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Music producer Rodney “Lil Rod” Jones, one of numerous alleged victims who have accused Sean “Diddy” Combs of acts of sexual violence and other abuses, has dropped multiple high-profile defendants from a lawsuit he filed against the Bad Boy mogul in February.
According to Hip Hop DX, the list of defendants in Jones’ lawsuit initially included Universal Music Group and its chairman Sir Lucian Grainge, who the suit alleged “aided and abetted” Diddy in his alleged sexual abuse. But those names have been withdrawn from the filing and the claims against them and against Motown Recordings have been dismissed with prejudice, meaning claims against them cannot be refiled.
Jones’ legal representation was pretty vague on why Grainge and the two music companies were dropped from the suit, although the now-former defendants had all filed motions to have their cases dismissed.
“All of the claims against Grainge, Motown and UMG Recordings (the ‘UMG Defendants’) in the [second amended complaint] are lacking in any legally cognizable basis,” the filing read. “Every claim is premised on the untenable strict liability theory that when one enters into a commercial contract, the payor under that contract becomes liable for anything that the recipient of payment does with the payment.” Apparently, Jones’ attorneys eventually agreed.
From Hip Hop DX:
Lil Rod’s attorney Tyrone Blackburn said in a sworn declaration filed in court: “Based on my examination of all of the papers submitted in support of both motions to dismiss, which addressed the issues I had, I have concluded that there is no legal basis for the claims and allegations that were made against the UMG Defendants.”
He added: “As such, I have determined that the proper course of action is for all of the claims and all of the allegations to be withdrawn immediately.”
It’s worth noting that UMG has also petitioned to be removed from a lawsuit filed by another Diddy accuser identified as Jane Doe, and that filing also appears to make the core argument that the company isn’t responsible for anything Diddy did, if he did it.
“The Complaint’s allegations, if true, are certainly disturbing,” the filing read. “Plaintiff makes no allegation supporting vicarious liability for battery or assault (nor could she).
“Plaintiff’s NIED [negligent infliction of emotional distress] claim also fails because she has not alleged any duty owed to her by UMGR, and nowhere in Plaintiff’s Complaint does she allege that UMGR’s conduct was extreme and outrageous, as she is required to do as a matter of legal sufficiency,” it continued.
As much as Diddy has been trying to play it cool online, there is no hiding the fact that he is drowning in scandals, legal woes and professional uncertainty, and one can imagine there will be more people close to him who will either need to jump ship or sink right along with him.
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At the end of last month, sneakerheads went crazy for Travis Scott’s first signature Jordan Brand sneaker, the “Jumpman Jack.” With the success of the silhouette (sold out immediately), Jordan Brand is ready to drop new colorways as heads seem to love what Travis and Jordan done cooked up in the lab.
According to Nice Kicks, a new black and mocha colorway of the “Jumpman Jack” is set to release later this year. Though sneakerheads were really hoping the black, sail and red version would be next, it seems like the mocha’s are next in line to get some play.
Per Nice Kicks:
Living up to its name, the upcoming Jordan Jumpman Jack features a predominantly dark mocha upper in suede with a black mesh base, black leather Swoosh, and a matching black midsole/outsole combination.
The Travis Scott x Jordan Jumpman Jack “Mocha” releases in 2024 for $200 via SNKRS and select retailers.
We lowkey would’ve rather have gotten the black, red and sail colorway. But it is what it is.
Are you going to be copping (or trying to at least) the new “Mocha” colorway of the Travis Scott “Jumpman Jack”? Check out pics of the other colorways, and let us know which one you prefer in the comments section below.
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A$AP Rocky is staying active with his creative director role at PUMA. A new motorsport collection is on the way.
As reported by Hypebeast, the Harlem, New York, native is deep into his fashion bag this summer. This week, A$AP and Global Apparel announced a new drop that draws from racing but is just the right speed for everyday wear. Included in the collection is a two-piece sweatsuit, gloves, t-shirts and an update to the Inhale OG sneaker, which was originally released in 2000. The goal was to bring the flair of on-track performance, therefore, most of the pieces show some wear and tear. For instance the Padded Balaclava was designed to look like a standard racing helmet and features a removable visor and a bungee closure.
The self proclaimed Fashion Killa detailed his enthusiasm about the forthcoming drop in a formal statement. “This Miami collection aims to give fans the chance to have their own race suit from the helmet down to the shoes,“ said A$AP. “Other sports have uniforms available for the consumer and I wanted to bring that to the F1 category. For the visuals, I wanted to demonstrate how as adults we can lose sight of the dreams and imagination that we had as kids, and really love how it all came together.”
The collection is available beginning in the U.S. at 10 a.m. EST on May 3 on PUMA’s website. You can preview the collection here and view the promotional trailer below.
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Missy Elliott is returning to the big screen as part of an untitled musical project created by Pharrell Williams and Michel Gondry.
According to reports, superstar Missy Elliott is making a return to the big screen with a role in a musical helmed by Pharrell Williams and Michel Gondry. The unnamed project will be directed by Gondry, best known for directing Eternal Sunshine of the Spotless Mind. The four-time Grammy Award winner shared the news with her millions of fans in a post on X, formerly Twitter, on Tuesday (April 30). “Ayyyyye,” she wrote, accompanied by emojis of flames, a dancing woman and hands up giving a high-five.
The film’s coming-of-age plot takes place during the summer of 1977, with the setting being inspired by the Atlantis Apartments in the Virginia Beach, Virginia, neighborhood where Williams grew up. The star-studded cast also includes Academy Award winner Da’Vine Joy Randolph, Halle Bailey, Kelvin Harrison Jr., and Academy Award nominee Brian Tyree Henry. The script is being written by Martin Hynes (Toy Story 4) and Steven Levenson (FX’s Fosse/Verdon), as Pharrell Williams is producing with Mimi Valdés through i am OTHER, and Gil Netter is producing through Gil Netter Productions.
For Elliott, it’s her first time appearing on the big screen in a sizable role since appearing as the character Missy (who performed a duet of “Car Wash” with Christina Aguilera) in the 2004 DreamWorks animated film Shark’s Tale. The singer/songwriter/rapper also appeared as herself in the 2003 film Honey, starring Jessica Alba and was in two episodes of the Fox musical drama, Star, in 2017.
The role comes as Missy Elliott is set to go on her first headlining tour this summer. The Out of This World Tour — The Missy Elliott Experience will also feature Ciara, Timbaland and Busta Rhymes. It opens in Vancouver, Canada, on July 4 with dates in 24 cities across the United States and Canada including Seattle, Oakland, Los Angeles, Las Vegas, Denver, Tampa, Atlanta, Detroit and Toronto with the finale in Rosemont, Illinois, on Aug. 22.
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50 Cent, is, once again, weighing in on celebrity gossip swirling around the internet rumor mill, this time, regarding a claim made by boxer Gervonta Davis about retired fighter Floyd Mayweather, who Davis said was being held hostage in Dubai in a series of tweets he previously posted.
Davis recently claimed that Mayweather was “in Dubai and can’t leave becuz he been taking n-ggas money and not doing what they paid him to do.” Davis also claimed Floyd needed “a wire” in order to get “home.”
“Let me call 50, we gotta get this n-gga home by Monday,” Davis tweeted, to which 50 responded, “Oh nah this shit is real.”
“[Davis] would not say no shit like that if it wasn’t official,” the G-Unit CEO continued. Me and Champ be beefing but he my brother. I got some money if he need it !”
For those who are wondering (because you care—you know you do), here’s how we got here, according to Hip Hop DX:
The beef between the boxers stems from “Pretty Boy Floyd” saying earlier this week that other fighters were emulating his flash without putting in the necessary work.
Davis took this as a direct insult and unloaded with his hostage claim in return.
Mayweather’s social media indicates that he was indeed in Dubai at the beginning of this month, though there is no evidence that he is being held there.
Fif, of course, isn’t shy about trolling Floyd Mayweather, as he did back in February when he roasted the boxer for his stance on Diddy’s recent sexual assault allegations.
Lawd, what did Mayweather say about Diddy? (Not that it would take much for 50 to go into troll mode behind the deeply embattled Bad Boy mogul.)
“I’m not gonna speak bad about P. Diddy,” Mayweather said on The Pivot Podcast at the time Diddy was accused of rape by singer Cassie and other women. “‘Cause he still a Black man. Mistakes happen. And I can’t say if it is or not a mistake, but things happen in life. And P. Diddy’s business is P. Diddy’s business. It’s not my job or anybody else’s job to go on the internet and stomp him and kick a man while he’s down.
“My take on it is: it’s not my business. I don’t think it’s right at all and I don’t condone it,” Mayweather continued. “Even if that happened to my daughter, I would be hurt but that’s a choice that my daughter made.” (For the record, no woman has ever made a choice to be raped or sexually assaulted, if that’s what Mayweather was implying.)
In February, 50 noted on Instagram that “they didn’t even ask him about this,” in response to Mayweather’s remarks.
“Champ is you stupid or is you dumb? Get me the fuck out ya head, you sound like a hater. DIDDY DO IT ? COMING soon,” Fif’s post continued.
Maybe it’s a social media thing, but can anyone remember a time before now when rappers and boxers were this into celebrity gossip and male cattiness? Weird, right?
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The wait is over. On Wednesday, March 20, Megan Thee Stallion officially announced her Hot Girl Summer global tour with Memphis rapper GloRilla as her special guest.
The Grammy Award winner will be embarking on 31-city tour that is being produced by Live Nation, and is her first headlining arena tour. While there are both domestic and international stops, the tour will also feature a special Chicas Divertidas VIP section. GloRilla will be getting in on the action on the domestic portion of the tour.
The Hot Girl Summer will start on May 14 in Minneapolis at the Target Center and hit cities like Chicago, New York (at Madison Square Garden), Atlanta and Los Angeles before wrapping up its domestic portion on June 22 in Las Vegas at the MGM Grand Garden Arana. The international leg will then kick off on July 4 in Glasgow at the OVO Hydro and will make stops in cities like Amsterdam, Paris and London before wrapping on July 17 in London at The O2. Also, Megan will hit the Broccoli City Festival on July 27 in Washington, DC.
Tickets will be available first Citi presale starting Wednesday, March 20. There will also be Hotties presale before general sales start on Friday, March 22 at 10am at store.megantheestallion.com. If you have a Citi card, access starts 1pm until Thursday, March 21 at 10 pm local time through the Citi Entertainment program: www.citientertainment.com.
Check out the full Hot Girl Summer tour schedule below.
2024 HOT GIRL SUMMER WORLD TOUR DATES
May 14 – Minneapolis, MN – Target Center^
May 17 – Chicago, IL – United Center^
May 18 – Detroit, MI – Little Caesars Arena^
May 21 – New York, NY – Madison Square Garden^
May 22 – Philadelphia, PA – Wells Fargo Center^
May 24 – Napa, CA – BottleRock Napa Valley Festival*
May 26 – Boston, MA – Boston Calling Festival*
May 28 – Baltimore, MD – CFG Bank Arena^
May 30 – Memphis, TN – FedEx Forum^
Jun 1 – Atlanta, GA – State Farm Arena^
Jun 4 – Raleigh, NC – PNC Arena^
June 6 – Hollywood, FL – Seminole Hard Rock Hotel & Casino^
Jun 8 – Tampa, FL – Amalie Arena^
Jun 10 – New Orleans, LA – Smoothie King Center^
Jun 11 – Dallas, TX – American Airlines Center^
Jun 13 – Austin, TX – Moody Center^
Jun 14 – Houston, TX – Toyota Center^
Jun 16 – Manchester, TN – Bonnaroo Music & Arts Festival*
Jun 17 – Denver, CO – Ball Arena^
Jun 19 – Phoenix, AZ – Footprint Center^
Jun 21 – Los Angeles, CA – Crypto.com Arena^
Jun 22 – Las Vegas, NV – MGM Grand Garden Arena^
Jul 4 – Glasgow, UK – OVO Hydro
Jul 5 – Manchester, UK – Co-op Live
Jul 7 – Paris, FR – Zenith
Jul 10 – Amsterdam, NL – Ziggo Dome
Jul 11 – Cologne, DE – Lanxess Arena
Jul 14 – Dublin, IE – 3Arena
Jul 16 – Birmingham, UK – Utilita Arena
Jul 17 – London, UK – The O2
Jul 27 – Washington DC – Broccoli City Festival*
^With Support From GloRilla
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Source: Prince Williams / Getty
For months now it’s been known rumored that Ashanti and Nelly are expecting, and though the couple haven’t confirmed the news as of yet, Ashanti’s mother might’ve let the cat out of the bag…sort of.
Recently Ashanti’s mother Tina Douglas participated in an onstage interview with Antoine Edwards and after Edwards congratulated Douglas on her daughter’s rumored pregnancy, Douglas tried to downplay the news saying “There’s been no announcement,” which caused Edwards to apologize and say she thought it was already public. Douglas responded by saying “It is public. Don’t get it twisted, but it hasn’t been officially announced.” In other words, “Thank you, but no comment just yet.”
They tried to catch Ashanti’s mama slippin’ but she ain’t take the bait. Good sh*t Ms. Douglas.
Though the news of Ashanti’s pregnancy has been floating around since December neither she nor Nelly have officially announced the good news. While the two have been taking to social media to show the world just how deep in love they are these days, the “Happy” singer has been sporting loose fitting clothes in most of her posts. A far cry from the thirst traps her fans are used to seeing before she reconnected with Nelly last year.
As to why the two haven’t confirmed the rumors as of yet, that’s anyone’s guess. Maybe they plan to do so in extravagant fashion. Maybe they don’t want to jinx it as many couples choose to keep such news to themselves to avoid the “evil eye” of haters and so forth. Regardless of why they’re keeping everything under wraps, we’re glad the two are out there living their best lives and are potentially going to start a family together.
What do y’all think? Should Nelly and Ashanti just confirm the rumors at this point or keep it private until the kid is born? Let us know your thoughts in the comments section below.
Nick Cannon paid tribute to his late son Zen on Sunday (Jan. 21) in a sweet Instagram post honoring the child who died in Dec. 2021 at five months old due to an aggressive form of brain cancer.
“Zen’s Light and presence shining over little miss Halo and Mommy and Daddy!,” Cannon wrote alongside a sunset beach video of the multi-hyphenate media star kissing daughter Halo Marie Cannon, alongside both children’s mother, model Alyssa Scott. “What a beautiful day to remind us all that there is a higher power and God’s Energy and frequency to keep us all going under his grace and mercy even in the midst of challenges,” Cannon added.
The Masked Singer host Cannon is father to 12 children, the eldest of which are his twins with ex, Mariah Carey, Moroccan and Monroe, who were born on April 30, 2011 during Cannon’s eight-year marriage to the pop icon.
Cannon’s seventh child, Zen Cannon, was born on June 23, 2021 and died five months later from brain cancer. The actor/musician said the couple had had an exciting summer with their newborn, but soon noticed that the little boy seemed to have a “sinus thing” as well as a “nice-sized head,” joking about his own “Cabbage Patch Kid head.”
The concerned father then revealed at the time on The Nick Cannon Show that things began to get more serious around Thanksgiving, with the tumor growing rapidly. “This weekend I made a valiant effort to spend the most quality time with Zen. … We woke up on Sunday and I was like, ‘I feel like I want to go to the water, be close to the ocean.’ … Holding my son for the last time, it was a beautiful setting,” he said.
“[God] puts the most and heaviest weight on the shoulders of his strongest soldiers, so I’m here to show that I can fight through this,” Cannon concluded. “I’m feeling it, I’m vulnerable, I’m open, but I’m going to make it through. This is a special show dedicated to my beautiful son Z.”
Check out Cannon’s post below.
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