Dwayne Johnson says White House run could be 'a real possibility'
In a world where a reality TV star is now the president of the United States, Arnold Schwarzenegger successfully served as governor of California, and a former Calvin Klein model and Charmed guest star is now running for Congress, it’s not so farfetched anymore to think Dwayne “The Rock” Johnson could become POTUS in our lifetime.
The Baywatch and Fate of the Furious star discussed his presidential aspirations in an interview for GQ‘s latest cover story, calling a run for office “a real possibility.”
“A year ago, it started coming up more and more,” Johnson told the magazine of the Washington Post op-ed piece supporting The Rock as a viable candidate. “There was a real sense of earnestness, which made me go home and think, ‘Let me really rethink my answer and make sure I am giving an answer that is truthful and also respectful.’ I didn’t want to be flippant — ‘We’ll have three days off for a weekend! No taxes!’”
Now that he’s had time to consider it, Johnson said, “I think that it’s a real possibility.”
He already has one endorsement: political filmmaker Michael Moore (Trumpland) said in May, “Think about how safe we would be if the Rock was president. Not Vin Diesel! The Rock. Or Liam Neeson, but Liam Neeson can’t run because our Constitution says you have to be born here. So who’s the American Liam Neeson that we could run? Because nobody would f— with him.”
Johnson told Vanity Fair in November, “I wouldn’t rule it out. It would be a great opportunity to help people, so it’s possible. This past election shows that anything can happen.”
The actor celebrated his GQ cover for the comedy issue over Instagram Wednesday. “I never had dreams of becoming a stand up comedian, like my comedy heroes, Richard Pryor and Robin Williams. But I always did and still do just love to laugh and more importantly, make other people laugh and feel good too,” he wrote.
#RHoA: Porsha Williams breaks silence on 'RHOA' Drama
It doesn't appear that "Frick" and "Frack" will be back together anytime soon.
Those are (were) the pet names bestowed upon "Real Housewives of Atlanta" cast members and formerly close friends Porsha Williams and Phaedra Parks.
Viewers of the hit Bravo reality show watched their epic splinter on a recent reunion special. According to Williams, they're still not on good terms.
"It's difficult because I love Phaedra," Williams said Tuesday during the Dish Nation radio show, where she is a member of the on-air team. "She was, like, my best friend, like someone I talked to on the phone every single day. For me to feel like she had betrayed me like that, that's the part I just can't get past and I don't know if I ever will."
Friend-feuds are the staple of the "Housewives" franchise, but the falling out between Williams and Parks has been noted as one of the most dramatic.
If you need a respite from all the chatter about backstabbing and betrayal in Washington, here's what's been going down in Atlanta.
Cast member Kandi Burruss was at odds with Williams this season over Williams' assertion that Burruss and her husband discussed drugging her and taking her home with them.
Burruss vehemently denied that ever happened.
During the post-season televised reunion, it was revealed that Parks was the one who originally told Williams the story.
When confronted about it, Parks said she had only repeated what she had heard.
However, Williams said her friend told her she heard it directly from Burruss. ("Housewives" are frequently confronted about the truthfulness of their statements and the unwritten rule is you better well "own it" on the reunion specials.)
Williams was left horrified and in tears (of course), saying she never would have talked about it publicly had Parks not presented it to her as a fact of which she had first hand knowledge.
She accused her bestie of using her as "a pawn" to hurt Burruss.
Parks apologized to both Williams and Burruss during the special, and Williams told her Dish Nation colleagues that Parks has reached out to her since.
"I can't talk to her on the phone right now," Williams said. "I don't know what else to say. Of course,I have a soft spot for Phaedra. It's where you don't want to be manipulated anymore."
Williams said she has apologized to Burruss, but is not looking for a friendship with her.
As for Parks, Williams said there is hope that the pair may repair their once strong bond.
"I may get to a point to where I'm strong enough where I can talk to her and we can maybe work through it, but right now it's still so new for me," Williams said.
#EMPIRE: Actress Gabourey Sidibe On Anxiety, Phone Sex And Life After 'Precious'
Before landing her first film role, Gabourey Sidibe struggled to find work. "This is my path, and I'm really grateful that I'm on it," she says of acting.
Growing up in Brooklyn with a mother from the South and father from Senegal, Gabourey Sidibe spent much of her youth feeling anxious. She was mocked for being part-African and for being overweight, and she worried she would never find her true calling.
As a young woman, Sidibe struggled to find work and ultimately took a job as a phone sex operator where the rule of business was to sound "100 percent white." Then, when she was 24, she auditioned for the role that would change her life.
The film was Precious, director Lee Daniels' movie about an overweight, illiterate teenager who has been sexually abused by her father and physically abused by her mother. Sidibe remembers getting a callback for the role. "I was just praying that my life would begin," she says. And in many ways it did: The actress landed the title role and earned an Academy Award nomination for her performance.
Sidibe has since played roles in a number of TV series, including Empire, American Horror Story and The Big C. She says she finally feels she's doing the work she was meant to do: "This is my path, and I'm really grateful that I'm on it."
Interview Highlights
On why she thinks she got cast as Precious
I think a lot of why I got the role is because I wasn't this girl. [Daniels] really did think that he would be exploiting someone who was a lot like her, because it's not about being that exact character, it's not about living that exact life; it's about understanding it and being able to mirror it.
On her mother's decision to quit teaching and become a busker
She was a teacher at my school up until the fourth grade. She went on sabbatical and starting singing in the subway and found that she made more money singing in the subway than she did working for the Board of Education. ... My mom would take my brother and I down to the subway while she sang. She'd sing [for] five hours or so and I would sit on the bench, either somewhere in eyesight or definitely in earshot or something, and I would do my homework or I would read books.
On her parents' marriage, which her mother initially entered into to help her father get a green card
I think she mostly married him because they were friends and she cared for him and she thought she was doing him a favor. A year after they were married, he took her home to Senegal to meet his family and to "meet" Africa. ... And she fell in love with him and he fell in love with her and they decided to have a family. ...
It must've been really, really hard for this African man with his African values and his African [upbringing] to work as a cab driver for 12 to 14 hours a day and come home to American children. We were children and we were a family that he did not understand. We were a different country. I think it took us a long time to see each other.
On her parents getting divorced after her mother learned her father had a secret family in Senegal, where polygamy is widely practiced
I was pretty surprised, but also not at all surprised. My grandfather had several wives and several families. ... It was probably dumb of my family to think my dad, who was raised to do this, would not do this, that he would somehow swim against the current. Yeah, it was a surprise, but I think my dad, like a lot of men, wanted to have his cake and eat it too. He wanted to have his first wife and his second wife also. It might've worked if my mother was also Senegalese, but she was not, and we were not. ... We were the foreigners in my dad's life ... so we had to go.
#NEWMUSIC from New Music: Chanté Moore – Real One
R&B songstress Chanté Moore has returned with the brand new single “Real One,” the first release off her forthcoming seventh studio album, The Rising of the Phoenix, which is due out in September.
Moore celebrates and salutes the magic of real love on the radiant song. “I done messed around and found a real one / He be goin’ hard givin’ real love,” she sings.
The Rise of the Phoenix will be Moore’s first album in four years, and is said to be her most personal yet, rich with emotion and revelations about her life. Speaking about the inspiration behind the album title, Chanté explained, “The Phoenix is a powerful mythological symbol of renewal. It lives a long life, burns to ashes, but reemerges more beautiful and more powerful than ever. I relate to that.”
The album will boast a varied collection of infectious dance tracks, sensual ballads, and anthems of the heart-and-soul. It captures Moore’s impressive vocal dexterity, songwriting skills and production ingenuity to thrill her avid fans and quench soul music lovers longing for real R&B.
“This album reflects where I am now in my life,” she says. “I am perfecting myself. I continue to learn how to burn away the old mindset, the negativity that weighed me down so I can become the best me. I am the Phoenix rising and I’m living my life again!”
Take a listen to Chanté Moore’s new single “Real One HERE!
#HIPHOPNEWS: Irv Gotti to Relaunch Murder Inc. Records
It’s Murdaaa! Irv Gotti has taken to Instagram to announce the revival of Murder Inc. Records, the former home of Ja Rule, Ashanti, and Charli Baltimore.
“I’m about to RE LAUNCH MURDER INC RECORDS,” he wrote. “I got some new artist. New music. Same fucking MOVEMENT! The Worlds Most Talented Record Label.”
The producer-mogul went on to say that his label, which was eventually renamed The Inc., was forced to restructure due to legal issues.
“Everyone had a lot of fun. While I had to re group from the Feds coming after me,” he added. “Had to plot and plan and fall back while I watched everyone else eat. I watched gracefully. I applauded and congratulated everyone who deserved it. Never one bone of hate in my body. I love to see my ni**as win and eat. BUT ITS MY TURN NOW!!”
Gotti also promises that more “major announcements” are “coming soon.”
In its heyday, throughout the early aughts, Murder Inc. had an impressive run of hits, mainly from Ja Rule and Ashanti. Compounded with legal troubles, the label’s ill-fated feud with 50 Cent and G-Unit led to an eventual collapse.
In 2013, Irv reflected on this fall from grace. “It wasn’t just one thing,” he said. “Everything came at us.” At the time, Gotti promised that his label would return to glory one day, adding: “I think we gon’ rule the world again.”
It is unclear whether Ja Rule will be involved in the relaunch. The rapper is currently under fire for his involvement in the controversial Fyre Festival, which is facing several lawsuits including one for $100 million.
#TVNEWS: NBC Renews 'Chicago Fire, P.D. & Med,' Cancels 'Timeless'
NBC Renews 'Chicago Fire, P.D. & Med,' Cancels 'Timeless'
NBC just renewed three of its four Chicago-based shows.
The network just announced that Chicago Fire, Chicago P.D., and Chicago Med will all get more seasons, while there’s still no decision on the newest one, Chicago Justice.
According to Deadline, Law & Order: SVU has still not been picked up yet, but that will likely happen once Mariska Hargitay closes her deal.
Meanwhile, the freshman series Timeless has been cancelled.
“Its true. NBC canceled #Timeless. We’re surprised & upset. Get you a longer response later. Odds are long, but trying to find another home,” co-creator Eric Kripke tweeted.
OH NO? BET Networks Shutting Down DC Headquarters
The shakeups continue over at BET Networks!
After the departure of Stephen G. Hill and a lawsuit from Zola Mashariki, BET Network has announced they are shutting down their DC headquarters and moving operations to New York City.
Via Deadline:“The closing of BET Network’s Washington D.C. office has been an ongoing transition in line with our overall strategy to make New York BET’s new headquarters,” a BET spokesperson said this evening. “We are very proud that Washington D.C. was the birthplace of BET Networks, the first network and the premier destination for African American audiences for the past 37 years.”
The network currently shoots its gospel music series Joyful Noise in DC; it is unclear whether that series will also move. The source also said Lee, who lives in Washington, DC, has put her home on market and moved to Los Angeles.
Change is good, right?
Jennifer Hudson Joins ‘The Voice’
Jennifer Hudson will join Adam Levine, Blake Shelton, and Miley Cyrus as a coach of “The Voice” season 13.
NBC Entertainment alternative and reality group president Paul Telegdy released a statement on Wednesday saying:
Jennifer is an extraordinary vocal talent and one of the premier voices of our time. She embodies the experience, expertise, positivity and sheer talent that The Voice stands for.
Her exceptional skills as a singer and actress have extended to film, television and Broadway, which makes her an incredible addition and a natural fit for our show.
Ironically, the new of Jennifer Hudson joining “The Voice” comes on the heels of ABC announcing the return of “American Idol.”
NBC being shady. But, congrats to Jen!
TLC's Chilli Dragged by Internet for Saying 'All Lives Matter'
TLC's Chilli learned the hard way that the correct answer to "Did you feel strongly about the Black Lives Matter movement?" is not "All Lives Matter."
Twitter is railing hard against the singer, after their interview with UK's Channel 4 News about being a black woman in America started making the rounds on Wednesday.
"Another issue that's been highlighted in both the USA and the UK is the Black Lives Matter movement," reporter Jasmine Dotiwala said, setting up her question. "Did you guys feel strongly about it, when it was kicking off in America, did you go on any marches, did you go on any anti-Trump marches?"
"I personally didn't go into any marches, or anything like that, but for me, all lives matter, you know what I mean?" Rozonda "Chilli" Thomas replied. "Because there is a time when different groups are targeted for different things, you know what I'm saying? So, I just think that, just the whole ... you know ... what happened with the police brutality against these young black boys and stuff like that, all of that kind of stuff is wrong, even if it was a caucasian teen kid that this was happening to or whatever. It's just not right.
"Some people take that authoritative position, and go crazy with it obviously," she continued. "I think that before people are hired in these positions, they need to do some kind of better background check on them, or mental stability kind of check on them to see if they can really handle being in a position like that."
"That color sticks together too, blue, they stick together. They're not going to tell on each other," added Tionne "T-Boz" Watkins.
Dotiwala then asked what it's like to be a black woman in America "in the age of Donald Trump."
"I don't care about Donald Trump," T-Boz replied. "God is my president, so I just feel sorry for people it affects, but I don't care about him."
When asked if they think Trump is a "scrub," T-Boz laughed before adding, "It doesn't bother me I worked on 'Celebrity Apprentice' when he wasn't president and I wasn't too fond of him then. So I don't care really."
Well, Twitter users clearly cared about the issues at hand, going off on the duo for their comments in the replies for Channel 4's video.
LOL!
Coach Announces It Is Buying Kate Spade In $2.4 Billion Deal
Purses hang in the window of a Kate Spade store in New York City's SoHo neighborhood. The $2.4 billion deal with Coach aims to "create the first New York-based house of modern luxury lifestyle brands."
Luxury brand Coach says it has reached a deal to acquire smaller rival Kate Spade in a cash deal worth $2.4 billion.
The announcement confirms months of rumors that the two New York-based brands were in talks to join forces and comes as Coach is trying to attract millennial customers. Both boards unanimously approved the deal, which is expected to close in the third quarter of 2017.
"Kate Spade has a truly unique and differentiated brand positioning with a broad lifestyle assortment and strong awareness among consumers, especially millennials," Victor Luis, the CEO of Coach, said in a press release. "Through this acquisition, we will create the first New York-based house of modern luxury lifestyle brands, defined by authentic, distinctive products and fashion innovation."
Kate Spade stock sold at $18.50 per share. As the statement notes, that's a 27.5 percent premium to the closing price on Dec. 27, "the last trading day prior to media speculation of a transaction."
However, it's worth noting that the "stock rose much higher in the interim," as Bloomberg reports. "As deal speculation raged in February, the shares climbed above $24, a sign investors expected to get a much richer price than they ultimately received."
Both brands saw gains after the deal was announced. Kate Spade's stock rose more than 8 percent as of midafternoon trading Monday, while Coach's rose just less than 5 percent.
Bloomberg suggests that the deal speaks to the "handbag industry's broader woes": "Companies have struggled to get customers to pay full price, and a reliance on the beleaguered department-store channel has hurt sales."
Coach CFO Kevin Wills says that because the businesses are complementary, he believes they'll be able to save $50 million in the three years after the deal closed, through "operational efficiencies, improved scale and inventor management, and the optimization of Kate Spade's supply chain network."
At the same time, he says they plan to slash Kate Spade's "wholesale disposition and online flash sale channels." It's an effort to "regain its brand cachet," according to Reuters.
Tom Cruise is All Smiles on Set of 'Mission Impossible 6' in Paris
Tom Cruise flashes a huge smile as he chats with a few crew members on set on Wednesday afternoon (May 10) at the Quai Des Grands Augustins in Paris, France.
The 54-year-old actor took a break from filming a motorcycle scene from the upcoming Mission Impossible 6.
Henry Cavill, Sean Harris, and Vanessa Kirby also star in the upcoming film.
The film’s plot is yet unknown, but M:I 6 – Mission Impossible is set to hit theaters on July 27, 2018! Stay tuned!
AND FINALLY FROM “THE CRAZY PEOPLE SHOPPING AT WALMART” FILES
‘Blood On The Brain’
That must be one hell of a nosebleed when you need two tampons to collect it all. Like for real, your brain might be falling out if there is that much blood.
#EGGPLANT NATION: Meet Shaheed!
Meet Shaheed !. And you can see all of him when you CLICK HERE TO SEE THE PICS!! And remember they’re NSFW!
DISCLAIMER: WE DO NOT OWN any images posted on this blog. All images are found online or submitted.
Enjoy!
HAVE A GREAT WEEKEND EVERYBODY!!!!!!!!
EFREM
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