State Champ Radio celebrity news
Page: 75
HipHopWired Featured Video
Source: Bernard Smalls / @PhotosByBeanz
In today’s episode of Boooooy, Y’all Have GOT To Be Smarter Than This, a woman recently learned on national television that she is not, in fact, engaged to R&B singer Omarion.
A woman who goes by the name Simone was a recent guest on Dr. Phil. She became a guest after her friend got frustrated with her because she refused to believe the man she had been communicating with since October 2020 was lying about being the former B2K member and absolutely lying about making her his fiance.
Simone admitted that she never received the engagement ring “Omarion” supposedly bought her because they had never met in real life because O-naw-rion’s “manager wants me to pay $3,000 to meet him.”
Look, I never want to see anyone fall victim to an internet scammer, but if it never occurred to Simone that no rich celebrity is going to need her to pay three racks to get him flewed out, maybe this was a lesson she was just desperate to learn the hard way. Clearly, Simone never watched The Tinder Swindler on Netflix.
To make it worse, Simone admitted she wasn’t even sure if the man she had been talking to for more than two years even sounded like Omarion.
“I talk to him every day,” Simone told Phil, who responded by asking, “Does it sound like him?”
“To me, I can’t really tell ’cause I only know his voice by vocals and him singing,” she answered. “I can’t really tell it’s him…his exact voice.”
Now, sis’.
According to Blavity, Simone finally came to glory on the fact that she is not engaged to the You Got Served actor, nor has she been in contact with him, once Phil brought the real Omarion’s real manager on the show to confirm it.
And just in case even that wasn’t enough to convince her (because if she hadn’t figured it out by now, who knows what TF it will take) Omarion himself made a video appearance on the show to deliver the bad (but absurdly obvious) news.
“I heard about today’s show, and I definitely want to share this important message with my fans and the viewers,” Omarion said. “It’s crazy how far these people will go to convince and manipulate my fans to think that they’re actually speaking with me. From sending fake driver’s licenses and passports, even FaceTiming them, claiming that there was a bad connection when they’ve never even seen me.”
“I’m so sorry, Simone, I haven’t been speaking with you online, and we are not in a relationship,” he continued. “You haven’t sent me any money. I want everyone to be aware that if someone is online claiming to be me and asking for money that you are not speaking with me. I would never do that.”
In addition, Complex reported that Omarion posted a message to his Instagram account urging his fans to “be smart” because “so many people have stories saying they spoke with me online.”
“I don’t take advantage of people,” he continued. “I respect and appreciate people who support me.”
And for the record, Dr. Phill knows he’s wrong for continuing to exploit people like this. Every tragic person doesn’t need to be a source of entertainment, regardless of how much they should have damn well known better.
HipHopWired Featured Video
Source: Jesse Grant / Getty
Kevin Hart’s successful run on the African continent hit a major snag as he had to cancel his show in Egypt over the uproar of his “Afrocentric” comments on the nation’s history.
According to reports, the cancellation of Hart’s first-ever show slated for February 21st was announced by the local event management R Productions. “It is with a heavy heart that we share with you, due to local logistical issues, the cancellation of our Kevin Hart event scheduled for February 21st, in Cairo,” the statement read. But many observers note that it was the comedian’s alleged comments on the presence of Black people in Egypt’s ancient history which led to a swarm of comments on social media demanding the show’s cancellation.
The comments surfaced online during the month of December. “We must teach our children the true history of Black Africans when they were kings in Egypt and not just the era of slavery that is cemented by education in America,” he was reported to have said in December, adding “Do you remember the time when we were kings?” According to the Middle East-focused news site Al-Monitor, the source for the quotes hasn’t been found.
The reported comments drew huge criticism from people from Egypt and others of Arabic descent who accused Hart of “Blackwashing” their past or having a “BLM” agenda as expressed on R Productions’ Facebook page after the show’s cancellation announcement. Others have criticized Hart for his investment in the Black Sands Entertainment company, which produces comic books and other products including animated shorts with an Afrocentric theme. The situation also prompted racist tweets aimed at Hart, which were responded to in turn by those pointing to research pointing out the diversity found in unearthed mummies from the region.
To this point, Hart has enjoyed great success with comedy shows on his international tour, highlighted by a show in Pretoria, South Africa where he surprised the crowd by bringing out fellow comedian and South African native Trevor Noah. He also enjoyed a sold-out show in Saudi Arabia in recent days.
HipHopWired Featured Video
Source: Variety / Getty
Actor Bryan Cranston blasted the slogan that former President Donald Trump heavily used as racism while defending the need for critical race theory recently.
In an interview with CNN’s Chris Wallace on Sunday (February 26th), the Emmy Award-winning actor talked about why he felt that critical race theory was necessary for American society and spoke on how the slogan “Make America Great Again” used by Donald Trump during his 2016 presidential campaign can be seen as a
racist sentiment.
Related Stories
“When I see ‘Make America Great Again,’ my comment is, ‘Do you accept that that could possibly be construed as a racist remark?’” the Breaking Bad actor said to Wallace. “A lot of people go, ‘How could that be racist, to make America great again?’ I said, ‘So just ask yourself from an African-American experience: When was it ever great in America for the African-American? So if you’re making it great again, it’s not including them.’”
He would continue: “It’s to teach us, in the ‘woke’ world, to open up and accept the possibilities that our privilege has created blind spots for us. Maybe I haven’t seen what’s really happening, in all my years.”
HipHopWired Featured Video
Source: MICHAEL TRAN / Getty
Lori Harvey, daughter of comedian Steve Harvey and the woman who lives rent-free in the heads of men who are threatened by women with active dating lives (I’m looking at you, Boosie Badazz), has recently made her red carpet debut with her new boo, Snowfall star Damson Idris.
Harvey and Idris announced that they were officially a couple last month, several months after Lori’s very public split with Michael B. Jordan. On Wednesday, the new couple was spotted together in Los Angeles while attending the premiere of Snowfall‘s finale season, according to E News.
From E News:
Making their red carpet debut as a couple, Lori stunned in an off-the-shoulder black gown as she happily posed for photos with Damson, who stars as Franklin Saint on the FX series.
At one point in the evening, Damson—dressed in a dapper navy blue suit—leaned over and sweetly gave the model a kiss on the head.
Their glitzy date night comes weeks after Lori’s 26th birthday, which she celebrated with Damson and friends at Lavo Ristorante in L.A. At the time, an looker told E! News that the pair “looked so happy.”
Aaaah, young love.
Listen, we all know Lori can’t step out for a glass of wine with a man without everybody getting all up in her business, but it’s nice to see that she doesn’t let all of that scrutiny (and misogynoir, if we’re being honest) stop her from living her best life with any male companion she wishes to spend her time with.
So, good luck to Lori and Damson, and may they both continue to excel together and individually.
Written By Alvin aqua Blanco , Director of Content Posted 5 mins ago @aqua174 Alvin aqua Blanco is the Director of Content in the Men’s Division for iOne Digital, steering Cassius Life and Hip-Hop Wired. Representing the Bronx, he was nurtured by a steady diet of Hip-Hop culture and music. He graduated from the University […]
HipHopWired Featured Video
Source: Icon Sportswire / Getty
In the new issue of British Vogue, featuring a gorgeous cover of Rihanna, A$AP Rocky and their baby boy in his magazine debut, the music icon and Fenty mogul said that her son is “obsessed” with his dad.
“I’m just sitting on the sidelines when they’re together,” she says in the exclusive feature article, seemingly amused by her role in the background. “I’m literally the girl trying to get into the boys club, waiting for my turn. He is obsessed with his father. And I’m like: ‘Didn’t I give birth to you? What is going on?’”
She added, “Their connection is undeniable. The second Rocky makes eye contact with him he is on fire. The whole thing they say about sons and moms, it’s a myth. Sons and fathers is crazy. I realized that the validation that you really need as a boy is from your father.”
The megastar just stunned the world during her Super Bowl appearance last Sunday, Feb. 12 by showing off another baby bump and announcing that she is expecting a second child.
Ri-Ri also shared some insight into her relationship with the A$AP Mob rapper whom she previously dated and had a long friendship. “We’re best friends with a baby,” she says, laughing at their dynamic now. “We have to be on the same page, but we’ve always kind of had that in our relationship. Everything changes when you have a baby but I wouldn’t say it’s done anything but made us closer.”
In the cover story, she also explained why she changed from her previous decision to not perform at the game due to her support of blackballed former NFL quarterback Colin Kaepernick.
“There’s still a lot of mending to be done in my eyes,” she says now, “but it’s powerful to break those doors, and have representation at such a high, high level and a consistent level.” She notes the two previous Super Bowls which demonstrated representation to her, specifically referring to last year’s headliners, Dr Dre, Snoop Dogg, Eminem, Mary J Blige and Kendrick Lamar, “you know, representing the urban community, globally. It is powerful. It sends a really strong message.”
She also added that motherhood may have influenced her decision, “Of course,” she says, as the writer notes she is visibly moved, “raising a young Black man is one of the scariest responsibilities in life.” It’s made her re-evaluate everything. “You’re like, ‘What am I leaving my kids to? This is the planet they’re gonna be living on?’” She added, “All of those things really start to hit differently.”
HipHopWired Featured Video
Source: Cooper Neill / Getty
Veteran actress & Abbott Elementary star Sheryl Lee Ralph dazzled fans as she sang “Lift Every Voice and Sing” to open Super Bowl LVII held at State Farm Stadium in Glendale, Arizona Sunday (Feb. 12)
The musical component of Super Bowl LVII, began after Dallas Cowboys quarterback Dak Prescott was honored with the Walter Payton Man of the Year Award for his community service. The stage was set for the Emmy Award-winning actress, who was bedecked in a striking floor-length red gown/pantsuit as she began to sing “Lift Every Voice and Sing,” the hymn written first by NAACP leader James Weldon Johnson in 1900. The song is now regarded as the Black National Anthem and has been a key tune of the civil rights movement in the nation.
Related Stories
Ralph highlighted the significance of her performing “Lift Every Voice and Sing” in a tweet hours earlier. “It is no coincidence that I will be singing the Black National Anthem, Lift Every Voice and Sing at the Super Bowl on the same date it was first publicly performed 123 years ago,” she wrote, with a video showing her entering the arena sporting a Savage X Fenty hat as an ode to Rihanna, who was the Apple Music Halftime Show performer.
The former Broadway star showed off her chops, singing the opening lines in a rich and somber cadence. As she continued, the chorus from the background singers all dressed in white added to her stately vocals, which closed in a triumphant tone with the final lines of the song. “Sing a song full of the faith that the dark past has taught us,” she sang. “Sing a song full of the hope that the present has brought us. Let us march on till victory is won.”
Her performance marks another high note in her career to date. Ralph recently won an Emmy Award for her role as sage teacher Barbara Howard in the hit ABC comedy series Abbott Elementary. She also recently released a Christmas album entitled Sleigh last year. Ralph’s husband, Pennsylvania Senator Vincent Hughes, expressed his praise in a tweet after the game ended with the Kansas City Chiefs beating the Philadelphia Eagles.
“The @eagles may have come up short in a valiant effort tonight but @thesherylralph certainly was a winner at the @AZSuperBowl,” he wrote. She responded, “Thank you baby!” and shared it with her followers.
—
Photo: Getty
HipHopWired Featured Video
Source: Prince WIlliams / Prince Williams/ATLPics.net
It’s a girl for Mr. and Mrs. Davis.
Gucci Mane and his model/entrepreneur wife Keyshia Ka’oir have welcomed their second child together–a little girl named Iceland Ka’oir Davis.
“Im so thankful that my baby girl is here and she so pretty and healthy,” the proud dad shared on Instagram Thursday.
“Our little princess is here!” gushed the proud mommy in a post of her own. “Beautiful & Healthy!”
Gucci shared that the baby girl weighed in at 7 pounds and 2 ounces.
Related Stories
The couple had a little boy together, Ice Davis, two years ago and announced their most recent pregnancy by declaring that the toddler needed a playmate.
Per Page Six, Gucci and Keyshia got engaged in November 2016, tied the knot in October 2017 and welcomed Ice in December 2020. However, their relationship goes back more than a decade.
In his autobiography, Gucci wrote that he fell in love with Keyshia at first sight in 2010. “I had Keyshia, my first real love. The first woman I ever wanted to bring to a red carpet and let the world know this was my lady,” he writes. “She held me down the whole time I was locked up and showed me what it means to have somebody you can truly count on. I wanted to be able to return the favor.”
In a Fader interview in 2017, not long after Gucci was released from prison, Keyshia said of their relationship, “These days I often tell him, “We have to be on a schedule.” We don’t just lay in bed all morning until 12 or 1 o’clock. We get up for work in the morning at 9. We have business calls, we have emails, and we’re ready and alert. We work during the day, and at night we eat our dinner. Then we take a shower and we lay down. We have a normal life. Staying in the studio until 6 or 7 in the morning with everybody smoking and drinking, we don’t do that stuff. Because that becomes trouble. This is how we keep everything together: we stay focused.”
Fans and celebrity supporters of the couple shared messages of congratulations on the Instagram posts–including 2 Chainz and frequent collaborator Zaytoven.
HipHopWired Featured Video
Source: JMEnternational / Getty
Legendary songstress Dionne Warwick spoke publicly for the first time on the passing of songwriter Burt Bacharach, whom she considered a “family member.”
On Thursday (Feb. 9), the singer released a statement through social media a day after the composer passed away at the age of 94. “Burt’s transition is like losing a family member,” she began. “These words I’ve been asked to write are being written with sadness over the loss of my Dear Friend and my Musical Partner.”
“On the lighter side we laughed a lot and had our run-ins, but always found a way to let each other know our family, like roots, were the most important part of our relationship. My heartfelt condolences go out to his family, letting them know he is now peacefully resting and I too will miss him.” Warwick would follow up the statement by sharing a photo of the two via her Twitter account.
The Newark, New Jersey native first met Bacharach in 1961 while she was a backup singer in sessions for The Drifters along with her sister, Dee Dee Warwick, and her aunt, Cissy Houston. In his 2013 memoir Anyone Who Had a Heart, he recalled that meeting fondly. “Right from the first time I ever saw Dionne, I thought she had a special kind of grace and elegance that made her stand out,” he wrote. “There was just something in the way she carried herself that caught my eye. To me, Dionne looked like she could be a star.”
The two would collaborate with lyricist Hal Davis to create Warwick’s first single, “Don’t Make Me Over” in August 1962. That would begin an impressive run of 33 hits on the Billboard charts for Warwick which included “I Say a Little Prayer,” “Do You Know the Way to San Jose,” and “Walk On By.” These along with four other songs would be part of the top 10, making Warwick the biggest woman singer of the rock and roll era.
Bacharach and Warwick would have a falling out in the 1970s after David and Bacharach split, with the singer suing both men for breach of contract. She and Bacharach would reconcile, teaming up to create the hit 1985 single “That’s What Friends Are For,” which won the Grammy Award for Song of The Year – the only win for the composer out of the four times he was nominated.
HipHopWired Featured Video
Source: Michael Buckner / Getty
Writer and director Kenya Barris reportedly ran into a little family drama during the premiere of his newest Netflix project, You People—ironically, a film about family drama.
A source told Page Six that after the film ended and while Kenya Barris was basking in the glory of his hit film while surrounded by his audience and photographers, a process server disguised as paparazzi hit the Black-ish creator with court documents filed by Barris’ sister, Colette Barris. And, well, that must have been em-Barris-ing. (Please don’t block me.)
From Page Six:
In court docs seen by Page Six, Colette has accused Kenya of “breach of contract.”
Related Stories
Her court filing says that on Feb. 22, 2021, the siblings entered into a legal agreement, adding, “The parties in pertinent part agreed ‘not to communicate any disparaging remarks about each other or about any matters that led to this Agreement.’”
The papers go on to allege, “In or around June 2022, [Kenya] stated to a third party that (1) Plaintiff was a ’70-year-old no talent hack’ and (2) Plaintiff had not earned the ‘right to be a show creator’ but instead ‘ wanted to go to the front of the line.’”
However, the bad blood stretches back further, as they’ve reportedly been in at least one previous legal dispute.
Imagine having such an estranged relationship with your own sibling that you have to come to a legally-binding agreement not to talk bad about each other. Then you get sued for allegedly breaking that agreement.
Kind of makes you want to call up your sib just to say “I love you,” don’t it?
Well, let’s just hope the Barris family can work things out.
Anyway, the red carpet premiere was also attended by You People stars Eddie Murphy, Nia Long, Lauren London, Julia Louis-Dreyfus and David Duchovny, as well as guests Elliott Gould, Anthony Anderson, Cedric the Entertainer and rapper Yung Miami.
