch Mountain film franchise starring Bryce Dallas Howard which is set to premiere on Disney+ in 2023. Currently, Davis Entertainment has three series on the air - THE BLACKLIST, entering its final tenth season, the CBS hit series THE EQUALIZER with Queen Latifah, and MAGNUM P.I. with Jay Hernandez. John and Jordan are also producing the upcoming conversation series, THE WINE DOWN WITH MARY J. BLIGE.

Contact:

Luis Defrank

Luis.Defrank@bet.net

Danielle Spigner-Davis

danielle.davis@bet.net