{"id":1278558,"date":"2025-05-23T02:14:42","date_gmt":"2025-05-23T02:14:42","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/celebrity.land\/pt\/?p=1278558"},"modified":"2025-05-23T02:14:42","modified_gmt":"2025-05-23T02:14:42","slug":"mara-brock-akil-continues-her-black-love-legacy-with-forever","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/celebrity.land\/pt\/mara-brock-akil-continues-her-black-love-legacy-with-forever\/","title":{"rendered":"Mara Brock Akil Continues Her Black Love Legacy With \u2018Forever\u2019"},"content":{"rendered":"
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Mara Brock Akil<\/a> has been floating for the past two weeks. Or, as she joyfully puts it, \u201cI\u2019m riding the sea turtles.\u201d<\/span><\/p>\n<\/div>\n

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The feeling is understandable. The <\/span>prolific TV mogul<\/span><\/a>\u2019s latest creation, \u201cForever,\u201d a modern adaptation of Judy Blume\u2019s beloved (and controversial) 1975 novel, premiered on May 8 to overwhelming praise from critics and viewers for bringing a new kind of coming-of-age tale to life. The TV series is just as revolutionary and forward-thinking as the original novel. <\/span><\/p>\n<\/div>\n

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Brock Akil\u2019s \u201cForever\u201d reimagines Katherine and Michael, the protagonists from Blume\u2019s book, as Keisha Clark (Lovie Simone) and Justin Edwards (<\/span>Michael Cooper Jr.<\/span><\/a>), two Black kids from Los Angeles \u2014 one wealthy, from a loving two-parent home, and the other raised by a struggling single mother and a tight-knit village of relatives. The show then follows the childhood sweethearts reuniting years later as teenagers at a New Year\u2019s Eve party at the close of 2017. That party is the catalyst for their whirlwind high school romance full of firsts, which isn\u2019t without its hurdles. <\/span><\/p>\n<\/div>\n

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\u201cForever\u201d turns Keisha and Justin\u2019s lives inside out as they fight to save their relationship, futures, and most of all, themselves. It\u2019s a teen experience many folks can relate to: navigating academic pressures, living up to parents\u2019 expectations, fearing missteps, discovering who we are and who we hope to become \u2014 all while trying to make sense of a first love that feels so messy and out of control. <\/span><\/p>\n<\/div>\n

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Those endless layers of honest storytelling are part of why \u201cForever\u201d was named an instant success. Less than a week after its debut, \u201cForever\u201d became the <\/span>No. 1 show on Netflix<\/span><\/a>. At the same time, the streamer renewed the groundbreaking series for a <\/span>second season<\/span><\/a>, to everyone\u2019s delight, including Brock Akil\u2019s.<\/span><\/p>\n<\/div>\n

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\u201cWon\u2019t he do it?\u201d she says over a sunny afternoon Zoom call. \u201cGod knew.\u201d<\/span><\/p>\n<\/div>\n

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The TV renewal glow practically radiates off Brock Akil as she buzzes with excitement over the impact of her new series, from the impassioned \u201cJuke\u201d (Justin and Keisha\u2019s ship name) debates sweeping social media to friends flooding the superproducer\u2019s phone with congratulatory messages. She rarely gets to soak up these moments in real time, so she\u2019s enjoying the high.<\/span><\/p>\n<\/div>\n

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\u201cI feel like Dawn when she found out that Justin got into Northwestern,\u201d the creator says excitedly, referring to Justin\u2019s mom, ferociously played by \u201cAnd Just Like That\u201d alum Karen Pittman. \u201cForever\u201d also stars Wood Harris, Xosha Roquemore, Will Catlett, Niles Fitch, Ali Gallo, Xavier Mills, Marvin Lawrence Winans III and Barry Shabaka Henley.<\/span><\/p>\n<\/div>\n

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\u201cI\u2019m also trying to ground myself to feel it,\u201d Brock Akil adds of the buzz around the show, \u201cto feel people\u2019s love poured back into me. It feels like a beautiful rain shower, to be honest. It feels warm outside, rainbows around, and I just feel showered.\u201d<\/span><\/p>\n<\/div>\n

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\""This<\/div>\n
“This is an art form that you don’t make by yourself, and you don’t make for just yourself. It is to have a collective conversation,” Brock Akil says of bringing more authentic stories to television. <\/figcaption><\/div>\n<\/figure>\n
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Brock Akil has something special on her hands with her newest series, which is seemingly always the case when you look at her exceptional track record of hit shows: \u201cGirlfriends,\u201d \u201cBeing Mary Jane,\u201d every iteration of \u201cThe Game\u201d and \u201cLove Is.\u201d \u201cLove Is\u201d was her first romantic TV drama, inspired by the beginning of her relationship with her husband, producer-writer Salim Akil (\u201cBlack Lightning\u201d).<\/span><\/p>\n<\/div>\n

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\u201cForever\u201d is simply a continuation of Brock Akil\u2019s legacy of telling Black stories, all rooted in love, imperfection and curiosity. It couldn\u2019t have arrived at a better time, with Black audiences starving for more authentic representation. As the shelf life for Black shows \u2014 especially in the YA genre \u2014 gets shorter and shorter, and images of Black adolescence remain scarce onscreen, the creator feels especially honored to break the drought with everything she planted in \u201cForever.\u201d <\/span><\/p>\n<\/div>\n

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\u201cI use this phrase often, when my kids play sports, and I found myself saying, \u2018Go get what you came for,\u2019\u201d Brock Akil says of rising to the occasion. \u201cMy soul contract is that I\u2019m an artist who found her voice in writing, and I\u2019m still wanting to get better with every project, every script. And I feel like I\u2019m getting what I came for, what I think I\u2019m here to do.\u201d<\/span><\/p>\n<\/div>\n

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Throughout her decades-long career, Brock Akil has made it a personal mission to \u201cpaint beautiful portraits of human beings,\u201d but \u201cForever\u201d highlights her true passion about providing audiences \u201cbeautiful portraits of Black people and Black families.\u201d<\/span><\/p>\n<\/div>\n

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In the half hour we spend chatting about \u201cForever,\u201d Brock Akil gets particularly enthusiastic about the global conversation she hopes her show sparks. Where Blume\u2019s novel was ahead of its time, talking openly about teen sexuality before it was socially acceptable, Brock Akil hopes her rendition sparks a more evolved discussion that allows more \u201cspace for our young people to be seen\u201d in the fullness of themselves.<\/span><\/p>\n<\/div>\n

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\u201c\u2018Forever\u2019 has made some room for our children to have this rite of passage, understand its importance, not just to the children, but to the families as well,\u201d she concludes. \u201cI think if you make room for them and make sure that they belong here, then, collectively, we subconsciously and consciously will protect them in their right to grow.\u201d <\/span><\/p>\n<\/div>\n

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In this interview, Brock Akil discusses with celebrity.land the making of \u201cForever\u201d and how she flipped a literary classic into another love letter to Black humanity.<\/span><\/p>\n<\/div>\n

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\"Brock<\/div>\n
Brock Akil has been portraying everyday Black life onscreen for decades: \u201cSo many of our images have been distorted, maimed, hidden,” she says. “I\u2019m just grateful that I have had the privilege and the blessing to stay in the game so that I can continue to be better at what I do.\u201d<\/figcaption><\/div>\n<\/figure>\n
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Watching \u201cForever\u201d was such a therapeutic experience \u2014 seeing teenagers and their families figure out how to be the best version of themselves at different stages of life, like so many people in the world do every day. Did you have your own healing experience creating the show?<\/strong><\/p>\n<\/div>\n

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Oh, always. Writing for me is always therapy. And that\u2019s why I started <\/span>The Writers\u2019 Colony<\/span><\/a>. I want my legacy to be known as someone who understood the power of writing, whether you make it to Netflix or not. I think our most valuable asset is our story, and our ability to craft our own story from our own emotional maturity and intelligence through our own lens. It\u2019s very, very important. Now, maybe [your work] is only read at your death. But at least those left behind you would know who you are and what you\u2019ve been through, and be able to learn from your story. <\/span><\/p>\n<\/div>\n

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Even if you just write in a journal, it is such therapy. It\u2019s a mirror, actually, to yourself. It\u2019s funny because \u2014 by the way, I know people are mad at this and they\u2019re mad at that [in \u201cForever\u201d]. They love this, they love that, but that is a mirror. You have to almost ask yourself as a viewer, \u201cWhy are you mad at that? Why is it engaging you that way? Why are you loving this part, mad at this part?\u201d That\u2019s what art does. When you go to an art gallery and you look at that painting, you don\u2019t even know why you\u2019re feeling your feelings, but it\u2019s mirroring something back to you. And I think that\u2019s why we love art, knowingly and unknowingly, because it touches the human soul and spirit. <\/span><\/p>\n<\/div>\n

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That was a long answer to say that writing, to me, has been my healing. And real therapy has helped me understand myself more so I get deeper in my writing. God willing, I\u2019d like to think that every project I do, I\u2019m just getting better. <\/span><\/p>\n<\/div>\n

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Absolutely. That\u2019s why I personally had such a strong reaction to \u201cForever.\u201d Not just because it\u2019s another iteration of you telling these romantic stories onscreen, but I saw so much of myself in the show. That said, Lovie Simone and Michael Cooper Jr. are the anchors of this love story \u2014 <\/strong><\/p>\n<\/div>\n

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\"Brock<\/div>\n
Brock Akil described casting Justin and Keisha in “Forever” as a “very spiritual process for me.” <\/figcaption><\/div>\n<\/figure>\n
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Oh, they portrayed this story so beautifully. What about those two convinced you that they were your Keisha and Justin?<\/strong><\/p>\n<\/div>\n

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Ooh, you know, their talent. At the end of the day, their preparation for this moment, they\u2019re going to get what they came for. Lovie\u2019s been around. She\u2019s been more of a veteran. Michael\u2019s new to it. But they both have a knowing that this is how they best express themselves in their art form. In the casting process, for someone to pop off a computer in their own self-taped situation, that\u2019s special. And then when we brought them in \u2014 that\u2019s a testament to [casting director] Kim Coleman. After I write the script, I call Kim and I tell her what I\u2019m looking for\u2026 And then she finds all this talent.<\/p>\n<\/div>\n

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It was interesting because Lovie and Michael were different with different people [in the chemistry reads]. But when they came together, you could just feel it. You felt it. I remember when we were casting, it was raining all day. But when Lovie and Michael [auditioned together], it poured<\/em>! It almost was like God\u2019s like, \u201cIf you all didn\u2019t feel it, I\u2019m trying to let you know.\u201d I mean, to the point where it affected their audio on the tape. It was raining that hard.<\/p>\n<\/div>\n

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Wow. It\u2019s crazy, when Michael told me how they just happened to meet right before the chemistry reads \u2014<\/strong><\/p>\n<\/div>\n

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I just heard about the plane story when we were doing a For Your Consideration event<\/a>, <\/strong>and they tell it\u2014<\/span><\/p>\n<\/div>\n

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We were all finding out at the same time. That they literally sat on the plane together, did not talk. It\u2019s like, that\u2019s crazy, right? <\/span><\/p>\n<\/div>\n

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But that\u2019s God. That\u2019s the magic. That\u2019s the sea turtles. That\u2019s it! We giggle about it now, but it was always there. I think the best part for me is to watch it in real time. For me, when it rained, my goosebumps [gestures to arm], my body literally went up straight, and I knew it was them. <\/span><\/p>\n<\/div>\n

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\"Cooper<\/div>\n
Cooper and Simone in one of their final scenes from the “Forever” finale.<\/figcaption><\/div>\n<\/figure>\n
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That\u2019s beautiful. I also found it interesting how Keisha and Justin essentially reverse gender roles in the show, with Keisha being more dominant and Justin more submissive, in a sense.<\/strong><\/p>\n<\/div>\n

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Well, two things were there. I think that it\u2019s reflective of the times. Young men, they\u2019ve been boxed in and have no place to express their vulnerabilities, and so it gave us an opportunity to see those. As a result, young women, over time, have gotten more assertive. People would say aggressive, going after the things that they want, and then that translates also, sometimes, into how they approach relationships. <\/span><\/p>\n<\/div>\n

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But the real key is what I did in the reimagining of the book. I decided that if Katherine, back in 1975, was the most vulnerable, in a sense, to go through the experience of firsts, I would wonder who is the most vulnerable today, and I posit that it is the Black boy. So I flipped the book. I gave the essence of Katherine to Justin. And in the book, Michael had more sexual experience than Katherine, so I also gave that to Keisha. And did it in the form of the modern challenges for young people, which is this phone, and how the phone is used for communication, blocking and an extension in sexuality. Both young and older people are doing it; that\u2019s a modern thing.<\/span><\/p>\n<\/div>\n

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So that\u2019s how I made the decisions around Keisha. Because in the book, a lot of the more challenging ideas of what was happening in the \u201970s were in the peripheral characters, and I decided to take the tough stuff and give it to our main characters. They have to navigate love and the tough stuff, whereas in the book\u2026 I just did a lot of, \u201cOh, what if I flip it?\u201d If I make the family Black, it\u2019s going to change everything, too. Whereas white families allow their children independence because they know they\u2019re safe in the world. Black people still, in 2018, maybe 2025, we don\u2019t feel that. We parent differently, and so that\u2019s going to be a complication to the love story. <\/span><\/p>\n<\/div>\n

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So those were fun flips. That\u2019s what you\u2019re experiencing when you use the words submissive and dominant. I would say that we\u2019re, for the first time, seeing young men\u2019s vulnerabilities onscreen. I would posit that they\u2019ve <\/span>always<\/span><\/em> been this vulnerable, but society told them masculinity looks this way. Conversely, with young women, we want equality in our work, in our education, in the world, but\u2026 I think there is some question mark about what is the romantic dance around who chases, who doesn\u2019t? But, ultimately, what I want to say is I don\u2019t care who does what. A love story, making room for love, has to be with communication, and most of the reasons why most of us are having our rollercoaster ride is because of miscommunication. And so it was really about that. <\/span><\/p>\n<\/div>\n

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Well, I love the flips on certain aspects of the book and how you were able to take it and adapt it to the screen. It felt like its own thing.<\/strong><\/p>\n<\/div>\n

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Yes, yes. It needed to be. <\/span><\/p>\n<\/div>\n

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\"A<\/div>\n
A central storyline in “Forever” revolves around a leaked sex tape of Keisha, a secret she hides from her family throughout the series.<\/figcaption><\/div>\n<\/figure>\n
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I want to talk about the sex tape storyline, because that has sparked all kinds of discourse and conversation online. Why did you choose to explore that through Keisha specifically? <\/strong><\/p>\n<\/div>\n

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Because it\u2019s the most complicated. Even historically, the image of Black women and sexuality has always sort of been distorted. I wanted to use it as a way to have <\/span>many<\/span><\/em> conversations. To me, as an artist, I think I just got the conversation started. I offered some perspective to jump off of, and I really think that it\u2019s for the community to talk about and sort through. All of these young people in the story have made mistakes, and the complicated nature of who\u2019s bad, who\u2019s good, all of that, we need to really start talking about more, instead of in this siloed way. It\u2019s complicated now that this very challenging technology, the phone, has created a lot of challenges in society, period. But it\u2019s really hurting, or helping, our children. And so, what do we want to do about it? <\/span><\/p>\n<\/div>\n

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The parents are another aspect of the show that people love.<\/strong><\/p>\n<\/div>\n

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I wanted to show two different sides of tradition. It\u2019s not the only setup, but I wanted to show a traditional family as well as a village type of family. The Edwards have financial resources, and Keisha has relationship resources. Both families want the same thing for their children. Both are striving for the best that they have, and for their children. They both are engaged in the same thing; their families just look different. But both of these children come from love. Parents aren\u2019t perfect, but we know that they are loving them. And though we\u2019re economically different, our goals are still the same. <\/span><\/p>\n<\/div>\n

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\"(L-R)<\/div>\n
(L-R) Keisha’s cousin, Brittany (Adriyan Rae), mom, Shelly (Xosha Roquemore), and dad, Quincy (Will Catlett), supporting her at her high school graduation.<\/figcaption><\/div>\n<\/figure>\n
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Exactly, the parents still just wanted to see the best for their kids.<\/strong> <\/span><\/p>\n<\/div>\n

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Yes, and look how many people it took to fill in the gap for Keisha\u2019s dad, and that there was still love for him. You know what I\u2019m saying? I do love to play on stereotypes \u2014 that\u2019s consistent in my work, that we think one thing and then we keep pulling back and showing the full humanity of someone. I hope that people love Keisha\u2019s dad when he shows up in Episode 7. We are playing on the collective stereotype of the Black man, but he\u2019s not missing. There was a village that stepped in in his physical absence. <\/span><\/p>\n<\/div>\n

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So I hope that people, when they go back \u2014 because I hear people are watching four times now \u2014 [they see] every time Keisha\u2019s taking a picture, she\u2019s thinking also of her father. And though we didn\u2019t see the pictures come in, if you look at her wall, that\u2019s her dad. These are things that may not be picked up on the first round, but these are how detailed we thought about love in its reflection in these two different families. <\/span><\/p>\n<\/div>\n

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\""I<\/div>\n
“I often say that these kids want happiness, safety, love, safe sexual experiences, and they want their future. By it not being there, I knew what my future was,” Brock Akil shares. “And I’m glad that I stayed protected and loved, so that I could get there.”<\/figcaption><\/div>\n<\/figure>\n
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What do you think a show like \u201cForever\u201d would\u2019ve done for you as a teenager?<\/strong><\/p>\n<\/div>\n

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Of course, I would have felt more seen. I would have felt more inspired. I would have felt more everything. But I also think about it like this. Just like my whole body of work I\u2019m painting in, I like to paint in what is not there. Maybe it was meant for me [to create \u201cForever\u201d in this era]. I don\u2019t know what it would have done [back then], but the fact that it wasn\u2019t there has ignited me.<\/span><\/p>\n<\/div>\n

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I found a purpose for me by it not being there. I was able to know love so much in my upbringing, though I was raised by a single mother \u2026 I had a village around me that loved me. In a sense, I\u2019m a Keisha, with a little bit of Justin, because I\u2019m actually a little bit of both of their families. But more than anything, what I\u2019m trying to say is, I knew I was loved. So when I would read Judy Blume\u2019s book that does not have my description in it, I know me, and I could project myself into it so that when this opportunity came years later, and I was actually on my path, it would meet me. That\u2019s destiny. <\/span><\/p>\n<\/div>\n

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Maybe I would feel like the storytelling was fine, and I might do something different. But the fact that it wasn\u2019t there was a part of my journey and part of my story.<\/span><\/p>\n<\/div>\n

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Season 1 of \u201cForever\u201d is streaming now on Netflix.<\/span><\/em><\/p>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n

\u2018 The preceding article may include information circulated by third parties \u2019 <\/em><\/p>\n

\u2018 Some details of this article were extracted from the following source www.celebrity.land \u2019 <\/em><\/p>\n

\u2018 O artigo anterior foi obtido e traduzido do site internacional da celebrity.land \u2019 <\/em> <\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

Mara Brock Akil has been floating for the past two weeks. Or, as she joyfully puts it, \u201cI\u2019m riding the sea turtles.\u201d The feeling is understandable. The prolific TV mogul\u2019s latest creation, \u201cForever,\u201d a modern adaptation of Judy Blume\u2019s beloved (and controversial) 1975 novel, premiered on May 8 to overwhelming praise from critics and viewers […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":1278559,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"jnews-multi-image_gallery":[],"jnews_single_post":[],"jnews_primary_category":[],"jnews_override_counter":[],"footnotes":""},"categories":[40],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-1278558","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-fofocas"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/celebrity.land\/pt\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/1278558","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/celebrity.land\/pt\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/celebrity.land\/pt\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/celebrity.land\/pt\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/celebrity.land\/pt\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=1278558"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/celebrity.land\/pt\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/1278558\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/celebrity.land\/pt\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/1278559"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/celebrity.land\/pt\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=1278558"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/celebrity.land\/pt\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=1278558"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/celebrity.land\/pt\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=1278558"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}