Ll Cool J Covers Essence Magazine
Todd Smith, but known to the world as LL Cool J — covers the March 2013 issue of Essence Magazine. And ladies still love Cool James! At the top of his game for 30 years, LL Cool J rocks the mic, hosts the Grammys and stars in prime-time’s top-rated drama, NCIS: Los Angeles. But when his wife of almost 18 years battled cancer, the hip-hop icon, born James Todd Smith, pushed fame aside to put family first. “I think, at the end of the day, as a man, you should support the woman you’re with. If she’s got a dream, you need to help make that a reality. I’m doing the best I can to do that…”
Aunt, uncle of 49ers' Delanie Walker killed by drunken driver after Super Bowl
San Francisco 49ers tight end Delanie Walker is mourning the loss of his aunt and uncle after the couple was killed by a suspected drunk driver hours after watching their nephew play in Super Bowl XLVII.
Alice and Bryan Young were parked on the right of Interstate 10 about 15 miles outside New Orleans when Nechole Thomas, 26, hit them as she swerved off the highway around 5:30 a.m. Monday, according to the New Orleans Times-Picayune.
According to the report, Thomas was able to get out of her 2002 Mercedes C230 with minor injuries as both cars began burning. The Youngs were pronounced dead at the scene.
Thomas has been arrested on suspicion of vehicular homicide, driving while intoxicated and reckless operation of a vehicle.
Are you ready for The 2013 Bet Experience? Its Coming In June
BET is turning the BET Awards into a weekend-long celebration of music. The three-day extravaganza starting Friday, June 28th thru Sunday, June 30th — will include performances from Beyoncé, Erykah Badu, Kirk Franklin, Kendrick Lamar, R. Kelly, Snoop Dogg, New Edition, The Jacksons, Mike Epps and more. Each night will feature comedy showcases, mega concerts from the Staples Center, late night soul performances at Club Nokia, and a Sunday Gospel celebration. The festivities will commence with the BET Awards ’13 on July 1st, which this year moves from the Shrine Auditorium to the Nokia Theatre. Tickets for individual shows go on sale February 11th or you can purchase a package for the whole weekend starting at $1,000. Visit the BET Experience official website for more information.
Love & Hip Hop’s ‘Jen the Pen’ Apologizes for Pulling White Card, Says Shes Not Racist
One comment from the only Caucasian woman on ‘Love & Hip Hop (NY)’, had twitter buzzing after this week’s episode. During the most recent episode (I won’t spoil it for you), a heated exchange ensued between Jen the Pen and cast mate, Raqi Thunda. Both were arguing when Jen utter the words: ‘I’m white, I’ll get it done.’
And Raqi called Jen a,‘honky’.
Immediately after the episode aired, Jen took to twitter to clarify her statements and defend what was said. She wrote her twitter:
Racist is the last thing I could EVER be. But being called an “entitled HONKY” on national is okay? Please be clear anything regarding race was heat on the moment, the devil will bring out the worst in you. This is what my family is made of, if my comments affected anyone I apologize. Meanwhile, Consequence (who happens to be African American and is Jen’s boyfriend/baby-daddy) also took his boo’s side, writing:
Jen is NOT a Racist. The hoe made her MAD n she defended herself in a racially insensitive manner. I wasn’t there n we are arguing about it.
Ouch!
Stars OUT & ABOUT: Toni Braxton & Son Diezel Promote New Movie "Twist Of Faith" + Gabby Sidibe Clowns Around At Charity Bowling Event
Yelling To The Sky actress Gabby rolled to Lucky Strike Lanes & Lounge in New York City in her bowling shirt for a charity bowling event. And she goofed around with poses while having some trouble holding on tot he bowling ball: Ha! Gotta love her. Gabby's also the new host of the new AfroPop show on public tv.\ And over in L.A, Toni Braxton brought her co-star and son Diezel Ky Braxton-Lewis along to the premiere of their Lifetime movie 'Twist Of Faith' at the Stephen S. Wise temple: Diezel's brother Denim Cole came to support his fam. Cute! And Toni's sisters and mom Traci, Evelyn, Towanda and Tamar were all there to support. Sweet! Toni posed it up with her co-star David Julian Hirsch. The movie airs this Saturday at 8/7c on Lifetime.
Tamar Braxton & Claudia Jordan Twitter Beefing!!
If you watched VH1′s Tiny Tonight Monday night, you probably noticed that model Claudia Jordan and Tamar Braxton were tossing all types of shade at each other from across the room. It got really heated, when Trina said her ideal first date would be taking a private jet to a private island, a romantic dinner, etc (Note to Fellas: You better come correct if you taking Trina out on a date!!!!) and Claudia Jordan expressed that her ideal first date doesn’t have to be extravagant and cost a lot of money, and she just wants to laugh and have a good time. Tamar Braxton disagreed.
The exchange went a little like this:
We’re married, and a part of the reason that we’re married is because you’ve got to set a standard. You can’t just fall for anything or accept anything just because that’s what somebody wants to give you. If you don’t have the means to make me feel special, then maybe you’re not ready to date me. You need to concentrate on yourself and get your money up and get your career going. You have to make sure that he’s up to the standard that you want your husband to be.”
[Claudia says she developed a great relationship with a guy on the Forbes list.]
Tamar: “But he didn’t put a ring on it![...]I’m not a golddigger, I got my own money.”
Claudia: “I’m just into the simple things.”
Some shade was thrown on twitter while the show aired also, check it below:
UMMMM Tamar you were NOT rich before you married The Pillsbury Doughboy!
Photos: Preggo Amber Rose & Kim Kardashian
These two Mommies to be were out and about. Amber Rose is almost ready to pop and Kim Kardashian is just starting her preggo months. Amber Rose and fiance/baby daddy Wiz Khalifa were out for a little grub together. We so can’t wait to see what the little wizbud is going to look like!!! Kim Kardashian who will soon be the baby mama to boyfriend, Kanye West, has always been a stickler about her figure. She was spotted out and about in Beverly Hills showing off her baby bump!
Ricki Lake Canceled
The second time around was much harder for Ricki Lake. The talk show host‘s revival of her daytime talk show, which ran successfully from 1993-2004, is being canceled after one season.
Lake, 44, returned to a changed and more competitive climate for TV talk, where her blend of self-help and family issues was targeted at an audience of older viewers than her earlier show. But the new Ricki Lake never found an audience: Only 926,000 viewers tuned in on average, ranking her near the bottom of the daytime heap. (Survivor host Jeff Probst did only slightly better, with 941,000, and his show is not expected to return, either).
“I am so proud of the shows we completed this season, sparking important conversations about everything from raising children to mental illness to suicide prevention to coming out,” Lake said in a statement. “I will continue to be an active and passionate voice for subjects that are close to my heart through a variety of platforms.”
There was some good news among the freshman crop: Katie Couric‘s Katie was renewed for a second season last week, with an average of 2.4 million, and The Steve Harvey Show, averaging 1.8 million, also will be back. Along with failures by Lake and Probst, Anderson Cooper will end its two-year run in May, when each show airs the last of its original episodes.
Waiting in the wings this fall are new efforts by Arsenio Hall, Queen Latifah and former Real Housewife Bethenny Frankel.
Fantasia To Be Honored At Grammy Brunch
Fantasia is headed to the Grammy’s this week. While she is not nominated for a Grammy this year, she will be receiving a special honor at the Inaugural Grammy Producers Brunch tonight (FEB05). Hosted by producer Harmony and Chris Woods, the Grammy Producers Brunch will honor Fantasia with the BOE Global Artist award. Harmony produced songs on Fantasia’s forthcoming album The Side Effects of You. Speaking of the album last week, Harmony said it is “Fantasia at her best, being open and honest.” Rodney Jerkins will also be honored during the event. Kelly Rowland, Jordin Sparks, Ne-Yo, Ledisi and more are expected to attend.
T.I. Rocks The Cover Of THE SOURCE, Talks Comedy Role In "Identity Thief"
T.I. is covering the Feb/March 2013 issue of The Source magazine. And he's revealing deets about his first comedy role in the newest funny movie hitting theaters, Identity Thief. Mr. Harris is still getting his Hollywood on. In addition to dropping albums, he's still hitting the major box office films. He told The Source about his role in the upcoming Melissa McCarthy & Jason Bateman movie Identity Thief.
“It’s my first comedy so I’m looking forward to seeing that. I just want to keep my tools sharp…. Different people see T.I. in different ways. As long as they ain’t giving me a rapper. That’s what I don’t want to do. Anything else, I’d pretty much be open minded within reason of course.”
Good move TIP.
He also gives some in depth revelations about his post-prison family life and dealing with keeping things on the up and up.
“Everybody’s gonna have their ups and downs. Just because I’m a celebrity, that doesn’t mean that I’m exempt from humanlike faults.”
Identity Thief hits theaters this Friday
Queen Latifah Signs Deal
The Queen has been around for a very long time now. She’s ventured into a lot of projects, since her female MC days. Now, Queen Latifah has snatched up a multi-year licensing agreement with Netflix. Latifah and co-owner, Shakim Compere agreed on this deal, because of their production company, Flavor Unit Entertainment. Starting in Spring on 2013, Netflix will have first dibs on all of the companies titles. “Shakim and I are thrilled to do business with Netflix,” Queen Latifah said in a statement. “Netflix is such a strong brand and the perfect place to showcase our projects.”
“We are delighted to work with Queen Latifah to be the exclusive destination for what are sure to be relevant, entertaining movies,” said Chief Content Officer of Netflix Ted Sarandos.
I know that’s right Latifah. Netflix is big. No cable ??? Get Netflix. Drop down for more on the deal.
Diamond Confirms She & Soulja Boy Are Officially Over: ‘I learned a lot from him.’
Well, we pretty much saw this coming. Rappers Soulja Boy (real name DeAndre Cortez Way) and Diamond (real name Brittany Nicole Carpentero) have ended their romantic relationship. What were the tell-tell signs? Outside of seeing Soulja tweeting inappropriate photos of him with other women, last December, he and ATL rapper/reality star Lil Scrappy got into a heated twitter beef about Diamond. During their twitter fight, Soulja said some not-so-nice things about Diamond which was a red-flag that these two were on the outs. Not to mention, when we interviewed her, she appeared to be sorta-kinda indifferent about their relationship. Fast forward to the present day and Diamond has confirmed that she and Soulja are officially over. In an interview with Everything Girls Love she confirmed:
“Well, I’m single, but the relationship as far as me and him, we’re best friends so I think thats what keeps us so balanced. I learned a lot from him and he learned a lot from me. Our foundation is that we’re really really good friends, he’s a good person.”
Check out Diamond’s full interview HERE
Keith Sweat Launch Party + New Dating Website + Book
R&B singer Keith Sweat held a private affair at his mansion in Atlanta for his new dating website, True Love Meets, hat he co-owns with publisher/relationship expert Zane. The sweetie Tami from Talking was there and chatted with him for a bit Check out all the photos and thanks to Talking with Tami for the pics Tami asked him why did he choose to write a book and he stated that, “well I’ve been in a lot of relationships and I think I know a lot about that”. Keith is a busy man these days because he also is touring with Eddie Levert and Johnny Gill and he still has a very popular syndicated radio show called, ‘Sweat Hotel’. Tami said she enjoyed the party with all the beautiful people of Atlanta. Thye sipped on wine, guests there that were single got to speed date, they nibbled on catered bites and enjoyed music, pool and dancing.! Pics courtesy of 'Talking With Tami'
Yandi’s Man Locked Up
Well I guess they will have to slow down the move to new Jersey. And probably the wedding. ( YA THINK??? ) Authorities have already seized more than $1.5 million from safety deposit boxes connected with his case, where he and two other defendants are accused of trafficking $2.5 million worth heroin and cocaine.
Cops also seized nearly $407,000 worth of jewelry and watches, including a $60,000 Rolex and another $35,000 Rolex.
Mandeecees surrendered in Rochester the end of last month, and he remains jailed now. They’ve all plead not guilty.
The trial for the underage stepdaughter case was supposed to start the 29th, but has been pushed back with his new situation. What a MESS!
Uh Oh? D.A. Moves To Violate Chris Brown Probation
The L.A. County District Attorney has filed legal documents claiming Chris Brown has violated his probation by submitting bogus community service records … TMZ has learned. We’ve learned the D.A. is alleging in legal docs Chris Brown may have LIED when he claimed he had performed all of his community service in connection with the Rihanna beating case.
Bryan T. Norwood, the Chief of Police in Richmond, VA., wrote a letter to the judge on September 14, claiming Brown successfully completed 202 days of community service — he was only required to perform 180.
Norwood attached documents showing that Brown frequently worked at Tappahannock Children’s Center — a place where Brown’s mom was once a director — and did odd jobs such as painting, washing windows, waxing floors, cutting grass and picking up trash.
According to legal docs obtained by TMZ … the Richmond P.D. admits they only supervised Brown on 9 or 10 occasions and on all other dates he was not supervised by anyone.
And get this … the detective who had been assigned to oversee Brown’s community service was told she did not have to continue monitoring at the Children’s Center. The times, location and types of duty were provided by Chris Brown’s mother.
The D.A. claims Chris and the prior Chief of Police had a prior relationship.
The judge was suspicious when the document was filed, and sources tell us the D.A. began investigating and found no “credible, competent or verifiable evidence” that Brown did the 180 days community service.
Sources tell TMZ … there’s no way Chris could have performed community service on some of the days, because he was out of the country doing concerts.
The D.A. calls Chris’ documentation “at best sloppy … and at worst fraudulent reporting.”
The D.A. is asking the judge to reject Chris’ alleged Virginia community service hours and make him fulfill his obligation in L.A. County.
By the way, the D.A. claims Chris’ mom was responsible for orchestrating work at the Children’s Center outside of normal operating hours and a key administrator told the D.A. she NEVER saw Chris perform any work at the center.
Grandson Of Malcolm X Arrested By The FBI
Malcolm Shabazz, grandson of Malcolm X, was reportedly arrested by the FBI. He was en route to Iran when he was taken into custody. Malcolm Shabazz was reportedly arrested before starting his scheduled visit to Tehran to attend a conference on Hollywoodism, sources outside the United States confirmed on Monday. The Federal Bureau of Investigation has refused to provide any information about his whereabouts. In 1997, it was Malcolm Shabazz who infamously started the fire in the home of his grandmother, Betty Shabazz, that caused her death. He was just 12-years-old at the time of the incident and was sentenced to 18 months in a juvenile facility after pleading guilty to manslaughter and arson. However, he would be in and out of jail (he was arrested for robbery and burglary in 2002) until his parole in 2006. Since his release, he has become and activist. Malcolm is the son of the late Civil Rights activist’s second daughter, Qubilah Shabazz.
AND FINALLY FROM “THE CRAZY PEOPLE SHOPPING AT WALMART” FILES
‘Puff Of Magic’
Oh my sweet sweet Afro Star. How you can turn my frown upside down! Now it’s not everyday you can see a PoWM Hall of Famer people, so show some respect by removing your hair picks and bowing down.
HAVE A GREAT WEEKEND EVERYBODY!!!!!!!!
EFREM
