Current Events
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Entertainment mogul Oprah Winfrey is not done throwing her political support behind Vice President Kamala Harris in her bid to be the first Black woman — and woman in general — to serve as the president of the United States.
After showing up and showing out for Harris during the Democratic National Convention to honor Harris, who she called “the best of America,” Oprah will host a live-streamed event next week called “Unite for America” alongside political action group Win With Black Women and nearly 150 other groups that support the vice president.
“This ‘Unite for America’ call will be a powerful moment that demonstrates the urgency that we all feel in this moment and more importantly the impact of our collective activation to move our nation forward with Vice President Kamala Harris as our 47th President,” Jotaka Eaddy, social impact strategist and founder of WWBW, said in a statement, according to Deadline. “I cannot think of anyone better to host this event than Oprah Winfrey, who has brought Americans of different generations, backgrounds, and experiences together in conversation for decades.”
In July, on the same day President Joe Biden announced he would be stepping aside for Harris to run in November, WWBW launched an online event that nearly 100,000 attended, and the group raised more than $1.6 million within two hours. After that, damn near every demographic in America had its own group supporting Harris.
From Deadline:
After WWBW, more virtual meet-ups were soon in the mix with Win With Black Men, White Dudes for Harris, South Asians for Harris, Cat Ladies for Kamala, Comics for Kamala, White Women: Answer the Call and Show Up for Kamala Harris, Republicans for Harris, Latino Men for Kamala and of course, leaning in to a certain much desired endorsement, Swifties for Kamala. In the six weeks that the VP has been a candidate and now the Democrats’ official nominee for president, the Zoom call gatherings have raised over $20 million for her and running mate Gov. Tim Walz’ campaign.
(On a side note, the MAGA world has been extra salty about the “White Dudes for Harris” group. They don’t feel the same way about “Blacks for Trump” though.)
The virtual event kicks off on September 19 at 5 pm Pacific time and 8 pm Eastern time. Supporters who would like to view the shindig can RSVP for it here.
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Source: Handout / Getty / Tory Lanez
The short Canadian rapper who was found guilty of shooting Megan Thee Stallion can no longer make music from his prison cell.
TMZ Hip Hop exclusively reported that Tory Lanez’s weekly release of “Prison Tapes” came to an end after prison guards raided his cell block and relieved him of his studio equipment.
Tory Lanez is currently serving out his 10-year prison sentence at California Correctional Institution for shooting Megan Thee Stallion and, somehow, found a way to continue his music career while being behind bars.
The artist, born Daystar Peterson, confirmed the terrible news (we’re being sarcastic) to his loyal fans in a statement via his Instagram account. He blamed the “higher-ups” for taking his equipment, claiming it was in retaliation for using the “Prison Tapes” to help his fellow inmates obtain lawyers and reopen cases using royalties he was receiving from music he was making behind bars.
Here is his statement in full:
The rumors are true. ‘The Prison Tapes’ will be discontinued until further notice. However, I think it’s important that my fans know the truth about the crooked a** sh*t that’s REALLY going on here. My cell was not raided and trashed because I learned how to record myself in prison or because I created ‘The Prison Tapes. I was shut down because the ‘HIGHER UPS’ figured out what I was really doing with ‘The Prison Tapes’ and how many inmates were being helped in a life changing way because of them.”
Since the first day I-was incarcerated, all I’ve seen is blacks and other minorities receive the most cruel, illegal, and unfair punishment/treatment. For so many nights, I asked God to reveal his purpose in making me go through the ills of the prison system. I was later shown that purpose. I was placed in jail to suffer, to feel, and to witness firsthand the pain and oppression being inflicted upon the young black and brown men and women of my generation.
I knew I had to change this injustice. So, I made a plan that when I got to prison, I would figure out a way to record music and put all the proceeds towards the legal representation of my fellow inmates, giving them a once in a lifetime chance to go home to their families on appeal and resentencing.
Although the ‘HIGHER UPS’ have stopped ‘The Prison Tapes’ temporarily, they were too late to stop my overall plan. Since the month of July, l’ve afforded legal representation for 472 inmates and actively reopened 476 cases. With the help of legal firm ‘UNITE THE PEOPLE, so many inmates will be returned to their families and loved ones. I’m naming this ‘The Hands of God Project. Lastly, they know I’m a threat and they don’t want me saying or doing this so if ANYTHING happens to me, just know I went out in the blaze of glory trying to revolutionize the end of a mass incarceration era on our people.
Social Media Has Thoughts
To be expected, Lanez’s fans, aka his “Umbrellas” are eating this story up and are praising the “Say It” crafter for going above and beyond for his fellow inmates, while blaming the two biggest boogy men in the industry right now, Jay-Z and Roc Nation.
“Tory Lanez is gonna be a way bigger artist when he comes home. Then he and others can take care of this Roc Nation problem,” one person on X, formerly Twitter, wrote.
Others feel no remorse for the convicted felon. Another person on X wrote, “You don’t get to shoot a black woman over a minor fight and then claim that you’re fighting for black and other minorities in our prison system. Tory is a disgrace and literally set black men back with his antics. He should rot in jail. I don’t care.”
Welp, we guess that’s the end of Lanez doing his best impression of Lucious Lyon from Empire.
You can see more reactions in the gallery below.
1. Interesting how that works
3. Is it Megan? JAY-Z? or Roc Nation?
5. Roc Nation you will pay for your crimes
6. Tory Lanez’s dad will never live this moment down
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The civil war taking place in Sudan has been raging for over a year – we set out to examine it, and its causes.
Last April, the country of Sudan fell into a civil war during the Islamic holy period of Ramadan as the Sudanese Armed Forces (SAF) and the paramilitary Rapid Support Forces (RSF), a coalition bolstered by the Janjaweed Arab nomad militia. The resulting conflict has led to intense fighting in and around the capital city of Khartoum and in the western Darfur region, where international observers have noted shocking instances of ethnic cleansing and other crimes not seen since the previous conflict in 2003. This is actually the third civil conflict in the nation – the last took place from 1983 to 2005 resulting in the creation of South Sudan as an independent nation in 2011.
The internal conflict between the SAF and the RAF began when Sudan’s strongman Omar al-Bashir (who created the RSF in 2013) was ousted in 2019 by the army, with the help of the RSF. Both factions would rule in a junta despite mediation from the African Union & international pressure, but as the SAF under Ahmed Fattah Al Burhan sought to transfer power to a democratic government, the RSF led by Mohamed “Hemedti” Hamdan Dagalo balked perceiving a Khartoum-centered administration. The RSF would attack government structures in Khartoum, and carry out attacks in Darfur which the Human Rights Watch said have been against the Massalit people and non-Arab communities specifically. The United Nations estimates that 20,000 have been killed and 33,000 injured including foreign nationals since the war began, with 7.7 million people displaced and 2.1 million who’ve fled the country as refugees.
There has also been a ramping up of sexual violence in the Darfur region to rival what took place there 21 years ago. “Men in RSF uniform and armed men affiliated with the RSF were reported to be responsible for 81% of the documented incidents,” said U.N. High Commissioner on Human Rights Volker Türk in March. But the attention from world powers – outside of allegations of military involvement from Russia and the United Arab Emirates – has been sorely lacking. “Why are people not paying attention to what is happening?” U.N. envoy Alice Nderitu said in an interview. “If we do not break the cycle of impunity, then we will not be able to address the root causes of the violence and re-establish solid foundations for the future.”
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Netflix has released the trailer for the documentary series on the controversial WWE chairman Vince McMahon.
The trailer for the Netflix documentary series Mr. McMahon made its debut, showing the rise and tumultuous fall of World Wrestling Entertainment chairman and co-founder Vince McMahon. The trailer is loaded with snippets from interviews with a few of the wrestling federation’s legends including Dwayne “The Rock” Johnson, Hulk Hogan, Stone Cold Steve Austin, John Cena, and Paul “Triple H” Levesque. McMahon himself is extensively featured, having sat down for multiple interviews concerning his career during the filming of the series. Mr. McMahon will debut on the platform on September 25.
Mr. McMahon covers the life and career of Vince McMahon from his beginnings as a businessman who helped found the WWE (formerly the World Wrestling Federation), overseeing its rise from a regional force to a dominant global entertainment company to the shocking sexual abuse allegations that forced him to step down. The six-part series, according to the press release, aims to “present an unflinching, no-holds-barred look at one of the most enigmatic figures in sports entertainment.” It was originally announced in October 2020. McMahon would announce his retirement from the WWE as its board of directors was investigating allegations of misconduct. He’d return to oversee the sale of the WWE to Endeavor, who merged it with the UFC under the TKO umbrella in 2023. McMahon would then step down again due to another sexual assault allegation.
Tiger King filmmaker Chris Smith is the director of the series and is an executive producer along with the noted sports journalist Bill Simmons and Zara Duffy. There was speculation that the series wouldn’t go forward after Netflix’s 10-year, $5 billion deal to be the home of WWE’s Monday Night Raw beginning next January. “The goal behind Mr. McMahon was to pull back the curtain and reveal the true Vince McMahon, obscured beneath the persona he presented to the world,” Smith said in an interview with Deadline. “Over the four years of production, the story evolved in truly shocking ways, culminating in some extremely harrowing allegations. The final product is a revealing documentary that we believe offers a rich and nuanced portrait of the man and the complex legacy he left behind.”
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Source: Pacific Press / Getty / Eric Adams
Everyone in Mayor Mixxy, aka Eric Adams’ close orbit, is getting unwelcomed visits from the Feds.
The New York Post reports that federal agents came knocking at the homes of NYPD Commissioner Edward Caban, Deputy Mayor for Public Safety Phil Banks, and the townhouse shared by Schools Chancellor David Banks and First Deputy Mayor Sheena Wright with search warrants in hand.
According to the newspaper, the feds seized their electronic devices during Wednesday’s raid.
Law enforcement officials also revealed that Phil and David Banks’ brother, Terence Banks, a former MTA official who now does consulting work, was swept up in the raid madness.
Retired NYPD inspector Timothy Pearson also had his electronic devices subpoenaed, law enforcement sources revealed.
The raids are part of the broad corruption probe into Eric Adams’ campaign.
Per The New York Post:
It wasn’t clear if the raid on the Harlem home shared by Wright and David Banks targeted one or both of them.
The connections between the raids, subpoenas and other law enforcement sweeps targeting Caban, other NYPD officials and City Hall bigwigs remained murky Thursday.
But sources said the top cop and others in the department were targeted as part of a sweeping corruption probe involving influence peddling.
Caban’s twin brother, James Caban, a former NYPD sergeant, was served a search warrant with a subpoena, sources said. Investigators are looking into his role in the world of nightlife enforcement, according to sources.
Sources confirmed that NYPD Chief of Staff Raul Pintos and two precinct commanders in Manhattan and Queens were asked to turn over their phones.
The feds also are looking into rank-and-file NYPD officers, from precinct commanders on down, who serve in Midtown South and other precincts with a strong nightlife presence, sources said.
None of the individuals involved have been accused of any crimes.
Adams has broken his silence on the raids, saying, “As you’ve heard me say over and over again, as a former law enforcement person, we will always follow the law, and that is what this administration always stood for and will continue to stand for.”
He continued, “Whatever information is needed, we will turn over.”
Federal prosecutors in the Southern District of New York are leading the probe and have circled Adams since his 2021 campaign.
We shall see what more information will come out of this investigation.
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Source: Jessica McGowan / Getty / Colt Gray / Colin Gray
It didn’t take long into the school year to remind us that America has a gun problem, thanks to another school shooting at Apalachee High School in Atlanta, Georgia. The 14-year-old suspected shooter is in custody, and now his father has joined him behind bars.
Spotted on Raw Story, the father of the suspected shooter Colt Gray, who shot and killed two classmates and two teachers, was arrested this week, authorities said.
Per The Georgia Bureau of Investigations’ official account on X, formerly Twitter, Colin Gray was taken into custody and “faces four counts of involuntary manslaughter, two counts of second-degree murder and eight counts of cruelty to children” in connection to the shooting carried out by his son.
If convicted, the 54-year-old is looking at 180 years in prison, meaning he will never see the light of the day, just like his son.
Colin Gray getting cuffs slapped on his wrists came after CNN reported that Colin Gray brought the AR-15 his son used in the shooting for Christmas.
That’s not the only news that paints a picture of a troubled family. Colt Gray’s mother also has some baggage.
Per Raw Story:
The report comes after news emerged that Marcee Gray, the suspected shooter’s mother, had a lengthy criminal record dating back more than two decades in four counties.
She faced prosecution on allegations of domestic violence, drug possession, property damage and traffic violations in Barrow, Fulton and Forsyth counties, and also faced civil fraud charges related to a vehicle purchase.
Bruh
Social Media Weighs In On The Charges Against Colin Gray
Reactions to the news are as expected: no sympathy and utter disgust that Colin Gray purchased such a weapon for a 14-year-old child, who is now facing adult punishment for his heinous act.
“Just months after Colt Gray was investigated by the FBI for threats, his father Collin Gray bought him the AR weapon used to kill other children. There’s no possible excuse for this,” one person on X wrote.
Comedian D.L. Hughley wrote on X, “Any parent that buys a 14 year old a AR15 is a shitty parent!!.”
Where’s the lie?
You can see more reactions in the gallery below.
1. Exactly
2. Absolutley sick behavior
3. A must watch
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Australian Olympic “breaker” Rachael Gunn, aka Raygun, has, apparently, been having a rough go of it ever since she embarrassed herself in front of the world by flopping around on the Olympic stage, doing what looked like an impersonation of either a kangaroo, bunny or velociraptor while hopping around like a toddler trying to get her mother’s attention — and calling it breakdancing.
We all saw the way Gunn’s performance prompted an onslaught of memes, gifs and relentless mocking on social media. There was even a petition against her that some 58,000 people signed. The internet dragging was well-deserved, but it appears it put the 37-year-old in a state of distress that she’s still working her way out of. Apparently, the worldwide reaction to Gunn’s culture-vulturing nonsense on social media and on late-night television has harmed her mental health, which is why she has made an effort to stay away from all of it — but she still felt the need to tell us all about it, of course.
From Deadline:
And she hasn’t even seen the Jimmy Fallon-Rachel Dratch parody. “I don’t think I’m in the place yet to watch it,” she says in a new interview with the Australian network television show The Project.
“I knew that I was going to get beaten, and I knew that people were not going to understand my style and what I was going to do,” the 37-year-old breaker said. “The odds were against me, that’s for sure.”
“Fortunately I got some mental health support pretty quickly and I also went off social media,” she added.
Elsewhere during the The Project interview, Gunn apologized for the negative attention she’s brought to the new Olympic sport. “I am very sorry for the backlash that the community has experienced,” she said, “but I can’t control how people react.”
I mean, one could argue that she absolutely could have controlled how people reacted — by not taking her talentless, rhythmless self up on that stage in the first place.
It’s arguable that all Gunn did when she (literally) hopped up on that stage was single-handedly ensure that the breaking completion never had a fair shot at being taken seriously at the Olympics.
Gunn—who holds a PhD in Cultural Studies and examines the cultural politics of breaking, bringing both academic and artistic perspectives—had also previously defended herself in a way that indicates she cares nothing about the culture she supposedly studied and was more concerned with the spotlight and what it did for her personally.
“What I wanted to do was come out here and do something new and different and creative — that’s my strength, my creativity,” she said. “I was never going to beat these girls on what they do best, the dynamic and the power moves, so I wanted to move differently, be artistic and creative because how many chances do you get in a lifetime to do that on an international stage.”
If Gunn really cared about the culture she supposedly studied, she wouldn’t want to be the only thing people would remember about the time breaking came to the Olympics, which will likely not happen again in 2028.
But, sure, I guess it’s good she’s taking care of her mental health or whatever. Good luck with all that.
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Source: Alberto E. Rodriguez / Getty / Beau DeMayo
This might be one of the most ridiculous ways ever to respond to sexual misconduct allegations.
X-Men 97 showrunner Beau DeMayo vowed to address the serious allegations Disney/Marvel Studios dropped after DeMayo accused the studios of taking away his writing credit on the popular Disney+ animated series.
That day has finally come, but for whatever ridiculous reason, DeMayo locked his response behind his OnlyFans account.
Deadline exclusively reports that DeMayo claims “These allegations of egregious misconduct are false,” calling out Disney and Marvel for its “toxic environment” and “near criminal working conditions” that “turns individuals against one another, stokes paranoia to ensure compliance.”
DeMayo’s claims come after Disney/Marvel Studios revealed they fired him after a misconduct probe’s “egregious nature of the findings” after claiming his firing was due to him sharing risque fan art of himself.
According to reports, word on the Disney streets is that DeMayo allegedly sent nude photos of himself to X-Men ’97 colleagues and got handsy with some of them.
Per Deadline:
Today, as attorney Bryan Freedman filed an expedited jury trial seeking complaint in LA Superior Court to have an allegedly “illegal non-disparagement provision” removed from the writer’s exit package documents, DeMayo took to OnlyFans to call BS on the Kevin Feige-run Marvel and Bob Iger-led Disney.
“The rumors being spread around me online are lies, and they are offensive, but more concerning is that they’re a smear campaign designed to discredit my credibility in order to cover up the egregious prejudicial misconduct stretching from select crew members on X-Men ’97, all the way all the way to the top at Marvel Studios,” DeMayo declared in his nearly 30-minute remarks to camera on the often explicit subscription social platform.
Admitting that “personality conflicts happen, especially in creative environments like Hollywood, DeMayo also acknowledged that he has long known he is “not everyone’s cup of tea.”
Yet, in a nutshell, DeMayo asserted today that him “being gay, Black and open about it at Marvel Studios” and was the real issue the company had with him and why he was tossed out and later saw his credits for the upcoming second season of the mutant saga removed. In fact, spotlighting the timeline of his departure, DeMayo says that it was only after his intial conversation with company HR that he “no longer felt safe at the studio as a gay Black man” that he was shown the door.
Very interesting.
Social Media Reacts To Beau DeMayo Directing People To His OnlyFans Account
Users on X, formerly Twitter, are still skeptical and don’t understand why DeMayo directed people to his OnlyFans account to see his reply.
Again, this is a bizarre way to “bring the receipts and try to clear your name.
You can see more reactions in the gallery below.
3. Howling
4. Questions that needs answers
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It’s been more than a year since the world was scared to death that we’d lose the legendary Jamie Foxx to a sudden health scare that seemed to last forever and though the man was able to pull through and resume his illustrious career we’ve never gotten any answers as to what happened that almost led to his passing.
Now TMZ is reporting that the Oscar winning actor is ready to open up about his brush with death but only on his terms as he’s planning a one-man show to explain what exactly happened as countless conspiracy theories about his health have been circling the internet since the incident. Taking to Instagram to promote his upcoming show, One More Chance: An Evening with Jamie Foxx, Foxx promises to breakdown what led to him getting hospitalized in Atlanta of April last year and truth be told we can’t wait to hear his side of the story.
Per TMZ:
His caption promises the show will be packed with humor, heart and inspiration — so it’s set to be as entertaining as it is revealing.
As we reported, Jamie was rushed to the hospital for a medical complication in April 2023.
JF’s since hinted at his rough health ride in bits and pieces, including an appearance at December’s Critics Choice Association Awards, where he said he nearly lost his life during the medical emergency.
But he’s kept the full details and diagnosis under wraps — until his three-night set in October.
You have to wonder if he’ll have the audience sign non-disclosure agreements about what he says as y’all already know people in attendance will flock to social media to tell everyone about what Jamie Foxx said during his show.
What do y’all think about Jamie Foxx finally opening up about his health scare? Do y’all believe he actually died and this is a clone like many say he is? Let us know in the comments section below.
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Source: Megan Varner / Getty
For a while now Megan Thee Stallion and Nicki Minaj have been engaged in a rap beef that no one asked for but some saw coming and while fans wonder how the drama got started, Megan herself doesn’t seem to have the answer either.
In a recent interview with Billboard, Megan Thee Stallion touches on the subject of her back-and-forth with Nicki Minaj and admits that even she isn’t sure what their problems stems from. While she’s been dealing with everything from the fallout from the shooting incident that sent Tory Lanez to prison to her very public breakup with Pardison Fontaine, her beef with Nicki Minaj seems like small potatoes and though she’s not backing down from the challenge, Megan is just as confused as we are as to how everything got started.
Billboard reports:
You took shots at Nicki Minaj. Is there a chance for a reconciliation or even another collaboration one day?
I still to this day don’t know what the problem is. I don’t even know what could be reconciled because I, to this day, don’t know what the problem is.
While Megan doesn’t know what spurred this sudden rap battle, Nicki Minaj may have some answers as she seemingly set things off when she dropped “Big Foot” which many saw as a direct shot at Megan Thee Stallion after Megan seemed to have taken a subliminal shot at Nicki Minaj and her hubby, Kenneth Petty on “Hiss” saying ““These h*es don’t be mad at Megan, these hoes mad at Megan’s Law / I don’t really know what the problem is, but I guarantee y’all don’t want me to start.”
Though may never know if Megan intentionally took a subliminal shot at Nicki and her husband, social media seemed to think so and so Nicki responded with “Big Foot” and now here we are.
On the flip side Megan does actually get along with some of her other rap peers including GloRilla and Nicki Minaj’s nemesis, Cardi B.
I genuinely love Cardi. I genuinely love Glo. In the industry, you really don’t meet a lot of girls who want to see you be successful. You meet people, and I’m not just going to say girls, but you don’t meet a lot of artists that want you to have success because they’re scared sometimes it’s going to take away from their success. Music is competition, rap is a competition, but those two ladies, I feel like we all like to see each other do good things. We like to see each other win. Sharing the stage with people that want to see you do good and you want to see them do good, it felt very uplifting. I felt like we were feeding off each other. I felt like we helped each other. Being onstage with them made me feel good because I knew we were proud of each other.
Yeah, that probably won’t sit right with Nicki Minaj either. Just sayin.’
What do y’all think of Megan’s beef with Nicki Minaj? Is it a misunderstanding or nah? Let us know in the comments section below.