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Bye Felicia. The president of the Los Angeles City Council, Nury Martinez, resigned 24 hours after a leaked audio recording revealed her and Councilman Kevin de León making racist comments, according to ABC 7. If you recall, an October 2021 conversation became public on Sunday when an anonymous user posted it on Reddit. Nury referred to Councilman Mike Bonin’s Black son in Spanish as a “little monkey.” As well as referring to his misbehavior during a parade by remarking “This kid needs a beatdown.”

Nury resigned from her role this morning, and in a statement, she expressed how she was “truly ashamed.” The statement read,” I take responsibility for what I said, and there are no excuses for those comments. I’m so sorry. I sincerely apologize to the people I hurt with my words: to my colleagues, their families, especially to Mike, Sean, and your son.” She continued, “As someone who believes deeply in the empowerment of communities of color, I recognize my comments undercut that goal. Going forward, reconciliation will be my priority. I have already reached out to many of my Black colleagues and other Black leaders to express my regret in order for us to heal.”

Nury ended the statement by saying, “I ask for forgiveness from my colleagues and from the residents of this city that I love so much. In the end, it is not my apologies that matter most; it will be the actions I take from this day forward. I hope that you will allow me to make amends. Therefore, effective immediately, I am resigning as President of the Los Angeles City Council.”

Many people called for Nury Martinez, Gil Cedillo, and Kevin de León to resign, including President Joe Biden. NPR reports that White House Press Secretary Karine Jean-Pierre described their actions as “Unacceptable” and “appalling.” In addition, she said that President Biden believed all three council members should give up their seats.

Roommates, what do you think of this?

The post Nury Martinez Releases Statement Announcing Resignation Following Leaked Audio Calling Fellow Council Member’s Black Son A “Little Monkey” appeared first on The Shade Room.

Controversial radio host Alex Jones was ordered to pay $965 million in damages to the families of eight Sandy Hook Elementary School shooting victims, along with a first responder, for falsely claiming that the 2012 massacre was staged.

A six-member Connecticut jury took three days before ultimately returning a unanimous verdict, according to the New York Post.

The InfoWars host was not present at the court when the verdict was announced, despite testifying at the trial last month, which included tearful and emotional testimony from relatives of Sandy Hook victims.

Families Of Sandy Hook Victims Tell Jury About Harassment, Threats Due To Jones’ Spreading Misinformation

Families told the jury that they have been harassed and threatened by Jones’ followers, after it was determined he and his media company Free Speech Systems, which operates the InfoWars website, spread lies about the mass shooting.

The Barden family, whose 7-year-old son Daniel was fatally shot during the Sandy Hook massacre, testified that people had urinated on their son’s grave and even threatened to dig up his corpse to prove he was still alive, the Post reports.

InfoWars founder Alex Jones speaks to the media outside Waterbury Superior Court during his trial on September 21, 2022 in Waterbury, Connecticut. (Photo by Joe Buglewicz/Getty Images)

Robbie Parker, whose 6-year-old daughter Emilie was also killed at the school, told the jury about the ongoing harassment he received after Infowars posted a video of him smiling the day after the shooting.

That was enough proof for Jones to wrongly paint Parker and others as “crisis actors,” the outlet reports.

“It would come in these waves,” Parker said of the harassment. “It was almost like I knew when Alex Jones said something, because we would get a huge wave of stuff.”

The 48-year-old Jones remained unapologetic during his testimony, saying he was “done saying I’m sorry” for spreading lies about Sandy Hook.

A sign reading “Sandy Hook School” is seen a quarter mile from the Sandy Hook Elementary School on May 29, 2022 in Sandy Hook, Connecticut. (Photo by Robert Nickelsberg/Getty Images)

InfoWars Host Slams Decision, Calls Legal Proceedings “Kangaroo Court,” “Show Trial”

Jones ultimately declined to present a defense in the case, with his attorneys resting without putting forth any evidence or witnesses in their clients favor.

On Wednesday outside of the Connecticut courthouse, Jones called the proceedings a “kangaroo court” and a “show trial,” the sole purpose of which was to put him out of business.

According to Celebrity Net Worth, a financial forensic expert estimated that Jones and his companies were worth between $135 to $270 million.

At the trial, it was revealed that between 2015 and 2022, Jones’ primary company Infowars averaged $53.2 million in gross revenue.

Jones had already previously lost four defamation lawsuits filed by Sandy Hook families late last year, with the trial in Connecticut being the second of three trials for juries to decide on how much money Jones must pay in damages.

Families of Sandy Hook Elementary School shooting victims walk into Waterbury Superior Court with their lead lawyer Josh Koskoff (left) at the start of the trial against Alex Jones who called the 2012 Sandy Hook shooting a hoax, on September 13, 2022 in Waterbury, Connecticut (Photo by Spencer Platt/Getty Images)

Verdict Comes After Jones Lost Four Previous Defamation Lawsuits Filed By Sandy Hook Families

This week’s verdict comes two months after an Austin, Texas jury, where InfoWars is based out of, ordered Jones to pay upwards of $50 million in compensatory and punitive damages to the Scarlett Lewis and Neil Heslin, whose 6-year-old son Jesse was amongst the 20 children killed during the 2012 attack, according to news reports.

Six teachers were also killed.

Jones sought to portray himself as a victim in that trial, who had been “typecast” for claiming the shooting was staged.

He has since said that he now believes the massacre actually happened.

The post Connecticut Jury Orders Alex Jones To Pay Nearly $1 BILLION To Sandy Hook Defamation Victims Families Following Defamation Case appeared first on The Shade Room.

Kanye West’s recent social media storm garnered attention from some of his peers, fans, and even some of his “fake friends,” but the rapper and designer also piqued the interest of a United States memorial museum.

The Holocaust Museum of Los Angeles invited Ye to visit the historical institution after he made controversial remarks about the Jewish community on Friday. It’s very on brand for Ye to express his unique ideas. This go ’round, the ‘Bound 2’ rapper tweeted that he would go “death con 3 on JEWISH PEOPLE,” and was sure to not that he “actually can’t be antisemitic because black people are actually Jews also.”

Holocaust Museum LA extended an invite to Kanye in a lengthy statement on Instagram.

Words matter and words have consequences Ye. We urge you to come visit us at Holocaust Museum LA to understand just how words can incite horrific violence and genocides. The Holocaust started with only words that sadly begat stereotypes, racial and religious tropes and blaming others and led to the murder of six million jews.”

The invitation went on to describe the museum’s mission to “commemorte those who were murdered, educate on the Holocaust and all genocides including the genocide perpetuated against the Armenian People,”–a statement which directly impacts Ye’s four children, who are half Armenian.

Your words reach millions and you can choose to incite or you can choose to inspire.”

In similar fashion, the Anti-Defamation League publicly condemned Ye’s statements, and Elon Musk even tweeted that he had spoken to Ye about his commentary saying, “I think he took it to heart.”

Talked to ye today & expressed my concerns about his recent tweet, which I think he took to heart

— Elon Musk (@elonmusk) October 11, 2022

Ye’s Instagram and Twitter accounts were temporarily disabled, and have since been restored.

The post Kanye West Invited To LA Holocaust Museum Following Antisemitic Comments On Social Media appeared first on The Shade Room.

I know that’s right! If you’re looking to cut down on your process to renew your passport, some significant changes are on the way! According to The Hill, the State Department has temporarily reopened a pilot program that allows people to renew their passports online, speeding up the renewal process. Reports state that the state is reopening the program for a limited time. This comes after it reached its monthly goal for the number of volunteers to test it last month.

The best part of the program is that it will significantly reduce wait times and lines for people seeking to renew their passports. The department offered the program to update passports for 25,000 people in August, and in chile, the enrollment limit was reached in just ten days.

Now, Roommates, there is a specific list of requirements for those interested in participating in the pilot program. Here’s the tea. All participants must be at least 25 years old, and their passports must be between 9 and 15 years old. In addition, participants must have a passport that was or is valid for at least ten years.
What is exciting about this process is that those enrolled can upload a digital photo for the new passport!

If you currently have a passport, you know how long the processing time is. Now it shows the process is 7 to 10 weeks and 4 to 6 weeks if you pay an additional $60 fee to expedite it. Not much is changing with the online process. Processing times for online requests will be the same time as renewals done by mail.

The program will be fully launched in November. Roommates, will you be taking advantage? Drop a comment and let us know.

The post Online Passport Renewal Pilot Program Temporarily Reopens (Tech) appeared first on The Shade Room.

In the latest episode of Red Table Talk, Jada Pinket-Smith, Willow Smith, and Adrienne Banfield-Norris were joined by Breonna Taylor‘s mother, sister, and boyfriend as they spoke about the night of her murder.

During the interview, Breonna’s mother, Tamika Palmer shared that the night of the fatal shooting, officers had been giving her the run-around and it took several hours before she actually learned that Breonna had unfortunately died. She shared that when she arrived at Breonna’s apartment complex, she was told that she needed to head to the hospital, only to learn there was no record of Breonna arriving at the hospital.

She then returned to the apartment complex looking for answers and it took somewhere between 45 minutes to an hour before a detective even spoke to her. When she asked about Breonna’s whereabouts, she learned that her body had still been in the apartment and that she had not been taken to the hospital to help save her life.

Tamika further explained that she didn’t learn that officers were responsible for killing Breonna until she heard it on the news.

She said, “They never told me that when I was there. To leave there and still not know what happened was insane.”

Breonna’s boyfriend, Kenneth Walker, who was there during the fatal shooting, also shared that he did not know that Breonna passed away until he heard it on the news while he was in jail.

As previously reported, back in August, former Louisville detective Kelly Hanna Goodlett pled guilty to one count of conspiring to violate the civil rights of Breonna Taylor. She was accused of helping to falsify an affidavit for the search of Breonna’s apartment that unfortunately led to officers murdering her in March 2020.

The Department of Justice said, “First, Goodlett admitted that she knew that the affidavit in support of the warrant to search Taylor’s home was false, misleading, and stale.”

TSR STAFF: Jade Ashley @Jade_Ashley94

The post Breonna Taylor’s Mother Shares That It Took Several Hours Before She Learned Of Her Passing & That Officers Failed To Inform Her That They Were The Ones That Killed Her  appeared first on The Shade Room.

Not our Vocal Bible! Fans and loved ones of Brandy Norwood are sending messages of well wishes her way after it was reported that the singer was hospitalized on Tuesday afternoon.

According to a report from TMZ, health officials responded to a call to Brandy’s Los Angeles home after some sort of medical emergency. While details surrounding the ‘Put It Down’ singer’s condition are scarce, sources close to the situation allege she suffered a seizure.

TMZ reports that Brandy is still in the hospital “and it appears she will recover.”

Shortly after the news broke, Brandy thanked her fans for their concern, citing dehydration and malnutrition as the source of her hospitalization.

To my beloved fam, friends and starz thank you for sending love and light my way. I am following doctors’ orders and getting the rest I need due to dehydration and low amounts of nutrition. Thank you for your prayers and support. Grateful for you all, see you soon.”

News of Brandy’s hospitalization comes on the heels of her brother Ray J raising concerns about his mental health. Fans of Ray shared their concerns after the ‘Love & Hip-Hop Hollywood’ star alluded to taking his own life in a post on Instagram.

Ray posted one video, where he is seemingly standing on a ledge, with a full moon in the background captioned:

If it wasn’t 4 my Kidz I would jump off and die tonight.”

Another clip showed Ray sitting on a ledge captioned, “SHOULD I JUST JUMP off and end it rit [sic]. Now!!!????”

As source close to the Norwood family later confirmed that Ray J was “fine” after the unsettling posts.

The post Brandy Reportedly Hospitalized After Suffering A Seizure In Her Home appeared first on The Shade Room.

An inmate in Georgia’s maximum security prison is being accused of swindling $11 million – and purchasing a $4 million mansion in Atlanta – after impersonating a California billionaire in a story ripped right out of a Hollywood storyline.

Federal agents have been sifting through evidence for over two years to determine how 31-year-old inmate Arthur Lee Cofield Jr. assumed the identity of billionaire movie mogul Sidney Kimmel and stole $11 million from Kimmel’s Charles Schwab account, according to the Atlanta Journal-Constitution.

Now, authorities are investigating whether Cofield, a gang member who’s serving 14 years for armed robbery, may have gotten away with stealing millions of dollars more from other billionaires.

“Cofield was a shrewd, intelligent individual who could con you out of millions,” said Jose Morales, the warden at the Special Management Unit when Cofield was there.

Georgia inmate Arthur Cofield Jr pulls off one of the biggest heists EVER from inside prison as he steals $11 million from billionaire Sidney Kimmel and buys $4.4 million Atlanta mansion using a smuggled-in cell phone pic.twitter.com/54Go6E7SR4

— Everything Georgia (@GAFollowers) October 11, 2022

Cofield’s plot – which amounts to one of the biggest heists ever pulled off from inside an American prison – involves everything from private planes, gold coins, duffel bags packed with cash and a $4 million mansion in Atlanta’s upscale Buckhead district.

And he did so all behind bars at Georgia Department of Corrections’ Special Management Unit, a maximum security facility that houses the state’s most dangerous criminals.

Inmate Used Contraband Cell Phones To Convince Bank Customer Service Agents That He Was Kimmel

Federal authorities claim Cofield used contraband cell phones to convince customer service agents at Charles Schwab that he was Kimmel, while wiring $11 million to a company in Idaho for the purchase of 6,106 American Eagle one-ounce gold coins, the outlet reports.

Cofield then managed to arrange for a private plane to fly the gold coins to Atlanta, where $4.4 million was used to purchase the home in Buckhead.

He has since pleaded not guilty to new charges of conspiracy to commit bank fraud and money laundering. His 27-year-old daughter Eliayah Bennett and a 65-year-old named Eldridge Bennett have also pleaded not guilty to charges that they helped Cofield further the scheme outside of the prison walls, according to the Journal-Constitution.

Sidney Kimmel (pictured) accepts the Visionary Award onstage at the Visionary Ball presented by UCLA Neurosurgery, held at the Beverly Wilshire Four Seasons Hotel on October 6, 2011 in Beverly Hills, California. (Photo by John Shearer/WireImage)

The case was first uncovered by federal authorities in 2020, however little has been reported on it until recently, after new court filings obtained by the Atlanta Journal-Constitution revealed several significant details, with the outlet being the first to report that Kimmel was the victim, and that there may be other victims as well.

Authorities Have Evidence That Cofield Accessed Another Billionaire’s Account And Stole $2.25 Million

Although Cofield has only been charged with scamming Kimmel, federal authorities believe he likely he stole millions in a similar fashion from other billionaires as well, according to the outlet.

“Mr. Cofield has figured out a way to access accounts belonging to high net worth individuals, frankly billionaires, located across the country,” a federal prosecutor, Scott McAfee, said at a bond hearing in December 2020.

McAfee added that the government also has evidence that Cofield illegally accessed an account belonging to Nicole Wertheim, the wife of Florida billionaire Herbert Wertheim, stealing $2.25 million before exchanging those funds for gold coins as well.

The incident is one of many examples of the Department of Corrections’ failure to stop illegal activities behind prison walls.

Herbert Wertheim, pictured left, reportedly had $2.25 million stolen from him from Cofield after illegally accessing his wife’s account (Photo by Ian Tuttle/Getty Images for Breakthrough Prize)

Department of Corrections Officials Knew Cofield Had Access To Phones Long Before Federal Investigation

Department officials had known long before the investigation began that Cofield had access to contraband cell phone and was using them for criminal activities.

He even bragged to prison guards that he had “hundreds of phones” after it was discovered that he had a cell phone and charger hidden on his person.

Cofield was actually transferred from Georgia State Prison to the Special Management Unit following a warrant being issued for his arrest in Fulton County after he ordered a shooting in Atlanta from behind bars which left the victim paralyzed from the waist down.

He still faces charges including attempted murder in that case.

The post Inmate In Georgia’s Maximum Security Prison Allegedly Swindled $11 Million, Purchased $4 Million Mansion By Impersonating Billionaire Movie Mogul appeared first on The Shade Room.