Oprah's Bestie Gayle King Joins Her on 'O Mag' Cover for the First Time!
Oprah Winfrey shared some details about her decades-long friendship with Gayle King for an article in the September issue of O, The Oprah Magazine, which features the two on the cover.
They’re featured side-by-side in brown and gold shimmery outfits in their first joint cover for the magazine. King tweeted the cover photo on Wednesday, writing, “We’ve been friends since we were 21 & 22! 40 plus years later here we are!”
She later added that Winfrey is her “ride or die.”
In a story accompanying the cover, Winfrey reflected on the first time she met Gayle, who was working as a production assistant at a Baltimore TV news station where Winfrey was a co-anchor at the time. Winfrey said their friendship was sparked after one evening, in 1976, when Gayle was unable to get back to her home in the suburbs due to a snowstorm.
“We were colleagues, not friends, but I invited her to spend the night at my place,” Winfrey wrote. “We sat up and talked till dawn and have been talking ever since.”
Winfrey later noted that people often ask King, who is now a co-host of “CBS This Morning,” how she felt being in Winfrey’s shadow for years. King left her job at a local television station to work for O magazine in 1999, shortly before it premiered, and remained there for 12 years.
“The truth is, she always felt not a shadow, but the light,” Winfrey wrote. “We couldn’t have remained friends if she’d perceived it as a shadow. I would have sensed that, and I wouldn’t have been able to be as open.”
She added, “A true friend can’t be jealous of you, or want to take advantage of you in any way.”
Talking about King’s work at “CBS This Morning” ― where the anchor garnered wide praise for remaining extraordinarily calm and on point during her March interview with a hysterical R. Kelly discussing his alleged sexual abuse ― Winfrey said her friend is “right where she’s longed to be.”
She added, “And no matter how many ventures or adventures we undertake — whatever life has to offer — we’ll be in each other’s corner. Solid. Timeless. Forever.”
Read the article here.
#RHOA: Kandi Speaks They Were ‘A Lot Of Explosive Moments’ On the Cast Trip To Canada
‘The Real Housewives of Atlanta’ recently partied it up in the 6, and Kandi Burruss tells us that there were many ‘crazy’ and ‘explosive’ moments while up north! She teases the wild trip in a new interview .
The Real Housewives of Atlanta veteran Kandi Burruss dished some season 12 scoop, and things between the cast have already gotten wild! Kandi, 43, along with Porsha Williams, 38, Cynthia Bailey, 52, Marlo Hampton, Tanya Sam, 40, and returning peach Kenya Moore, 48, all traveled up north to Toronto, Ontario, during the first weekend in August, where they let loose at the Toronto Caribbean Carnival in sparkly bodysuits and feather headpieces. As for what went down during the trip, “It was crazy,” Kandi said during an interview at Beautycon in LA over the weekend.
“You know, any trip with ‘The Real Housewives’ is always crazy. It starts off cool, everyone’s getting along. And then, of course, you have the explosive moments,” Kandi explained. “I can’t tell a lot… but there was a lot of explosive moments.”
To her surprise, Kandi said, “This time, I’m kind of getting along with everybody,” on the trip, which will air this coming season (12). “That’s a blessing,” she admitted, “Because, when you’re not getting along with everybody it’s like, ‘Ugh!’.
Kandi also went on to admit that she’s getting along with NeNe Leakes, 51, at the moment, despite their tumultuous past. Fans of the show will know that NeNe’s been feuding with the entire RHOA cast, following the explosive season 11 finale and reunion show.
Things got heated this past season after Kandi and Cynthia invited then former-cast member Kenya to Cynthia’s wine cooler release party. NeNe was visibly pissed that the women didn’t inform her Kenya would be there. As you could’ve guessed, NeNe and Kenya aren’t exactly breaking bread at the moment. NeNe later unfollowed the cast on social media back in March.
However, Kandi revealed that NeNe’s been trying to repair her relationships. She’s “putting for the effort” to get along better with the cast, Kandi admitted. Unfortunately, NeNe was not present on the trip to Canada. But, you know what they say, Rome wasn’t built in a day!
#Empire: Crews Filming At “Same Intersection” Where Jussie Smollett Said He Was Attacked
Camera crews with Fox drama Empire were spotted filming Tuesday morning in the same Chicago neighborhood where Jussie Smollett told police he was attacked in January.
NBC 5 Chicago obtained photos of several production trucks and set security near the corner of McClurg and North Water Street. That’s just one block from the overpass where Smollett said two masked men beat him, and yelled racial and homophobic slurs on Jan. 29, although police later said the incident was staged.
The TV station also got a glimpse of a city permit that said “Fox Entertainment Group – Empire” requested permission to film at the location from 9:30 a.m. to 3:30 p.m.
Smollett’s character Jamal Lyon was written out of the final episodes of Season 5 of the Fox hip-hop drama. The actor’s last appearance in April showed his character tying the knot with Kai (Toby Onwumere), in TV’s first wedding of black gay characters.
Last week at TCA, Fox entertainment chief Charlie Collier made it clear Smollett will not be returning for the show’s sixth and final season. Instead, his honeymooning character will appear in family photos and be mentioned in at least the early episodes.
The final season of Empire will premiere on Tuesday, September 24 on Fox.
#NewMusic from Ashanti ‘Pretty Little Thing’ (featuring Afro B)
R&B star Ashanti is back with her new single. The island record features Afro B and shares the same title as her online retailer “PrettyLittleThing”.
LISTEN HERE
Ashanti is currently working on her upcoming EP which is set to come out later this year. The Metro Boomin produced project will be her first in over five years as her last album “Braveheart” came out in 2014.
#HipHopNews: JAY-Z's Roc Nation Partners With NFL For Music & Social Justice Campaign
JAY-Z is getting into business with the National Football League. According to the New York Times, Hov’s Roc Nation has signed a deal with the NFL to aid in the league’s social justice efforts and bolster its connections in the music industry.
Roc Nation will reportedly serve as the NFL’s “live music entertainment strategist,” which includes consulting on productions such as the Super Bowl halftime show.
JAY will also contribute to the league’s Inspire Change initiative. The campaign was created after multiple players followed former San Francisco 49ers quarterback Colin Kaepernick’s lead by kneeling during the national anthem to protest racial injustice and police brutality.
“The NFL has a great big platform, and it has to be all-inclusive,” JAY told the New York Times. “They were willing to do some things, to make some changes, that we can do some good.”
NFL commissioner Roger Goodell added, “We don’t want people to come in and necessarily agree with us; we want people to come in and tell us what we can do better. I think that’s a core element of our relationship between the two organizations, and with JAY and I personally.”
Hov’s partnership with the NFL comes after he turned down the league’s offer to perform at the Super Bowl LII halftime show. On The Carters’ EVERYTHING IS LOVE album
“I said no to the Super Bowl: you need me, I don’t need you/Every night we in the end zone, tell the NFL we in stadiums too,” he rapped.
JAY also reportedly tried to convince Travis Scott to not participate in February’s Super Bowl LIII halftime show. Scott ended up performing, joining Big Boi as one of the guests during Maroon 5’s set.
ASAP Rocky found guilty of assault but spared jail in Swedish trial
Rapper ASAP Rocky was found guilty of assault Wednesday by a Swedish court but will avoid further jail time.
The rapper was handed a suspended sentence after the court found that the assault was not "of such a serious nature" as to warrant more time behind bars.
Rocky, whose real name is Rakim Mayers, was arrested in Stockholm in July after he and two members of his entourage got into a street brawl with Mustafa Jafari, 19.
Prosecutors asked the court to convict Mayers, 30, and sentence him to at least six months in jail. But Per Lennerbrant, the senior judge presiding over the case, said the prosecution failed to prove the extent of the seriousness of the attack.
However, the rapper and his entourage were not without fault, the court found.
"The artist is convicted of his own use of violence," Lennerbrant said through a court translator.
The trio were ordered to pay 12,500 Swedish krona — roughly $1,300 — in damages to the victim. They are also required to repay the legal fees of the victim and the state.
The rapper's lawyer said they were "disappointed" in the news.
"The court has recognized that Rocky and his party were followed and harassed, that no bottle was used, that Rocky didn’t act in a joined attack with the others and that Rocky didn't inflict any wounds on the victim and that is a win. But the court has also concluded that Rocky didn’t act in self-defense," the lawyer, Slobodan Jovic, said.
"It's a conclusion that Rocky and I don’t agree with."
A judge ordered the Harlem rapper released from custody earlier this month pending the verdict of the trial. He was allowed to leave the country and over the weekend, he told fans at an Anaheim, California, concert that the arrest was "scary" and "humbling."
"I am of course disappointed by today's verdict," he said in an Instagram post on Wednesday where he thanked people who "showed me love during this difficult time. Imma keep moving forward."
The case has attracted widespread attention, with reality television star Kim Kardashian West, singer Rod Stewart and even President Donald Trump calling on Swedish authorities to release the rapper, claiming he was treated unfairly.
As it advocated for the rapper's release, the U.S. government went so far as to warn Sweden of "negative consequences," according to a pair of letters released by the Swedish Prosecution Authority.
U.S. warned Sweden of 'negative consequences' if ASAP Rocky wasn't released
But the country's prime minister, Stefan Löfven, told Trump that the rapper would not receive special treatment and that politicians should not interfere with judicial matters.
The two-time Grammy nominee, who was in Stockholm headlining a festival, has said that he was unfairly treated because he is black.
Todd & Julie Chrisley Indicted For Tax Evasion & Bank Fraud, Facing 30 Years In Prison
“Chrisley Knows Best” stars Todd Chisley, his wife, Julie Chrisley, and their former CPA Peter Tarantino, were hit with a 12-count indictment by a federal grand jury on Tuesday for tax evasion, wire fraud and the use of the Chrisley’s production company to hide their reality TV income from the IRS.
Via WSB-TV:“I want to make note here: Just because you’re rich and on a TV show doesn’t mean that the law is not going to come get you when you commit a federal crime,” said BJay Pak, U.S. attorney for the Northern District of Georgia.
The indictment covers nine years and says the Chrisleys used false documents to secure millions in loans starting as early as 2007 and didn’t pay income taxes from 2013 to 2016, including time they lived in Georgia.
“They had a production company named 7C Production, which was paid the fees that the TV stations paid for the show. Of course, that was not declared as income in federal tax returns,” Pak said.
Todd took to social media to proclaim his innocence and blamed all of this on a shiesty former employee who is trying to take them down in flames!
Peep his post below.
Oh well! Y’all gotta figure this out with Uncle Sam. The Chrisleys are facing up to 30 years in prison.
Rihanna Meets Up With Her Mom Monica for Dinner in Santa Monica
Rihanna had a mother-daughter night out! The 31-year-old entertainer was spotted meeting up with her mom Monica for dinner on Tuesday evening (August 13) at Mason restaurant in Santa Monica, Calif.
She looked chic in a beige sweater dress paired with strappy heels and a black purse.
Rihanna is back in Los Angeles after spending time with family in Barbados, where she took part in the annual Kadooment Day Parade.
She was also spotted spending time with friends before she had to jet back home to LA.
#STOCKSHOCK Dow plunges 800 points after recession signs emerge
NEW YORK -- The threat of a recession doesn't seem so remote anymore for investors in financial markets.
The yield on the closely watched 10-year Treasury fell so low Wednesday that, for the first time since 2007, it briefly crossed a threshold that has correctly predicted many past recessions. Weak economic data from Germany and China also fanned fears of a global slowdown.
That spooked investors, who responded by dumping stocks, sending the Dow Jones Industrial Average into an 800-point skid, its biggest drop of the year. The S&P 500 index dropped nearly 3% as the market erased all of its gains from a rally the day before. Tech stocks and banks led the broad sell-off. Retailers came under especially heavy selling pressure after Macy's issued a dismal earnings report and cut its full-year forecast.
Investors have been plowing money into the safety of U.S. government bonds for months amid growing anxiety that weakness in the global economy could sap growth in the U.S. Uncertainty about the outcome of the U.S. trade war with China has spurred a return of volatility to the stock market in August - the Dow has dropped more than 5% and the S&P 500 is down more than 4%.
Economic data from two of the world's biggest economies added to investors' fears Wednesday. European markets fell after Germany's economy contracted 0.1% in the spring due to the global trade war and troubles in the auto industry. In China, the world's second-largest economy, growth in factory output, retail spending and investment weakened in July.
"The bad news for global economies is stacking up much faster than most economists thought, so trying to keep up is exhausting," Kevin Giddis, head of fixed income capital markets at Raymond James, wrote in a report.
The S&P 500 fell 85.72 points, or 2.9%, to 2,840.60. The Dow sank 800.49 points, or 3%, to 25,479.42. The Nasdaq composite lost 242.42 points, or 3%, to 7,773.94. The Russell 2000 index of smaller company stocks slid 43.05 points, or 2.8%, to 1,467.52.
The losses come a day after stocks rallied when the Trump administration delayed tariffs on about $160 billion in Chinese goods that were set to take effect on Sept. 1.
While the market was falling Wednesday, President Donald Trump took to Twitter to again criticize the Federal Reserve for hampering the U.S. economy by raising rates "far too quickly" last year and not reversing its policy aggressively enough - the Fed cut its key rate by a quarter point last month. He also defended his trade policy, even though investors remain worried that the trade war between the world's two largest economies may drag on through the 2020 U.S. election and cause more economic damage.
"We still see a substantial risk that the trade dispute will escalate further," said Mark Haefele, global chief investment officer at UBS in a note to clients.
Traders tend to plow money into ultra-safe U.S. government bonds when they're fearful of an economic slowdown, and that sends yields lower. The yield on the 10-year Treasury has dropped from 2.02% on July 31 to below 1.60%.
On Wednesday, it briefly fell below the two-year Treasury's yield for the first time since 2007. Each of the last five times the two-year and 10-year Treasury yields have inverted, a recession has followed. The average amount of time is around 22 months, according to Raymond James' Giddis. The indicator isn't perfect, though, and has given false signals in the past.
After its early dip, the yield on the 10-year Treasury stood at 1.58%, even with the yield on the two-year. Meanwhile, the 30-year Treasury yield also hit a record low Wednesday.
Other parts of the yield curve have already inverted, beginning late last year. But each time, some market watchers cautioned not to make too much of it. Some say the yield curve may be a less reliable indicator this time because technical factors may be distorting longer-term yields, such as negative bond yields abroad and the Federal Reserve's holdings of $3.8 trillion in Treasurys and other investments on its balance sheet.
With bond yields falling, banks took heavy losses Wednesday. Lower bond yields are bad for banks because they force interest rates on mortgages and other loans lower, which results in lower profits for banks. Citigroup sank 5.3% and Bank of America gave up 4.7%.
Macy's plunged 13.2%, the sharpest loss in the S&P 500, after it slashed its profit forecast for the year. The retailer's profit for the latest quarter fell far short of analysts' forecasts as it was forced to slash prices on unsold merchandise. The grim results from Macy's sent other retailers sharply lower, too. Nordstrom sank 10.6% and Kohl's dropped 11%.
Energy stocks also sank sharply, hurt by another drop in the price of crude oil on worries that a weakening global economy will drag down demand. National Oilwell Varco slumped 8% and Schlumberger skidded 6.6%.
The price of benchmark U.S. crude slid $1.87, or 3.3%, to settle at $55.23 per barrel. Brent crude, the international standard, dropped $1.82 to close at $59.48.
Wholesale gasoline fell 6 cents to $1.68 per gallon. Heating oil declined 4 cents to $1.84 per gallon. Natural gas fell 1 cent to $2.14 per 1,000 cubic feet.
Gold gained $13.70 to $1,515.90 per ounce, close to a six-year high. Investors also bid up shares in mining company Newmont Goldcorp 0.8%.
Silver rose 29 cents to $17.25 per ounce and copper fell 3 cents to $2.59 per pound.
The dollar fell to 105.88 Japanese yen from 106.68 yen on Tuesday. The euro weakened to $1.1137 from $1.1174.
Overseas, Germany's DAX dropped 2.3% following the weak German economic data. France's CAC 40 fell 2.2%, and the FTSE 100 in London lost 1.7%.
In Asia, Japan's Nikkei 225 rose 1%, the Kospi in South Korea gained 0.7% and the Hang Seng in Hong Kong added 0.1%.
Shari Headley To Reprise ‘Lisa McDowell’ Role In ‘Coming To America 2’
Shari Headley has officially signed on to reprise her iconic role of “Lisa McDowell” in the highly anticipated sequel of Coming To America.
This is absolutely awesome because Shari will join other original cast members Eddie Murphy, Arsenio Hall, James Earl Jones, Paul Bates, and John Amos, who have also signed on for the sequel written by Craig Brewer.
The sequel will follow former Prince Akeem who is set to become King of Zamunda when he discovers he has a son he never knew about in America – a street-savvy Queens native named Lavelle.
Honoring his father’s dying wish to groom this son as the crowned prince, Akeem and Semmi set off to America.
Coming To America 2 is slated to hit theaters on December 18, 2020.
Kim Kardashian Victorious in Keeping $300 Million Kimoji Legal Battle Private
Kim Kardashian has scored a small victory in the $300 million lawsuit accusing her of ripping off her former business partner with her Kimojis.
According to court documents obtained, Kardashian’s former partner David Liebensohn has informed a federal judge he will be dropping his federal case against the reality star.
Liebensohn says he will be moving the dispute to arbitration, which is a private court where the proceedings are sealed from the public.
The decision by Liebensohn comes only weeks after Kardashian demanded the case not be heard in public.
Kardashian recently filed heavily redacted documents arguing the lawsuit was filed in the wrong state. The case was filed in Oklahoma but says it should be filed in California. She claims it would cause her business financial harm to continue in Oklahoma. She asked the judge to dismiss it completely or move it to arbitration immediately.
The judge will no longer have to make a decision on that since Liebensohn has agreed to fight Kardashian privately. Earlier this year, Liebensohn sued Kardashian and her company Kimsaprincess. Liebensohn – along with partners – created several clever phone apps. He also helped create a series of sexy emojis, that caught the eye of Kardashian.
He said Kardashian had her friend Jonathan Cheban reach out about wanting to put together an 80/20 deal with Liebensohn, where she got the majority of the profits. He refused to agree to those terms but they continued to talk to Kardashian.
Liebensohn and his partners then created a series of “Kimojis” which were a “set of animated emojis and GIFs of the Kardashian family, with Kardashian West.
They claim she loved the idea and promised to work together as a team.
Liebensohn claims she insisted to file the trademarks for the project herself. The two reached a 60/40 deal and started working.
However, he claims Kardashian then terminated their deal based on her belief Liebensohn’s partner had been talking about the project to third parties. He later claims she was aware of this before even entering into the deal, despite her saying otherwise when terminating the deal. Kardashian’s lawyer threatened to sue him and his partners for $5 million, accusing them of emotional distress.
He claims Kardashian then launched her own “Kimojis”, despite not even coming up with the name.
Liebensohn sued seeking hundreds of millions in damages.
Nicki Minaj Responds to Trina's A&R over their BEEF!
This week rapper Trina's A&R, Reginald Saunderson, went off on Nicki Minaj, accusing Nicki of barely promoting the single she did with Trina while going out of her way to promote and be seen with up and coming rapper Meghan Thee Stallion
Nicki sets the record straight...
Nicki Minaj addressed the allegations telling her Queen Radio listeners,
“Trina’s camp is pushing the narrative that I didn’t do enough to promote the record. I can say so much that I don’t. I’m not addressing men any more. My husband will address ya’ll. He is dying to address ya’ll. He wants that role. Ni**as will see you face-to-face. That’s a whole fu**ing fact.”
Nicki also explained,
"I have my own schedule and I also have to worry about what makes not only sense [cents] but dollars. And it not fair that people don't understand that. I would never have someone from my team disrespect somebody that has been nothing but real to me."
Trump’s Administration wants to allow Businesses to Discriminate against LGBTQ People.
The Trump administration on Wednesday formally proposed a new rule to let businesses with federal contracts cite religious objections as a valid reason to discriminate against their workers on the basis of LGBTQ status, sex, race, ethnicity, national origin, and other characteristics — thereby skirting worker protections created by past presidents.
The move marks President Donald Trump’s latest effort to weaken the civil rights of minorities with ambiguous rules that grant agencies wide discretion to let companies off the hook when accused of discrimination.
The 46-page draft rule from the Labor Department would apply to a range of so-called religious organizations — including corporations, schools, and societies — provided that they claim a “religious purpose.”
Labor Department spokesperson Megan Sweeney confirmed to BuzzFeed News on Wednesday that the rule would apply to for-profit corporations with federal contracts. This would allow those companies discriminate and keep their contract, given that they obtain a religious exemption.
The Trump administration makes clear that a corporation needn’t focus entirely on religion to qualify, saying, “The contractor must be organized for a religious purpose, meaning that it was conceived with a self-identified religious purpose. This need not be the contractor’s only purpose.”
“A religious purpose can be shown by articles of incorporation or other founding documents, but that is not the only type of evidence that can be used,” says the rule, which grants companies many opportunities to claim that faith or morals guide their intent.
The National Center for Transgender Equality said in a statement the rule could allow “firing or refusing to hire someone because of their sexual orientation or gender identity. It could also lead to federal contractors refusing to hire women or unmarried workers who are pregnant or parents, or even discrimination on the basis of race.”
For example, the policy could allow a company that supplies machinery to the federal government to fire a woman simply because she’s a lesbian if it obtains a religious pass.
Workers could still take employers to court, but there is no federal law explicitly protecting LGBTQ workers. And under the proposed rule, the Labor Department wouldn’t need to take enforcement action or cancel lucrative contracts with businesses that make religious claims as the basis for bias.
The new rule would not eliminate longstanding nondiscrimination executive orders — such as a 2014 order banning LGBT discrimination — but rather create a pathway to get around them.
Echoing a sentiment from a Labor Department press release, Sweeney tried to downplay that fact that the plan would allow discrimination, saying in a statement, “The proposed regulation does not exempt or excuse a contractor from complying with other applicable requirements outside of the religious employer exemption.”
But this ignores the heart of the plan: The draft rule exists to create a carveout that protects businesses that raise a religious motive. The Labor Department, according to the proposal, “will find a violation of [the nondiscrimination order] only if it can prove by a preponderance of the evidence that a protected characteristic other than religion was a but-for cause of the adverse action.”
Louise Melling, a lawyer for the ACLU characterized it like this: “The agency will find a violation only if it was animated by something other than a religious tenet.”
The proposal could apply to up to 420,000 contractors, according to the draft to be published in the Federal Register. “While only a subset of contractors and would-be contractors may wish to seek this exemption, the Supreme Court, Congress, and the President have each affirmed the importance of protecting religious liberty for those organizations who wish to exercise it,” it reads.
The Labor Department further contends the rule would save contractors and taxpayers money because businesses wouldn’t be bogged down by the legal expenses of fending off discrimination cases.
As the agency put it, the rule “will reduce the risk of non-compliance to contractors and the potential costs of litigation such findings of non-compliance with OFCCP’s requirements might impose.”
The Labor Department’s Office of Federal Contract Compliance Programs says the rule is necessary to “clarify” existing rules because recent Supreme Court decisions and executive orders have expanded the rights of religious employers with federal contracts.
But none of the three central court cases cited by the agency concern discrimination by religious organizations with federal contracts. Instead, it leans heavily on the case of Hobby Lobby, a for-profit corporation that sought to deny reproductive health insurance coverage to women by claiming a religious excuse.
LGBTQ advocates were alarmed when the draft rule was pending, saying it was being designed to create a loophole in former president Obama’s 2014 executive order that banned contractors from discriminating on the basis of their sexual orientation or gender identity.
Progressive organizations have also worried the rule could open the door to fire, or refuse to employ, people of minority faiths, divorcés, or women who don’t conform to strict gender norms.
The Trump administration issued a directive with similar aims in August 2018, saying that the Labor Department would grant a broader “religious exemption” for contractors. At the time, officials declined to say in what circumstances it would apply. However, none of the court decisions cited by the agency at the time dealt with employment discrimination, and two of the cases involve for-profit corporations, not religious groups.
The proposed regulation would carry more legal force than the directive and could be difficult for future presidents to undo. The draft regulation will also be subject to a 30-day public comment period.
The Trump administration has steadily expanded its argument that constitutional rights to religious exercise allow employers, shopkeepers, and medical professionals to ignore laws and policies that ban discrimination.
This year, Department of Health and Human Services finalized regulations to protect religious health care providers that deny contraception, while creating a Conscience and Religious Freedom Division, which endeavors to let care providers recuse themselves from providing certain services. The agency also started forming a regulation to protect those workers, but stopped the process after the Office of Management and Budget said HHS had to disclose feedback it got from a comment period.
Before he was forced out of office, then–attorney general Jeff Sessions had been particularly bullish in protecting religious employers, saying in a guidance memo they may hire workers “whose beliefs and conduct are consistent with the employers' religious precepts” and that “the federal government may not condition receipt of a federal grant or contract on the effective relinquishment of a religious organization's hiring exemptions.”
Sessions then directed the Justice Department’s Religious Liberty Task Force this fall to find examples of religious entities being denied government funds, saying the practice “must, and will, stop.”
In that vein, the Office of Management and Budget said on its website in October that the Labor Department “plans to update its regulations to comply with current law regarding protections for religion-exercising organizations.”
The Labor Department contends that two new executive orders from Trump and three Supreme Court rulings have shifted the circumstances in which a contractor can discriminate in the name of religion. The draft rule released Wednesday refers to the Supreme Court’s decisions in Hobby Lobby and Masterpiece Cakeshop, which concerned closely held, for-profit businesses with religious owners, not religious corporations. It also cited the case of Trinity Lutheran Church of Columbia, a church that successfully argued for a government grant to refurbish its playground. (BuzzFeed News has previously reported additional details on the directive, the cases, and the Trump orders.)
The Labor Department’s new draft regulation builds on decades of policy around federal contractors. After President Lyndon B. Johnson banned discrimination by executive order in 1965, President George W. Bush added a narrow religious exemption. Bush’s amendment lets religious corporations make employment decisions based on their faith — like Jewish charities hiring only fellow Jews.
Obama expanded Johnson’s underlying nondiscrimination order to also protect LGBTQ people working for federal contractors, leaving Bush’s narrow exemption intact. The new rule opens up that exemption, but it does not specify the circumstances in which it would apply — those decisions will be left up to enforcement officials at the Labor Department.
Labor Secretary Patrick Pizzella said in a statement Wednesday, “As people of faith with deeply held religious beliefs are making decisions on whether to participate in federal contracting, they deserve clear understanding of their obligations and protections under the law.”
Jesse Williams Heading to Trial Over $100K a Month Spousal and Child Support Battle With Estranged Wife
Jesse Williams and his estranged wife Aryn Drake-Lee failed to come to an agreement during recent mediation concerning the actor’s $100,000 per month child and spousal support payments, and now the two are heading to trial.
Williams, who filed to divorce his longtime love in 2017, reached a partial settlement with Drake-Lee, according to documents obtained by The Blast Monday, August 12. However, a written agreement was not drawn up, since the two could not come to a full settlement on all their issues. As such, a trial has been scheduled to start on Sept. 5 in Los Angeles.
In addition to Williams paying $50,595 in spousal support and $50,629 in child support for the couple’s two children, 5-year-old Sadie and 3-year-old Maceo, Drake-Lee has previously argued that her “Grey’s Anatomy” star ex should also pay other fees.
In April, Drake-Lee’s attorney and forensic accountant requested that Williams pay $100,000 to the podcast host’s lawyer and $110,000 to her forensic accountant. Last June, Williams was ordered to pay $270,000 in legal fees for his ex.
By May, Drake-Lee nabbed a partial victory in her fight to have her prime-time drama series star ex pay up.
While Williams argued he shouldn’t have to pay $210,000 for her legal representation since he’s already paid $270,000 in Drake-Lee’s legal fees on top of the $100,000 a month in both spousal support and child support, a judge took Drake-Lee’s side instead.
They ruled that Williams is required to hand over an additional $60,000 in order to pay for his ex’s lawyer’s preparation and attendance. Meanwhile, Drake-Lee claims her ex owes her $1 million in past child support payments.
That same month, Drake-Lee broke her silence for the first time to People magazine.
“When the divorce process started I had two nursing babies, and I am the one that ran our household for the 14 and a half years that he and I were together in the same house,” she told the publication. “And for our children, and for the creation of the businesses that we built together when I left my career in New York for us to move to California to pursue his, and then as a result built it … I knew, as the one that was really holding it all together, that I didn’t have a lot of room to fall, even though I was falling.”
Williams previously discussed the aftermath of the divorce filing, taking aim at claims he cheated on his wife of five years.
“All of a sudden motherf—ers are writing think-pieces that I somehow threw a 13-year relationship. Like, the most painful experience I’ve had in my life like with a person I’ve loved with all of my heart – that I threw a person and my family in the trash because a girl I work with is cute,” Williams said in Jay-Z’s “Footnotes for 4:44.”
Don Lemon “Categorically Denies” Claims In Sexual Assault Suit!
Another CNN host is poised for Drama. In a multi-damages seeking complaint filed August 11, Don Lemon is accused of assaulting plaintiff Dustin Hice in a Sag Harbor, NY, bar last summer.
“Mr. Lemon, who was wearing a pair of shorts, sandals, and a t-shirt, put his hand down the front of his own shorts, and vigorously rubbed his genitalia, removed his hand and shoved his index and middle fingers into [Hice’s] moustache under [Hice’s] nose,” the filing for “emotional pain and suffering” claims. Lemon, who is openly gay, is then said to have asked a rather pointed question about Hice’s sexuality as the TV host “continued to shove his fingers” at the plaintiff “with aggression and hostility.”
While Lemon hasn’t commented directly, CNN made no qualms about calling BS on the whole thing, which of course is expected to get a reaction from Trump and already has right-wing bloggers in a lather.
“The plaintiff in this lawsuit has previously displayed a pattern of contempt for CNN on his social media accounts,” a spokesperson for the Jeff Zucker-run cable newser told Deadline. “This claim follows his unsuccessful threats and demands for an exorbitant amount of money from Don Lemon,” the outlet added. “Don categorically denies these claims and this matter does not merit any further comment at this time.”
According sources close to Lemon that there was an attempt in the past two weeks to shake down Lemon for a $1.5 million payoff to stop a lawsuit being filed. Clearly no money was paid by the UTA-repped CNN host to Hice or his side, which is likely why this suit has come out now.
While any social media presence by a Hice, a local bartender, seems to have been scrubbed from the Internet, it does seem that on his now-retired Instagram account the plaintiff quoted “#Trump” in calling CNN “the home of the fake news” — while he was touring CNN HQ in Atlanta. Hmmmmm, I smell a RAT!
Cardi B Interviews Bernie Sanders. She Asks About Jobs, Minimum Wage & More
Cardi B's interview with Bernie Sanders is finally here! On Tuesday (August 13), the "Press" rapper shared the first clip of her sit-down with the Presidential candidate where she asked him fan-submitted questions about his plans for America. "So I know this is long over due but here it is," Cardi captioned the Instagram TV video. "A couple of weeks ago I asked my followers if you all had the chance to ask a Democratic candidate a question, what would that question be? The topic that was mentioned the most by all of you was about raising MINIMUM WAGE. I got the chance to ask @berniesanders about this, and these are his answers. Keep sending your questions, we will be addressing more of these soon!"
In the minute and a half clip, Cardi got straight to the point, asking the Vermont senator, "What are we gonna do about wages in America?" She then detailed her pre-fame experience, struggling to make ends meet when she made minimum wage working in New York. "I just felt like no matter how many jobs I [got] I wasn't able to pay my rent, get transportation and eat," she admitted.
Bernie acknowledged Americans' disparity in income, saying, "Right now, we have tens of millions of people who are earning what I consider to be starvation wages. Can you imagine somebody today earning $9 an hour?"
"It don't make no sense," Cardi replied. "How do you pay for rent?" Bernie asked. "How do you pay for food? How do you pay for transportation? You can't."
Cardi then took a jab at the current president — she didn't call him out by name— saying, "certain people like to brag that there are more jobs now in America [..]. but what are they paying at these jobs? They practically paying nothing."
Bernie then noted the importance of unions to help negotiate fair wages. "What we also have to do is make it easier for workers to join unions so they can sit down and engage in collective bargaining and earn a decent living," he added.
Afton Williamson Opens Up About Childhood Abuse. She was sexually abused at 6!
Afton Williamson, star of ABC’s The Rookie, has been in the spot light recently for coming forward with claims of sexual harassment and racial discrimination on the set of The Rookie. A little over a week ago, Williamson laid everything out on an Instagram post. She came forward naming fellow The Rookie star Demetrius Grosse as the man to sexually harass her during filming of the first season of the series. Williamson also spoke of Hair Department Head Sally Nicole Ciganovich who Willaimson claimed to racially bully her. Williamson came forward about these accusations, but also made herself a voice of those afraid to come forward saying,
“We have a Voice. ALL OF US. It is our DUTY to use it.”
Posting a picture on Instagram of Maya Angelou’s book I Know Why the Caged Bird Sings, Williamson spoke about the abuse she experienced during her childhood. She told about being abused by a babysitter when she was six years old. She told her parents about the abuse, but was sent back to the babysitter the following day. Williamson discusses the constant abuse she has endured throughout her life including abusive relationships and multiple rapes that occurred during her life. She reveals the her struggles with PTSD and thoughts of suicide, but continues her fight.
“I was sexually abused at a babysitters home when I was 6 years old.I told.I was sent back the next day.I was abused for the next 4 years. At 13, I started losing my hair to PTSD.So I shaved my head.That’s how I entered highschool.I was terrified but I was strong.”
Although she has endured much pain and suffering in her past, Williamson continues to be an advocate for those abused. She is an example that being a victim doesn’t make a person weak. Through all of her pain, Williamson continues to show she is a fighter and a woman that other women can look up to.
“It was during these 4 years that God spoke to me.Told me who I was.Showed me what I would become.The isolation of being different pushed me so close to Him it was just the 2 of us.He told me I had to fight. So I did.I fought to get out of Toledo. I fought to get into college. I fought in college for myself and all the future black women in that Theatre, as I was the only one.I fought to break ground and change history.I fought in grad school. The only black face of 16 students at a classical conservatory in Alabama. “
As Williamson has done once before, she left the reader with some inspiring words. “May My Truth be a Light. A path to Yours.”
Afton Williamson’s time on The Rookie may have come to an end. But she is continuing to be a leader for the many women who are all in the battle together.
Meghan McCain takes subtle jab at Sara Haines over ratings
Meghan McCain seems to be needling her former “View” co-host and ABC co-star Sara Haines with a sly dig about her ratings.
Haines quit “The View” in July 2018 and announced she was taking up a gig with Michael Strahan to co-host the “Good Morning America” spinoff.
Amid rumors the pair had never actually got on, McCain praised Fox News’ Harris Faulkner — whose show goes up against Haines and Strahan in the 1 p.m. ET timeslot — for beating her competition.
She wrote, “So proud of you Harris, (not that you need the accolades). Thank you for always being a woman I can look up to in this industry, for all the goals I wish to achieve myself, and for being a pillar of strength and friendship I can rely on. And you do it all with grace and class.”
Faulkner tweeted a link to a story that stated her show “Outnumbered Overtime with Harris Faulkner” is proving it can beat a broadcast competitor in the same timeslot.
The Wrap reported that according to Nielsen stats, “Outnumbered Overtime” has beaten ABC’s “Strahan and Sara” eight times out of 17 episodes in July, and nearly 20 times in 2018.
The FNC show also ranks as the top cable news program in its timeslot with 1.3 million total viewers, 207,000 of which are in the key 25-54 demographic.
Faulkner told the site: “We’ve been able to do some ambitious things, and we knew going into this that’s what we were hungry to produce and what the audience wanted … What I love about those interviews is you get a feeling of primetime in the afternoon.”
And she tweeted: “Feel so blessed for #foxnews viewers who have lifted me along my journey. #BlessedAndGrateful.”
An ABC spokesperson insisted: “This is ridiculous. Maybe your source should check TV Guide — in a good portion of the country, those shows aren’t even on at the same time. Meghan can be proud of a friend’s success and her ABC pals, too.”
A source added: “Meghan was congratulating and supporting a friend nothing more than that.”
The source pointed out that Faulkner had previously been a guest on “The View.”
The ABC daytime show replaced “The Chew” but has struggled with ratings since it debuted last year.
It was called “GMA Day” until ABC changed the name in January.
AND FINALLY FROM THE CRAZY PEOPLE SHOPPING AT WALMART FILES
‘I WANT THAT ONE’
I don’t wanna grow up, I’m a Walmart kid…Ugh, just doesn’t have the same ring to it. Miss your Geoffrey Giraffe.
EGGPLANT NATION: Meet Ty Cub!
Meet Ty! So you know what to do to see them goods. CLICK HERE TO SEE THE PICS and remember they’re NSFW!
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HAVE A GREAT DAY EVERYBODY!!!
EFREM
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