Current Events
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Source: Netflix / Netflix
Looks like another reality TV romance has bitten the dust. Ashley Adionser and Tyler Francis, the Season 7 couple from Netflix’s hit series, Love is Blind, who once set our hearts aflutter, have decided to call it quits.
A little over a year after jumping the broom together on the show, the crowd-favorite coupe has parted ways, with Ashley issuing a statement confirming their decision to end their relationship, saying:
“After much reflection, I want to share that Tyler and I have been separated for several weeks and have now made the difficult decision to end our marriage,” Ashley said in a statement to People. “While I had hoped for mutual understanding and transparency in our relationship, it has become clear that our paths are no longer aligned, making it impossible for me to continue in this marriage.” She added that she knows that this decision is “necessary” for her own “growth and peace.”
While Ashley’s statement to People didn’t offer details, she concluded her message sharing that she “will value the time and love [they] shared.
“While this chapter is ending, I will always hold respect for the time and love we shared,” Ashley continued. “I kindly ask for privacy during this deeply personal time as I focus on healing and building a new future. Thank you for your understanding and support.”
The couple’s onscreen love story hit a bump when Tyler revealed that he had donated sperm to help a friend, fathering three children that he initially said he had no relationship with. Photos challenging his story, as well as claims from the mother of said children, later circulated online when the season aired. Tyler, who spoke about wanting to have kids multiple times in the show, was side-eyed by many viewers (some of whom began calling him Tyler the Procreator).
During the reunion, Tyler acknowledged that he had lied about not knowing what the children looked like and suggested that he had wanted to protect their privacy. Ashley also clarified that she knew about the situation before having an on-camera discussion, calling it “insulting” to her intelligence for people to “imply that she was blindsided.”
Tyler has yet to publicly comment on the split.
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Source: Gallo Images / Getty / Chris Brown
Warner Bros. is now staring at a $500 million lawsuit from Chris Brown for sexual assault allegations used in its Investigation Discovery docuseries Chris Brown: A History of Violence.
Spotted on Variety, Brown is fed up with his image being tarnished and is taking legal action against Warner Bros. and Ample, accusing the two companies of “libel and intentional infliction of emotional distress through defamatory claims made against him in A History of Violence.”
The “Look At Me Now” crafter claims that the evidence used in the docuseries to substantiate the docuseries claims is false.
Per Variety:
“To put it simply, this case is about the media putting their own profits over the truth,” the lawsuit reads. “Since the beginning of October of 2024, Ample LLC and Warner Brothers were put on notice that they were promoting and publishing false information in their pursuit of likes, clicks, downloads and dollars and to the detriment of Chris Brown. Ultimately, on October 27, 2024, they aired ‘Chris Brown: A History of Violence’ (the ‘Documentary’), knowing that it was full of lies and deception and violating basic journalist principles.”
Brown’s lawsuit also says that “Jane Doe’s” claims that the docuseries uses as evidence have been “discredited over and over” and that the alleged victim was “a perpetrator of intimate partner violence and aggressor herself.”
The lawsuit also states that Chris Brown knows he made “mistakes” and that they were “publicly acknowledged and addressed by him in his 2017 documentary, ‘Chris Brown: Welcome To My Life.”
The mistake in question was physically assaulting the biggest pop star on the planet and his former flame, Rihanna. Brown was also hit with a restraining order from another ex-girlfriend, Karrueche.
We shall see how this lawsuit pans out.
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Mike Jenkins, a real estate developer who reformed his life after spending time in federal prison, was racially profiled in an affluent Ohio neighborhood by Michelle Bishop, a white mother of two. After Michelle Bishop received backlash, she tearfully apologized to Mike Jenkins, claiming she was more worried about the safety of her children and didn’t recognize that Jenkins was Black.
As seen on Yahoo! News, DaMichael “Mike” Jenkins was attempting to return home last November when he encountered Michelle Bishop walking with her two small children. The situation was caught on Jenkins’ Ring camera where Bishop can be heard talking to Jenkins as he pulled up in his driveway. Believing she was being followed, Bishop went up to Jenkins’ doorstep and said she didn’t believe the developer lived at the home.
After Jenkins asked if she was looking for someone in particular, she can be heard running off and screaming despite it appearing Jenkins made no aggressive moves toward her. Jenkins’ wife came out of the home and tried to make sense of it. Jenkins’ wife seemingly diffused the situation and said she was afraid because Jenkins never said he owned the home whose driveway he parked in and he claimed that he did when she was trying to knock on his door.
Bishop has since taken to social media to apologize for assuming the worst of Jenkins and claims she isn’t racist. She also said that her apologies haven’t been accepted among other talking points. With the Ring video making viral rounds, Jenkins was recently a guest on Shannon Sharpe and Chand Ochocinco’s Nightcap podcast along with his wife to discuss the harrowing incident.
To his credit, Mike Jenkins remained calm throughout the entire fracas and wants to use this moment to help inspire others and not cower in the face of judgment. He also mentioned that his long climb to success after serving prison time and his unyielding faith got him past this hurdle.
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Photo: Headshot/DaMichael Jenkins / Affordable Housing Trust for Franklin & Columbus County
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Source: The Washington Post / Getty
It’s no secret that numbers and popularity mean everything to Donald Trump, so when he decided to hold his presidential inauguration indoors because of “cold weather,” many knew it was really because the small size of his MAGA crowd in attendance would be horrible optics and further damage his already ridiculously inflated ego.
With that being said, the number of viewers who tuned in to watch Donald Trump be sworn in to be the president of the United States (without ever putting his hand on the Bible we might add), turned out to be as struggle as expected. Less than half of the 77 million people who voted for him watched the ceremony.
According to Deadline, the numbers are in and a grand total of 24.59 million viewers cut on Donald Trump’s inauguration ceremony this past Monday (Jan. 20) across the 15 networks that were covering the event. With millions of people vowing to ignore the swearing in of a potential dictator, everyone expected the inauguration to have paltry viewing numbers, but we couldn’t have guessed it would’ve been this low.
Naturally, Fox News got the lions share of views as far-right Americans naturally gravitate towards the Trump- loving “news” network with 10.67 million viewers. It was followed by ABC News with 4.85 million, NBC News with 4.58 million, CBS News with 4.35 million, CNN with 1.80 million and MSNBC with 880,000. In the 25-54 demo, Fox News drew 2.09 million, followed by NBC News with 1.22 million, ABC News with 1.12 million, CBS News with 966,000, CNN with 563,000 and MSNBC with 106,000.
We’re low-key surprised MSNBC had that many viewers tune in. Just sayin’.
While the news networks covered the event throughout the day, most of the ratings came during the moment that Cheeto Jesus once again assumed power.
Per Deadline:
Viewership peaked in the 12:15 quarter hour, as Trump was giving his inaugural address.
According to Nielsen, 17.4 million viewers were aged 55 and above, 4.67 million were 35-54 and 1.43 million were 18-34.
During the Trump swearing-in ceremony and inaugural address, about 27.12 million viewers tuned in during the noon-12:45 p.m. ET time frame across the three major cable news networks and the three major broadcast networks, according to early data.
Nearly 40 million watched Biden’s swearing in and inaugural address four years ago on those six networks. In 2017, about 38.3 million watched Trump’s first inauguration.
It might be only a matter of time before Trump calls these fake numbers and declares it the most viewed inauguration of the last 100 years or something. Y’all know it’s coming.
While this may be a nice little thing to troll Trump about going forward, it’s not going to stop all the damage the man is poised to inflict on American society and its principals. The executive orders he’s signed in his first few days that take a hatchet to any program designed to help or assist Black and Brown people is evidence that these next four years (and beyond) are going to hurt Americans for generations to come.
But hey! At least eggs and gas will be cheaper, right? Oh wait…
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Source: Christopher Furlong / Getty / Elon Musk
Fresh off his Nazi salute (no debate on that), Elon Musk, the billionaire nuisance, will have an office in the White House, according to a report and straight from Felon 47, aka Donald Trump’s mouth.
Yup, you read that nonsense correctly. Musk, the current co-chair of the completely made-up non-governmental organization Department of Government Efficiency, will have West Wing office space in the White House, as seen on Raw Story, according to a report in the New York Times.
Per Raw Story:
Musk, a close confidant of Donald Trump who had notably spent the weeks after Election Day at a $2,000 a night cottage at the president’s Mar-a-Lago golf resort, was expected to work out of the Eisenhower Executive Office Building, The New York Times reported Monday.
That would have placed him inside the White House complex, but not exactly in the West Wing itself, the publication added.
The development comes as the world’s richest man spent “many days asking about his level of access, signaling a desire for proximity to Mr. Trump, according to the people,” according to the Times report, which cited conversations with two people familiar with the planning.
According to the New York Times, “Mr. Trump had wanted Mr. Musk to have the space, one of the people said. Mr. Musk has been given a badge for the White House complex and filled out paperwork to be brought onboard for the role.”
Bruh.
Trump signs an order creating the Department of Governmental Efficiency
Doocy: Is Elon Musk getting a West Wing office? pic.twitter.com/kqxUGKXyWd
— Acyn (@Acyn) January 21, 2025
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DOGE Is Off To Very Non-Efficient Start
The agency, which Trump announced during the campaign, isn’t running efficiently. Word on the political streets is that DOGE’s other co-chair, Vivek Ramaswamy, is out as co-chair and has his sights on Ohio’s Governor’s seat. The seat will soon be vacated by the current Governor, Mike DeWine, who can no longer hold it due to term limits.
According to Politico, it was Musk himself who also wanted Ramaswamy out and accomplished his goal thanks to the failed Republican presidential candidates’ rant about H-1B visas where he called MAGA’s most prominent supporters, White folks, L A Z Y.
Musk and DOGE also look foolish after promising to slash at least $2 trillion from federal spending. DOGE was hit with a lawsuit, claiming it violates federal transparency rules on disclosure, hiring, and other practices.
Social media has thoughts on the matter; spoiler alert, they had nothing nice to say.
You can see those reactions in the gallery below.
1. Exactly
2. Yeah congress how do you feel aboput this?
3. Interesting
4. He probably won’t have to do anything because there is no accountability anymore
7. Sounds like waste to us too.
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Source: @JustInMyView / R1 Digital
Tekashi 6ix9ine is looking to be compensated for the injuries he suffered at LA Fitness. The infamous rapper has field a lawsuit against the chain and is seeking seven figures in damages.
As reported by XXL Magazine the rapper turned federal informant is suing the Irvine, CA. based company over an incident that took place in 2023. While finishing up a workout at their Lake Worth, Fl. location he was attacked by three men in the bathroom. He was left bloody with visible injuries to his face. While it is unclear why they assaulted him it is speculated the individuals took issue with him taking the stand on his former associates and gang affiliates the Nine Trey Gangsters.
On Wednesday, Jan. 15 he filed legal complaint and named Fitness International LLC., which operates as LA Fitness, as the defendant. In the paperwork 6ix9ine alleges the gym chain “knew or should have known that LA Fitness was located in an area where crime statistics, including violent crime had increased substantially in recent years.” The document would also read that the “defendant had a duty to adopt and implement reasonable security measures commensurate with all attendant circumstances, including the prevalence of criminal activity at LA Fitness and the surround ding area.”
6ix9ine says that as a result of the attack he suffered “bodily injury, pain and suffering, disability, humiliation, medical expenses, loss of income, and diminished quality of life.” He is seeking a million dollars in compensation for his suffering as well as legal fees, etc. LA Fitness has yet to formally respond to the matter. You can read the complaint here.
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Source: Kayla Bartkowski / Getty
President Donald Trump pardoned almost 1,500 people who stormed the U.S. Capitol on January 6, 2021, in an executive order, enraging many critics and observers online.
On Monday (January 20), President Donald Trump issued a sweeping “full, complete, and unconditional” grant of clemency to nearly 1,500 individuals who were charged in connection with the insurrection at the United States Capitol on January 6, 2021. The pardon also includes the commutation of the sentences of 14 members of the Proud Boys and Oath Keepers militia, some of whom had been convicted of committing a seditious conspiracy against the United States including Proud Boys leader Enrique Tarrio and Oath Keepers leader Stewart Rhodes. Trump sat in the Oval Office of the White House and signed the executive order, which was apparently broadcast on live television. “They’ve already been in jail for a long time,” he said of the rioters. “These people have been destroyed.”
The pardon also covered those who violently attacked members of the Capitol Police on that day using flagpoles, a crutch, and a hockey stick, among other weapons, leaving almost 100 members injured afterward. The executive order effectively shut down the largest and longest prosecution effort of the Justice Department in its 155 years of existence. Many of those previously convicted have only served days and weeks of their sentences, with many still awaiting trial. Trump also directed the Department of Justice to dismiss the remaining 450 pending cases before federal judges. Officer Michael Fanone, who suffered cardiac arrest after an insurrectionist attacked him with a stun gun, was taken aback at the news. “This is what the American people voted for,” he said. “How do you react to something like that?”
Trump had made freeing the insurrectionists a major campaign promise, often referring to them as “hostages” during his rallies across the country. He even referred to January 6 as a “day of love”. Family members of those rioters were jubilant at the news, with some celebrating their pardon in posts on social media. The family of Enrique Tarrio was even planning a cocktail party in Miami, Florida to celebrate, according to the New York Times. Several critics and observers also expressed their outrage through social media. ”Hundreds of people convicted of assaulting police officers amid the storming of the U.S. Capitol are getting full pardons because Trump wanted them to succeed and appreciated the effort. Shame of a nation,” wrote Media Matters senior fellow Matthew Gertz in a post on X, formerly Twitter.
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Source: Marvel Studios / Marvel
We’re just a few weeks away from Marvel Studios getting back into the cinematic mix with the premier of their first 2025 project, Captain America: Brave New World and though test screenings for the film have led to numerous reshoots over the last few years, fans can’t wait to finally see Harrison Ford’s Red Hulk in live-action.
In the latest teaser trailer to the upcoming film, we find Sam Wilson (Anthony Mackie) continuing to carry the mantle of Captain America and doing his best to honor the legacy of his predecessor, Steve Rogers (Chris Evans). Unfortunately things seem to get a bit too much to handle for him as not only does he have to deal with Thaddeus Ross (Harrison Ford) turning into an out of control Red Hulk, but also deal with The Leader (Tim Blake Nelson) and Sidewinder (Giancarlo Esposito) who’s got guns for days and is looking to take out the high-flying superhero.
Fortunately Sam has an alley in his new sidekick Joaquin Torres a.k.a the new Falcon, who’ll fight alongside him throughout this new threat.
With Sam using his wings to cut through plane wings and his shield to fend off bullets and protect himself from baton wielding henchmen before ultimately playing tag with the Red Hulk, it will be interesting to see how this film will be enough to get fans interested in the MCU again or if it’ll be another bomb with audiences.
Check out the latest trailer for Captain America: Brave New World below and let us know if you’ll be checking for it when it hits theaters on Valentine’s Day (Feb. 14) in the comments section below.
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Source: YouTube / NBC
Another election, that didn’t go the way of progressives, means another Dave Chappelle appearance on Saturday Night Live. During the comedian’s latest appearance, he used his monologue to not only make jokes about Diddy and the California wildfires, but to send a message to Donald Trump before his inauguration, too.
With a lit cigarettes in his hand, Chappelle hit the stage to a round of applause and quickly got down to his business of cracking, sometimes painfully too soon, but still funny. That meant jokes about the wildfire (poor people don’t like rich people) and not being invited to Diddy parties due to his “snitch energy.”
Oh, and we have to mention that Glorilla was the musical guest.
Near the end of his set, Chappelle shared a story about President Jimmy Carter, who recently passed away, which inevitably led to some advice for the next president.
“Here’s the thing, on Monday, Donald Trump is coming back. He’ll be the 47th president. He’s done it again,” Chappelle said, before going into a story about being in the Middle East shortly after he infamously, abruptly quit Chappelle’s Show, while Carter visited Israel.
“While he [Carter] was in Israel, a book of his was released whose title was very controversial in Israel. The title of the book was, ‘Palestine: Peace Not Apartheid,’” he said.
Chappelle detailed Carter visiting Palestine, despite protest that it wouldn’t be safe and with little security, and receiving immense praise from the Palestinian people. “It brought tears to my eyes,” recalled Chappelle. “I said, ‘I don’t know if that was a good president, but that right there is a great man.’ It made me feel very proud.”
He then added, “The presidency is no place for petty people. So, Donald Trump, I know you watch the show… Man, remember, people, whether they voted for you or not, they are all counting on you. Whether they like you or not, they are all counting on you. The whole world is counting on you.”
Good luck with that, sincerely.
Chappelle then added, “I mean this when I say this, good luck. Please, do better next time. Please, all of us, do better next time. Do not forget your humanity, and please have empathy for displaced people, whether they are in the Palisades or Palestine.”
It was Dave Chappelle’s fourth time hosting Saturday Night Live. Watch his full monologue below.
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Martin Luther King Jr. is, with little doubt, one of the more notable figures in the annals of Black history, and his sacrifice for the greater good of all maintains its resonance in modern times. In the wake of the transition of power within the White House on January 20, Hip-Hop Wired is electing to honor Martin Luther King Jr. instead and will share ways to uphold the great leader’s lasting legacy.
Hip-Hop Wired and the entire Urban One family for years have highlighted the incredible accomplishments of Martin Luther King Jr., and the sting of his light being snuffed out in 1968 nearly upended the Civil Rights Movement as over 100 cities rioted after his assassination in Memphis, Tenn. At just 39 years of age at the time, King was close to achieving the impossible feat of unifying the country and wisely highlighted the true divide in America of race and class. And in the decades since King’s passing, Black people in America achieved incredible feats in the face of insurmountable odds only to conquer those barricades admirably.
Source: Santi Visalli / Getty
Check out a portion NewsOne’s profile and recognition of Martin Luther King Jr,’s 96th birthday below:
In 1957, the Southern Christian Leadership Conference (SCLC) was formed following the efforts and response to the “Montgomery Bus Boycott” in 1955. Rosa Parks jump-started the Civil Rights Movement that same year, after refusing to give up her seat to a White person. Dr. King and several other leaders joined the boycott, creating the SCLC.
With the help of the Quakers, Dr. King traveled to India in 1959 to visit with Gandhi. The trip was the necessary push needed to galvanize Dr. King’s desire to employ a similar approach with non-violent disobedience protests Stateside. SCLC activist Bayard Rustin, also a student of Gandhi’s teaching, served as King’s right hand in planning the 1963 “March On Washington” and was a trusted ally.
Releasing just a handful of books during his lifetime, Dr. King’s written work contained nearly the entire scope of his personal and academic pursuits. “Stride Toward Freedom: The Montgomery Story” was released in 1958. His last work, “Where Do We Go From Here: Chaos Or Community,” saw a 1967 release.
Please read the entire profile here.
Source: – / Getty
One of the most viable ways one can engage the world using the philosophies of King comes by way of The King Center, helmed by Dr. Bernice A. King, the leader’s youngest child. Dr. King has enacted the training and education module Nonviolence365™️, which aids in the practice of nonviolent social activism. We could not think of another way to honor Martin Luther King Jr. other than pointing directly to all of the amazing efforts and activations sparked by The King Center.
Learn more by visiting The King Center website and check out the variety of resources there.
Adding to this, MLK Day is largely seen as a day of service. In that regard, search your local community organizations and volunteer to be in service of your neighbors, including the disabled and elderly. This can also include working in soup kitchens, homeless shelters, or your local houses of worship. A gripping cold has taken over much of the country and several groups could use all hands on deck to bring warmth and comfort to the less fortunate.
On X, Martin Luther King Jr. is trending and we’ve gathered some replies to share with our readers below.
An urgent need… #MLK #MLKDay #KingHoliday pic.twitter.com/aP41uBs5ol
— The Martin Luther King, Jr. Center (@TheKingCenter) January 19, 2025
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Photo: Getty