Kenya Moore for On KONTROL Magazine’s Spring 2015 Issue!
“RHOA” reality star Kenya Moore is flexing her model skills for a new magazine cover. The former Miss USA is posing it up for KONTROL magazine’s “Fashion Reset” Spring 2015 Issue.
Rocking a blunt cut bang, Ms. Twirl served in an abstract print mini (styled by Julian R. Lark) as she rocked an array of designers for her spread including Roberto Cavalli, Valentino and Ralph Lauren.
In the cover story, the reality star dished on her relationships with her “RHOA” castmates, mainly NeNe Leakes. When asked if she thought NeNe would ever cut the $20K check to the Detroit Public Schools system, she said in so many words, NO.
You'll recall, Kenya was scheduled to make an appearance at a Detroit high school to donate her funds, but she was a no-show...twice! She eventually cut the check last October after winning $20K on "Celebrity Apprentice" and posted it on Instagram for all to see.
Ms. Twirl also talked about her budding relationship with Cynthia Bailey and how she feels about Phaedra Parks and her husband Apollo Nida.
Below are the highlights:
On if she thinks NeNe Leakes will write a check to Detroit Public Schools:
No, I don’t think so,” says Kenya, “People can see the type of person she is. “She used it to show the world how disgusting and evil she is. Why would you shortchange some kids because you want to be in a pissing contest with someone?”
On fans thinking she and Cynthia Bailey are an unlikely pair:
“How so? We’re both models/beauty queens that love fashion, worked in New York, and know most of the same people.” Now that things have changed between Cynthia and Nene, it’s been a lot easier to develop a deeper friendship for Kenya. “You no longer have someone constantly telling you who to be friends with and to choose.”
On how she feels about Phaedra & Apollo:
“I definitely feel redeemed from the feud with Apollo and Phaedra.” This was quite evident with the airing of Sunday’s show with Kenya and Phaedra making amends and hopefully slowing working to build a better friendship. Only time will tell.
BAD NEWS FOR MARIAH CAREY! She's been Dropped by Long Time Publicist
This can't be good. Mariah Carey and longtime publicist Cindi Berger part ways…
After 15 years together high powered publicist Cindi Berger has come to the end of her rope with Mariah Carey
Berger tells Page Six
“I have enormous respect for Mariah. She is one of the great talents and voices of our time, and I wish her nothing but the best in her future endeavors.”
“I care very deeply for her personally, but I felt that professionally it was time for us to move on.”
WOW!!!
Fantasia & Brandy Dragged Into Ex-Publicist Lawsuit
According to theJasmineBRAND.com Fantasia and Brandy will be questioned by their ex-publicist, under oath about why they fired him. What’s more? The man is reportedly accusing their record label, Sony Music, of forcing them to cut ties due to him being black.
Last year, Courtney Barnes – a well-known music publicist – filed a lawsuit against Sony Music accusing them of firing him for being black. Barnes explained that he was the PR rep for both singers Fantasia Barrino and Brandy Norwood.
The lawsuit claimed that following Fantasia hiring Barnes for PR, the singer’s manager told Barnes that the V.P. at Sony – Sarah Dennison – disliked him and wanted him to be fired so bad that she threatened to screw over Fantasia’s career.
Barnes said that Fantasia’s manager told him that the Sony V.P. claimed that he had a reputation for “shady business practices”, but Barnes said that was code language for racism. Further, he said he only met the V.P. once so she had no reason to have a negative opinion about him.
Barnes filed suit against Sony Music and the V.P. for ruining his good name in the music world and for emotional stress, and demanded 250k in damages. Sony Music fired back claiming the whole lawsuit should be dismissed.
According to docs filed in the case recently, both Fantasia and Brandy will have to sit-down and be deposed about the claimed racial accusations between their former PR rep and Sony Music.
The documents state that a substantial amount of depositions will take place in the case, including two recording artists and their managers. See the exclusive court docs Courtesy of thejasminebrand.
SAY WHAT? Barry Manilow Has Married His Manager Garry Kief
Get the confetti and head to The Copa! Looks like they made it. Barry Manilow and his longtime manager Garry Kief tied the knot last year in a private ceremony, multiple according to PEOPLE Mag.
"It was a surprise," a friend of the couple says of the wedding, which was held at Manilow's Palm Springs, California, home and attended by "20 to 30 guests" who had been told they were attending a "lunch."
Though the couple chose to keep the wedding completely private and did not sign any official paperwork, Manilow and Kief both wear wedding bands and "are committed to one another and have been for a very long time," a Manilow source says. "They have a great relationship. Garry has always been there for Barry."
News of the nuptials may come as a surprise to some Manilow fans, but the source says the "Copacabana" singer has never tried to hide his sexual orientation.
"He's at a point now where he's got his career and personal life in a great place and he really doesn't care what people think," the source says. "He's in love and happy."
Manilow's rep is not commenting on the marriage. The National Enquirer was first to report the news.
“Arrested Development” Slated For 17 New Episodes!
Fans of the Bluth Family have reason to rejoice as this week producer Brian Grazer announced that Netflix has ordered an additional run of episodes for “Arrested Development.”
While chatting with Bill Simmons on the “BS Report,” Grazer nonchalantly explained that while the series has experienced ups and downs over its lifetime, there’s still 17 episodes worth of fun left to be had.
Brian noted, “I love Arrested Development, but it [was] never a huge thing. But people are loyal to it, and we’re going to do another 17 episodes. So stay tuned for Arrested Development.” The fourth season (its first on Netflix) of the show received mixed reviews, so it’ll be interesting to see which direction the online streaming company takes with round five.
Ferguson election results in more Blacks on city council
It worked. The protests, voter education and the shedding of the blood of an innocent have changed the power structure in Ferguson, Missouri. The first municipal elections since the killing of unarmed teen Michael Brown occurred April 7, and despite severe weather, voter turnout doubled. In previous elections only 12.3 percent of registered voters turned out, this election saw that number swell to 29.4 percent.
For Ferguson, a town of 21,000 residents, 16,000 of whom are Black, it means a change in the all-important city council. The council had five White and one Black member and was disproportionate to the population of the city. Now with the election of Black residents Wesley Bell and Ella Jones the council has three White and three Black members.
This new council will have the task of hiring replacements for critical positions in city government that were left open after a blistering Department of Justice report. In the wake of the report, many top-level administrators such as the Ferguson police chief resigned from office. In addition, the oppressive and possibly unconstitutional operation of the Ferguson Municipal Court system will undergo changes as well.
SERIOUSLY? Tavis Smiley slams ‘Empire’
“Empire” may be a massive ratings hit and one of the biggest sensations in pop culture history, but that doesn’t mean that everybody is a fan of the show. One of the show’s biggest detractors is now TV journalist and political commentator Tavis Smiley, who recently blasted the series for showing the worst of the Black community.
Smiley gave his opinion on “Empire” during a recent interview on “PoliticKING with Larry King,” where he discussed the recent boom of success for black TV shows on prime-time television. Although Smiley acknowledged the success of the show, he criticized it for shining a negative light on the Black community.
“There is a debate in the Black community that hasn’t really surfaced, hasn’t really boiled to the top yet, but I hear it in barbershops and other places,” Smiley said, “that whether the problem with ‘Empire’ is that it advances the worst of every pathology that black people have — crime and drug dealing and this and that and the other. A lot of people are looking for positive characters that may come out in the second season. But the first season, everybody is ahhh!”
In response, King compared the criticism that “Empire” has received from the Black community to Italian-American politician Mario Cuomo “hating The Godfather” and saying that the iconic film was “too well done.”
“Exactly!” Smiley replied.
Smiley definitely touched upon a hot debate within the Black community. Do you agree? Is “Empire” a bad representation of the Black community?
Kanye West settles paparazzo civil lawsuit; did Ye have to pay?
Kanye West shakes hands and apologies. Kanye West finally settled his lawsuit with the photographer he was tussling and struggling with. That had to be the day West just didn’t want to take photos and he absolutely lost it. Only the photographer was not letting up nor giving up his camera. But now it’s all a thing of the past and they shook hands, so it’s officially over.
In July 2013, Kanye West was angered by Daniel Ramos’ line of questioning; West lunged at the paparazzo while trying to get into his car at LAX.
West was charged with misdemeanor battery. Another paparazzo captured the entire incident on his video camera. Details of the settlement reached on Tuesday were released.The one thing we do know is that an apology from Were was high on the demand list.
Financial terms (if there even were any) were not disclosed.
Let’s hope West learned a very valuable lesson. If you are having a great day or not so great day, when people interrupt your peace, you cannot snap back physically at them. Kanye, it doesn’t matter whether you feel like being bothered or don’t want the cameras around — they will be in your face.
Let’s also hope that Ramos learned a very valuable lesson as well. You have to respect the privacy of celebrities. When they aren’t up to picture taking, we have to use discernment and simply not take the picture or at least find a good way to take it from a distance. But the fighting and tussling for a camera? No sir! It’s just embarrassing to be that person to go there with a celebrity.
Jay Z pulled Reasonable Doubt from Spotify
“I’m not a businessman, I am a business man” Jay Z’s music streaming company that he purchased for $57 million is now worth over $250 million, within a week! Jay Z has pulled his debut album “Reasonable Doubt” from Spotify, days after launching his own rival streaming site, Tidal.
Bloomberg reports that Jay Z’s debut album disappeared from Spotify in the early hours of the morning. But there’s one important thing to note: Reasonable Doubt is still available on international versions of Spotify, just not on the US service
Reasonable Doubt is dubbed as Jay Z best album, and is his debut studio album released. Released on June 25, 1996, by Roc-A-Fella and Priority Records.
Indiana Pacers Player Stabbed At NYC Nightclub
Indiana Pacers player Chris Copeland, 31, was stabbed early Wednesday morning while outside a New York City nightclub.
We are told that Copeland and his wife, Katrine Saltara, 28, were leaving 1 OAK around 4 a.m. EST in Chelsea when they got into an argument. That’s when a man approached the couple and became inquisitive about their discussion. Apparently, things escalated from there.
The NY Police Department tells us the male victim [Copeland] was stabbed in the abdomen and his wife was cut on the arm and sustained a slash to the chest.
23-year-old Catherine Somani, who is said to be the friend of the suspect, was also stabbed in the abdomen by accident after trying to break up the dispute.
Police later arrested 22-year-old Shezoy Bleary of Brooklyn in connection with the stabbings. We are told that there have been no official charges yet.
Copeland and Katrine were both transported to Bellevue Hospital where they are in stable condition. Somani was taken to Lenox Hill Hospital where she is also in stable condition.
“We are aware that Chris Copeland was injured early this morning in New York City,” Pacers president Larry Bird said in a statement. “We are still gathering information and will update when we know more. Our thoughts are with Chris and those injured.”
Meanwhile, Atlanta Hawks players, Thabo Sefolosha and Pero Antic were also taken into custody and charged with obstructing governmental administration for refusing to move when police were setting up the crime scene.
“We are aware of the situation involving Pero Antic and Thabo Sefolosha this morning,” the Hawks said in a statement. “We are in the process of gathering more information and will have further comment at the appropriate time.”
What Jussie Smollett Says Stayed “On Lock” on his ipod!
Empire star Jussie Smollett took the stage at the LA Twitter offices alongside Chrissy Teigen on Tuesday morning to announce the finalists for the 2015 Billboard Music Awards.
My Media sources caught up with Smollett following the live feed to talk about a slew of topics, including what Billboard nominee he enjoyed the most this year. “J. Cole’s album stayed for the past couple of months on lock. Constantly on repeat,” Smollett told said when asked what he has been jamming out to lately.
Jussie also revealed that Kendrick Lamar’s latest album is also in heavy rotation.
As for The Billboard Music Awards they are set to air on May 17 at ABC at 8 p.m.
Dzhokhar Tsarnaev Found GUILTY In Boston Marathon Bombing
Dzhokhar Tsarnaev is no longer an alleged suspect in the Boston Marathon bombing of 2013. Seven days before the two-year anniversary of the heinous act of terror, a jury of his peers have found him guilty on all 30 counts.
Reports MSN:
Dzhokhar Tsarnaev was convicted Wednesday in the Boston Marathon bombing by a federal jury that now must decide whether the 21-year-old former college student should be executed.
Tsarnaev kept his hands folded in front of him and looked down at the defense table as listened to the verdict, reached after a day and a half of deliberations. He was found guilty on charges that included conspiracy and use of a weapon of mass destruction — offenses punishable by death.
His conviction was practically a foregone conclusion, given his lawyer’s startling admission during opening statements that Tsarnaev carried out the attack with his now-dead older brother, Tamerlan.
The two shrapnel-packed pressure-cooker bombs that exploded near the finish line on April 15, 2013, killed three spectators and wounded more than 260 other people, turning the traditionally celebratory home stretch of the world-famous race into a scene of carnage and putting the city on edge for days.
In the next phase of the trial, the jury will hear evidence on whether Tsarnaev should get the death penalty or spend the rest of his life in prison.
In a bid to save Tsarnaev from a death sentence, defense attorney Judy Clarke has argued that Tsarnaev, then 19, fell under the influence of his radicalized brother. Tamerlan, 26, died when he was shot by police and run over by his brother during a chaotic getaway attempt days after the bombing.
“If not for Tamerlan, it would not have happened,” Clarke told the jury during closing arguments.
Killed were Lingzi Lu, a 23-year-old Chinese graduate student at Boston University; Krystle Campbell, a 29-year-old restaurant manager; and Martin Richard, the 8-year-old. Massachusetts Institute of Technology police Officer Sean Collier was shot and killed during the brothers’ getaway attempt.
Christian Millian VS Karren Steffans over Lil Wayne!
On the heels of Christina Milian professing her undying love for her man Lil Wayne, she’s now back to swatting off his ex-flings. On social media. Again.
Recently, Weezy’s ex(?)-jumpoff Karrine “Superhead” Steffans sat down with VladTV to dish on all the alleged details of her non-exclusive relationship with the Young Money honcho. During her chat, the ex-video vixen revealed she will NEVER stop seeing Lil Wayne…no matter who he’s with, no matter who she’s with (even while married). She says she will NEVER end her “situationship” with him. She spoke in detail how she would get up out of her bed with her husband in the middle of the night to be with Wayne if he called.
We believe next to nothing that comes out of Karrine's mouth. But we're just relaying her message. Chile….
A fan hit C-Milli up on Twitter to ask her thoughts about Karrine’s interview and she responded with a short and shadeful tweet:
Bloop!
Karrine then posted a subliminal, seemingly aimed at C-Milli tweeting:
Hmph. Sounds like a little shade since C-Milli appeared with her bestie Karrueche's sitdown with Iyanla Vanzant.
This isn’t the first time these two have gone at it on social media. A few months ago, “Superhead” came at C-Milli about claiming a man who belongs to the world then the two went back and forth.
Mischa Barton is suing her mother for stealing her mansion, money
Mischa Barton filed suit in LA Superior Court this week against her own mother. Mischa’s suit alleges that her mother, working as her manager since Mischa was a child, siphoned money from Mischa’s earnings and conspired to steal and defraud her for years. The suit describes how Nuala Barton regularly stole from Mischa, opened side businesses under Mischa’s name, put her name on the deed to Mischa’s mansion without informing her about it, and even kicked Mischa out of her own home. Nuala put Mischa on an “allowance” of her own money, leaving Mischa unable to pay her bills. What’s more is that Nuala would sign Mischa up for endorsement deals without her permission, including for a weight loss drug called Proactal. Mischa didn’t learn that she was supposedly representing Proactal until they threatened her with breach of contract. She’s since fired her mother and hired another manager.
The lawsuit is long and you can read the full PDF here on E! Online. Some excerpts from the suit are below and there are summaries on E! and People:
This action arises from the tragic tale of a greedy stage mother posing as a talent manager who, instead of acting in the best interest of her daughter/client, schemed to defraud her unsuspecting victim. In the process, Defendant Nuala Barton… forged documents and has even kicked Barton out of her own home – the home purchased with Barton’s money but that Nuala has turned into her own personal ATM. Barton now seeks recovery of what her own mother stole from her and to be able to proceed with her career free of the meddling that Nuala continues to engage in and the damages she continues to cause.
As Barton’s manager, Nuala committed a series of egregious acts to intentionally exploit and harm her own daughter, including (1) inducing Barton to purchase a $7.8 million Beverly Hills home, granting herself a one-half undivided interest in the property, and encumbering the property with two deeds of trust without providing adequate documentation to Barton or an explanation of her rights; (2) withholding Barton’s compensation for her acting, modeling and endorsement work and refusing to provide transparency with respect to the accounting for such compensation; (3) lying to Barton by representing that Barton’s compensation for a particular film was less than what was actually negotiated and paid by the production company so that she could pocket the difference; (4) exploiting Barton’s name, image and likeness to create side businesses – including a Mischa Barton handbag line and Mischa Barton fashion boutique – without compensating Barton for said exploitation or sharing in the profits; and (5) damaging Barton’s reputation in the industry and exposing Barton to legal liability by entering Barton into contracts for endorsement of certain productions without first informing Barton of her obligations under said contracts.
Neither Nuala nor Barton’s father, Paul, has had a job independent of Barton in over a decade. Instead, they sit back expecting their daughter’s hard work and dedication to her craft to support their lifestyle. Both comfortably reside in the $7.8 million Beverly Hills home that was purchased with Barton’s funds while Barton is not welcome at the property…
These revelations of exploitation and fraud, coupled with ongoing instances of bullying and verbal abuse, eventually led to the breakdown of Barton and Nuala’s personal and professional relationship.
[From PDF of Mischa Barton's lawsuit, available on E!]
Mischa’s lawyer is an excellent writer, right? I love the turns of phrase in that lawsuit, it’s like a screenplay. I guess we now know what’s been going on with Mischa over the years, and her 2009 breakdown (which she blamed on medication for wisdom tooth surgery) makes a lot more sense. She’s seemed somewhat out of it in the past, maybe with substance abuse issues, and definitely with delusions about her career. Mischa must have been dealing so much if her mother was emotionally and financially abusing her like that. If this is all true, it’s despicable. Her parents have been exploiting her since she was eight. I hope that Mischa is able to get her mansion and some of her earnings back.
AND FINALLY FROM “THE CRAZY PEOPLE SHOPPING AT WALMART” FILES
Courtesy of People of WalMart
‘DOH!’
Thanks for showing the world how we feel kid. Sums it up nicely.
HAVE A GREAT DAY ALL!!!
EFREM
