State Champ Radio Current Events
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Source: Shareif Ziyadat / Getty / Diddy
Surviving Diddy, the documentary? It looks like those docs are coming.
Spotted on TMZ, multiple docs detailing Diddy’s federal probe that has led to the once highly sought-after mogul losing multiple bags and two of his homes being raided by the Feds are reportedly in the works.
According to the celebrity gossip site, it will happen “several times with several companies.”
Per TMZ:
Multiple industry sources with direct knowledge tell TMZ … producers at various production companies in Hollywood and the UK have been scrambling to put together long-form documentary films covering Diddy’s drama — everything from the civil lawsuits to the federal raids.
We’re told the outreach to ramp up production for most of the docs began immediately after the raids in L.A. and Miami — which isn’t surprising, as the feds’ execution of search warrants happened on live TV … making it more of a national spectacle, and prompting folks to pay close attention to all the fallout.
Sources speaking with TMZ claim at least five production companies have been reaching out to anyone close to Diddy who is willing to talk. Those include former dancers, Combs Bad Boy Records execs, and even producers on his iconic competition reality show, Making The Band.
TMZ reports that producers have contacted former Danity Kane member Aubrey O’Day, who has been very public about her dismay for her former mentor on her X account.
The website confirms ABC News Studios for Hulu is working on a documentary, while several UK-based studios are working on their documentaries.
Recent Developments
Things are still developing in the federal probe itself. Recently, footage from the raid has hit social media, and Misa Hylton, the mother of Justin Combs, took to Instagram to call out Homeland Security for using excessive force on her sons, Justin and Christain, during the raid.
Meanwhile, Diddy’s longtime nemesis, Curtis “50 Cent” Jackson, continues to antagonize Combs on social media, and most recently, his baby mama, Daphne Joy, whose name came up in a federal suit, alleging she is a “sex worker.”
Joy then accused the G-Unit general of rape and being an absent father after he claimed he was going to take her to court for full custody of their son.
The “Candy Shop” rapper has denied those allegations.
Will you be tuning in when the docs arrive? Who are we kidding? We know you will be watching.
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Source: The Washington Post / Getty
On Tuesday (April 2), GOP candidate and current commander-in-criminal-indictments Donald Trump took the xenophobic bigot tour he calls his presidential campaign to Grand Rapids, Michigan, where he called brown people who entered the U.S. illegally “animals” and declared that they’re “not human.”
“A 22-year-old nursing student in Georgia was barbarically murdered by an illegal alien animal,” Trump said in reference to the violent death of Laken Riley, a nursing student at Augusta University who was found dead in a wooded area at the University of Georgia campus in Athens on Feb. 22, and who authorities believe was killed by an undocumented migrant from Venezuela.
“The Democrats said please don’t call them animals, they’re humans. I said no, they’re not humans, they’re not humans, they’re animals. And Nancy Pelosi told me that. She said, ‘Please don’t use the word animals, sir, when you’re talking about these people.’ I said, ‘I’ll use the word ‘animal’ because that’s what they are.’”
Since news of Riley’s death broke, MAGA conservatives have been exploiting her story to craft a racist narrative that migrants coming into the U.S. from our southern border are causing violent crime to spiral out of control because they can’t be bothered to do the bare minimum research it would take to know there haven’t been any surges in crimes in the cities most migrants have come to, and, in fact, in many of those cities, crime rates have fallen.
Trump, in his usual bigoted fashion, is taking things a step further and using this single case of a citizen allegedly being murdered by an illegal immigrant as an excuse to completely dehumanize migrants whether they have done anything wrong or not.
This is, after all, the same orangey-white nationalist who previously likened migrants to Hannibal Lecter and claimed many of them speak languages so foreign (as in “from the planet Mars”) that no linguists in the developed world can translate. And lest we forget, Trump entered the political arena generalizing Mexican immigrants as “rapists” who are “bringing drugs” and “bringing crime.” (Now, he’s out here slanging $60 Bibles and $400 “Air Treasons” because his own alleged crimes appear to have caught up with him financially.)
A vote for Trump is a vote for the normalization of outright bigotry. This much is clear.
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Source: Pacific Press / Getty
A columnist’s criticism of the New York Police Department’s handling of subway crime led to department heads blasting him and Mayor Eric Adams chiming in.
The topic of crime in New York City’s subways has been a heated one, and a new column taking the NYPD to task for not having plans to aid those mentally ill despite the increase in officers present has compelled the department to lash out in posts on social media, with Mayor Eric Adams also chiming in. The column in question was written by columnist Harry Siegel and published in the New York Daily News Saturday (March 30). Siegel criticized department chiefs for making television appearances downplaying the trouble and pointing to the amount of officers, especially after high-profile incidents including a person being shoved off the platform in East Harlem last week.
Siegel was attacked by NYPD Head of Transit Michael Kemper in a post on X, formerly Twitter. “Your readers deserve more accurate reporting. This article is filled with misleading and straight up false information,” Kemper wrote, adding that Siegel incorrectly listed 10 deaths that had occurred in the subway system this year instead of four.
The newspaper would issue a correction afterward, but that didn’t stop NYPD Deputy Commissioner of Operations Kay Daughtry from also leveling a personal insult toward Siegel. “We are the police. And you are a gadfly — who should consider revising their definition of madness to: reading a Siegel column expecting a useful takeaway,” Daughtry wrote. NYPD Chief of Patrol John Chell would go on to blast Siegel’s column on Sunday, saying it “demonstrates the overall disdain for the NYPD.” He would also call Siegel “anti-cop” in an interview on 1010 WINS Monday. Siegel would admit his error but also fired back at the police brass in a post, calling it “Incredible cop talk.”
Mayor Adams offered his two cents after both police representatives spent three days haranguing Siegel during his weekly press briefing Tuesday (April 2), calling Siegel’s column “distasteful” as it was published on the day of Officer Jonathan Diller’s funeral out on Long Island. “What you saw from Chell and Daughtry, you saw a human reaction,” he said. Adams has been particularly sensitive after coming under fire in an interview with activist and lawyer Olayemi Olurin on The Breakfast Club where she took him to task for “fear-mongering” and the NYPD’s racial profiling.
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Source: L. Cohen / Getty / Chad Hugo / Pusha T / Pharrell
First Hall & Oates, now Chad and Pharrell. After the stunning news of the legendary music-producing duo’s legal beef hit the timelines, Pusha-T is now weighing in on the matter.
Spotted on XXL, Clipse member and our favorite cocaine rap supplier, Pusha-T, shared his thoughts on his favorite collaborator’s legal drama around the Neptunes trademark.
Hugo, 50, claims that Pharrell, 50, violated an agreement between the two in his attempt to secure the trademarks for The Neptunes’ name.
Taking to his Instagram Stories on Tuesday, April 2, Pusha-T touched on the matter, claiming that Hugo’s lawyer, Kenneth D. Freundlich, trying to fatten his pockets is the reason for what is going on.
Per XXL:
“There’s not a dollar involved in this stupidity,” Push commented on an Instagram post resharing the initial article. “Just a lawyer looking to drain Chad’s pocket. Unreal.”
Pusha T then reshared his comments again to his Instagram Story after IG user Artemus Gordon agreed with King Push’s assertions.
“SMH…nothing more nothing less,” Push wrote.
A Breakdown of Hugo’s Lawsuit
The Hip-Hop world collectively sighed when news broke of the two Virginia native’s legal drama. Billboard shared the details of the lawsuit.
“Throughout their over thirty year history, [Hugo] and Williams agreed to, and in fact, have divided all assets,” wrote Hugo’s attorney Kenneth D. Freundlich, a prominent music industry litigator. “By ignoring and excluding [Hugo] from the any and all applications filed by applicant for the mark ‘The Neptunes,’ applicant has committed fraud in securing the trademarks and acted in bad faith.”
In a statement via a representative, Williams claims the move was not to ice out Hugo but to ensure no other people can get their slimy hands on The Neptunes name.
“Pharrell is surprised by this. We have reached out on multiple occasions to share in the ownership and administration of the trademark and will continue to make that offer. The goal here was to make sure a third party doesn’t get a hold of the trademark and to guarantee Chad and Pharrell share in ownership and administration,” the statement says.
In response, Freundlich wrote, “If Pharrell’s intent was to include Chad in the filing, he should have registered it in the name of them jointly or as a partnership and not in his own name.”
We hope these two can settle this dispute amicably.
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Source: Anna Barclay / Getty
Donald Trump’s social media platform Truth Social took a huge dive on the stock market as more details on its earnings were revealed.
On Monday (April 1), investors got their first look at the financial data of the parent company behind Truth Social, the social media platform of former President Donald Trump. And what they saw led to the values of shares in the company plummeting sharply, leading to a billion dollars shaved off of the value of Trump’s personal stake in the Trump Media and Technology Group.
According to reports, the regulatory finding released by the company to go public on the NASDAQ stock market led to Trump Media stock sinking 25% in value to $46 a share as opposed to $79 a share the week before. The data also revealed that the company made $4.1 million last year in revenue, closing out with a fourth quarter earning of $750,000 but a net loss of $58 million overall. As for Trump’s stake in the company, which is estimated to be 78.5 million shares or 57% of all shares, the value of those shares dropped to $3.64 billion on Tuesday (April 2), from $6.25 billion previously. Trump Media went public after a reverse merger with Digital World Acquisition Corp.
A further report from Forbes states that Truth Social is being viewed as a “meme stock” similar to the rise seen with AMC and GameStop stock in 2021, which surged thanks to the rush of consumers buying up the stock when it was so low. Trump supporters swooped in to buy shares as Truth Social went public, but it couldn’t prevent the value drop. “Trump Media’s 1,470 price-to-sales ratio, which compares a company’s total valuation to its last 12-month sales, is exponentially higher than social media peers Reddit and Snap’s respective 9 and 4 price-to-sales ratios,” the publication wrote.
The news comes as Trump managed to successfully post a $175 million bond late Monday evening in his appeal of a massive civil fraud judgment against him in New York to prevent the seizure of his assets. The bond, lowered from $464 million after Trump’s attorneys stated that bond companies refused to back him for the amount, was secured through the Knight Specialty Insurance Company, a company owned by the Hankey Group, whose owner is an avowed Trump supporter. As for Trump’s potential to sell his shares in Truth Social, he is barred from doing so for six months.
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Source: John Nacion / Getty
Anyone who has seen Quiet on Set: The Dark Side of Kids TV—a documentary chronicling the abusive, exploitive and egregiously dangerous conditions under which employees and child actors at Nickelodeon worked under the leadership of showrunner Dan Schneider—knows that during a period that began in the late ’90s, Nickelodeon Studios was portrayed as a cesspool of abusive behavior, sexism, child endangerment and child sexualization that allowed multiple convicted pedophiles run wild on and off set.
To say the absolute least, the docuseries served as a cautionary tale to any parents who are thinking of introducing their children to the world of child acting.
Well, accomplished actor and comedian Kenan Thompson, who started in ’90s Nick shows All That and Kenan & Kel, doesn’t appear to think the investigations into what went on at Nickelonean have gone far enough, and he believes authorities should “investigate more” in order to ensure the kids we watch on TV are being kept safe behind the scenes.
“It’s tough. It’s a tough subject, you know?” the Saturday Night Live cast member said during an interview with Entertainment Weekly. “It’s tough for me because I can’t really speak on things that I never witnessed, you know what I’m saying? Because all these things happened after I left, basically.”
In the Docuseries, Schneider is accused of deplorable and abusive behavior towards the people who worked under him, especially the female writers, two of whom he’s accused of illegally making share a single-employee salary, and child actors who starred in shows he ran, and whom he was accused portraying in sexually suggestive ways—and somehow, his offenses weren’t nearly the most horrific.
“Dan wasn’t really on Kenan & Kel like that,” Thomsaon explained while distancing himself from the disgraced producer. “I mean, he got a ‘created by’ credit, but it was a different showrunner, so our worlds wasn’t really overly overlapping like that outside of All That, necessarily. And then all of that negativity kinda started happening outside of our tenure there, you know what I mean? So I wasn’t really aware of a lot of it.”
But regardless of whether or not Thompson was around when Nick Studios ironically proved to be the last place one would want to leave their child unattended, the Good Burger actor said he supports the victims and wants to see more investigating done to ensure their aren’t more out there whose stories have gone ignored.
From EW:
Thompson, who was 15 when All That premiered, also extended sympathy to his fellow former Nickelodeon stars who discussed the toxic work environment they endured in Quiet on Set. “My heart goes out to anybody that’s been victimized, or their families,” he said. “I think it’s a good thing that the doc is out and it’s putting things on display, stories that need to be told for accountability’s sake. But it’s definitely tough to watch because I have fond memories of that place and I have fond memories of my costars and stuff like that. So to hear that they’ve gone through terrible things like that is really tough.”
Later in the interview, Thompson reiterated his support for the doc. “Investigate more,” he said. “It’s supposed to be a safe place for kids. And to hear all about that is just like, ‘How dare you?’”
Exactly.
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Source: CBS Texas / Youtube
Crystal Mason, who was sentenced to five years in Texas for trying to vote with a ballot in 2016 that was rejected, was acquitted.
On Thursday (March 28), an appeals court in Texas threw out a five-year prison sentence given to Crystal Mason, who was sentenced for trying to vote in the 2016 presidential election using a provisional ballot in Fort Worth that was rejected. Mason maintained that she had no idea she was ineligible due to being on supervised release for a tax felony at the time. The case became nationally known and was regarded as an attempt to intimidate Black voters as they saw the sentence as egregious for what legal observers saw as a simple error.
“We conclude that the quantum of the evidence presented in this case is insufficient to support the conclusion that Mason actually realized that she voted knowing that she was ineligible to do so and, therefore, insufficient to support her conviction for illegal voting,” Justice Wade Birdwell wrote in the ruling. The 49-year-old Mason was initially convicted in 2018 after a trial lasting just hours. The highest court in the state reviewed the case in 2022 and told the lower appellate court to reconsider. Mason had remained out of jail on an appeal bond but wound up losing her job at a bank and spent months in federal prison for being arrested for a federal crime while on probation.
“I was thrown into this fight for voting rights and will keep swinging to ensure no other citizen has to face what I’ve faced and endured for the past seven years, a political ploy where minority voting rights are under attack,” Mason said in an interview Thursday night. “Although I’ve cried for seven years straight, seven nights a week … I’ve also prayed for seven years straight, seven nights a week. Prayed that I would remain a free black woman,” she said in a statement released later. “I am overjoyed to see my faith rewarded today.”
“Crystal and her family have suffered for over six years as the target of a vanity project by Texas political leaders,” said Alison Grinter Allen, a criminal defense attorney who represented Mason. “We’re happy that the court saw this for the perversion of justice that it is, but the harm that this political prosecution has done to shake Americans’ confidence in their own franchise is incalculable.”
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Source: Variety / Getty / Daphne Joy
Is anyone on the planet enjoying Diddy’s downfall more than 50 Cent? In an interesting turn of events, the G-Unit general’s ex, Daphne Joy, name came up in the lawsuit against the embattled music mogul as an alleged sex worker.
Joy’s name joined others like Yung Miami in the $30 million federal lawsuit filed by producer Rodney “Lil Rod” Jones, who worked on Sean Combs, aka The Diddler, last project, The Love Album: Off The Grid.
Per Page Six, Joy and the City Girls members were allegedly sex workers. Yung Miami also allegedly transports “Pink Cocaine” for Diddy.
50 Cent, born Curtis Jackson, has been taking shots at Diddy on Instagram every chance he gets, so it should come as no surprise he had something to say about his ex being named in the lawsuit.
In the caption for the post, he wrote, “I didn’t know you was a sex worker, you little sex worker.LOL. Yo this shit is a movie.”
The 48-year-old Queens rapper had more to say about the 54-year-old Bad Boy Records CEO.
In a follow-up post, he shared a screenshot of the lawsuit, claiming that Diddy had hidden cameras in every room of his home, recordings of celebrities, artists, music label executives, and athletes engaging in illegal activity” at his “freak-off” parties without their consent.
In the caption for that post, he wrote, “Smh this is gonna be so good, what you want to bet I’m a get these tapes. I’ll pay top dollar for them.”
Lol, bruh.
Joy and 50 Cent began dating in 2011 and welcomed their only child, son Sire, in September 2012.
We can only imagine what other developments come from this lawsuit.
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CLOSE
Source: Sony Pictures Entertainment / Netflix / Good Times
Good Times is back—well, sort of. Netflix dropped the first trailer for the upcoming animated series, and it did not go over well with social media.
The animated Good Times project focuses on the new generation of the Evans family. While the names have changed, the struggle for the Evans family remains the same.
The adult-themed satirical cartoon, which arrives on the streaming platform on April 12, stars J.B. Smoove (Reggie Evans), Yvette Nicole Brown (Beverly Evans), Jay Pharoah (Junior Evans), Marsai Martin (Grey Evans), Gerald “Slink” Johnson (Dalvin Evans) and Rashida “Sheedz” Olayiwola (Lashes by Lisa).
Source: Sony Pictures Entertainment / Netflix / Good Times
The official synopsis for the show reads:
An animated reboot of the Norman Lear series finds the latest generation of the Evans family, cab driver Reggie and his wife, the ever-aspirational Beverly, scratching and surviving in one of the last remaining housing projects in Chicago along with their teenage artist son, Junior, activist daughter Grey, and drug dealing infant son, Dalvin. It turns out the more things change, the more they stay the same, and keeping your head above water in a system with its knee on your neck is as challenging as ever. The only thing tougher than life is love, but in this family there’s more than enough to go around.
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X Users Are Not Feeling Good Times
The negative reactions to the trailer were immediate, with many focusing on the fact people like NBA hooper Steph Curry and Family Guy/American Dad creator Seth McFarlane are involved in the project as producers that follow a family growing up in the projects while never experiencing that kind of life themselves.
Other complaints focus on the show just not being a terrible reimagining of the original 70s sitcom that is full of racist stereotypes despite its predominately Black cast and showrunner, Ranada Shepard.
Carl Jones Clarifies His Involvement, Yvette Nicole Brown Shuts Down Haters In Her Mentions
Many also felt the show was trying to emulate The Boondocks’ style, which is ironic because Boondock’s creator, Carl Jones, was involved with the show at one point but revealed in a post on X that he left due to “creative differences.”
Yvette Nicole Brown even had to respond to people questioning her about her involvement in the “racist” show.
She followed up with a thread telling them no is forcing them to watch the show and explaining why she took on the role in the show.
Is The Immediate Fallout Justified?
Source: Sony Pictures Entertainment / Netflix / Good Times
The immediate negative reactions to the Good Times trailer and people hoping for the show to fail also raise the question, are we too harsh on TV shows and movies geared towards us?
White folks have shows like this all the time: King of The Hill, The Simpsons, Family Guy, and American Dad, and they have all gone on to be successful, spawning many seasons.
All those shows depict White America’s tropes in a jokingly and, sometimes, serious light.
So when it comes to a show like Good Times that is trying to do the same, even though we can’t immediately tell that based on a three-minute trailer, is that fair?
Good Times is no different from Eddie Murphy’s stop-motion-animation show The PJs or Jones’ The Boondocks; the main complaints just seem to focus on the names regarding the production aspect.
But as we lawd the original show, we can’t ignore the fact a white man was instrumental in bringing that show to television across the country.
We shall reserve judgment and see if this show is Dy-No-Mite when it arrives next month.
You can see more reactions in the gallery below.
2. We understand
5. Moon Girl & Devil Dinosaur is phenomenal, just hope y’all watching and not just talking
6. Another good show to watch, before Max scrubs it from existence
7. Well, Stewie killed his mom on Family Guy, just saying.
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Source: Stephen Butler / Getty / Cuba Gooding Jr.
As the saga continues for Diddy, aka Sean Combs, a lawsuit filed against him now lists problematic actor Cuba Gooding Jr. as a co-defendant.
The LA Times reports Cuba Gooding Jr. has been named in a lawsuit against the Diddler brought by producer Rodney “Lil Rod” Joens, who worked on Sean Combs’ highly-anticipated The Love Album: Off The Grid.
According to the lawsuit like Diddy, the Jerry Maguire star got too handsy with the music producer, who feared Diddy was “grooming him” to pass him off to friends.
In an email sent to the LA Times, Rod’s attorney Tyrone Blackburn confirmed he filed the second amended complaint to the initial lawsuit on the same day the embattled music mogul’s homes were raided by Homeland Security as part of an investigation into alleged sex trafficking, which also led to his alleged “drug mule” being taken in.
Per The LA Times:
“Defendant Cuba Gooding, Jr. was a relevant actor who has fallen from grace due to several sexual assault lawsuits and a recent guilty plea for sexual assault,” said the complaint, which was obtained Tuesday by The Times. In it, Blackburn noted that his client — a Chicago-born producer, who produced nine songs on Diddy’s 2023 album — believed Combs “was grooming him to pass him off to his friends” and that “fear became reality” when Combs introduced him to Gooding on his yacht in January 2023.
Jones accused Gooding of fondling his “legs, upper inner thighs near his groin, the small of his back near his buttocks, and his shoulders,” which made the producer “extremely uncomfortable.” Although he allegedly rejected the actor’s advances, Gooding “did not stop until Mr. Jones forcibly pushed him away.”
“As the owner of the property, Mr. Combs had a duty to protect Mr. Jones from the harm he suffered at the hands of Cuba Gooding Jr. Mr. Combs breached his duty when he failed to stop Cuba Gooding Jr from sexually assaulting Mr. Jones,” the complaint said. “In furtherance of this breach, Mr. Combs encouraged Cuba Gooding Jr to continue his assault on Mr. Jones when he said that Cuba Gooding Jr should privately get to know Mr. Jones better. Mr. Jones has suffered immensely because of Mr. Combs’s intentional breach of his duty to him.”
Other names in the lawsuit include Diddy, his son Justin Combs, Universal Music Group chief executive Lucian Charles Grainge, UMG, former Motown Records executive Habtemariam and Motown Records, Love Records, Combs Global Enterprises, ABC Corporations, Diddy’s chief of staff Kristina “KK” Khorram and several John and Jane Does.
