#FASHONFILES: EYE on TikTok Star Wisdom Kaye for Coach 'Hit the Slopes' and H&M Innovation @ British Fashion Awards
American model and Tik Tok personality Wisdom Kaye joins Brittany O’Grady, Mia Regan and Tiffany Guo in the new Coach ‘Hit the Slopes’ campaign. The vision behind the campaign ‘introduces nostalgic winter sportswear reimagined through the optimistic lens of now' along with a digital game, Snow City. The game allows players to ‘race through snowy New York City as a Coach Holiday animal, collecting “love”’.
After all the challenges in 2021 — and especially for our young people, whose lives are just turned upside down in today’s world — let’s play along with Snow City.
Anne of Carversville is all about love through the practice of ‘ubuntu’ — the Nguni Bantu term meaning "humanity". It is sometimes translated as "I am because we are" (also "I am because you are"), or "humanity towards others" (in Zulu, umuntu ngumuntu ngabantu), according to Wiki.
New York City photographer Zackery Michael [IG] photograph’s the Coach ‘Hit the Slopes’ campaign. His images seem to appear out of another era.
Like so many New York City creatives, Michael — who lives in Williamsburg, Brooklyn — migrated to the city from small town America. In his case Springfield, Oregon. Zackery Michael’s bags are always packed and ready for the next destination.
Wisdom Kaye is also on the move, appearing Monday night at the British Fashion Council awards, where he was dressed in clothes from H&M’s new circularity-focused collection, Innovation Circular Design Story.
Wisdom Kaye is represented by IMG models and hails from Houston, Texas. The energy-infused, rising creative star with major swagger joined Tik Tok in January 2020 and went viral for his offering to the ‘Vogue Challenge’.
By July 2020, the Kaye’s TikTok had 2 million followers, prompting Vogue to call him "TikTok's best-dressed guy".
Read more about H&M’s commitment to being a leader in rewriting fashion’s damning impact on our planet. The brand has created a heap of woes around our industry’s destruction of the environment in pursuit of style and see-me pleasures.
Now the global brand is committed to being a leader in cleaning up the mess. H&M is teaming up with fashion’s most talented people to help drive hope the urgency of a planet-protecting response.
SADNESS! Nick Cannon's 5-Month-Old Son Dies from Brain Tumor
Nick Cannon's 5-month-old son Zen has passed away. Cannon personally shared the heartbreaking news through tears on Tuesday's Nick Cannon Show, in which he noted that his son had a brain tumor. The actor said Zen died on Sunday and that he was dedicating the show to him as he works through his grieving. He shared footage of the announcement to his social media, and you can watch the video below.
Before revealing the news, Cannon unveiled the episode's pic of the day: a photo of his son Zen, who was born on June 23rd. Nick then tells Zen's story, explaining how he and Zen's mother, Alyssa Scott, took him in for what they believed to be a routine checkup at two months, and it was then they learned he had a brain tumor. Surgery took place soon after with a shunt inserted to help drain the excess fluid, and though Cannon remained "hopeful," he also "embraced every moment" he had with Zen afterward. He also credited the medical team at the Children's Hospital of Orange County, along with his "entire family" for coming together at this incredibly painful time.
Sadly, the growth of the tumor made it clear to the family that their time with Zen was running out. On Sunday morning, Nick brought Zen to watch the sunrise by the ocean, where he recalls "holding my son for the last time." He was on his way to fly back out to New York, but didn't get very far before he realized he had to turn around. He then spent the rest of his day with Zen and Alyssa, and he was able to enjoy a final sunset with their son as well before saying their last goodbyes. Cannon then explained how coming back to do his show, sharing the news with his viewers, was a way of helping him work through his grief.
I didn't know how I was going to handle today, but I just needed to grieve with my family... I didn't want to make it about any pageantry, or any of that type of stuff, so I kind of went back and forth with what I should do. But I felt like I was always taught you don't just go through it, you grow through it, you keep pushing... I'm feeling it, I'm vulnerable, I'm open, but I'm going to make it through, and this is a special show dedicated to my beautiful son Zen.
Nick Cannon says his faith in God has also helped him through the tragedy, noting he prayed for God's strength to help him with his healing. He also encourages his viewers to take the time to let the people you love know that you know them, as you never know what other people are going through. We would also like to extend our condolences to Nick Cannon along with Alyssa Scott and the rest of Zen's loving family. May Zen Scott Cannon rest in peace.
#RHOA: Do You think Porsha Williams’s Spinoff Housewives Damage Control???
There is no Real Housewives maxim more consistent, more franchise-spanning than “own it.” The two-word admonition is most associated with the woman who made it her catchphrase, The Real Housewives of Beverly Hills’ Lisa Rinna, but the concept predates her and extends far beyond the West Coast. “Own it” is simply a reminder that being on a reality show means having to confront (on camera) the less polished aspects of your life: the divorces, the legal issues, the tabloid headlines. Housewives can often skate through a season or two unscathed, but eventually every cast member will find herself with a target on her back, and it’s how she handles her time in the hot seat that determines her future on the series.
Over the course of eight seasons on The Real Housewives of Atlanta, Porsha Williams was dealt her fair share of controversy and general unpleasantness — her divorce from Kordell Stewart, which she learned about on Twitter; her false allegations of attempted sexual assault by Kandi Burruss, which was fed to her by another cast member who didn’t survive the dustup; and that time she thought the Underground Railroad was a literal railroad, which she put far behind her with her work as an activist for the Black Lives Matter movement. Porsha’s ability to weather the storm, and her personal growth both in front of and away from the cameras, made her one of the most dynamic and likable Housewives in any city.
On paper, then, a Porsha-centric spinoff feels like a sensible next step for Bravo and for Porsha herself, who has earned the right to step into the spotlight outside of the ensemble work of RHOA. In reality, however, Porsha’s Family Matters is a frustrating cop-out. Faced with a controversy it would be hard to wriggle out of — the accusation that she stole a castmate’s husband — Porsha decided to bail on the series when she might be held accountable in order to hash things out on the friendlier terrain of a spinoff that allows her to call the shots.
To be fair, it’s not as though Porsha’s Family Matters is papering over the drama. The series is largely centered around Porsha’s new relationship with entrepreneur Simon Guobadia, whom she first met when he was married to Falynn Guobadia, a recurring presence on the most recent season of RHOA. There’s no avoiding the reality of the situation even as Porsha and her new beau work hard to smooth over the timeline. They allegedly didn’t start DM’ing each other until Simon and Falynn had called it quits — Simon says Porsha DM’d him immediately after his divorce announcement, while she maintains that he made the first move. And yes, they technically did announce their engagement before Simon’s divorce from Falynn was final, but they swear they thought Simon’s marriage would be officially over first.
The most interesting thing about Porsha’s Family Matters is it’s a flagrant attempt at repairing Porsha’s image but isn’t all that effective as damage control. Porsha alternates between being genuinely wounded about the fans not understanding her new relationship (what is there to understand?) to saying, “Fuck everybody. Fuck what they got to say.” For his part, Simon insists “the engagement happening too fast is nobody’s damn business.” Porsha is at least still charming onscreen, and the flashbacks to some of her lower moments on RHOA help her recover sympathy amid her fraught situation. But Simon is uniquely uncharismatic, looking sleepy and dismissive in his confessionals. Generally speaking, if a Housewife’s spouse (or almost-spouse) gets a talking head, it’s because he has something compelling to say. Simon’s half-assed performance doesn’t exactly do much to counter the theory — thrown out somewhat obliquely by Porsha’s ex, Dennis McKinley — that she’s with Simon for the financial security his bank account provides.
Dennis turns out to be the surprising breakout of the spinoff. On RHOA, he was mostly just loathsome, another regrettable romantic choice who cheated on Porsha while she was pregnant with their child. On Porsha’s Family Matters, he emerges as the voice of reason, the only cast member (so far) who’s really saying what the audience is thinking. Dennis is right that no matter how Porsha and Simon work to contextualize the timeline of their relationship, Porsha looks like “the man-stealer of the century.” And who better than Dennis, a man who Porsha expeditiously tried and failed to forge a life with, to offer the analysis, “Porsha flies fast, and she crashes very hard.”
Dennis aside, there are certainly things to enjoy about the series, including well-deserved bigger roles for Porsha’s sister, Lauren, and mother, Diane, than either ever got on Housewives. But ultimately, the spinoff is as far from “owning it” as possible. While it’s true Porsha could have simply abandoned reality TV entirely, giving her a show of her own allows her to have her cake and eat it too: She gets to reclaim her narrative after some really damaging headlines on the blogs without risking a villain edit. Every Housewife can attempt a redemption arc, but you have to be willing to put the work in, and that means showing up even when the knives are out.
It’s impossible not to think about what season 14 of RHOA would look like had Porsha chosen to stick around. There’s no question that her nemesis (and expert behind-the-scenes producer/shit-stirrer) Kenya Moore would have orchestrated a confrontation between Porsha and Falynn, most likely inviting the latter unannounced to a cast gathering. The fights would have turned ugly, the shade vicious — even Porsha’s allies would have been forced to admit her quickie engagement to Simon doesn’t look good from an outside perspective.
Porsha had every right to quit: No one should be forced to face the music if they’d rather opt out. Kim Zolciak left RHOA behind when it was clear no one wanted to film with her anymore and put all her attention into her spinoff, Don’t Be Tardy. And when Lisa Vanderpump was accused of leaking a damaging story about another Housewife to Radar Online, she stopped filming RHOBH halfway through the season. Now she exists solely on her spinoff, Vanderpump Rules (and another one about foster dogs that seven people watch). These women found success on long-running Bravo series outside of Housewives proper, but even with those precedents, Porsha’s Family Matters is the most flagrant example yet of jumping ship for a spinoff.
That matters because Porsha’s choice to take her juiciest story line and address it solely on her own show could be the start of a disappointing trend. At a time when too many Housewives are walking away rather than dealing with the fallout of their latest missteps, it doesn’t seem like a smart move to give them the option of sidestepping their main series for a gentler, more tightly controlled spinoff. What’s to stop Erika Girardi from deciding she’s sick of battling Sutton Stracke over her half-truths on RHOBH and instead trying to negotiate an Erika-centric series with Bravo instead? What happens when The Real Housewives of Salt Lake City’s Jen Shah concludes she’s too Shah-mazing to document the fallout from her alleged crimes on an ensemble series and should get a spinoff of her own? The end result is the original Housewives shows suffer — not to mention the fans who watch them.
It’s possible Porsha’s Family Matters will eventually deliver a satisfying conclusion to her lightning-fast man-stealing engagement story line. “I promise you one day it will all make sense,” Simon tells Porsha’s friend Drew Sidora in the premiere, and maybe he’s right. But letting Porsha and Simon dictate the terms of their story doesn’t just make for a mediocre series — in a larger sense, it’s reality-TV malpractice.
#MusicNews: Mya Stars in Lifetime Holiday Film “My Favorite Christmas Melody”
Mya My Favorite Christmas Melody. Singer Mya takes her talents to the TV screen as she stars in the upcoming Lifetime original holiday film “My Favorite Christmas Melody”.
Mya acts out the part of Abby who was once a promising singer/songwriter, but now finds herself writing uninspired jingles for commercials. Her luck changes as she heads home for the holidays when she’s tapped by the local high school music teacher to save the arts program. That allows Abby to rediscover her passion for music and go on to chase her dreams.
“My Favorite Christmas Melody” is on Lifetime now through the Holidays!.
#HipHopNews: Drake Withdraws Grammy Nominations
Drake has withdrawn his two Grammy nominations.
A rep for the Recording Academy tells Variety that the decision was made by Drake and his management, but no explanation was given.
Drake was nominated for Best Rap Album for Certified Lover Boy and Best Rap Performance for “Way 2 Sexy,” his collaboration with Future and Young Thug, at the 64th annual show.
In the Best Rap Album category, the nominees also included Kanye West’s Donda, J. Cole’s The Off-Season, Nas’ King’s Disease II, and Tyler, the Creator’s Call Me If You Get Lost.-
The voting will now go forward with just four nominees in each category.
Last year, Drake voiced his disapproval for the Grammys after The Weeknd was shut out of the nominations.
Drake on the Grammys
“I think we should stop allowing ourselves to be shocked every year by the disconnect between impactful music and these awards and just accept that what once was the highest form of recognition may no longer matter to the artists that exist now and the ones that come after,” Drake wrote. “It’s like a relative you keep expecting to fix up but they just can’t change their ways.”
He also called for the start of a new award show. “This is a great time for somebody to start something new that we can build up over time and pass on to the generations to come.”
Drake has been nominated 47 times and won four Grammys throughout his career. In 2017, he decided not to submit his project More Life for any 2018 Grammy awards.
The 64th annual Grammy Awards are set to take place Jan. 31 in Los Angeles. Jon Batiste leads with 11 nominations, followed by Justin Bieber, Doja Cat, and H.E.R. with eight each.
Man Charged With Murder of Jacqueline Avant, Wife of Music Legend Clarence Avant
New developments have been released surrounding the tragic death of Jacqueline Avant. Los Angeles County District Attorney George Gascón announced that a man was charged today with killing Jacqueline Avant and trying to kill her security guard during a robbery.
District Attorney Gascón said,
“Mrs. Avant was a treasured member of our community. Her generosity and good will touched so many lives. My office is working closely with the Los Angeles and Beverly Hills police departments in the investigation and prosecution of this case. We must continue to work together to hold accountable the people who commit violent crimes against our community.”
Aariel Maynor of Los Angeles is charged with one count each of murder, attempted murder and felon with a firearm as well as two counts of residential burglary with person present.
Maynor is charged with breaking into Avant’s Beverly Hills home on Dec. 1, and fatally shooting the 81-year-old victim. The defendant also is charged with shooting at a security guard at the location. The security guard was not injured.
Later that night, Maynor allegedly shot himself accidentally while breaking into a house in the Hollywood Hills, prosecutors said.
The case remains under investigation by the Beverly Hills Police Department.
Faith Evans Is Refusing To Pay Stevie J Spousal Support In Divorce
Faith Evans is responding to Stevie J’s divorce, asking a judge to deny him the ability to collect spousal support in the case.
via: Radar Online
According to court documents obtained by Radar, the legendary R&B singer fired back at the Love & Hip Hop star’s request she pays him monthly spousal support.
As Radar first reported, last month Stevie filed for divorce after 3 years of marriage. The relationship was shocking to their closest friends and family since the start. The couple decided to get hitched in a Las Vegas hotel room back in 2018.
In his petition, the music producer asked the court to figure out the amount Faith should cough up to help him cover expenses. Stevie listed the date of marriage as July 17, 2018, and the date of separation as of October 19, 2021. He cited “irreconcilable differences” as the reason for the split.
In the filing, Stevie also asked the court to terminate Faith’s right to collect spousal support from him. He did not reveal whether they signed a prenuptial agreement before getting married.
On December 3, Faith filed her response and scoffed at the spousal support suggestion. She is demanding his request be denied by the court. Further, she wants “all property acquired prior to marriage, by gift, inheritance, or devise, and after the date of separation” to be awarded to her.
Faith also claims they split on May 29, 2020, which is vastly different than the date listed by Stevie J in his petition.
A judge has yet to make a decision on support.
The on-again, off-again couple have had quite a rocky relationship. Last year, Faith was arrested for domestic violence after police were called to their LA home for a disturbance. Officers observed marks on Stevie’s body and determined she was the aggressor. No charges were ever filed due to the producer refusing to cooperate with the investigation.
The couple was also hanging out at the beach days after Stevie filed for divorce. Recently, an undated video leaked showing Stevie berating Faith while she tries to sleep inside her home.
Faith has been married twice before. She is the widow to legendary rapper Notorious B.I.G. and her second marriage to music exec Todd Russaw officially ended in 2011.
The divorce case is ongoing.
Rihanna Tells Paparazzi That New Music Is Coming “Soon Soon Soon”
Rihanna says that long-awaited new music is coming “soon soon soon” as the wait for her ninth album continues.
The pop star’s last album came in the form of ‘Anti’, which was released in 2016. Since then she’s heavily teased new music, recently calling it “completely different” from her older work.
After remaining relatively quiet about her next material for most of 2021, Rihanna was asked about when we could expect new music by paparazzi as she exited a taxi.
“Any new music? Anything?” someone asked Rihanna in a clip (see below), to which she simply responded: “Soon soon soon.”
Teasing her next material in September in an interview with Associated Press about her latest Savage X Fenty show, Rihanna said: “You’re not gonna expect what you hear, just put that in your mind. Whatever you know of Rihanna’s not gonna be what you hear.
“I’m really experimenting, and music is like fashion, you should be able to play, I should be able to wear whatever I want and I treat music the same way. So, I’m having fun, and it’s going to be completely different.”
Rihanna released ‘Anti’ back in 2016. NME gave the record three stars upon its release, labelling it “a defiantly bangerless take-me-seriously-as-an-artist album that reveals new charms every time you spin it”.
“It’s not quite the revelatory departure we might have hoped for, and has the rich but unfocused feel of something worked on perhaps too long with obsessive fervour, but it’s also subtle and interesting; an intriguing soundtrack to an era of change.”
Last month, Rihanna was honoured as National Hero of Barbados as her home country celebrated becoming a republic.
Hot or Not? Nicole Kidman at 'Being the Ricardos' L.A. Premiere!
Nicole Kidman is on the Oscar campaign trail for her new movie Being the Ricardos and she just arrived in L.A.
The Oscar-winning actress walked the red carpet with co-star Javier Bardem at the west coast premiere on Monday night (December 6) at the Academy Museum in Los Angeles.
The two leads were joined at the event by co-stars JK Simmons, Nina Arianda, Tony Hale, Alia Shawkat, Linda Lavin, and Nelson Franklin, as well as writer and director Aaron Sorkin.
Last week, the cast attended the film’s New York City premiere!
Being the Ricardos gives revealing glimpse of the Lucille Ball and Desi Arnaz’s complex romantic and professional relationship, the film takes audiences into the writers’ room, onto the soundstage and behind closed doors with the couple during one critical production week of their groundbreaking sitcom I Love Lucy. The movie premieres in limited theaters on December 10 before a streaming debut on Amazon Prime Video on December 21.
Justice Department closes Emmett Till investigation, unable to prove witness lied
The Justice Department has officially closed its investigation into the 1955 lynching of Emmett Till, a 14-year-old Black boy who was killed by two white men after witnesses said he whistled at a white woman, for a second time.
According to CNN, the Justice Department said it cannot prove whether Carolyn Bryant Donham, the white woman who accused the young boy of making sexual advances at her, lied to authorities. Back in 2017, Professor Timothy Tyson found key evidence in Till’s case — an alleged retraction from Donham.
Donham previously testified that Till grabbed her hand and solicited her, saying that he had been with “white women before.” When she was later confronted with her testimony in 2008, Tyson claimed she told him, “That part’s not true.” His claim called for the case to be reopened, although the Justice Department had already concluded a year earlier that no one could be prosecuted due to the statute of limitations. Federal investigators spoke to Donham again, but she denied ever recanting her previous testimony.
Till was in Mississippi visiting family back in 1955 when he was kidnapped, beaten, tortured and killed after being accused of whistling and making sexual advances at Donham. His body was found in the Tallahatchie River several days later. Roy Bryant, Donham’s husband, and his half-brother J.W. Milam were charged with murder for Till’s death, but both men were acquitted by an all-white jury. Months later, Bryant and Milam admitted to the killing during a paid interview.
Rev. Wheeler Parker was present in the home when the two men came looking for his younger cousin. “I’m waiting to be shot, and I close my eyes,” Parker said in an interview with ABC News. “I wasn’t shot, I opened my eyes and they’re passing by me. The guy said, ‘We’re looking for fat boy, the fat boy from Chicago.'”
“They left with him, and that’s the last time we saw him alive,” he added.
Dave Chappelle Set To Perform At Netflix Comedy Festival
Dave Chappelle is set to headline part of Netflix’s 11-day stand-up comedy mega-festival.
According to The Hollywood Reporter, Netflix Is A Joke: The Festival will take place in over 25 venues and the “Chappelle’s Show” comedian will perform during the stop at the Hollywood Bowl. The event was originally scheduled for last spring, but was postponed due to the COVID-19 pandemic.
“We were so disappointed to postpone the event last spring and our line-up of comedians can’t wait to bring much needed laughs to audiences in LA and around the world on Netflix,” said Netflix’s stand-up and comedy formats director Robbie Praw. “Netflix Is A Joke Festival is going to give comedy fans the opportunity to see the greats and discover new voices in one of the greatest cities in the world.”
This event will become the first business endeavor Chappelle has inked with Netflix since the recent controversy over The Closer. As REVOLT previously reported, the 8:46 comedian faced criticism from the LGBTQ+ community regarding the remarks he made during his latest Netflix special. Many members of Trans*, a Netflix employee resource group, and their supporters held a walkout in protest of his jokes on The Closer, which were labeled by many as transphobic. GLAAD and several other groups called for the comedy to be drawn from Netflix, however, the streaming giant refused. Netflix co-CEO Ted Sarandos initially defended the special, but later admitted he “screwed up” by not being more sympathetic to his employees’ sentiments about the content.
Last week, the Duke Ellington School of the Arts, Chappelle’s former high school, announced that it will move forward with renaming a theater after the comedian, although many students opposed the honor due to his recent controversy.
Back on? Miguel and Wife Nazanin Spotted Having Dinner After Announcing Split
*We know we reported a few months back that gorgeous entertainment couple Miguel and wife Nazanin Mandi were donzo, so to speak, but it looks like they are back together
It seems the two were spotted having a nice romantic dinner at Bavel in Downtown Los Angeles in the Arts District when they were spotted by an eyewitness, according to RadarOnline.
“Miguel at Bavel. Sharing same side of booth with his on-again wife. Not gonna lie, was disappointed to see he was a booth sharer,” the envious source told Deuxmoi.
The dinner comes only a week or so after Nazanin posted a video on her Instagram Story showing Miguel accompanying her to get Lasik surgery on her eyes.
“[He] couldn’t have me be the only one wearing an eye patch,” Nazanin added. In the soundless IG Story, she and Miguel, 36, laughed as they fidgeted with their patches. As Hollywood Life wrote, “the sight of them both looking like Pirates of the Caribbean extras left them both laughing – and this reunion left many fans wondering if they were back on.” And that looks to be the case
Aswe reported earlier, the couple released a statement announcing they were splitting after 17 years together.
“After 17 years together, Miguel and Nazanin Mandi have decided to separate and have been for some time now. The couple both wish each other well.”
The two were together for over 10 years before Miguel proposed in 2016. The couple got married in 2018. No divorce has been filed as of yet and it appears the two may have worked out their issues.
Following the initial split, Nazanin was asked if she still believed in true love.
“Absolutely. Are you kidding? No matter what I’ve been through, no matter what I’ve seen, I will never give anybody the control. I will never let anybody jade my view of real love because I know it’s out there and I know it exists.”
Jussie Smollett Declares 2019 Attack “Was No Hoax”; Ex-‘Empire’ Star Testifies In His Own Defense
Jussie Smollett insisted to a Chicago courtroom Monday that the violent attack against him in early 2019 “was no hoax.”
On the stand in his own defense, the ex-Empire star called the assault by men hurling punches and homophobic and racial slurs and shouting “MAGA country” to be “something out of Looney Tune adventures.”
Asked directly by special prosecutor Daniel Webb in cross-examination if he wanted the police to treat his attack as a “hate crime,” Smollett replied that he “wanted police to solve a crime that had happened to me.”
Holding to his story under one-time Iran-Contra lawyer Webb’s sometimes intense questioning, Smollett said it was “fully false, 100 percent false” that he planned or paid anyone to stage an attack on him.
Facing half a dozen felony charges spiraling out of the alleged hate crime that soon afterward was characterized by Chicago police, politicians and prosecutors as probably a PR stunt, Smollett spoke on Day 5 of his trial to offer his version of what really went down in the cold early hours nearly three years ago.
The trial started on November 29. Smollett entered a not-guilty plea in March 2019.
If found guilty, the actor who played Jamal Lyon on Empire for five seasons could be sentenced to as much as three years behind bars. An edict of actual incarceration from Cook County Judge James Linn seems unlikely, but isn’t impossible in a trial that has been full of drama and characters straight out of the Fox primetime soap created by Lee Daniels and Danny Strong.
Under questioning by his own attorney Nenye Uche, Smollett not only laid out the sequence of events of the attack of January 29, 2019, but also the aftermath. “I’ve lost my livelihood,” the performer admitted of being cut from Empire and his music career as his story of that chilly night unraveled under the scrutiny of the cops and the courts.
One theory floated by law enforcement and Webb is that Smollett paid acquaintances Abimbola and Olabinjo Osundairo $3,500 to stage an attack because the actor didn’t feel an actual threatening letter sent to Smollett via Empire received enough attention.
That balloon was effectively shot down by Empire EP Brett Mahoney, who told the courtroom that on-set security was increased after the correspondence was brought to the production’s attention. The showrunner for the final seasons of Empire and a longtime vocal supporter of Smollett’s, Mahoney continued in his testimony by claiming the actor declined extra personal security and a driver because “he didn’t want a lot of attention” around the letter, according to the media pool at the trial.
Confronted with apparent contradictions in his story and frustrations felt by the police as their probe intensified, Smollett also claimed on the stand that he decided not hand over his phone and the information in it to police in part because CNN anchor and pal Don Lemon had texted him with a warning that the CPD didn’t believe he was really attacked. That phone, and why Smollett didn’t immediately give the device to police when they requested it, became a significant and fairly inconclusive chunk of Webb’s cross examination later Monday.
The actor also told Uche earlier in the day that he still “didn’t believe it was true” that the Osundairo brothers were his actual assailants, despite what they and the police say.
Smollett was equally blunt in answering why his manager — not the actor himself who — who called the cops after the alleged attack. “One, I am a Black man in America — I do not trust police,” Smollett said. “I am also a well-known figure, and I’m openly gay. … The moment I got beat I become a [homophobic slur] who got his ass whooped.”
In many ways the trial is the judicial action many believe Smollett was denied, for better or worse. Just weeks after the supposed attack and the harsh turn of events, Cook County State’s Attorney Kim Foxx’s office essentially dismissed the original case against the actor after he forfeited a $10,000 bail. As official outrage grew and more questions emerged about what had actually happened to Smollett on the street in downtown Chicago, Webb was brought on board as a special prosecutor in August 2019.
In February 2020, as Smollett failed to have new probes tossed out, Webb indicted the actor on the current six felonies, which include filing a false police report. The trial that finally kicked off last month was delayed for over a year because of the Covid-19 pandemic.
Court has wrapped for the day. However, with Webb’s cross-examination of Smollett not completed and closing arguments yet to be conducted, the trial is expected to run at least one more long day before jury deliberations begin.
Chris Cuomo is leaving his SiriusXM radio show
Fired CNN host Chris Cuomo said Monday that he will "no longer be doing" his SiriusXM radio show, just days after he lost his high-profile cable news spot.
Cuomo is normally the host of "Let's Get After It with Chris Cuomo" at noon ET on SiriusXM, but former ABC News and NBC News reporter Brian Ross was behind the microphone when the show aired Monday.
About an hour after the two-hour program ended, Cuomo announced that he was leaving, saying he needed "to take a step back and focus on what comes next."
"The way my time ended at CNN was hard," Cuomo tweeted. "While I have a thick skin, I also have a family, for whom this past week has been extraordinarily difficult."
He hinted at a return in some form of media: "I will miss our conversations a great deal — but I look forward to being back in touch with you all in the future."
Cuomo's radio silence earlier Monday took listeners by surprise as Ross went on the air in his place.
Ross said at the top of the show that he was substituting for Cuomo: "And good Monday afternoon to you. This is Brian Ross, from the Law and Crime Network, sitting in today for Chris Cuomo.”
Ross ended his two-hour segment by thanking various staffers and promoting another show — but he did not give any indication about who would be behind the microphone Tuesday.
SiriusXM said in a statement, "Following Chris Cuomo’s statement that he is leaving his SiriusXM show, 'Let’s Get After It' will no longer air. We thank Chris for his work at SiriusXM." It did not elaborate on who would take over the noon spot.
CNN fired Cuomo on Saturday after new details emerged about his efforts to help his brother, then-New York Gov. Andrew Cuomo, who was fighting sexual harassment allegations that eventually led to his resignation.
A former junior colleague of Chris Cuomo's at CNN also came forward last week to accuse him of an unspecified act of sexual misconduct.
The unnamed accuser came forward after having heard Cuomo’s on-air statements in response to the allegations against his brother, saying he has always cared about issues of sexual harassment.
The accuser's attorney, Debra Katz, said in the statement that when her client heard “the hypocrisy of Chris Cuomo’s on-air words and disgusted by his efforts to try to discredit these women, my client retained counsel to report his serious sexual misconduct against her to CNN.”
Katz also represents Andrew Cuomo accuser Charlotte Bennett.
“My client came forward at this time because she felt in sharing her story and related documentation, she could help protect other women. She will continue to cooperate with CNN’s investigation into her allegations,” Katz said.
Chris Cuomo's representative, Steven Goldberg, said in a statement, "These apparently anonymous allegations are not true."
Megan Thee Stallion Is Preparing For Her College Graduation
The winter Hottie season is all about cap and gowns. Megan Thee Stallion will graduate from Texas Southern University this month and is looking to host a celebration for a select few hotties.
Back in August, Megan Thee Stallion returned with a new album, Something For Thee Hotties. The release brings in infamous freestyles and never before heard singles. Meg called the new album a gift that will “hold y’all over for the rest of the year.” This is Megan’s first drop of 2021, following the Gold-certified album Good News.
The new release is 20 tracks deep with one feature in Juicy J. Freestyles include the “Bless The Booth” and “Megan Monday” freestyles. You can tap into the full release here.
Angela Yee Responds to Lil Kim Calling Her Out After Old Interview About Nicki Minaj Beef is Posted on Facebook
Over the weekend Lil Kim defended Nicki Minaj on Facebook after Angela Yee, co-host of “The Breakfast Club,” posted a throwback clip from 2012 in which Lil Kim spoke on Nicki Minaj’s relationship with Cash Money and some other things.
Lil Kim was not here for Angela Yee reviving the clip, responding, “Why are we bringing this up, This interview is how many years ago? Like really Angela Yee??? This sh*t is WACK, but go viral.”
It looks like Lil Kim is not trying to bring up any old beef as she currently has new music and her memoir to think about.
However, during the 11th anniversary of “The Breakfast Club” Angela Yee responded to Lil Kim’s Facebook comment.
She told DJ Envy, “I don’t even post on Facebook, I had no idea.” Yee continued, “Think about it like this, I have a public page and a private page, and on my public page there’s a lot of content on there.”
She added, “I actually pay people to use a lot of content and to edit clips and post things, just to keep my page like a little news thing but a lot is centered on things that I do.”
She said, “I guess Lil Kim thinks that I posted this personally myself and Envy thinks that it’s my fault.”
A Picture of Nick Cannon's Alleged Baby Makin' Manhood Hits the Internet
Nick Cannon is trending on Twitter this afternoon — and not because of his daytime talk show.
As it turns out, Nick’s dick pic has hit the internet.
Obviously, We see why all these women keep having his babies
AND FINALLY FROM “THE CRAZY PEOPLE SHOPPING AT WALMART” FILES
THIS IS CONFIDENCE
I heard it was warm outside
EGGPLANT NATION: Meet Imanol
Meet Imanol! You can see more when GO HERE TO SEE THE PICS! And remember they’re NSFW!
DISCLAIMER: WE DO NOT OWN any images posted on this blog. All images are found online or submitted.
Enjoy!
HAVE A GREAT DAY ALL!!!
EFREM
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