PHOTO OPS
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Source: Shareif Ziyadat / Getty / Joe Budden
Rapper-turned-loud-mouth podcaster Joe Budden is out here pitching conspiracy theories about the Megan Thee Stallion shooting to his listeners.
While Megan Thee Stallion is out here trying to help get Kamala Harris elected, Joe Budden is running his gums about the Tory Lanez shooting.
On a recent episode of his self-titled podcast, the “Pump It Up” crafter pumped up wildly unsubstantiated claims about Megan Thee Stallion, accusing her of framing the man who shot her, Tory Lanez.
Budden’s glazing of the incarcerated musician included him explaining why he is skeptical of the story that Lanez shot at Thee Stallion’s feet during the July 2020 incident, which also involved Megan’s former best friend, Kelsey Harris.
Budden went as far as to pin the blame on Harris, saying she was the shooter and not Lanez.
Per HipHopDX:
“All of them involved have reason to lie, so I’m not really going with, who do I trust more? I’m just going with… n-gga thoughts,” he said.
“What is more likely? Tory leaves the studio, goes to Kylie Jenner’s house, is having a blast, thinking he’s about to get the foursome popping off. Meg gets jealous — we know how they got in the car. What is more likely? That Tory was so angered in that car that he took Kelsey’s gun and shot her?”
“Listen, we know whose gun it was,” he continued. “So he took her gun and shot [Megan]. Why? Why was he so mad […] Y’all think a man is just shooting a girl for no reason? Give me a reason! ‘Cause the only reason we got was, ‘I [Megan] said that I have more number ones than him.’
“Or what’s more believable? Two people that was running around as best friends, new in the music industry, one gets COVID, comes back, finds out her best friend is fucking the n-gga that she’s fucking on. And this n-gga was just about to get some Kylie Jenner ass […] That guy is shooting? No, that guy wants to go back!”
Joe Budden Alludes To Powerful People Above Megan Thee Stallion Influencing The Situation
He wasn’t done. He got the ears of Lanez’s loyal fans to perk up when he expressed that more powerful people are at play and that Megan Thee Stallon is just a “pawn.”
The “umbrellas” and Lanez’s father all believed Thee Stallion’s management, Roc Nation, definitely influenced the court’s decision.
“I think it’s above her. I don’t think she made it up. She’s a mere pawn in this,” Budden said. This play is greater than her. She didn’t make nothing up. I ain’t gonna say who I think made it up… but it wasn’t her. N-ggas out there know who it is. I know exactly who it is, I know how that gun got there, I know whose gun it was.”
The former Slaughter House member also shared a private conversation with Kelsey Harris in his DMs.
“I thought it was weird that the last time we talked about this shit, Kelsey jumped into my DMs talking about, ‘Aye, don’t talk about this no more.’ Why? You got immunity. It’s odd,” Budden said.
Harris quickly responded on X, formerly Twitter, basically disassociating herself from his comments while promising to drop more information and telling her followers to “stay tuned.”
You can peep the reactions to Budden’s comments in the gallery below.
2. Well damn
3. Make it make sense
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Source: Julia Beverly / Getty / Megan Thee Stallion
Some people believe Megan Thee Stallion’s performance at Kamala Harris’ presidential rally in Atlanta was a bit too much.
Last night, the energy in the race for the White House truly shifted for the better for Democrats after 20,000+ reportedly packed a Georgia arena to hear VP Kamala Harris lay the groundwork for the first four years of Harris’s administration and warn us what’s at stake.
Before VP Harris took the stage, the excited attendees heard from an all-star lineup of political figures, including Senators Raphael Warnock and Jon Ossof, Atlanta Mayor Andre Dickens, and Stacey Abrams, who was instrumental in flipping normally conservative state blue and helping President Joe Biden win the 2020 presidential election.
The event was also Harris’ campaign attempt to energize the youth vote, so it shouldn’t shock anyone. That’s why Quavo, a former ATL rap stable The Migos member, was in attendance.
Quavo has also been a staunch advocate of gun reform after his nephew and fellow Migos member, Takeoff, was viciously gunned down in 2022.
But outside Harris’ fantastic speech that left us with many soundbites, folks have been talking about Megan Thee Stallion’s performance, and it is now the subject of respectability politics discussions on timelines.
Dressed in a blue pantsuit that fit her to perfection, flanked by her background dancers, the Houston rapper hit the stage to perform a medley of hit records while performing the same dance routines fans who have attended her tour have seen.
Respectability Politics Takes Centerstage In The Social Media Discussion
Following the performance, people have accused VP Harris’ campaign of “pandering” and also called Thee Stallion’s performance distasteful and inappropriate for a political rally.
“All the Democratic Party feels like they have to do is have someone shake ass on the stage to get bp’s vote. Ghetto!” one person on Twitter, formerly X, wrote.
Jason Lee, a man who makes a living off spreading gossip, mainly about Black people in the entertainment industry, also did not like the Houston rapper’s performance, somehow equating it to Trump having rappers at his rally.
Bruh.
X has been dragging Lee for his comment about Thee Stallion situation, calling him out for giving Jonathan Majors a “Perseverance Award.”
Are People Missing The Point In Focusing On Megan Thee Stallion’s Performance?
For those complaining about Megan Thee Stallion’s performance and claiming the rally was a “missed opportunity” to focus on policy, one post from a user on X perfectly shut that argument down.
“The Harris campaign will use many methods to cast as wide a net as possible for potential voters. Some will appeal to you and some won’t. That’s fine. But please don’t get all “We want policy, not twerking!!!” when the policy was right there. Before and after that performance,” the tweet read.
Proud K-Hive member and popular social media political commentator 2RawTooReal also had time for those using Megan Thee Stallion’s performance to drag down Harris’ rally.
Honestly, the Harris campaign knew what they were getting by asking Megan Thee Stallion to perform at the rally. Also, Thee Stallion is out here doing the work, talking about issues like body autonomy and helping the people of her home state.
Just saying.
You can see more reactions in the gallery below.
2. That part
3. Truuuuueeee
6. Nope, definitely not
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Source: Leon Bennett / Getty / Tiffany Haddish
Tiffany Haddish, once again, is getting dragged for her behavior.
Spotted on TMZ, Tiffany Haddish found herself in the crosshairs of users on X, formerly Twitter. The actress/comedian is catching heat after dropping a video showing her overly impressed with an African grocery store in Zimbabwe.
Per TMZ:
The comedian/actress ventured out while visiting Zimbabwe — where she made a stop at a local supermarket and recorded herself inside. While filming in the supermarket, Tiff expressed shock and amazement multiple times … commenting on how beautiful and massive it was.
The implication here — or at least how people took it — was that TH couldn’t believe how modern the grocery store was in an African country … and the internet didn’t take that well.
https://twitter.com/unclescrooch/status/1817482404115751033
X Is Tired of Tiffany Haddish’s Shenanigans
After dropping the video, Haddish has been getting slammed on X, with people calling her a “f***ing idiot” and chastising her for sharing a video showing her being amazed about a supermarket.
“Every time I see Tiffany Haddish it’s never something funny. It’s always her doing/saying something lame or stupid,” one user wrote on X.
Another user wrote, “Tiffany Haddish hasn’t had the best life in recent years, so we (“the Americans” who travel to Africa more than once a year and beam from ear to ear whenever we make it across that ocean) want to indefinitely distance ourselves from this behaviour!”
Haddish did defend herself, explaining that she was only trying to demystify the portrayal of the motherland. According to the Night School star, Americans have been made to believe that Africans are always starving.
She added, “We got here and I have been eyes full of tears finding out the truth. The media be lying. I thought I would share cause I know people in the USA that believe Africans don’t have anything.”
She also feels she didn’t do anything wrong and was only trying to bring to attention the inaccurate portrayal of African life, adding she felt safer in Zimbabwe than in Los Angeles.
Welp.
The gallery below shows more reactions to Tiffany Haddish’s amazement at the African supermarket.
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Source: Brian Stukes / Getty / Megan Thee Stallion
Kamala Harris is quickly rallying Democrat support after President Joe Biden ended his re-election campaign and backed his VP as the Democratic Nominee for POTUS. Now, she has one of the most prominent artists in the world backing her, Megan Thee Stallion.
Megan Thee Stallion is ensuring she is on the right side of history.
Unlike her peers in the Hip-Hop space, such as Swae Lee, Sexxy Red, Lil Pump, and other irrelevant acts, Megan Thee Stallion isn’t stumping for Donald Trump, but she will be twerking for Harris.
Now, before yall lose your sh*t, she will cement her support for the MVP and hopefully the 47th President of the United States when she takes the stage during Harris’ first Presidential Rally in Atlanta, which was ironically the death of the current President Joe Biden’s campaign following a poor debate performance.
Team Harris > Team Trump
Thee Stallion is the latest musician to support VP Harris. Beyoncé let the world know she was down with the Harris campaign by allowing her to use her song “Freedom” as walkout music. It was also featured in the first television ad announcing her presidential campaign.
John Legend will be at the DNC in August, where Harris will undoubtedly earn the nomination as the Democrat’s choice to take on Donald Trump in the upcoming election.
Taylor Swift is also rallying her Swifties to support VP Harris and ensure that Trump does not regain the White House.
Cardi B has shown support for Vice President Harris but has stopped short of endorsing her, conditioning her support on Harris securing a ceasefire in Gaza.
Hopefully, Cardi B knows that VP Harris can’t make that happen alone.
Still, Harris has made it clear after meeting with Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu that it’s time for the war to end, and a two-state solution should be the end goal.
Compared to the Republicans rolling out acts like Kid Rock, Amber Rose, and other musical acts that no one gives a damn about, the Democrats have an all-star lineup looking to help our MVP finally break the glass ceiling that Hillary Clinton fell short of doing during the 2016 election.
As expected, the Hotties and the K-Hive are excited about the news of Megan Thee Stallion performing at the VP Harris rally.
You can see those reactions in the gallery below.
1. We are hyped
2. This remix needs to happen
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Source: EA Sports / Tiburon / Madden NFL 25/ Christian McCaffrey
San Francisco 49ers running back Christian McCaffrey is back in the 99 Club.
Following the announcement of Miami Dolphins wide receiver Tyreek Hill joining the 99 Club in Madden NFL 25, EA Sports revealed that the game’s cover athlete, Christian McCaffrey, will be joining him.
Like Hill, McCaffrey was surprised with a briefcase featuring a custom gold chain, Xbox Elite controller, custom trading card, and video announcement from Super Bowl Champion quarterback Eli Manning welcoming him into the prestigious club.
For McCaffrey, this isn’t a new experience. He was in the 99 overall rating club in Madden NFL 20 as an in-season addition and earned a spot back in the club in Madden NFL 21.
McCaffrey continues to show the world how elite he is. Last season, McCaffrey was named Offensive Player of The Year, leading the league with a career-high 1,459 rushing yards and 2,023 total yards from scrimmage.
He scored 21 total touchdowns, 14 on the ground and seven through the air.
His stellar play got him paid. The 49ers blessed him with a $38 million two-year contract extension, adding $8 million to his salary for the 2024 and 2025 seasons, plus an additional $24 million in guaranteed money.
The contract also reset the running back market.
NFL Fans Have Thoughts
Like Tyreek Hill’s announcement of joining the 99 Club, NFL fans share their opinions on McCaffrey returning to the prestigious club.
“It’s great seeing him stay healthy and show why he’s the most versatile back in the league,” one user on X, formerly Twitter, wrote.
Another user wasn’t so high on McCaffrey’s selection, writing, “Don’t deserve it !!! @KingHenry_2 deserved it more !!!”
EA will continue to announce the ratings via ESPN’s morning show, Get Up, and on the dedicated website.
More announcements are coming; until then, you can see more reactions in the gallery below.
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Source: EA Sports / Tiburon / Madden NFL 25/ Tyreek Hill
Next to the release of the NFL schedule, learning who will join Madden NFL’s exclusive 99 club and the ratings of star players in the league have become yearly significant events. Like last year, a receiver is the first player to land in the prestigious club.
The first name announced joining Madden NFL 25’s 99 Club is none other than the Cheetah, Miami Dolphins’ speedy wideout Tyreek Hill.
With the announcement, Hill became the first Dolphins player ever to earn the honor.
Last year, Minnesota Vikings star receiver Justin Jefferson got the 99 Club party started this year, so it was only right that Hill got the honor.
Jefferson’s rating took a 1-point hit this year; he is 98, still pretty high, but we are sure he feels he also believes he should still be in the 99 Club.
The Madden NFL official X account shared a video of Hill receiving a briefcase featuring his custom gold chain and custom Xbox Elite controller and a video from Eli Manning welcoming him to the 99 Club.
Also, just like the previous year, EA Sports has launched an official website where you can check the ratings as they are released.
They also revealed the top receivers and safeties in the game.
Wide Receivers Safeties
Tyreek Hill (99 OVR) 1. Jessie Bates III (97 OVR)
Justin Jefferson (98 OVR) 2. Antoine Winfield Jr. (94 OVR)
Ceedee Lamb (96 OVR) 3. Minkah Fitzpatrick (93 OVR)
A.J. Brown (95 OVR) 4. Derwin James Jr. (91 OVR)
Amon-Ra St. Brown (95 OVR) 5. Tyrann Mathieu (91 OVR)
Davante Adams (94 OVR) 6. Budda Baker (90 OVR)
Ja’Marr Chase (93 OVR) 7. Kevin Byard III (89 OVR)
Stefon Diggs (92 OVR) 8. Kyle Hamilton (89 OVR)
Brandon Aiyuk (91 OVR) 9. Talanoa Hufanga (88 OVR)
Mike Evans (91 OVR) 10. Jevon Holland (88 OVR)
EA Sports will team with ESPN to roll out 99 Club members throughout the week and will share that news with you as its announced.
Once Again, It’s Arguing Time
Of course, like every year, there are reactions to these ratings. Some are stunned that Hill is the first Dolphins player to make it in the club.
“First ever is wild seeing that Marino, Jason Taylor, and Zach Thomas,” one person on X, formerly Twitter, wrote.
Another user wrote, “Stefon Diggs rated too high (based on age and canyon of a drop off last year), Jamar Chase rated too low. Jefferson probably deserves 99 based on how he dominated consistently even after missing a big chunk of the season last year.”
We only expect the discourse to get louder when other positions are revealed.
If we had to guess who would be in there, we think Patrick Mahomes will end up in the 99 Club.
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You can see more reactions in the gallery below.
1. Lol, now be nice
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Source: Tom Williams / Getty / Elon Musk
Elon Musk continues to prove he is the biggest OP of them all.
Bootleg Tony Stark, aka Elon Musk, already got called broke on his platform, X, formerly Twitter, after walking back his $45 million a month donation pledge to the Orange Menace, Donald Trump’s re-election campaign.
Now, he is under more scrutiny from not just users on the X platform but the Kamala Harris campaign and prominent Democrats for reposting a manipulated video of VP Harris saying, “selected because I am the ultimate diversity hire,” the GOP’s latest way being racist, without outright saying racist sh*t.
In his post sharing the video, the Tesla chief wrote in the caption, “This is amazing” followed with the crying laughing emoji.
In the deepfake video, which is still on Musk’s timeline, Harris says, “I, Kamala Harris, am your Democratic candidate because Joe Biden finally exposed his senility in the debate.”
The fake VP Harris continues by calling herself the “ultimate diversity hire” because “I’m both a woman and a person of color, so if you criticize anything I say you’re both sexist and racist.” The fake Harris goes on to brand herself a “deep fake puppet” who learned from another “puppet,” Joe Biden.”
The Harris Campaign Responds
Speaking with the AP, the Harris campaign responded to Musk, “The American people want the real freedom, opportunity, and security Vice President Harris is offering, not the fake, manipulated lies of Elon Musk and Donald Trump.”
Biden/Harris surrogate and California Governor Gavin Newsom also criticized Musk, saying that “manipulating a voice in an ‘ad’ like this one should be illegal.”
Senator Amy Klobuchar suggests that Musk’s post breaks his platform’s “synthetic and manipulated media policy.”
Musk doubled down on the post, replying, “Not to mention Pullitsir Prize winner Dr Head, first name Dick” and “Newsom should create an endowed 😉 chair at Univ of California for Prof Deeznuts.”
Social media continues to drag Musk; you can see those reactions in the gallery below.
1. Basically
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Source: ROBERTO SCHMIDT / Getty / Kamala Harris
Donald Trump’s hue is usually orange, but he looks very yellow after seemingly pulling out of the upcoming debates in which he initially agreed to participate.
It looks like the Republican nominee for president, Donald Trump, is running scared.
The disgraced former president isn’t looking as tough and cocky as he once was now that Vice President Kamala Harris has become the Democrats nominee to become President Joe Biden’s successor.
On Thursday, VP Harris said she is down to participate in the ABC News-hosted debate on September 10. Our MVP accused the orange menace of “backpedaling” after the Trump campaign declined to commit to the debate now that he sees Joe Biden will no longer be on the debate stage with him.
The Trump campaign fired back in a statement:
Given the continued political chaos surrounding Crooked Joe Biden and the Democrat Party, general election debate details cannot be finalized until Democrats formally decide on their nominee. There is a strong sense by many in the Democrat Party — namely Barack Hussein Obama — that Kamala Harris is a Marxist fraud who cannot beat President Trump, and they are still holding out for someone ‘better.’ Therefore, it would be inappropriate to schedule things with Harris because Democrats very well could still change their minds.
Trump Is Going To Have To Face Harris Eventually
Harris all but officially secured the nomination after securing a majority of the delegates and endorsements, with her most recent one coming from Barack and Michelle Obama.
News outlets took Trump’s unwillingness to debate VP Harris as him back out, with the Vice President taking to X, formerly Twitter, to call him out.
“What happened to ‘any time, any place’?” Harris wrote on her X account, recalling Trump’s quote to the then-nominee Joe Biden.
The momentum is clearly on VP Harris’ side.
X has also been clowning Donald Trump as well. You can see those reactions in the gallery below.
1. He sure cant’t.
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Source: John Nacion / Getty / Tyler Perry
Tyler Perry wants the world to know he doesn’t care about your criticisms of his films and will not change his formula for making them.
Please make no mistake. Tyler Perry has helped many Black actors find work in Hollywood thanks to his television series and films, and people appreciate him for that, but that doesn’t mean he is above criticism.
Following the release of his latest project, Divorce In The Black, starring Meagan Good and Cory Hardrict, which has earned the rare honor of earning a big fat 0% critic score on Rotten Tomatoes while maintaining a 75% audience score, fans have once again called into question Perry’s writing.
For the most part, the director/actor has ignored the critiques about his projects, but during an appearance on the “Baby, This Is Keke Palmer” podcast, he let the chopper spray.
Tyler Perry Defends His Films
“I know for a fact that what I’m doing is exactly what I’m supposed to be doing,” Perry told Palmer.
He continued, “Because for everyone who is a critic, I have thousands of — used to be — emails from people saying, ‘This changed my life. Oh my God, you know me. Oh my God, you saw me. How did you know this about my life and my family?’ That is what is important.”
He let the “highbrow negroes” who critique his projects have it and let it be known he makes his movies for “a large portion of my fans” who are “disenfranchised. Who cannot get in the Volvo and go to therapy on the weekend,”
“So, you’ve got this highbrow Negro who is all up in the air with his nose up looking at everything, then you got people like where I come from, and me, who are grinders, who really know what it’s like, whose mothers were caregivers for white kids, and were maids, housekeepers…beauticians. Don’t discount these people and say that their stories don’t matter. Who are you to be able to say which Black story is important or should be told? Get out of here with that bullshit.”
Social Media Claps Back At Tyler Perry
As expected, users on X, formerly Twitter, didn’t care for Perry’s thoughts on their critiques of his lackluster films.
“How dare these highbrow negroes criticize me, a man who cares so much about the working class that I no longer work with the union that helps struggling writers stay afloat in the entertainment industry,” one user on X wrote in response to Perry’s comments.
Journalist Jerry L. Barrow added, “He’s totally missing and/or dismissing the actual criticism, which is the WRITING, not the topics or the audience. Good writing isn’t about class.
Tyler Perry’s writing and films have been the topic of discussion for years. Shows like The Boondocks and Atlanta each dedicate an entire episode to calling him out.
Loni Love, former co-host of The Talk and comedian, blasted Perry for the poor quality of his films, saying he needs to hire more Black writers in response to film critics’ unanimous pannement of Divorce in the Black.
You can see more reactions in the gallery below.
4. Lol, points were made in this tweet.
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Source: Marc Piasecki / Getty / Elon Musk
Is the excitement surrounding Vice President Kamala Harris’s becoming the Democratic nominee for president following Joe Biden stepping aside making Elon Musk nervous about Donald Trump’s chances of winning?
After proudly announcing that he would bless Donald Trump with a $45 million a month allowance in the form of donations to the America PAC, a group backing the disgraced former president’s re-election bid, Elon Musk says that will no longer be the case.
Or, he was probably talking out the side of his neck and had no intentions of sending the orange menace any money in the first place.
Per Raw Story:
“What’s been reported in the media is simply not true. I am not donating $45 million a month to Trump,” Musk said in an interview over his X platform with Jordan Peterson, the far-right Canadian psychologist and media personality. He went on to say that “I don’t prescribe to [a] cult of personality,” and that America PAC “is not supposed to be a sort of hyperpartisan” group, but rather one that promotes “meritocracy” and “freedom” from “as much government intervention as possible.”
Elon Musk’s History of Being A Flip-Flopper
Believe it or not, Musk was once very vocal about his dislike of Trump, describing him as a “bull in a china shop.”
Musk’s views have shifted aggressively to the right recently in the name of “free speech,” and he hasn’t been shy about his stances after his reluctant acquisition of Twitter, which he stupidly rebranded as X.
The Tesla chief is now one of the main pushers of outright racist right-wing talking points and propaganda and even disowned his child, saying his seed is “dead to him” and is corrupted by the “woke mind virus” for coming out as transgender.
As expected, Musk has been getting fried on his platform following these latest developments.
You can see those reactions in the gallery below.