Celebrity News

Foxx fires up ‘Showtime’

Jamie Foxx is fired up about bringing back “Showtime at the Apollo.” When Foxx took the stage at the Apollo in the Hamptons benefit at Ronald Perelman’s East Hampton estate Saturday night, he announced that he’ll be bringing back the variety show that ended its 21-year run in 2008. It included performances by professionals and amateurs who were sometimes booed off the stage, including Foxx as a young comedian. He said, “The Apollo did it long before ‘American Idol,’ except the audience were the judges.” Foxx will executive-produce the show for BET. Other performers at the bash, which raised more than $1 million for Harlem education programs, were Alicia Keys, Jon Bon Jovi and Apollo legends Ben E. King and Bettye LaVette. Those in the audience included Matt Lauer, Richard Gere, LA Reid, Ron Meyer, Penny Marshall, Pharrell Williams, Jimmy Buffett, Google’s Eric Schmidt, City Council Speaker Chris Quinn and Police Commissioner Ray Kelly.