State Champ Radio celebrity news
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Sean “Diddy” Combs‘ sexual trafficking and racketeering trial continued this week with explosive testimony from a former assistant who tearfully took the stand and levied serious allegations. The assistant, known only to the court as “Mia,” delivered shocking details alleging that Diddy sexually assaulted her several times and that she lived in fear of the mogul.
As spotted in Deadline and Complex, a woman who worked as an assistant to Sean “Diddy” Combs rose to the ranks of a high-ranking official in Combs’ Revolt Films. However, the ascension came with a series of conditions that, while alleged, were shocking in their descriptions.
Referred to as “Mia” throughout her testimony, the woman says she began her working relationship with Diddy in 2009, and that he initially greeted her in his underwear in their early days of working together. From there, Mia says she endured several alleged offenses, including rape, assault, abuse, all delivered under Combs’ rigid demands of obedience and around-the-clock working demands.
“It’s the most traumatizing, the worst thing that’s ever happened to me,” Mia said of the rape, assault and workplace abuse. “I was going to die with this, I didn’t want anyone to know ever.”
Mia was asked by prosecutors if she ever rebuffed any of Combs’ advances, to which she explained that she felt powerless to do so.
“I couldn’t tell him no about a sandwich,” Mia answered. “I couldn’t tell him no about anything. “
She continued, “There was no way I could tell him no, because then he would know that I thought he was doing was wrong, and then I would be a target. He would fire me and ruin my future and somehow twist the story into making me look like a threat. I knew his power, and I knew his control over me, and I didn’t want to lose everything that I worked so hard for or this like world that was the only thing that I had anymore.”
Mia was expected to face Sean “Diddy” Combs’ defense team, which involves cross-examining the witness today (May 30).
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Zion Williamson is back in the news after reports went wide that the NBA star was sued by a woman claiming to be an ex-girlfriend in Los Angeles on Thursday (May 29). The filing, which has harrowing details, allege that Zion Williamson raped and terroized the woman throughout their relationship.
The details of this story may be disturbing to some. Proceed with caution.
TMZ Sports reports that a Jane Doe filed the lawsuit and wrote in the filing that she began dating the New Orleans Pelican big man when he was a standout player at Duke University. The lawsuit lays out a September 2020 incident in which Jane Doe says that shortly after joining the Pelicans, Williamson, 24, allegedly raped and assaulted her in his Beverly Hills home.
Jane Doe claims that Williamson insulted her by calling the woman “stuck up” and the b-word, while also allegedly stating that she wouldn’t be able to go to sleep until she had sex with him. The woman also alleges that Williamson pinned her down and had sex with her, then later took her phone, threw it across the room, and choked her. The filing adds that Williamson reeked of alcohol during the alleged incident.
In October of the same year, Jane Doe claims that Williamson raped her again after he became angry that she wanted to visit friends in San Diego, and allegedly took the woman’s phone and laptop thus preventing. her from seeking medical care.
The filing went on to add that the rapes and assault continued in Lousiana, Texas, and California until the pair ended their relationship in 2023. Jane Doe also claims that Williamson allegedly threatened to have one of his security guards shoot her in the head several times during their union.
“We don’t want to litigate this case in the media,” Jane Doe’s attorney, Sam E. Taylor of The Lanier Law Firm, told TMZ Sports. “But I will say this is a very serious case as reflected in the pleadings that have been filed and our client looks forward to her day in court to seek justice in this matter.”
In 2023, adult performer Moriah Mills accused Williamson of domestic abuse during their relationship. Mills also had a very public meltdown regarding the dissolution of her and Williamson’s relationship. That same year, several women came forth and accused Williamson of cheating on them with other women.
Zion Williamson has yet to respond publicly to the allegations.
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Michael Sumler, the longtime hype man for the Kool & The Gang band, died over Memorial Day Weekend after his vehicle was involved in a crash. Michael Sumler, also known as Chicago Mike, was a member of the band for several years.
Local outlet Fox 5 Atlanta reports that last Saturday (May 24), Michael Sumler was driving from the town of Mableton, Ga., after a performance at the Mable House Barnes Amphitheatre that evening. The outlet reports that Sumler collided with a vehicle while driving along the Veterans Memorial Highway in Cobb County.
According to the report, the crash occurred just before midnight, with Sumler dying at the scene of the crash. The other person involved in the crash survived.
Taking to Facebook, Kool & The Gang shared a statement regarding Sumler’s passing:
We’re deeply saddened to hear about the passing of our longtime wardrobe valet, Mike Sumler. Mike worked alongside Kool & the Gang from 2000-2015, making sure the guys looked their best on stage every night. He also hyped the crowd with his energy and dance moves at the top of the show. Most recently, Mike helped Kool with LeKool champagne events.Everyone here at Kool & the Gang has fond memories of Mike and will miss him. May he rest in peace.
Michael Sumler was 71.
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Photo: Facebook
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Ab-Soul was largely seen as a neutral player in the ongoing Joey BadA$$ versus the entire West Coast beef that’s going down, but it appeared that the back-and-forths were done with. Ab-Soul emerged with a new track addressing the war of the coasts while also throwing a shot towards DJ Akademiks that sparked an expected response from the media figure.
Ab-Soul recently joined Big Sean and JoeyBad$$ two weeks ago in a Red Bull Spiral Freestyle, where the Black Lip Pastor spoke directly to Badmon’s salvo against the West Coast. However, Soul also showed his alignment and respect for BadA$$’s Pro Era team and kept things strictly rap.
Since that time, a barrage of songs from Soul’s TDE labelmate Ray Vaughn, Hitta J3, Az Chike, Daylyt, and more. Joey got backup from the likes of his Pro Era colleagues Nyck Caution and CJ Fly, along with jabs from Generation Now’s Kai Ca$h among others.
The new drop from Ab-Soul was produced by Low The Great, who has a project with the aforementioned Az Chike, and Python P, whom Soul has worked with on previous tracks. The first half of the new joint finds Soul rapping in an aggressive double-time flow at a lower register than we normally hear him, conversational in tone as he dissected Daylyt and Vaughn’s battle bars and their assumed flaws.
In the second half of the song, Soulo ramps up the energy and lets it be known that while he has love for Pro Era, it’s still very much Carson and TDE for life for the lyricist. In this half, Soul raps that he’ll smack Akademiks when he sees him, setting off an entirely new thread to this coastal conflict.
Ak, talking to his fans on stream, fired back with the threat of death towards Soul, saying, “If you ever raise a hand on me, it’ll be your last day on Earth, n*gga. You’ll join Nipsey, King Von, and Pac. All of y’all gonna be having a good time.”
Fans on X caught wind of DJ Akademiks issuing the grim warning towards Ab-Soul and dropped off some choice words. We’ll share the reactions from all sides, along with the track in question, below.
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Kevin Liles, a longtime music executive who previously worked for Def Jam Recordings and The Island Def Jam Music Group, is speaking out against one of his former artists. Kevin Liles issued a statement shooting down claims of grooming brought by former Def Jam signee Lady Luck, framing her attempt to gain a massive payout as “extortion.”
Kevin Liles posted a statement on his Instagram page Tuesday (May 27), opening by stating that he was contacted by Lady Luck, real name Shanell Jones, and her legal team three weeks prior. Jones alerted Liles that she was publishing a book pushing forth claims that the executive tried to groom her and force her to perform oral sex.
Liles pushed back at the claims, calling Jones’ charge a “fabrication” and adding in his statment that he is “publicly addressing what I view to be an extortion attempt.”
The statement highlights that Jones was seeking a $30 million payout to prevent the claims within her book from coming out under the public eye, which Liles believes is motivated by the “current news environment.”
Liles went on to explain his signing of Lady Luck and doing what he could to advance her career, including adding her to the remix of Pharoahe Monch’s smash hit, “Simon Says,” and the “Symphony 2000” track from EPMD, featuring then-labelmates Method Man and Redman.
The statement goes on to shine a light on Jones’ arrest record and criminal history, but added that he continued to try and assist her in the music world by connecting her with a distributor for a record she wanted to push last year.
Kevin Liles did show some compassion for Jones’ struggles with addiction, writing, “I pray for her healing and well-being.”
The full statment can be read below.
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The Lox have been top-tier lyricists for the better part of three decades, and the bandmates, podcast partners, and longtime friends have continued to showcase their excellence. In a new episode in the Red Bull Spiral Freestyle series, The Lox deliver a powerful one-take performance and put on for their hometown of Yonkers and Hip-Hop.
The Red Bull Spiral Freestyle series has been buzzing after Big Sean, Ab-Soul, and East Coast warlord Joey BadA$$ torched the cypher and reignited the coastal feud that is currently dominating Hip-Hop.
Keeping things firmly in the east, the trio of Sheek Louch, Styles P, and Jadakiss show off their well-honed abilities and undeniable chemistry. After a pre-performance hook from the Silverback Gorilla, aka Sheek Louch, with help from his brothers, Styles P opens the cypher with a fine-tuned barrage of bars. Louch followed up after Holiday Styles, and Jadakiss closed out the performance and sounded invigorated next to his team.
The Lox can still bar it down, and the group is involved in a variety of projects, with Jadakiss hosting a podcast with Fat Joe, and all three of the brothers podcasting with the ItsTheReal team. However, with a performance like this, fans are certainly hoping for a new project from the trio.
Check out the latest Red Bull Spiral Freestyle below.
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Photo: Red Bull Spiral/Red Bull Content Pool
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Rapper Joey Bada$$ and his fiancee Serayah are embarking on a new chapter of life together after announcing that they’re expecting a boy. The pair opened up about their relationship in the latest issue of ESSENCE, which features them on their cover. https://www.instagram.com/p/DJ9hC3lNfeg/?utm_source=ig_web_copy_link&igsh=MzRlODBiNWFlZA==
“There’s a lot of transitional things happening in our lives, and it’s very, very symbolic at this point in time right now,” the Raising Kanan and Mr. Robot actor said in the interview, remarking that he and Serayah are at the “beginning of a new chapter,” as they enter their 30s.For the singer and model, she first revealed that she was pregnant as she walked the runway for AdoreMe during New York Fashion Week in February of this year. “The stars just aligned. We didn’t coordinate or plan anything out,” she said to ESSENCE, continuing: “I disclosed to them that I was, I think at the time, around five or six months pregnant. When they said that they were fine with it, I was like, ‘Okay, well maybe this is the opportunity, and this will be the moment.”Joey Bada$$ also shared how prior to meeting Serayah, he was comfortable being polyamorous. “That was where I was at in my life at the time,” he said. “I was very much living a lifestyle of a bachelor and it just aligned with what I was doing. But I met Ray, I bought a home, and it just changed my perspective. It definitely shifted, and the dynamic that I wanted changed. So I’m very much monogamous now, and I don’t discourage or disagree with anybody going after polyamory or whatever if that’s what you want to do. But this is where I’m at now and this is where I feel secure.”
The Pro Era rapper already has a daughter from a previous relationship, who he said was reluctant about having a sibling at first. “I think she’s like, ‘I got to share my daddy now?’ But I already know she’s going to come around,” he added. “She’s going to be super hands-on.”The interview’s publication comes at a principal time for Joey Bada$$, as he’s currently engrossed in a torrid rap battle with MCs repping the West Coast in Ray Vaughn, Daylyt and AZ Chike. He’s also confirmed that there will be a new album on the way, with an expected release date of Aug. 30.
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Tory Lanez is still healing up from a brutal stabbing incident that left both his lungs collapsed, along with other injuries. In a new report, Tory Lanez has since been transferred to another California facility after officials remarked on being unable to keep the Canadian star safe.
TMZ reports that Tory Lanez, 32, moved earlier this week from the California Correctional Institution (CCI) to the California Men’s Colony (CMC), some three hours away from the CCI. According to Lanez’s attorney, the rapper and singer isn’t happy about moving from the supermax in Tehachapi to San Luis Obispo County. CMC is not considered a supermax facility, but does have a wing where some of its most troubled prisoners are housed.
Attorneys for Tory Lanez are hoping to appeal to California Gov. Gavin Newsom to seek a pardon for their client or a reduction in the current 10-year sentence he’s serving in connection with the Megan Thee Stallion shooting incident.
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Rosetta Tharpe was a trailblazing Black musician who found fame early on as a gospel artist before shifting to rock and roll and inspiring several future legends. Aunjanue Ellis-Taylor has been tapped to pen a script for a biopic about Sister Rosetta Tharpe, with legendary rocker Mick Jagger serving as a producer.
Deadline reports that the Sister Rosetta Tharpe biopic was set in motion after Live Nation Productions reached out to Aunjanue Ellis-Taylor to piece together the script. Along with Jagger’s Jagged Films, the film is also being produced by Tribeca Studios and Inaudible Productions.
Sister Rosetta Tharpe emerged on the music scene first in the world of gospel, releasing her first recordings at the age of 23 in 1938. One of the singles, “Rock Me,” would become a hit and influenced the likes of Elvis Presley, Jerry Lee Lewis, and Little Richard, among others.
Tharpe would mix gospel lyrics with secular music, which angered some. She went on to perform her mix of gospel and rhythm and blues, all accented by her guitar playing. The image of a Black woman singing gospel music inside secular establishments, along with her chosen instrument, caused many to not support her musical endeavors despite her quietly influencing future musical superstars along the way.
In interviews, Thapre essentially framed rock and roll as rhythm and blues at a faster pace. Sister Rosetta Tharpe passed away in 1973, but was acknowledged by her peers as a pioneering voice for rock and roll.
Along with the biopic, there will be a documentary about Tharpe centering on her contributions to music and her lasting influence, most especially in the world of guitars. The film will also pull from author Gayle Wald’s Shout, Sister, Shout!: The Untold Story of Rock-and-Roll Trailblazer Sister Rosetta Tharpe biography.
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Scott “Kid Cudi” Mescudi took the stand this week at the sex trafficking and racketeering trial for Sean “Diddy” Combs, detailing his side of the ordeal and alleging that the mogul attempted to harm him. Kid Cudi testified that he confronted Diddy after an incident involving his car, referring to him as a “Marvel supervillain.”
Scott “Kid Cudi” Mescudi was in New York at the Manhattan federal court on Thursday (May 22), where Sean “Diddy” Combs has endured brutal testimony from the likes of ex-girlfriend Cassie Ventura and former recording artist Dawn Richard.
As spotted in Newsweek, Mescudi shared his side of things in the wake of Ventura’s testimony. Ventura shared that she and Mescudi had a brief romantic encounter that was strained by the alleged actions of Combs to keep them apart. According to Mescudi, he was unaware that Combs and Ventura were still an item after he began dating the singer in 2011.
In 2012, Mescudi’s car was set on fire while away from his home, stating from the stand that he later confronted Combs at Soho House in Los Angeles. Combs claimed that he didn’t know anything about the car bombing, according to Mescudi. When asked what his reactions were regarding the car explosion, Mescudi replied on the stand, “Umm, what the f* ck?”
In addition to the exploding car, Mescudi claims that Combs entered his residence in a bid to intimidate the rapper and actor, whilst attempting to sever the connection with Ventura.
Mescudi said he broke things off with Ventura due to what he referred to as “drama” and added that Ventura “played” both him and Combs. He also added that Combs approached him and apologized for all of the alleged actions that took place during the ordeal with Ventura.
On X, reactions to Kid Cudi’s testimony are all over the map. We’ve got the best reactions below.
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