#MAGFAB: Eva Longoria for Vogue Mexico - May 2023
Nice! And the article is HERE!
#RHOA: How RHOA Season 15 Shows “a Different Part” of Shereé Whitfield’s Life
The trailer for The Real Housewives of Atlanta Season 15 sizzled, and now Shereé Whitfield has confirmed that the upcoming season is “so hot.”
The RHOA OG appeared alongside castmate Kenya Moore on the April 24 episode of The Talk, and the two dished on all things Season 15 — including the latest in Shereé’s love life and what fans can expect to see when the likes of Cynthia Bailey, Kim Zolciak-Biermann, Lisa Wu, and DeShawn Snow return for cameos.
Shereé and Kenya shared that the drama kicks off right away on Season 15. “It gets started in the first episode,” Shereé said, and Kenya added that “there definitely are fireworks from the beginning.”
While fans are familiar with seeing drama unfold on the show, Shereé said viewers will see a new side to her when Season 15 premieres on Sunday, May 7.
“You’re going to see Shereé in a different light; you’re gonna see a different part of me,” she teased, noting that one of the first scenes she appears in is “so hot.”
“You guys have not really [seen] me date… You never really saw me on dates or [doing] anything with a guy, so you’re going to see that,” she explained.
The She By Shereé designer dated Tyrone Gilliams on and off for years before chronicling their breakup on Season 14. During the reunion, she opened up about her new boyfriend, Martell Holt, who has appeared on Love & Marriage: Huntsville.
The Season 15 trailer revealed that Martell will be appearing on the show, as will RHOA Season 1 cast members Kim, Lisa, and DeShawn.
In the trailer, which you can watch above, Shereé can be seen catching up with the OGs over dinner during a night out.
“I am so excited for these girls,” Shereé said on The Talk about DeShawn, Lisa, and Kim returning. “There is nothing like the OGs. People have missed them; they wanted to see them.”
You can see Shereé’s new chapter unfold — and find out what Kenya and cast members Sanya Richards-Ross, Kandi Burruss, Drew Sidora, and Marlo Hampton are up to — when Season 15 premieres on Sunday, May 7, at 8/7c on Bravo.
Watch The Real Housewives of Atlanta on Peacock and the Bravo app.
#MusicNews: Usher Readies New Album, Plans 'Confessions' 20th Anniversary Celebration
Usher is in album mode. The R&B icon has been hard at work on his first full-length album in seven years. During an interview with Big Boy, he revealed that a release is imminent.
“I’m getting ready to launch my next album,” said Usher, who has reunited with former LaFace executive L.A. Reid, who produced his early albums.
“We’re working on something really, really incredible,” he added. “It’s going to be an amazing piece of history in my mind. Every album, I’m trying to create something that I think is for that moment. I ain’t really thinking about the past. I am mindful of it, but want to create something that I feel is connected.”
The pandemic delayed his plans, but he promises that the follow-up to 2016’s Hard II Love will finally arrive this year. “By the end of this year, you’ll have that album.”
Last month, he dropped his seductive single “GLU,” and he’s been in the studio with Lil Jon and Sean Garrett.
“Of course Usher and I are also working on doing an unbelievable album together,” Garrett recently told Rap-Up. “We’re following [‘GLU’] with a couple of monsters for the clubs and the world!”
Along with the album, Usher has a new label deal. “GLU” was released via Gamma, the new company founded by former Apple Music executive Larry Jackson.
Next year, his groundbreaking album Confessions turns 20 and he’s planning something special. “It’s gonna be a lot of incredible activations next year,” he teased.
Usher, who has his eye on headlining the Super Bowl Halftime Show, recently announced a series of European shows. His “Rendez-Vous Á Paris” residency kicks off Sept. 24 at La Seine Musicale and promises an all-new experience with costumes and special effects.
In the meantime, you can catch Usher on his “My Way” residency in Las Vegas, which runs through October. He will also headline the Lovers & Friends festival in Vegas on May 6.
#HipHopNews: Jack Harlow Announces Surprise Album 'Jackman.'
You ready? In a surprise move, Jack Harlow has announced his third studio album Jackman., which will be available this Friday, April 28.
He made the big announcement just 48 hours before the album’s release. He also shared the cover art, which finds Young Harleezy shirtless in a back alley.
“Jackman. My new album. Out this Friday – 4/28,” he tweeted.
The album arrives nearly one year after his last project Come Home the Kids Miss You, which spawned the chart-topping hit “First Class” and featured appearances from Drake, Justin Timberlake, and Lil Wayne.
In addition to new music, Harlow is gearing up to make his acting debut in a reboot of White Men Can’t Jump, which will be available to stream May 19 on Hulu.
The Louisville native has a big week ahead. He is also set to be honored with the “Hometown Heroes” award in Kentucky next week.
Carolyn Bryant Donham, The woman Who's lies led to The murder of Emmett Till, dies at 88
Carolyn Bryant Donham, who accused 14-year-old Emmett Till of whistling at her and making sexual advances, leading to Till's kidnapping and lynching, has died, according to the Calcasieu Parish Coroner’s Office in Louisiana.
She was 88 years old.
In 1955, the 21-year-old Bryant Donham accused Till, who was visiting from Chicago, of whistling at her after leaving a store in Mississippi. Till was later abducted from his great-uncle Moses Wright's home by Bryant Donham's husband Roy Bryant and his half brother J.W. Milam.
Till's brutalized remains were found days later in the Tallahatchie River. Mamie Till Mobley's decision to have photos from her son's open casket funeral published in Jet magazine helped catalyze the Civil Rights Movement.
Roy Bryant and Milam were charged with Till's murder. The two men were acquitted by an all-white jury and later confessed to the killing in a paid magazine interview.
The U.S. Justice Department reopened the investigation into Till's murder in 2018, after a book alleged that Bryant Donham had lied in her testimony to the FBI about Till's actions, however, the DOJ was unable to uncover sufficient evidence to federally prosecute her.
Advocates pushed for Bryant Donham's arrest in 2022 after an unserved arrest warrant for kidnapping, an attached affidavit from Wright and court minutes from 1955 were found in the basement of a Leflore County, Mississippi, courthouse.
However, a grand jury in Leflore County declined to indict Bryant Donham on charges of kidnapping and manslaughter in connection with Till's death.
Iconic Talk show host, former Cincinnati Mayor Jerry Springer dies at 79
Jerry Springer, the legendary talk show host and former mayor and news anchor, has died, according to a statement from his family shared with multiple outlets. He was 79.
Springer passed away peacefully at his home in Chicago Thursday, a spokesperson for his family told WLWT.
“Jerry’s ability to connect with people was at the heart of his success in everything he tried whether that was politics, broadcasting or just joking with people on the street who wanted a photo or a word,” Jene Galvin, a lifelong friend and spokesman for the family, told the outlet. “He’s irreplaceable and his loss hurts immensely, but memories of his intellect, heart and humor will live on.”
Jerry Springer, as seen on the show’s 25th Season Spectacular — (Photo by: Virginia Sherwood/NBCU Photo Bank/NBCUniversal via Getty Images via Getty Images)Read More »
Springer died after a brief illness, the statement added. A family spokesperson told TMZ that Springer had been diagnosed with cancer a few months ago.
Gerald Norman Springer was born Feb. 13, 1944, in a London underground railway station being used as a bomb shelter. His parents, Richard and Margot, were German Jews who fled to England during the Holocaust, during which other relatives were killed in Nazi gas chambers. They arrived in the United States when their son was 5 and settled in the Queens borough of New York City, where Springer got his first Yankees baseball gear on his way to becoming a lifelong fan.
Springer studied political science at Tulane University and got a law degree from Northwestern University. He was active in politics much of his adult life, mulling a run for governor of Ohio as recently as 2017.
He entered the arena as an aide in Robert F. Kennedy’s ill-fated 1968 presidential campaign. Springer, working for a Cincinnati law firm, ran unsuccessfully for Congress in 1970 before being elected to city council in 1971.
Springer abruptly left his position in 1974, explaining that he admitted to the FBI that he had paid for prostitutes on two occasions during his time as councilman. As the Cincinnati Enquirer explains, Springer won back his council seat in 1975, then became mayor of Cincinnati in 1977. Five years later, he unsuccessfully ran for governor of Ohio.
After leaving politics, Springer joined WLWT in Cincinnati as a news anchor and commentator.
In the 1990s, Springer became a staple of daytime television. “The Jerry Springer Show” was filled with seething spurned lovers, gender-fluid guests (before that was a term) and pretty much anyone who was spoiling for a fight. It even provoked serious end-of-civilization-as-we-know-it talk.
TV Guide ranked the show No. 1 on a list of “Worst Shows in the History of Television,” but it was ratings gold. It made Springer a celebrity who would go on to host a liberal radio talk show and “America’s Got Talent,” star in a movie called “Ringmaster,” and compete on “Dancing With the Stars.”
In 2018, after more than 4,000 episodes, “The Jerry Springer Show” came to an end.
During an interview with The Associated Press at his show’s 25th anniversary three years ago, Springer said that anyone could do his job if they learned three phrases: “You did what?” ”Come on out!” and “We’ll be right back.”
Springer also appeared in another short-lived show, “Judge Jerry,” which ran for three seasons starting in 2019. More recently, Springer appeared on “The Masked Singer” as “The Beetle.”
Pras Found Guilty In Foreign-Influence Scheme
Pras has been found guilty of conspiring against the U.S. government as part of a multimillion-dollar foreign-influence scheme.
After a month-long trial, a jury convicted the former Fugees rapper on all 10 criminal counts, including conspiracy to defraud the U.S., witness tampering, and not registering his lobbying work on behalf of a foreign national.
Prakazrel “Pras” Michel was accused of funneling more than $20 million from now-fugitive Malaysian financer Low Taek Jho, also known as Jho Low, some of which was given to donors to support Barack Obama’s 2012 re-election campaign, and later to illegally lobby the Trump administration.
“Mr. Michel is at the center of the conspiracy, he’s the core, he’s the linchpin,” prosecutor Sean Mulryne told the jury during closing arguments, according to The Wall Street Journal.
Jho Low is the alleged mastermind behind a scheme to steal more than $4.5 billion from a Malaysian investment fund known as 1MDB.
Pras, who first met Low at a Manhattan nightclub in 2006, testified that he was paid $20 million in 2012 in order to secure a photo-op with Obama. Prosecutors alleged that Pras funneled over $800,000 of that money to Obama’s campaign through a number of straw donors.
Pras claimed that he never used the money at Low’s direction and saw it as his money which he could spend however he wanted. He blames his decision to participate in the schemes on bad advice from a hired attorney, a “stupid” idea that he regrets.
A lawyer for Pras said the Grammy-winning rapper is “extremely disappointed” in Wednesday’s verdict and plans to appeal. “This is not over,” said David Kenner. “I remain very, very confident we will ultimately prevail.”
During the trial, prosecutors also called upon Leonardo DiCaprio to testify about his business relationship with Low, who helped fund his 2013 film The Wolf of Wall Street.
Pras is facing up to 20 years in prison. Low remains an international fugitive.
'Noah's Arc' Creator Confirms Groundbreaking Series Is Returning
Noah’s Arc creator Patrik-Ian Polk has confirmed that the groundbreaking series Noah’s Arc is making a comeback.
The show was a major hit in the mid-2000s and Logo drama made strides for Black gay representation on television.
The series followed a screenwriter named Noah as he and his friends, living as Black gay men In Los Angeles. It was history-making as the first American drama series to have a group of Black gay men as its focus.
Aside from its central premise, the show covered taboo topics like HIV/AIDS awareness, homophobia and same-sex marriages. Although the show was a hit among viewers, it was canceled in 2006.
Over the last few years, fans have called for the return of the show, and now, news has come straight from the key auspices behind the project.
According to Gaye Magazine, Polk confirmed the return of the show while attending Speak Out’s I AM Awards. While accepting his lifetime achievement award he said: “I’m very happy to confirm that there is indeed more Noah’s Arc coming.”
The awards also featured a reunion of the cast, including Darryl Stephens, Jensen Atwood, Christian Vincent and Rodney Chester.
In a post on Instagram, star Stephens also noted: “You’re about to be sick of us. #Noah’s Arc is coming back.”
Specifics about the show’s return, including if a network is attached, are unknown right now.
Polk was recently a writer on Starz’s P-Valley.
U.S. long jumper Tara Davis-Woodhall stripped of national title after positive cannabis test
U.S. long jumper Tara Davis-Woodhall was suspended for one month and stripped of her indoor national title after a positive test for THC, the psychoactive compound found in cannabis.
The U.S. Anti-Doping Agency announced the penalties Tuesday, with the ban retroactive to the confirmation of a positive test from a sample collected Feb. 17. The sample was collected after Davis-Woodhall won the long jump title with a 6.99-meter jump at the indoor national championships in Albuquerque, New Mexico.
In a statement, USADA wrote that Davis-Woodhall's sample "tested positive for 11-nor-9-carboxy-tetrahydrocannabinol (Carboxy-THC) ... above the urinary Decision Limit of 180 ng/mL/."
Davis-Woodhall has already served the suspension, which started March 21. USADA wrote that she was issued a reduced suspension at the minimum allowed by the rules because her use of cannabis was not competition-related, and she completed a substance abuse program.
"Davis-Woodhall’s period of ineligibility was reduced to one month because her use of cannabis occurred out-of-competition and was unrelated to sport performance, and because she successfully completed a substance of abuse treatment program regarding her use of cannabis," USADA wrote.
The reduced penalty did not save her national title. USADA wrote that Davis-Woodhall was "disqualified from all competitive results obtained on and subsequent to February 17, 2023 ... including forfeiture of any medals, points and prizes."
Davis-Woodhall's penalty follows sprinter Sha'Carri Richardson's high-profile ban during the 2020 Olympics in Tokyo (which took place in 2021) following a positive test. Her suspension raised debate over why athletes are still suspended for a drug that has widely been decriminalized in the U.S. and doesn't enhance performance.
USADA acknowledged that debate in its statement Tuesday while deferring to rules set by the World Anti-Doping Agency.
"USADA has advocated and will continue to advocate to WADA, the rule maker, to treat marijuana in a fairer and more effective way to identify true in-competition use," the statement reads.
As of Tuesday evening, Davis-Woodhall hadn't publicly addressed the suspension or posted on Twitter since it was announced. Per USADA, she "accepted a one-month period of ineligibility for an anti-doping rule violation."
Jonathan Majors' Hollywood Friends Turn 'Cold' On Him After Arrest
Jonathan Majors may learn who his loyal supporters are amid the trials and tribulations in his life. The actor's Hollywood friends have reportedly turned "cold" these days following his arrest for alleged assault on his girlfriend.
Amid his legal issue, the "Lovecraft Country" star's friends have reportedly kept their distance from him. "It's no surprise that his phone is ringing much less these days," a source tells Page Six of the actor's social life these days. "That is what happens in all walks of life - but especially in Hollywood. Friends turn cold."
Jonathan was arrested in March following an altercation with his girlfriend, who is believed to be British dancer Grace Jabbari, in New York City. He is accused of slapping his partner before putting his hands around her neck, ultimately resulting in visible injuries. Among them were a "laceration behind her ear, redness, and marks to her face."
He was subsequently charged with two counts of assault in the third degree, aggravated harassment and attempted assault. He was released on his own recognizance on the same day with a limited order of protection.
Daniel Radcliffe and Erin Darke Step Out With Their Baby After Secretly Welcoming First Child
His lawyer Priya Chaudhry has insisted that her client is innocent. Earlier this month, she submitted new evidence to prove that Jonathan's girlfriend lied about her injuries. In footage taken after the alleged assault, the woman was seen going clubbing and getting drunk after he left her in the car.
She also appeared to have no problem using her right hand to push her hair behind her right ear, reach into her bag several times, sort through credit cards, handles phones, holds a menu and hold a glass of champagne despite her claims that she broke her finger in the incident.
Variety, however, reported that more women have come forward with abuse allegations against the "Ant-Man and the Wasp: Quantumania" star. The site claimed that multiple alleged abuse victims of the 33-year-old are cooperating with the Manhattan district attorney's office, noting that "the prospect of more women waiting in the wings would mark a dramatic turn in the case."
Responding to these claims, his attorney stated, "Jonathan Majors is innocent and has not abused anyone. We have provided irrefutable evidence to the District Attorney that the charges are false. We are confident that he will be fully exonerated."
Paper Magazine Lays Off Staff, Citing Economic Headwinds
The staff of Paper Magazine, the music and cultural publisher made famous by the 2014 “Break the Internet” photo shoot with Kim Kardashian, was laid off Wednesday, according to sources familiar with the situation. It’s the latest in a grim series of layoffs across the media industry.
The publisher did not respond to a request for comment.
The layoffs affect between 20 to 30 full-time staff. Their last day will be April 28, Adweek has learned. Editor in chief Justin Moran will remain with the company through May, although editorial operations will cease immediately.
The publisher itself is not shuttering, but is instead seeking to cut costs as it looks toward alternative options to remain in operation. One potential investor has expressed interest, according to a person familiar with the matter.
Publisher Tom Florio, who announced the layoffs, told staff that the advertising downturn of the last year prompted the decision. Paper follows in the footsteps of dozens of other digital media publishers, including Insider and BuzzFeed News, that have cut or shuttered titles in response to a depressed media buying climate.
The publisher generated 1.3 million page views, on average, in the first three months of the year, according to data from SimilarWeb, with 43% of traffic coming from organic search, followed by direct at 32% and social at 17%.
Florio, who previously worked as the publishing director of Vogue, Teen Vogue, Bon Appétit and Condé Nast Traveler, acquired Paper Magazine in 2017. He created the holding company ENTech Media Group LLC to house the title.
The publication, which began in 1984 as a downtown arts and style magazine, reports on music, pop culture and fashion. It monetizes primarily through on-site display advertising, as well as commerce and direct sponsorships, such as a 2021 activation with Google Shopping called 21×21.
In 2014, when the publisher released its iconic photoshoot with Kim Kardashian, itself a callback to a previous shoot involving the model Grace Jones, the accompanying article generated a traffic windfall, accruing nearly 16 million page views within a week.
The moment embodied publishers’ ability to ride the distribution provided by social platforms, particularly Facebook, to dizzying heights. The photoshoot also made Paper Magazine, a relatively small imprint, a nearly household name overnight and helped cement the emerging celebrity of Kardashian.
Social platforms are now sending far less traffic to publishers than they did in 2014, and the transition has proven a challenging headwind to many digital publishers.
Without a robust reader revenue product, Paper Magazine found itself reliant on digital advertising for the bulk of its revenue. As traffic has steadily decreased, so too has its revenue.
Disney sues DeSantis and oversight board after vote to nullify agreement with special taxing district
Walt Disney Parks and Resorts on Wednesday sued Florida Gov. Ron DeSantis and his hand-picked oversight board, accusing the Republican 2024 presidential prospect of weaponizing his political power to punish the company for exercising its free speech rights.
The lawsuit was filed in federal court minutes after the board appointed by DeSantis to oversee Disney's special taxing district sought to claw back its power from the entertainment giant, voting to invalidate an agreement struck between Disney and the previous board in February, just before that board's dissolution.
"What they created is an absolute legal mess, OK? It will not work," said Martin Garcia, chairman of the DeSantis-picked Central Florida Tourism Oversight District board of supervisors.
Wednesday's moves are the latest escalation in the fight between DeSantis and Disney as DeSantis moves toward a 2024 presidential bid.
Disney responded by suing DeSantis, the board and Florida Department of Economic Opportunity acting secretary Meredith Ivey, seeking to block the board's moves.
The lawsuit characterizes Wednesday's vote as the "latest strike" in "a targeted campaign of government retaliation -- orchestrated at every step by Governor DeSantis as punishment for Disney's protected speech."
It says DeSantis' retaliation "now threatens Disney's business operations, jeopardizes its economic future in the region, and violates its constitutional rights."
"Disney finds itself in this regrettable position because it expressed a viewpoint the Governor and his allies did not like. Disney wishes that things could have been resolved a different way," the lawsuit says. "But Disney also knows that it is fortunate to have the resources to take a stand against the State's retaliation -- a stand smaller businesses and individuals might not be able to take when the State comes after them for expressing their own views. In America, the government cannot punish you for speaking your mind."
The board's move Wednesday was expected, and board members in previous meetings had previewed its argument over why it saw the agreement as invalid. In March, the board hired a team of law firms to represent the district in "potential legal challenges" with Walt Disney Parks and Resorts, signaling that DeSantis' appointees anticipated the fight was headed to the court room.
Disney CEO Bob Iger hinted at the entertainment giant's case against the state when he told shareholders earlier this month that "the company has a right to freedom of speech just like individuals do."
"The governor got very angry about the position that Disney took, and it seems like he's decided to retaliate against us. ... in effect, to seek to punish a company for its exercise of a constitutional right," Iger said. "And that just seems really wrong to me -- against any company or individual, but particularly against a company that means so much to the state that you live in."
The fight now shifts to the courts, where Disney, in its 77-page lawsuit, is seeking an injunction that would block the board from exercising the power DeSantis and the Republican-led legislature sought to hand it.
"We are unaware of any legal right that a company has to operate its own government or maintain special privileges not held by other businesses in the state," DeSantis communications director Taryn Fenske said. "This lawsuit is yet another unfortunate example of their hope to undermine the will of the Florida voters and operate outside the bounds of the law."
The yearlong fight has strained what had long been a cozy relationship between Florida's government and the state's best-known employer and attraction of tourist dollars. DeSantis earlier this month suggested the state could build a prison or competing theme park on what had for decades been Disney-controlled property.
The Florida governor's battle with Disney has become a flashpoint in the early stages of the 2024 Republican presidential primary. Former President Donald Trump and a slew of other candidates and potential rivals, including former New Jersey Gov. Chris Christie, have lambasted DeSantis for his actions, characterizing them as anti-business.
After a hearing in which several business owners, including those who run restaurants and bars at Disney World locations, urged the board to work with Disney, Garcia said the board would seek to raise taxes to pay for its legal fees in evaluating and combatting what he called "eleventh hour agreements."
"Because that's going to cost us money, we're going to have to raise taxes to pay for that," Garcia said.
The Central Florida Tourism Oversight District board of supervisors -- the board named by DeSantis and packed with his allies earlier this year -- took over the Reedy Creek Improvement District, the special taxing district that for half a century gave Disney control over the land around its Central Florida theme parks.
But before the DeSantis-selected board was in place, Disney in February reached an agreement with the outgoing board that seemed to render the body powerless to control the entertainment giant. The DeSantis administration was unaware of the agreement for a month and vowed retribution after it became public.
The agreements Disney signed with the previous board ensured the company's development rights throughout the district for the next 30 years and in some cases prevented the board from taking significant action without first getting approval from the company. One provision restricted the new board from using any of Disney's "fanciful characters" until "21 years after the death of the last survivor of the descendants of King Charles III, king of England."
Its development agreement was approved over the course of two public meetings held two weeks apart earlier this year, both noticed in the local Orlando newspaper and attended by about a dozen residents and members of the media. No one from the governor's office was present at either meeting, according to the meeting minutes.
In Wednesday's meeting, the board's special general counsel, Daniel Langley, walked through its legal argument for nullifying the deal between Disney and the previous board.
He said the board had not provided the required public notice of its meetings, and said the agreement was not properly approved by two municipalities within the district, the cities of Bay Lake and Lake Buena Vista.
He also argued that previous amendments to Disney's long-term comprehensive plan were not properly vetted and approved by those two municipalities.
"The bottom line is that a development agreement has to be approved by the governing body of a jurisdiction, and that didn't happen from the cities that have jurisdiction," Langley said.
Former Florida Supreme Court justice Alan Lawson, an attorney hired by the district, said that "the old board attempted to act without legal authority to act."
"This is essentially about what it means to live and work in a country governed by the rule of law. Everyone must play by the same rules," he said. "Disney was openly and legally granted unique and special privilege -- that privilege of running its own government for a time. That era has ended."
The end of a decades-old agreement
The state legislature created the Reedy Creek Improvement District in 1967 and effectively gave Disney the power to control municipal services like power, water, roads and fire protection around its Central Florida theme parks that didn't exist before Walt Disney and his builders arrived. But the special district also freed Disney from bureaucratic red tape and made it cheaper to borrow to finance infrastructure projects around its theme parks, among other significant advantages.
That special arrangement, though criticized at times, was largely protected by state politicians as both Disney and Florida benefited from the tourism boom.
The unlikely fracturing of Florida's relationship with its most iconic business started during the contentious debate last year over state legislation to restrict certain classroom instruction on sexuality and gender identity. Disney's then-CEO, Bob Chapek, facing pressure from his employees, reluctantly objected to the bill, leading DeSantis to criticize the company. When DeSantis signed the legislation into law, Disney announced it would push for its repeal. DeSantis then targeted Disney's special governing powers.
For DeSantis, who has built a political brand by going toe-to-toe with businesses he identifies as "woke," the latest twist threatens to undermine a central pillar of his story as he lays the groundwork for a likely presidential campaign. An entire chapter of his new autobiography is devoted to Disney, and the saga is well-featured in the stump speech he has delivered around the country in recent weeks.
After Beyoncé Failed To Work It Out With IRS, She Filed A Petition In Tax Court
Entertainer and business success Beyoncé Knowles-Carter—known to fans as Beyoncé or Queen Bey—has filed a petition in U.S. Tax Court contesting nearly $2.7 million in tax and penalties. The April 17, 2023, petition asks the court to reconsider additional tax and penalties assessed by the IRS in a January 18, 2023, Notice of Deficiency.
Amounts Alleged Due
The Notice of Deficiency alleges that $805,850.00 in additional tax, together with $161,170 in penalty, is owed for 2018, and $1,442,747.00 in additional tax, together with $288,549.40 in penalty is owed for 2019. There is also interest due on those amounts.
Knowles-Carter disputes the deficiency, claiming, among other things, that the IRS erred in disallowing millions of dollars' worth of deductions, including $868,766 attributable to a charitable contribution carryover reported in 2018.
Also at issue? Those penalties. The IRS assessed section 6662(a) penalties—accuracy-related penalties. By statute, those penalties are 20% of the amount of the underpayment of tax. However, Knowles-Carter argues in her petition that if any tax is due, the penalties should not apply because she "has acted reasonably and in good faith."
Beyoncé
Knowles-Carter is one of the most famous faces in the world. She debuted her first solo album, Dangerously in Love, in 2003. Twenty years later, she became the most-winning artist in the history of the Grammys, bringing her haul to 32. She was also named one of the 100 Most Influential People—in the Titan category—by Time.
Knowles-Carter filed the Tax Court petition as the sole taxpayer. Her husband, Sean Carter—also known as Jay-Z—was not included in the filing. Carter, hip-hop's first billionaire, is listed on Forbes' billionaire list at #1274, with an estimated net worth of $2.5 billion. He was one of Forbes' Highest Paid Entertainers in 2022.
It's not unusual for high-earning married taxpayers to file their taxes separately. California, where the Carters live according to Knowles-Carter's tax return, has the added complication of being a community property state. When filing a separate return in the Golden State, each spouse reports one-half of community income plus their individual income.
Tax Court Procedure
The Notice of Deficiency is what triggered the petition. A taxpayer has 90 days (150 days for taxpayers outside of the country) from the date of the notice to file a petition with the Tax Court to challenge the tax. The Tax Court has the authority to hear other tax matters, too, including requests for abatement of interest, review of some collections actions, and determination of worker classification.
A Tax Court action begins with the filing of a petition. A filing fee must accompany the petition—that's currently $60. Once the petition has been filed, a taxpayer typically won't have to pay the underlying tax until the case has been decided.
Cases are scheduled for trial as soon as possible. Don't expect a televised trial à la Gwyneth Paltrow's ski suit. Most Tax Court cases are settled by agreement without going to trial. But if a matter goes to trial, it's usually a relatively quiet affair in front of a single judge—there's no jury.
While taxpayers may represent themselves in Tax Court, Knowles-Carter is represented by Michael C. Cohen of De Castro, West, Chodorow, Mendler & Glickfeld, Inc. A request for comment from Cohen was not immediately returned.
Ice Cube announces BIG3 basketball league docuseries
Ice Cube’s BIG3 basketball league is coming to the small screen. The organization will be the subject of a new docuseries following its launch in 2017 and its rise to popularity in the years since then.
The upcoming unnamed project is described as a combination of “Welcome to Wrexham” and “Cheer” within the world of basketball, according to Deadline. The series will dive in to the creation of BIG3, one of the fastest-growing new sports leagues in the U.S., and its journey to rivaling the NBA. The show will have two narratives in one as it chronicles Cube’s work and the challenges of building a new basketball league from scratch, as well as one of the BIG3 teams as they strive toward a coveted national championship title.
BIG3 was formed in 2017 as a three-on-three, half-court basketball league that welcomes some of the sport’s biggest names to its ranks like Allen Iverson and Mario Chalmers. Cube’s vision when he launched it was to bring entertainment and innovation to the sport, in the process creating a new variant of basketball termed “FIREBALL3.” Among these innovations are the four-point shot, which is accomplished by scoring from one of three four-point circles that are further out from the three-point line.
Since its formation, BIG3 earned the honor of being the first Black-owned and operated professional sports league. It’s also the first league to have female coaches within a male sport, with icons like Lisa Leslie taking on coaching duties. NBA Hall of Famer Clyde Drexler, meanwhile, serves as the commissioner of BIG3.
While BIG3 has found massive success on its own, Cube laments that major sports entities like ESPN and the NBA are seemingly trying to suppress the competing league. He shared his honest thoughts in an October 2022 tweet seen below, writing, “The NBA and ESPN are doing everything in their powers to ignore or destroy BIG3.”
And Just Like That… Season 2 Sets June Premiere on HBO Max — Watch Carrie and Aidan Reunite in First Teaser
HBO Max’s Sex and the City revival And Just Like That… will return for Season 2 this June, the streamer announced on Wednesday.
What’s more, HBO Max has also dropped a juicy teaser for the show’s sophomore outing, which includes talk of “MILFs,” Miranda taking her relationship with Che to the next level and, of course, Carrie reuniting with a man she thought she’d left in her past.
And Just Like That… premiered in December 2021 with a 10-episode freshman season that shocked fans by killing off Chris Noth’s Mr. Big in the first episode. Sarah Jessica Parker reprises her Sex and the City role as Carrie Bradshaw, with Cynthia Nixon and Kristin Davis returning as well as Miranda and Charlotte. (Original star Kim Cattrall, who played pal Samantha Jones, is conspicuously absent from the revival, though Carrie still stays in touch with Samantha off-camera.
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Season 2 will see John Corbett appear in multiple episodes as Aidan Shaw, Carrie’s ex-fiancé from Sex and the City. (HBO Max confirmed the casting in January by posting a first-look photo of Carrie and Aidan holding hands on Instagram.) Sitcom veteran Tony Danza will also join the cast in Season 2 as himself, who’s been cast to play the TV father of Miranda’s (controversial) new flame Che Diaz, played by Grey’s Anatomy alum Sara Ramirez.
Widow of Stephen ‘tWitch’ Boss to Receive All His Future Earnings
*The widow of Stephen ‘tWitch’ Boss will receive all his future royalties from “The Ellen DeGeneres Show,” “So You Think You Can Dance,” and “Magic Mike.”
Boss was known for being the hype-man and DJ on Ellen’s long-running daytime talk show. We reported previously that after Boss’ tragic death, his wife, Allison Holker Boss, legally sought to get control of half of his property and royalties. A hearing on the matter was reportedly held this week.
As The Jasmine Brand reports, in her petition, Holker noted that tWitch didn’t own anything “of value” when they married, and, “existing assets were acquired during the marriage, by virtue of the work, skills and efforts of the parties.”
Per the petition, “There were no written agreements between the parties that would have impacted the determination that the assets were community property.”
The widow is also asked for a portion of tWitch’s future earnings.
“During the marriage, decedent had numerous projects and performed as dancer, choreographer, actor and producer which resulted in rights to royalties as listed in Attachments 7a and 7b of the petition. The majority of these royalties were through Stephen Boss Productions. Petitioner has not located specific contracts related to these royalties as they constitute a stream of income being paid to decedent and the corporation. They will continue in the future as shows and productions are re-broadcast,” the petition states, according to The Jasmine Brand.
Holker asked that the court order “property passing to the surviving spouse or surviving registered domestic partner without administration.”
The judge reportedly signed off on the petition.
As previously reported, Boss was found dead in a Los Angeles motel room from a self-inflicted gunshot wound on Dec. 13. He shared three children with his wife: Weslie, 14, Maddox, 6, and Zaia, 3.
Mariah Carey Reportedly Lost 50-Pounds Ahead of Her Rumored Wedding to Boyfriend Bryan Tanaka
Mariah Carey reportedly has shaken off the weight and dropped 50 pounds in the process.
The Grammy-Award-winning artist is getting her body in tip-top shape ahead of her rumored nuptials to boyfriend Bryan Tanaka, according to RadarOnline.
Fans first noticed the 54-year-old’s weight loss after she shared photos of herself on Instagram on April 12. She can be seen wearing a black leather jacket paired with a neon-yellow sequin mini dress with a pair of black ankle strap shoes.
She captioned the post with three yellow heart emojis, and fans in her comments section returned the favor by adding a few heart eye emojis underneath the post.
“miss ma’am got me on a chokehold with these new pics!!!!!”
“I smell a new album coming please we need #mc16”
“Skinny legend. Periodt”
“Stunning as always Queen”
Rumors that Carey and Tanaka were engaged sparked over the Easter holiday weekend earlier this month after the diva shared a video of her children and a bunny rabbit. Fans who zoomed in quickly noticed a ring on Carey’s left hand.
Carey first met Tanaka in 2006, when he worked as a background dancer on her “Adventures of Mimi” tour. However, they didn’t officially start dating until 2016 after the singer finalized her divorce from entertainer Nick Cannon.
Carey and Cannon met in 2005, wed three years later, and filed for divorce in 2014. They share 11-year-old twins, Moroccan and Monroe Cannon.
According to RadarOnline, Carey is ready to tie the knot again, reportedly having lost weight in preparation for marrying the dancer and choreographer.
“Mariah looks like she’s lost 10 years,” the source is credited as saying. “She’s never looked better!”
This will be Carey’s third time saying “I Do.” She was also married to Tommy Mottola, the head of Sony Music, who had signed her to Columbia Records when she was 18 years old.
Music biographer Mark Bego also chimed in and said he believes the recording artist is planning to get married as early as this summer.
“Mariah never looks better than when she’s happy,” said Bego. “The air is thick with buzz about an impending wedding!”
Carey also is preparing to perform at the “Lovers & Friends” show in Las Vegas on May 6.
Don Lemon, Tucker Carlson Hire Same Lawyer Who Represented Chris Cuomo and Megyn Kelly After Their Firings
Don Lemon and Tucker Carlson, two days after their respective exits from CNN and Fox News, have hired the same attorney who represented Chris Cuomo and Megyn Kelly in their own high-profile exits.
The Washington Post reports that Lemon, 57, and Carlson, 53, have each hired Los Angeles-based attorney Bryan Freedman, which the outlet describes as "a combative litigator who specializes in enforcing contracts for ousted media personalities."
Freedman represented Cuomo after his highly public ousting from CNN. After the network suspended Cuomo for his involvement in defending his brother, disgraced former New York Gov. Andrew Cuomo amid multiple sexual harassment and misconduct allegations, it ultimately fired him. Cuomo went on to seek a $125 million arbitration award as part of his claim that he was wrongly terminated.
Freedman also represented Kelly in her aggressive legal fight with NBC. Kelly left the network while halfway through a three-year, $69 million contract, after her show was cancelled amid controversy over remarks she made about wearing blackface as part of Halloween costumes.
Sources have since told outlets including CNN that NBC ultimately agreed to pay Kelly the full remainder of her contract even as she did not complete the three-year run.
On Monday, news broke that both Lemon and Carlson had exited their networks.
First came the news from Fox that Carlson had left its network.
In a statement, the network said "FOX News Media and Tucker Carlson have agreed to part ways. We thank him for his service to the network as a host and prior to that as a contributor."
The statement added that Carlson's last program was Friday. Beginning Monday evening, the network will air Fox News Tonight as an interim show helmed by rotating FOX News personalities until a new host is determined.
Less than an hour later, Lemon announced in a tweet that he had been fired by CNN.
"I was informed this morning by my agent I have been terminated by CNN. I am stunned," Lemon wrote.
Lemon continued: "After 17 years at CNN I would have thought that someone in management would have had the decency to tell me directly. At no time was I ever given any indication that I would not be able to continue to do the work I have loved at the network. It is clear that there are some larger issues at play."
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Within the hour, CNN's public relations team had released a counter statement accusing Lemon of misrepresenting the way his exit was handled internally.
"Don Lemon's statement about this morning's events is inaccurate," CNN Communications tweeted. "He was offered an opportunity to meet with management but instead released a statement on Twitter."
Prior to pushing back on Lemon's tweet, CNN had released a much more cordial statement, which read: "CNN and Don have parted ways. Don will forever be a part of the CNN family, and we thank him for his contributions over the past 17 years. We wish him well and will be cheering him on in his future endeavors."
AND FINALLY FROM “THE CRAZY PEOPLE SHOPPING AT WALMART” FILES
Little Red Riding Hood
It’s so important to be your raw and authentic self because remember, there’s only one you out there!
HAVE A GREAT DAY ALL!!!
EFREM
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