Entertainment
Paras Griffin
A lot can happen in a life that spans over seven decades, so it would only make sense to put forth every effort that assures each and every one of those days will matter for something. For Cathy Hughes, the consummate chairwoman here at Radio One and Urban One, it’s been her only way of living for the better part of 77 years.
On her milestone birthday today (April 22), we give a huge salute to our founder for being an exemplary model of what it means to be an influential Black businesswoman, supportive mother, pretty stylish septuagenarian and overall visionary leader.
RELATED: A Timeline Of How Cathy Hughes Built A Black Empire
With no signs of slowing down anytime soon — she’s already looking into the online gaming industry! — Hughes is showing the world that no creed, color, race, gender or financial barrier will ever slow her down in pursuit of achieving everything possible for the UONE family. Her work has influenced even the highest of academia, with Howard University renaming its four-department communications program as the Cathy Hughes School of Communications back in 2016. As the HBCU put it on their website, “The mission of the Cathy Hughes School of Communications is to prepare graduates to exercise global leadership within and across diverse communities, locally, nationally and globally through communication research, professional practice, innovation, job creation, social justice and service via cutting-edge knowledge, skills and technology.” Cathy’s overall mission for media is carried on especially by the school’s professors, who are all described as “Pulitzer Prize winners, Emmy winners, Fulbright recipients, ASHA Fellows, prominent researchers, renowned authors, award-winning journalists and other media and communications professionals.”
To learn more about the birthday girl and get a better idea of some accomplishments that led to her success, we put together a few facts that give just a surface level telling of the greatness that is Cathy Hughes. Whether it’s being the first, or just the most determined to win, our boss lady definitely knows a thing or two about making an impact on the culture.
Keep scrolling to check out a special birthday shoutout to the incomparable Cathy Hughes featuring a handful of facts that tell more about our head honcho:
She’s One Of The Richest Black Woman In America — At One Point Only Second To Oprah!
Let’s just say a net worth estimated between $450 million and $500 million is nothing to sneeze at, especially for a Black woman.
She’s The First African-American Woman To Head A Publicly Traded Corporation
Since going public in 1999, Radio One has consistently maintained its status as the largest African-American-owned broadcasting company in the United States.
She Helped Create The R&B Subgenre “Quiet Storm”
You heard it right! Back in 1976 when she was the station manager for WHUR, Hughes helped then-Howard University students Melvin Lindsey and Jack Shuler launch the late-night music programming format, The Quiet Storm, after a successful soft launch. The rest is history.
Her Mom Was An Iconic Jazz Player
In her prime, the late Helen Jones Woods played trombone in one of America’s top female jazz bands during the 1940s.
Her Dad Was The First African-American To Earn An Accounting Degree From Creighton University
The historic accounting degree earned by William Alfred Woods influenced his daughter Cathy to enroll in Business Administration classes when she came of age. While she didn’t graduate, it led her to a sales manager position at WHUR where her broadcast story officially began.
She’s The First Woman To Serve As Vice President And General Manager Of A Radio Station In Washington, D.C.
…and it’s been growing ever since!
She Purchased Radio One After Being Denied For A Bank Loan 32 Times
What was it again that Aaliyah said in her 2000 no.1 smash hit, “Try Again”? Oh yeah, dust yourself off!
She’s A Member Of Alpha Kappa Alpha Sorority
Stepping with the baddest!
She’s Inducted In The National Rhythm & Blues Hall of Fame
Can you blame them? Creating Quiet Storm is no light matter!
She Has A Street Named After Her In Washington, D.C.
The next time you’re on the corner of 4th Street and H Street NE in Washington, D.C., look up at the street sign for a pleasant surprise.
Happy B’Day Cathy Hughes! 10 Fun Facts About Our Boss Lady
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The Urban One Podcast Network is thrilled to welcome comedian, actress, and entrepreneur Torrei Hart with the launch of her new show, Brutally Honest with Torrei Hart. This bold and unfiltered podcast brings Hart’s signature humor and candidness to the forefront, offering listeners engaging conversations that resonate across cultural lines.
About the Podcast
Brutally Honest with Torrei Hart is a comedy interview podcast that breaks through the noise with fearless and refreshingly authentic discussions. Each episode features studio interviews with a diverse lineup of guests, including entertainers, comedians, authors, community and religious leaders, and other newsmakers. The show is more than a podcast—it’s a cultural force, where raw truth, bold humor, and powerful conversations come together to leave a lasting impact.
Meet the Host
Torrei Hart is a multi-talented comedian, actress, TV personality, and influencer with over a decade of experience in the entertainment industry. A Philadelphia/Jersey native and mother of two, Torrei has performed alongside comedy heavyweights like Martin Lawrence, Katt Williams, Alex Thomas, and Chris Spencer. She has also hosted the Wendy Williams Foundation 10-Year Anniversary Gala.
Beyond the stage, Hart is a successful entrepreneur. In 2017, she founded Heavenly Hart Haircare, a natural haircare line catering to all ethnicities. She also launched the YouTube comedy channel Pretty Funny Fish, which gained significant popularity. With a production company under her name and a signed partnership with Russell Simmons, Torrei has contributed creative content to All Def Digital and has starred, co-written, and executive produced her own short films. Additionally, she developed an unscripted talk show titled Talkin Shit with ZEUS Network and holds a recurring chair on DISH NATION. In 2020, she introduced Skinny Bish Keto, a health and fitness brand encouraging women to become their “Best Self.”
What to Expect
Listeners can anticipate real, raw, funny, and honest interviews from Torrei’s unique perspective. Her excitement about partnering with the Urban One Podcast Network is palpable:
“You can expect to hear real, raw, funny, and honest interviews from my perspective. My excitement is through the roof to partner with such an established iconic brand that is aligned with my vision.”
Production Team
Brutally Honest with Torrei Hart is produced by Matt Ables, Jeremiah Stewart, and Rashid Terry, bringing together a team dedicated to delivering compelling and impactful content.
About The Urban One Podcast Network
Launched in 2022, the Urban One Podcast Network offers a curated slate of premium content spanning diverse genres—rich in information, insight, and entertainment. Powered by Black stories and voices, the network features top-charting podcasts like Dear Future Wifey and Mick Unplugged. Our women-led shows include She Said It First with Lynee’ Monae and Jerrilyn Lake (aka IndeskribeaBULL), Mompreneur, Listen To Black Women, and Adult’Hood.
Stay up to date with news from The Rickey Smiley Morning Show, The D.L. Hughley Show, The Morning Hustle, and Get Up Mornings with Erica Campbell. Enjoy the latest in entertainment and pop culture with Frames Per Second, Is The Mic Still On, and Dead End Gaming. Sports fans can tune into I Hate The Homies, SZN Opener, and Dead End Sports. Music lovers can dive into Dead End Hip Hop, Backstory with Colby Colb, and The Fun House with Kid ‘N Play. Plus, explore TV One’s original series Fatal Attraction, featuring true stories of love gone wrong.
With the addition of Brutally Honest with Torrei Hart, the network expands its comedy and storytelling slate—bringing even more unfiltered, culturally relevant conversations led by one of today’s boldest voices in entertainment.
Torrei Hart Launches New Podcast On The Urban One Podcast Network
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Fans of Lil Nas X received some surprising news on Monday (April 14), as he shared a video on Instagram taken from a hospital bed. In the video, he revealed that he lost movement on the entirety of the right side of his face. “When I smile – this is me doing a full smile by the way,” Lil Nas X says while demonstrating the lack of movement on that side of his face, “It’s like, “Bro what the f— bro, I can’t even laugh right!!!”He burst into laughter at the situation. Later in the same video, he cracks another joke about the situation while doing an extreme close-up of his face. “We normal over here…we go crazy over here,” the “Old Town Road” rapper says before falling into laughter again, with text reading “I’m so cooked” overlaid on the video.Lil Nas X implored his followers to not be dismayed by the news with subsequent Instagram Stories. In one, he wrote “Guys I am OK!! Stop being sad for me!! Shake ur ass for me instead!!” That was followed by another story in which he shared a selfie with the caption “Imma look funny for a lil bit but that’s it,” topped off with crying laughing emojis.Fans have speculated that Lil Nas X could be dealing with Bell’s Palsy, a nerve condition that is triggered by an infection or by stress, which causes paralysis to parts of the face. Other stars such as Cardi B and Justin Bieber have experienced the same condition. Prior to his hospitalization, he was doing promotion for his upcoming EP Days Before Dreamboy, which will be followed by his first full-length album since his 2021 debut, Montero. Other celebrities took time out to send him well-wishes. “Get well baby,” wrote actress Taraji P. Henson. “Sometimes your body tells you to sit down somewhere. Rest up,” wrote comedian Wanda Sykes.
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Arnold Turner
Since getting his start in the game just over a decade ago, actor Rome Flynn has been steadily rising in the world of Black Hollywood. From his Emmy-winning performance in the daytime soap opera, The Bold and the Beautiful, to more recent recurring roles on hit dramas like Dear White People, Grey’s Anatomy and Chicago Fire, the 33-year-old ladies man has been a fan-favorite on the small screen for the past 11 years and counting.
Of course, most would agree that his star truly started to shine when he joined the cast of ABC’s dearly-missed suspense drama, How to Get Away with Murder, after guest starring in the Season 4 finale as Gabriel Maddox, rising to series regular for Season 5 and the final sixth season.
He and series star Viola Davis always had great scenes together.
RELATED: My First Time – Go Grizzly Remembers His First Hit Production
Flynn joined us this week for “My First Time” to take a quick journey back about seven years or so to when he first met his EGOT co-star. Most people might find it hard to form a sentence, or on the opposite end wouldn’t be able to stop giving praise to The Woman King actress. For this guy though, he was more or less concerned with respecting her prefix by deciding on whether to call her “Mrs. Davis” or keep it casual with a simple “V.” Thankfully the latter option proved to be her preferred choice, and now we can only hope Romie-Rome and V come together again soon for another project or, dare we say it, a HTGAWM reboot? Here for it!
Watch actor Rome Flynn on this week’s “My First Time” below to hear his ‘When Harry Met Sally’ moment of meeting Viola Davis on the set of How To Get Away With Murder:
My First Time: When Rome Flynn Met Viola Davis
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What up, Hip-Hop Wired Family! We’re back with our latest Baes & Baddies post, and we’re featuring Atlanta by way of St. Louis sweetface stunner, the spectacularly stacked Jasmyn Danielle aka @jascatron.
Despite our best efforts, all we know about Jasmyn Danielle is that she is a native of Missouri and now resides in Georgia. Her Instagram account only has a handful of images, but the @jascatron page is showing a lot more activity lately as she aims to gain fans and followers on social media.
It appears that the sultry model took a break back in November of last year and returned with a bang this month. We’ll feature her latest images and work our way back in the gallery section below.
For now, please show some love for our latest Baes & Baddies entrant, Jasmyn Danielle aka @jascatron.
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Photo: @jascatron / Instagram
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Trick Daddy, the Miami rapper known for speaking his mind, recently went on a rant that had people talking and not in a good way.
During an interview, he straight-up said dating women his age was “the hardest sh*t in the world,” claiming they’re “stuck in their ways” and can’t keep a man. He went as far as to say that older women need to “lower their standards” if they want to keep a man around.
Trick Daddy reveals why he prefers dating women ages 22 to 35 and says, “Them old h*es need to lower their standards.”
(🎥 @balleralert /Baller Alert, Inc./YouTube) pic.twitter.com/1XvtoNFhGH
— The Art Of Dialogue (@ArtOfDialogue_) March 25, 2025
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The Miami misogynist, who’s in his 40s, made it clear he prefers younger women, saying, “I want a b*tch I can raise, someone that would appreciate me.” Essentially, Trick Daddy is saying he likes women who are more impressionable, ones he can mold to his liking.
Trick’s comments didn’t sit well with a lot of people, especially on social media, where he got dragged for being misogynistic and disrespectful. Many pointed out how out-of-pocket it was to reduce women, especially older women, to their age and “standards,” implying they’re the problem in relationships. A lot of folks said his remarks were straight-up objectifying and showed a lack of respect for women as equals in a relationship.
These comments are just another example of how certain figures in hip-hop, especially older ones, can still push outdated, toxic views about women and relationships.
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Seeing a dream deferred is never an easy thing to witness, especially if it’s happening to one of your favorite public figures. Fans of Hot Boys rapper B.G. saw his career face a major detour back in 2012 when he was charged and convicted with firearms possession stemming from a 2009 traffic stop.
Although he unfortunately had to serve 11 long years behind bars, the New Orleans-bred emcee finally made his return to the game in 2023 and almost immediately got back to work. Following the mixtape release of Choppers & Bricks in December 2023 alongside Gucci Mane, and appearing on a single by rap icon Rakim off his 2024 album, G.O.D.’S NETWORK – REB7RTH, B.G. has now officially dropped his first studio album in 16 years with Freedom Of Speech.
RELATED: Posted On The Corner – Rotimi Talks 30-City Tour And Joining The Chi
Incognito and DJ Misses were joined by B.G. for a “POTC” exclusive that felt like a reunion in itself. Chopping it up about everything from rejoining his Hot Boys compadres to acclimating into a new era of hip-hop that’s starkly different from his heyday in the 90s and 2000s, B.G.’s story is one that’s both heartbreaking and triumphant. Thankfully, his current days are filled with the joy of getting back to rapping while also receiving love from peers and successors alike, including late Migos member Takeoff who once told Posted On The Corner that B.G.’s 1997 album, It’s All on U, Vol. 2, was the first record outside of his own that inspired him to get into music. “That’s dope,” the 44-year-old veteran said of the clip after Incognito played it back for him, going on to add, “I’m definitely a big ol’ Migos fan and I was hurt when that happened to lil homie. Even though I didn’t know him personally-personally, when we lose our youngins like that it be crazy and hurtful; I know he had so much more to contribute to the culture.”
Watch our full “POTC” exclusive chat above with Hot Boys emcee B.G. to get the story behind his new album, Freedom Of Speech, and everything he’s got planned in the very near future.
POTC: B.G. Talks ‘Freedom’ In New Music & Hot Boys Reuniting
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Over the weekend, the talk of the wrestling town was about how John Cena turned heel and beat WWE Champion, Cody Rhodes “within an inch of his life” with the help of Travis Scott (LOL), and while we all know this is all fake and rehearsed, it seems like Travis Scott might’ve actually done some real life damage to the American Nightmare.
According to wrestling website Caged Side Seats, the pimp slap that Travis Scott delivered to Cody Rhodes as he laid bloody on the wrestling mat during Saturday night’s Elimination Chamber PPV event might’ve actually been a bit too hard and legitimately injured the WWE World Heavyweight Champion. Taking a swipe at Rhodes like he owed him money, Scott ultimately left the Champion with a busted eardrum and a black eye.
Yeah, that looked pretty bad. But given the kind of headshots and DDT’s and body slams that these wrestlers endure on a weekly basis, you’d figure this was just more performative roughhousing. Unfortunately, Travis Scott isn’t exactly a seasoned wrestler and doesn’t know how to pull his punches, so to say, and ended up doing more harm to Rhodes than any wrestler has done in the past year.
No word on whether or not the injury is severe enough to keep Rhodes out of the main event of WrestleMania 41 on April 19, but given that the man once wrestled with a torn pectoral tendon, we’re pretty sure he’s still gonna give this one a go come next month.
As for La Flame’s newfound career in the WWE, it doesn’t seem like this little slip-up will be hurting his chances at getting another shot in the ring in the coming future.
Per Caged Side Seats:
Scott is said to be training for more in-ring work in the future, possibly even matches. If so, hopefully the next few lessons will focus on worked shots and protecting your opponent.
And since this is pro wrestling — and because WWE has gotten quite good at using leaks to the so-called dirt sheets to disguise or advance storylines — it’s also worth mentioning the possibility this is information Chief Content Officer Paul “Triple H” Levesque and his collaborators want us to have. Rock’s Hollywood entitlement is already a big part of his heel character; allowing an outsider like Scott to shoot on a second-generation pro wrestler will only generate more heat for The Final Boss and his new squad… and possibly set up the Astroworld hitmaker’s first match.
How crazy would it be if Bad Bunny came out of wrestling retirement to go one-on-one with Travis Scott in the squared ring at some point in the future? We’d sign up for that one.
What do y’all think about Travis Scott slapping Cody Rhodes onto the injured reserve list of the WWE? Let us know in the comments section below.
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In a new Instagram post, Casandra “Cassie” Ventura-Fine announced that she and her husband Alex Fine are expecting their third child.
The pinned post features five black-and-white photos of Cassie, Alex, and their two daughters, and is simply captioned with a pregnancy emoji, a blue heart, and “#3.”
Cassie, 38, and Alex, 31, were married in 2019 just weeks after announcing that they were engaged and expecting a child together. Their first daughter Frankie was born in 2019 and Sunny followed in 2021. The blue heart on her recent baby announcement suggests that the couple is expecting their first son.
Friends gushed over the announcement in the comments section of the post. Singer Ciara wrote, “Yaaayy!! So beautiful!” while Kim Kardashian commented “congrats!!!” with two white hearts.
The news comes just over one year after Cassie settled a federal lawsuit against her ex-boyfriend Sean “Diddy” Combs where she accused him of rape and abuse. When she announced the lawsuit, the “Me & U” singer said she had remained silent for years but was “finally ready to tell my story, and to speak up on behalf of myself and for the benefit of other women who face violence and abuse in their relationships.”
In her pregnancy announcement, fans referenced the lawsuit. One wrote, “I love to see women get their happily ever after–esp after going through abuse and trauma. You are deserving of this beautiful life. Thank you for being an example of strength and perseverance. Congrats!”
The lawsuit and settlement sparked a flurry of additional accusations, which landed Combs in federal custody. He is currently being held at the Metropolitan Detention Center in Brooklyn awaiting trial.
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Across the nation, February is Black History Month. But in Detroit, it’s Dilla Month.
The celebrations for the acclaimed producer James “J Dilla” Yancey were louder than ever this year—just one year shy of the 20th anniversary of his passing.
February 7th was officially recognized as “J Dilla Day” in Detroit and a street sign was installed on the street where the icon grew up.
“Words cannot describe how grateful we are for this declaration,” said his youngest daughter, Ja’Mya Yancey, per Detroit’s Channel 955. “For years, he has been celebrated for the entire month of February all over the city, country and the world. My sister [Ty-Monae Whitlow] and I continue to try to uplift and honor his name and legacy, and this is such a monumental step to help us continue on the work he left behind.”
Dan Charnas, the author of the celebrated book Dilla Time, also came to celebrate the honor on Instagram.
“A great morning in Detroit. A lot of people worked very hard to get to this moment, the first real official recognition of the work and legacy of James Dewitt Yancey from the City of Detroit,” Charnas wrote.
“Much respect and admiration to his daughters [Ja’Mya Yancey] and [Ty-Monae Whitelow]. To [Joylette Hunter] who did the heavy lifting, and to [Detroit councilwoman Mary Sheffield] who shepherded this process. To the folks at the James Dewitt Yancey Estate, and to [Questlove], [Common], [Pete Rock], [Karriem Riggins] and [Jessica Care Moore]. If you nurtured or worked with Dilla, you helped to get this done, too.”
Additionally, Dilla’s mother Maureen “Ma Dukes” Yancey and the James Dewitt Yancey Estate hosted a Dilla Day concert on Feb. 8 and performers included Slum Village, Guilty Simpson and more. The proceeds from the event went to the victims of the Eaton wildfires.
James DeWitt Yancey better known as J. Dilla passed away on February 10, from a rare blood disorder called TTP a form of lupus.
He is one of several creatives who have been honored with street namings this year including his mentor, Amp Fiddler.