State Champ Radio celebrity news
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Queen Latifah will be the master of ceremonies for one of the most prestigious events in entertainment. She has been slotted to host the 47th Kennedy Center Honors.
As reported by Deadline the Newark, N.J., native will lend her talents for the upcoming awards show. On Monday (Nov. 25), the cultural institution announced that the “Ladies First” performer will be returning to the stage but this time as the host. Last year at the 46th edition, she was celebrated for her lifetime artistic achievements. This time, she will help shine a much needed spotlight on several influential creatives, including filmmaker Francis Ford Coppola (The Godfather), Grateful Dead, Bonnie Raitt and Jazz musician Arturo Sandoval. Additionally, the Apollo Theater will also be celebrated during its 90- year anniversary.
Queen Latifah shared her enthusiasm in an Instagram post. “I am so excited to share that I will be returning to the Kennedy Center Honors this year,” the caption read. The accompanying visual is a snippet of her 2023 interview with Nate Burleson on CBS Mornings. According to their website, “The Kennedy Center Honors recognizes and celebrates individuals whose unique contributions have shaped the way we see ourselves, each other and our world. Recipients have each had an impact on the rich tapestry of American life and culture through the performing arts.”
The 47th Kennedy Center Honors will be broadcasted Sunday (Dec. 22), from 8:30-11:00 p.m., ET/PT on the CBS Television Network and streaming on Paramount+.
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Drake continues to have one of the worst years in Hip-Hop after Kendrick Lamar handily dismantled his rival in a series of songs that reached a peak with the “Not Like Us” diss track. In a recent livestream, Drake lashed out at K-Dot’s fellow Compton native Steve Lacy by referring to him as a “fragile opp,” sparking the talented singer to lean into the jab hilariously.
Earlier this week, Drake made an appearance on the Kick streaming channel of fellow Canadian and streamer, xQc. In the clips that surfaced online, the 6 God is continuing to lean into a defiant stance despite the several chinks his armor has taken since his public battle with Kendrick Lamar.
During the stream, Steve Lacy, who Drake referred to as a “fragile opp,” caught a stray for reasons that one can assume are related to Lamar. This happened ahead of Drake throwing a shot at former collaborator The Weeknd and asking xQc to skip the singer’s “Starboy” song. Drizzy did, however, say that Lacy’s track was, quote, a “good song.”
Taking to Instagram, Lacy embraced the petty and trolled Drake for the “fragile opp” bar before asking his legion of fans which one of them wanted the title, effectively taking all the sting out of the insult.
Check out Steve Lacy firing back at Drake’s “fragile opp” shot below.
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Once again, Kendrick Lamar has the Rap world talking. Lil Wayne has seemingly responded to him after being mentioned on GNX.
As spotted on Vulture, the Compton, Calif., rapper made waves last week with the release of his newest project. In it, he makes several references to many of his peers post “Not Like Us.” On “wacced out murals” he raps, “Used to bump Tha Carter III, I held my Rollie chain proud / Irony, I think my hard work let Lil Wayne down / Whatever, though, call me crazy, everybody questionable / Turn me to an eskimo, I drew the line and decimals.” These lines are a direct reference to him securing the halftime performance for Super Bowl LIX. The 2025 edition is set to be hosted in New Orleans, and Lil Wayne publicly expressed his disappointment on not being able to perform in his hometown after the announcement.
Man wtf I do?!
I just be chillin & dey still kome 4 my head. Let’s not take kindness for weakness. Let this giant sleep. I beg u all. No one really wants destruction,not even me but I shall destroy if disturbed. On me. Love
— Lil Wayne WEEZY F (@LilTunechi) November 23, 2024
On Saturday (Nov. 23), Tunechi took to X, formerly Twitter, and apparently made reference to the song. “Man wtf I do?! I just be chillin & [they] still [come] 4 my head. Let’s not take kindness for weakness. Let this giant sleep. I beg u all. No one really wants destruction, not even me but I shall destroy if disturbed. On me. Love,” he wrote. This is not the first time Kendrick Lamar referenced Lil Wayne in his music. Back in 2010, he rapped over Kanye West’s “Monster” instrumental and said “I’m the best rapper alive, tell Wayne to swallow his pride.”
During the height of the Kendrick Lamar and Drake battle, Lil Wayne remained neutral and unbothered. Weeks later, he was was spotted rapping the hook to “Not Like Us” prior to performing his verse to “The Motto.”
Lil Wayne rapping “Not Like Us” while performing “The Motto” in Vegas last night.
pic.twitter.com/4f5pjVvMNZ
— Rap Alert (@rapalert6) July 14, 2024
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The attorney for Dawn Richard has revealed that the singer was “terrified” of Diddy while working with the mogul in an interview.
The lawyer representing singer Dawn Richard, who was a former member of two groups created by Diddy, opened up about her client’s experience in an interview last week. Lisa Bloom spoke about Richard being “absolutely terrified” of the mogul and detailed how “he groped and grabbed her body parts, sexually assaulted her, that he not only failed to pay the money that was promised to her but actually prevented her from eating and sleeping during those years – just treated her terribly.”
Richard sued Diddy aka Sean Combs in September, alleging that he threatened to kill her and of “subjecting her to years of inhumane working conditions which included groping, assault, and false imprisonment.” Her lawsuit joined those of two dozen other victims in the wake of Diddy’s settlement last year with Cassie Ventura, another singer, and his ex-partner who Richard claimed she saw being violently assaulted by him. “Dawn Richard, my client, says that when she spoke out about it, tried to get Cassie to speak out…When she complained about it, she was also threatened with physical violence. So [it was] just a really violent, tumultuous atmosphere,” Bloom said to BBC. “And when she spoke out, she says she was threatened with more physical violence. She said Sean Combs had a vicious temper and she was absolutely terrified of him.”
Richard was a member of two girl groups, Danity Kane and Diddy – Dirty Money. The third member of that second group, Kalenna Harper, is the prime witness for prosecutors in the federal government’s case against Diddy charging him with sex trafficking and racketeering. According to federal prosecutors, Diddy called Harper 128 times after Richard filed her lawsuit. Harper would put out a statement shortly afterward stating that her former bandmate’s experiences “are not representative of my experiences, and some do not align with my own truth.”
In the interview, Bloom referred to Harper’s statement saying that she “came out publicly and essentially called my client a liar.” Bloom added: “The strong implication there is that he talked her into making those statements, perhaps gave her money. We don’t know. But that would be witness tampering. That’s what the government argued. The judge agreed and he was denied bail as a result, which he should have been.”
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One of the culture’s most identifiable voices is living his truth publicly. Khalid has come out as gay after he says someone outed him.
As spotted on Vulture, the El Paso, Tex., native gave the world more insight on his private life. On Friday (Nov. 22), he took to X, formerly Twitter, and made the very surprising announcement in a very short but powerful post. “🏳️🌈!!! there yall go. next topic please lol,” he wrote. Naturally, the news took some of his followers by surprise prompting him to double down on his earlier reveal. “I am! And that’s okay,” he responded to one user. He would go on to allude someone he had relations with in the past had started disclosing his sexual preference without his consent. “I got outed and the world still continues to turn. Let’s get this straight (lmao) I am not ashamed of my sexuality! In reality it ain’t nobodies business! But I am okay with me 🖤 love yall.”
🏳️🌈!!!
there yall go. next topic please lol
— Khalid (@thegreatkhalid) November 22, 2024
Even then he was pressed online with questions on why he chose to hide his truth. Later on he clarified that he was not “hiding” anything. Within that same hour the sleuth community was able to identity the individual who they suspected outed Khalid as singer Hugo D Almonte. In a series of now since-deleted posts he had alluded to dating a “dumb a*s singer” who accused of him breaking into their home. In a following post he wrote, “B*tch a*s 🥷🏾 lied and said that I broke into his house cause I didn’t want him,” with an accompanying selfie of him with Khalid.
I got outed and the world still continues to turn. Let’s get this straight (lmao) I am not ashamed of my sexuality! In reality it ain’t nobodies business! But I am okay with me 🖤 love yall
— Khalid (@thegreatkhalid) November 23, 2024
The performer explained his actions in an exclusive email statement to Vulture. “[It’s] really funny how it works because my intentions was never to out someone who’s clearly been out already in the community in Los Angeles,” he wrote. “My intentions was to share my story and share how he tried to use his power to silence me because I simply ended our relationship, he was afraid of what I might say.”
I wasn’t hiding anything! It’s just not any of your business https://t.co/jAW9f7I5oO
— Khalid (@thegreatkhalid) November 23, 2024
Almonte went on to share that he has since faced criticism and even death threats. “All I’ve learned from this is never allow anyone to silence me, it’s crazy that these people said I was chasing clout, when I was holding onto this for five years, and I finally had enough,” he concluded. Almonte later say that he “would do it again and again and again the same way” in another since-deleted post.
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Not too long ago Kanye West was hit with a lawsuit in which he was accused of antisemitic behavior and weird sexual deviancy, but now, the College Dropout artist is facing more serious allegations as a former America’s Next Top Model contestant says that Kanye West sexually assaulted her.
According to Rolling Stone, Jennifer An filed a lawsuit in New York Federal Court Friday (Nov. 22), suing Kanye West for sexual assault and strangulation during an incident that took place back in 2010. In the legal filing, An says that the assault took place when she was working as a background actor for a video shoot for La Roux’s “In for the Kill.” She says that during the shoot, Kanye West arrived on set and bluntly stated, “Give me the Asian girl” before he got in her face while “breathing heavily” and actually instructed the camera crew to focus on her face while he turned the shoot into his “own production.”
That’s when things got disturbingly uncomfortable for everyone.
Per Rolling Stone:
“On camera, defendant West began to choke plaintiff with one hand. He then wrapped his other hand around her neck and continued to strangle her with both hands,” the lawsuit alleges. “He then rammed several fingers down her throat, continuously moved them in and out, and gagged her.”
An says West used his fingers “to emulate forced oral sex” as he allegedly screamed, “This is art. This is fucking art. I am like Picasso.” The lawsuit claims West assaulted An “in a manner similar to pornographic gagging/deep throat/BDSM fetishes.”
As she panicked under West’s “gyrating hand,” An says she looked around the room, hoping someone would intervene. She alleges no one helped her. “Plaintiff struggled to breathe and felt as if she had temporarily blacked out. When defendant West decided that he was finished with plaintiff, her face was covered in saliva and smeared makeup,” the lawsuit states.
We’re low-key surprised this wasn’t big news on social media even though it was only a few years old at the time.
While An is suing Kanye for the assault, she also names Universal Music Group as a co-defendant as they were behind Kanye’s cameo in the video and failed to investigate the incident afterwards or take any kind of action.
Jennifer An is suing for compensatory and punitive damages.
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Conor McGregor, a professional combat sports fighter and entrepreneur, has faced several legal issues throughout his career, and the latest matter has a new development. The Irish MMA star was ordered to pay a woman $250,000 in a civil suit after she accused Conor McGregor of sexually assaulting her.
As reported by The Guardian, Conor McGregor, 36, was in Ireland’s high court last Friday (November 22) to hear the judgment regarding the civil rape and sexual assault case. Nikita Hand, the woman accusing McGregor, said that the former UFC champion raped her in a hotel in Dublin in December 2018.
Hand said she came across McGregor and invited him to a Christmas party at her place of work to join her and a friend. Hand also said that James Lawrence was also an attendee of the party and sexually assaulted her as well although the jury found no evidence backing the claim. Hand spoke to a throng of reporters outside the courthouse after the verdict was read and thanked her supporters and loved ones.
In a series of now-deleted replies on the X platform, McGregor lashed out at Hand, calling her a “vicious liar” and springboarded upon Lawrence being cleared of charges as an attempt to exonerate himself.
“Two men falsely accused One vindicated, the other soon to be,” McGregor wrote last Saturday. “Congrats James Lawrence on absolute exoneration! Twice this heinous accusation was put to you and twice it was shown as FALSE!”
Conor McGregor has vowed to seek an appeal and have the case overturned.
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Days after Diddy’s legal team scored a win by having evidence prosecutors collected from his prison cell tossed from his case, they’re now accusing prosecutors of editing the infamous video of Diddy assaulting Cassie in a hotel hallway to make the incident seem worse than what it was.
According to TMZ, Diddy is claiming that the prosecutors showed the judge overseeing his case an edited version of the video in which he put hands and feet on Cassie back in 2016. Diddy says that prosecutors did so in order to keep the judge from granting him bail and insists that prosecutors edited the sequence of events in order to paint Diddy as more dangerous than he actually is. This is coming from the man who allegedly blew up Kid Cudi’s car because of Cassie, but we digress.
Per TMZ:
They claim the government has the more complete version of that surveillance video — presumably the version the world saw when it was released — but, instead, tweaked the order of events to offer their “most powerful evidence of danger and obstruction.”
Diddy insists the video shows no evidence of a “freak-off,” but rather, a “domestic dispute in which he ran down the hall of the hotel to recover his clothes and cellphone.”
As for some of the violence depicted in that video, Diddy says he didn’t “drag” Cassie down the hall, nor did he throw a vase at her. He claims he only threw the contents of the vase at Cassie.
Diddy’s really going for a Hail Mary with this claim.
While the whole world saw the same exact video, Diddy says it’s simply a “sad glimpse into a decade-long consensual relationship,” and doesn’t prove any sex trafficking or freak offs were taking place.
While the judge considers Diddy’s latest argument, the Bad Boy founder will remain behind bars in hopes that he’ll get to see the light of day before his trial gets underway in 2025.
What do y’all think about Diddy’s claim? Sound off in the comments section below.
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Meek Mill’s name has been dragged for months about his association with Diddy. He says he is ready to go to war once he finds out who started the rumors about the two.
As spotted on XXL, the Philadelphia, Pa., MC is fed up with the hearsay that he and the disgraced media mogul had romantic relations. On Wednesday (Nov. 20), he took to X, formerly known as Twitter, to vent about the smut being put on his name by the media. “None of these publications are owned by black men posting things to destroy the names and brands of the culture!” he wrote with a video screen capture that shows all the news stories tying him together with Diddy when a search for “meek mill birthday 2014” is performed on Google. “Ima stand on this I know it’s somebody behind this! Ima start a war behind it too when I find out!!!!”
He went on to further detail his frustration. “Why nobody looking at the fact of who we consuming this news from,” he added. “I went to chat gpt none of these people are even Americans and not close to the black party. These weak a*s stories this wasn’t even puff party. It’s not nothing to be quiet about if you’re smart!”
This not the first time he has discussed this narrative on social media. Back in September, Meek Mill said he was willing to pay a sleuth to figure out who was behind the slander. “I wanna hire an investigative team 100k cash to find out every specific detail involving meek mill name to “Diddy” Case…. I also want them to look at who is powering the media involving ‘meek’ anything to do with buddy! ‘Something not right,’” his caption read.
Soon after, more questionable footage of Meek Mill and Diddy was shared on the platform. The “Going Bad” rapper has denied having any relations with Diddy.
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CLOSE
Jonathan Majors earned a bittersweet legal victory after a conviction in 2023 upended the once-popular actor’s momentum and cost him the role of a lifetime. Grace Jabbari, the ex-girlfriend of Jonathan Majors, has now dropped her assault and defamation lawsuit against him which has fans on X wondering if Kang will make a comeback in the MCU.
Jonathan Majors, 35, was found guilty of one count of reckless assault in the 3rd degree and one charge of harassment as a violation. Majors was acquitted of a charge of assault and another charge of aggravated harassment. Grace Jabbari, 31, accused Majors of physical assault and abuse after an incident in March of 2023 found the former couple at odds. Several accounts of the allegedly violent exchange were revealed before Majors’ conviction with the courts eventually siding with Jabbari although some charges did not stick.
Now with Jabbari dropping the assault and defamation lawsuit, observers are wondering if the larger public owes Majors an apology and if the role of Kang The Conqueror within the Marvel Cinematic Universe should still be his. It should be noted that Majors’ conviction from the incident still stands and Jabbari has not publicly claimed that the acts connected to the case didn’t happen.
Majors is already signed up for new films, with a role in the upcoming thriller Merciless from director Martin Villeneuve. Majors will also appear in the 2025 film, Magazine Dreams.
Jonathan Majors has maintained his innocence regarding the assault allegations and says he wants to continue his work as an actor.
[h/t Deadline]
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