DC ExtraTime: ADONIS

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A mystery that has haunted MTV Reality fans the past six months has been, "Whatever Happened to Edward Williams?" For those who might remember, he was the one who found himself in the middle of a love triangle in the Are You The One? Season 5 house with Kam Williams and Alicia Wright - when the ladder hooked up with him in the overnight dark after he and the former were one of that season's two Truth Booth perfect matches.
   Those who watched the premiere of Season 31 of The Challenge Vendettas on January 2nd last saw him, in a TV sense, running up the hill of the Rock of Gibraltar off the coast of Spain. But after he did make the cutoff for the competitors who survived that overnight test to make it to the house, Eddie was nowhere to be seen after that first episode for reasons that were never revealed on-air.
   And in typical fashion, it took for social media tea to emerge afterwards: the girl who now finds herself in a fight with the girl who's been around his ex on the Ex On The Beach house had a restraining order against the model. And instead of getting perhaps into it with Alicia, Eddie decided it was best to leave the house and not get dragged around.
   Like many cold case stories and high-profile murders such as of who killed Teamsters leader Jimmy Hoffa in the mid-70's, no one seems to exactly know of the whereabouts. But with Alicia has to deal with tomorrow night and after having seen Kam have a solid rookie run on Vendettas, we happened to stumble upon something that will not tell us what has happened since then to Eddie... and it takes place in a much different atmosphere than his two MTV shows.




The South By Southwest Festival not only brings together many of the biggest names in music to the live music capital of the world of Austin, TX, it's also an amalgamation of pop culture: music, TV, technology and movies. SXSW also hosts a film festival, and among those which were chosen to be screened during this spring's festival was the indie exotic dancing documentary THIS ONE'S FOR THE LADIES.
   The film's synopsis reads, "THIS ONE'S FOR THE LADIES explores the sexual and social identity of contemporary black America through intimate, eye opening and often hilarious accounts from women and men who find love and community in the underground world of male exotic dancing." And if the theme of the docu-film is familiar, it's safe to say that this is the African-American version of the Magic Mike films that made Channing Tatum a household name.
   Brooklyn indie director Gene Graham noticed that those films had an all-white cast, and felt inspired to look at this form of entertainment from a black point of view. His goal was to offer a real-life version of exotic dancing compared to Hollywood's glossy version. Graham and producer Paul Rowley spent four years documenting the lives of those who are part of this adult pleasure lifestyle that hopes to change people's opinions about this aspect of American life, told through stories of friendship, sexuality, race and community.

Determined Pictures

The doc focuses on a children's karate school in Newark, New Jersey being transformed from where kids try to become the next Bruce Lee to something a bit more adult-oriented: a Thursday night strip joint where ladies come to enjoy themselves in the company of an exotic male dancing troupe known as the New Jersey Nasty Boyz. It seems to be the most unlikely of reasons to have this night serve as an pot luck autism charity event, as one of the film's principal subjects, a lady named Michelle, is also a speech therapist.
   One of the dancers featured in the film is Edward, when he isn't modeling, working out or being part of a Season 5 cast that infamously became the only ones to go home without the cash on AYTO last year (and for which Alicia and a few of her alums comprise a handful of the Ex On The Beach cast) is a dancer who goes by the alias of "ADONIS." He is among those who will be given that opportunity to do what he does best in being given those singles by the ladies, in a doc that also addresses the social landscape of the moment and the power to persevere as the continuing dialogue of life in black America rages on.
   THIS ONE'S FOR THE LADIES first debuted at SXSW 2018 and was given a special jury recommendation for best cast and documentary feature, and has been screening at other film festivals in the past several months, with Eddie being part of the screenings. The worldwide rights were swooped in by NEON after the distribution company made a name in releasing the surprise figure skating hit I, Tonya, and the film is currently being slotted for a broader release later this year.

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