Toni Braxton Announces The ‘As Long As I Live Tour’ With Special Guest SWV!
Seven months ago, Toni Braxton announced plans for Sex and Cigarettes, with her ninth studio album set for a March 23 release by Def Jam.
In support of the album, Toni is plotting the SEX AND CIGARETTES TOUR, a North American trek set for the spring, with tour dates and ticket info to be announced very soon. Click Here if you missed that.
Toni Braxton will be taking her ‘As Long As I Live’ Tour on the road in support of her current album, Sex & Cigarettes. The tour begins on January 19 in Columbia, SC and runs through March 3 in Los Angeles.
SWV, one of the best-selling girl groups of all time, will be a special guest.
Tickets go on sale on Friday, October 26 at 10am local time at LiveNation.com All Tour dates and tickets are HERE
Jennifer Lopez Looks FLAWLESS for her April 2018 Harper’s Bazaar Cover!
Jennifer Lopez is on the cover of the April 2018 issue of Harper’s Bazaar magazine. The new issue will hit newsstands on March 27th. This new J.LO photoshoot for Harper’s Bazaar, shot by Mariano Vivanco, is not to be missed. It’s simply breathtaking! It doesn’t only show off the “On The Floor” singer’s ageless stunning beauty but it also seeks to demonstrate Jennifer isn’t afraid of heights (oh, and for those of you in love/obsessed with Italian model Pietro Boselli, he appears shirtless in one picture lifting Jennifer Lopez up).
In the exclusive interview Jennifer Lopez gave the new issue of Harper’s Bazaar, the singer, actress and mother of two discussed subjects like the #MeToo movement, a potential marriage between she and Alex Rodriguez or people being amazed at how youthful she looks at almost 50.
#METOO
“I haven’t been abused in the way some women have. But have I been told by a director to take off my shirt and show my boobs? Yes, I have. But did I do it? No, I did not.”
When I did speak up, I was terrified. I remember my heart beating out of my chest, thinking, ‘What did I do? This man is hiring me!’ It was one of my first movies. But in my mind, I knew the behavior wasn’t right. It could have gone either way for me. But I think ultimately the Bronx in me was like, ‘Nah, we’re not having it.’”
MARRIAGE AGAIN
“I do believe in marriage, and I would love to grow old with somebody in a committed relationship. But I’m not forcing anything right now.
[Our relationship is] good, it’s healthy; we communicate well. We understand each other’s lives in a way that most other people couldn’t. We both entered the public eye in our early 20s and overachieved right from the start. And that affects every dynamic in your life, from your family to your work to your relationships. We have a similar makeup.”
LOOKING AGELESS
“Affirmations are so important. I am youthful and timeless. I tell myself that every day, a few times a day. It sounds like clichéd bullshit, but it’s not: Age is all in your mind. Look at Jane Fonda. She really leans into the big fundamentals, like getting her rest, eight to 10 hours. She doesn’t drink, doesn’t smoke. She lives a very clean life.”
To read the full cover story, go to HarpersBazaar.com!
#RHoA: NeNe Spills a little Housewives Tea!
Ya Girl NeNe Leakes gave an interview to LA Confidential Magazine and decided to give some tidbits on The Real Housewives of Atlanta. Here some Tea she spilled.
NeNe on who is a good, solid Real Housewife!
She says: I don’t have anybody that I know that’s a good, solid housewife that has all of the things that the producers are always looking for. They’re looking for someone that’s in a relationship and who is willing to show their relationship. They’re looking for a girl who’s fabulous and has her own things going on. They want a girl who’s opinionated. All the things that they want is hard to find in one picture, you know what I’m saying? If you find a great girl who’s doing all those things, then she doesn’t want to show her relationship, or then her man doesn’t want to come on the show, or that kind of thing. So I don’t have anybody that I know.
Then that statement led to them asking her about Kenya Moore and she said: Oh, she’s definitely in a tough spot, and rightly so because so many of us, for so long, have had to expose our husbands and children to the show.
The she was asked about Marlo Hmpton getting a Peach she said: For the same reason that I just said, she doesn’t fit all of the things that they are always looking for. You don’t have to be in a marriage, but you do have to be in a relationship and willing to show your relationship, and they really have issues with girls not showing their relationship. So that’s one of the reasons, I think. Marlo’s been amazing to see and I thought she was super funny, fun, and everything. There may be an opportunity for her at some point to own a piece of it, but I believe that she will be around and will always be around.
Hmmmmm well what do y’all think?
#EMPIRE: See some sneak peek photos of EMPIRE Season 4 Episode 10 Photos Birds In The Cage!
Our friends over at Seat42f got their hands on some sneak peek photos from the debut season 4 Episode 10 of Empire: Check them out!
Synopsis: Nurse Claudia (guest star Demi Moore) takes her job to a new level, when she kidnaps Lucious. To find him, Cookie must race against time and use the skills she learned in prison to rescue him. Meanwhile, Andre, Jamal and Hakeem pick up the pieces from their battle with the Dubois family in the all-new “Birds in the Cage” spring premiere episode of Empire airing Wednesday, March 28 (8:00-9:00 PM ET/PT) on FOX. (EMP-410) (TV-14 D, L, S, V) EMPIRE Season 4 Episode 10 Photos Birds In The Cage.
#NEWMUSIC from Toni Braxton ‘Sex & Cigarettes’
Toni Braxton releases the new single and title track, ‘Sex & Cigarettes.’ On the piano and strings-driven offering, Braxton gives her tale of being in a relationship where you can’t trust your other half because of there actions. Makes for Great Listening.
The 2018 ‘Sex & Cigarettes’ album marks Braxton’s 25th year in music and follows her 2014 offering, ‘Love, Marriage & Divorce’ with Babyface.
LISTEN HERE
Braxton will support the project with a North American Tour,
#HOTNEWHIPHOP from Eminem Feat. Kehlani – ‘Nowhere Fast’
Shortly after performing “Nowhere Fast” with Kehlani at the iHeartRadio Music Awards, Eminem debuts the extended version of his Revival single.
LISTEN HERE
Backed by Lani Tsunami’s chorus, Slim Shady adds a powerful verse about gun violence to the start of the song, which features violins and orchestral sounds to accompany references to school shootings.
#MARCHMADNESS SHOCKER! Defending champ North Carolina knocked out in second round of March Madness
It was "Black Sunday" redux for the North Carolina Tar Heels. The defending NCAA men's basketball champions had no answer for Texas A&M on either end of the floor and the Aggies blew out UNC, 86-65 Sunday afternoon in Charlotte.
Texas A&M advances to play Michigan on Thursday in the West Regional semifinals in Los Angeles. North Carolina's loss marks the second year in a row that the defending March Madness winner will miss the Sweet 16.
T.J. Starks led the way for A&M with 21 points, while Robert Williams added 13 rebounds, helping the Aggies take a 50-36 edge on the glass while shooting 52 percent — including 10 of 24 from 3-point range.
Joel Berry II scored 21 points in his final game for the second-seeded Tar Heels (26-11), who were trying to reach their third straight Final Four. North Carolina shot just 33 percent, including 6 of 31 (.194) on 3-pointers after entering the game shooting nearly 37 percent from behind the arc.
The Tar Heels were a very different team than last year's title winner, namely in the way they leaned on a small-ball lineup. But expectations grew that they could make a third straight Final Four run as UNC found a final-month groove, including two wins against Duke and a trip to the Atlantic Coast Conference Tournament championship game.
Instead -- after a heartbreaking title-game loss to Villanova in 2016 followed by last year's title win against Gonzaga -- the Tar Heels found themselves eliminated on the tournament's opening weekend for the first time since 2014.
UNC led 20-13 early only to see the Aggies go on a 15-0 run to change the entire dynamic of the game. Tyler Davis (18 points, nine rebounds) got loose for three baskets inside as the Aggies asserted themselves in the paint, while UNC started missing shot after shot.
By halftime, the Aggies had pushed to a 42-28 lead, then got 3-pointers from Admon Gilder and D.J. Hogg to open the second half and push the margin to a stunning 20 points.
Amazingly enough, the Tar Heels got no closer than 17 again to stun a crowd that was wearing a lot of blue and expecting the Tar Heels to advance.
The loss was just the second time the Tar Heels had lost an NCAA Tournament game in their home state. The first time happened on March 11, 1979, when No. 1-seeded UNC -- led by the legendary Dean Smith -- was stunned by Ivy League champions Penn in Raleigh. Two hours later, No. 2 seed Duke fell to St. John's, forever immortalizing that day as "Black Sunday" in North Carolina.
Kendall Jenner and Ed Sheeran Slammed via Twitter for Appearing in Chris Brown’s New Music Video
Lil Dicky and Chris Brown’s new song, “Freaky Friday,” shot to the top of the iTunes charts after the music video dropped on Thursday, March 15, but there was also quite a bit of backlash surrounding the release.
Kendall Jenner and Ed Sheeran, both of whom make cameos in the hilarious video, were slammed by fans on Twitter for working with Brown, 28, who pleaded guilty to physically assaulting then-girlfriend Rihanna in 2009. He also has a tumultuous relationship with his ex Karrueche Tran, who had a restraining order taken out against him in 2017.
Earlier this week, Brown made headlines after Snapchat posted an advertisement that made light of his assault conviction. The message asked users whether they’d rather “slap Rihanna” or “punch Chris Brown.” A spokesperson for the social media app apologized in a statement to Us Weekly on Wednesday, March 14, saying the “advert was reviewed and approved in error, as it violates our advertising guidelines.”
Jenner and Sheeran have yet to publicly respond to the backlash.
#MARVEL Marvel’s ‘Avengers: Infinity War’ Breaks Pre-Sale Record In 6 Hours they call it ‘The Wakanda Effect’
Marvel’s Avengers: Infinity War is going to “buss” the box office wide open!
The highly anticipated superhero flick broke a Fandango record for the most pre-sales of a superhero film in just 6 hours!
Fandango kicked off the presale at 6 a.m. PDT and by noon PDT Infinity War had outsold both Batman v Superman: Dawn of Justice and Black Panther.
Over 1,000 ticket buyers were surveyed and 97% said they can’t wait to see all of the heroes in one film together (me too, bruh).
The Wakanda Effect also impacted the crazy pre-sales. 71% of buyers said they saw Black Panther and 60% said seeing Black Panther made them want to see Infinity War.
Glen ‘Big Baby’ Davis responds to drug arrest with jet, pile of cash: 'Mad 'cause a black man got money'
On Saturday, news broke of former NBA player Glen “Big Baby” Davis being arrested in February after police say they found cash and around one-fourth of a pound of marijuana in a Maryland hotel room he was occupying.
Davis, a key role player on the 2008 Boston Celtics championship team who last played for the Los Angeles Clippers in 2015, allowed police to search his room after the owner of the hotel smelled marijuana, WMAR in Baltimore reports.
“They recovered 126 grams of marijuana,” Aberdeen Police Lieutenant William Reiber told WMAR. “In addition to that, there was a briefcase that contained $92,164 of U.S. currency along with a ledger that contained language which is consistent with someone involved in the sale and distribution of narcotics.”
The February 7 arrest led to seven charges of drug possession and distribution that are still pending, according to the report. Davis’ attorney told WMAR that Davis looks forward to his day in court to clear his name.
Davis reiterated his attorney’s stance on Instagram later on Saturday, taking a slightly less subtle approach.
Davis, apparently riding on a private jet in the Instagram video, maintained his innocence while sitting next to a briefcase full of cash embellished with his Celtics NBA championship ring.
The post was removed later in the day from Davis’ Instagram page, but the video was preserved on Twitter.
“Don’t believe all that shit on the internet,” Davis said. “I will have my day in court. They’re just mad ’cause a black man got money, man. Just trying to keep a black man down.”
Davis played eight seasons in the NBA and earned an estimated $33 million in salary.
His court date is scheduled for early April, according to WMAR.
Logic And his Wife Jessica Andrea has Split
Following two years of marriage, Logic and his wife Jessica Andrea have reportedly called it quits.
The rapper, 28, and social media personality-turned-singer, 25, decided to separate but neither has filed for divorce just yet, according to TMZ. Fans noticed that Andrea unfollowed Logic on Instagram, but the Bobby Tarantino rapper still follows her.
Logic and Andrea were married in October 2015, when the rapper was 25 and the singer was 23. They don’t have any children together and it remains unclear when they decided to split.\
Sources say that a reconciliation seems unlikely and that they are set to put their home, which they purchased together last year, on the market soon.
Logic spoke about their relationship shortly before marrying Andrea. “I think it’s just something I’ve always wanted,” he told MTV News at the time. “I was just waiting for the right person…I [proposed] in a photo booth. It was pretty epic. It’s just a spot that we both went to. It was real special to her. She took me there on one of our first dates. We went back again and when the photo booth counted down – 3, 2, 1- I pulled out the ring and got it on film.”
It seemed like their relationship was going strong in December, when Logic surprised Andrea with a Mercedes-Benz G-Class, and then in January, when Andrea accompanied the rapper to the Grammys, where he was nominated and performed.
Andrea also appears on the artwork for Logic’s latest mixtape, Bobby Tarantino II, which dropped last week
The Roots Canceled their SXSW Concert After Bomb Threat
The Tonight Show house band The Roots had to cancel their SXSW concert Sat Night at Austin’s Fair Market due to a bomb threat.
At first, local news sources were saying that the Grammy-winning band had to cancel their concert due to a “security concern.” The Austin Chronicle then reported that the abrupt cancelation was due to a bomb threat.
Roots drummer Questlove tweeted about the cancellation of the concert and then posted an Instagram story (which has since been deleted) with the caption: “Welp. It’s 2018. Show canceled. These are the times we now live in.” The official SXSW confirmed the cancelation while the Bud Light account tweeted, “Your safety and the safety of all fans at SXSW is our most important priority.”
This news comes shortly after the string of package explosions were reported in the residential areas of Austin. One of these bombings killed 17-year old Draylen Mason and while the other ended up wounding a 75-year old Hispanic woman.
On Friday, UMBC beat Virginia, the biggest upset in NCAA tournament history, hypothetically the most improbable thing we’d seen in this tournament or any. A men’s no. 16 seed hadn’t beaten a 1-seed in 135 tries. But after Michigan’s buzzer-beater to defeat Houston 64–63 on Saturday night, I’m not sure the 1–16 upset was the most improbable thing in the tournament. If Jordan Poole got to take this shot 135 more times, do you think he would’ve hit it again?
Poole’s a good shooter, 37.8 percent from behind the arc on the year, but he had hit just two of his last 13 3-point attempts. He’s at least 35 feet from the hoop on the play, one the team calls “Indiana,” one they’ve apparently practiced “thousands” of times. But there isn’t much that can prepare you for the moment when you have just over a second to shoot for your school’s life. There’s a defender guarding Poole about as tightly as a shot can be defended, forcing him to shoot at a higher angle than he’d normally want to shoot. The force of hurling a ball so high and so far gets Poole way off-balance, as he splits his legs while shooting and tumbles to the ground.
He swished it. And then he ran for his life, in mortal fear of the 7-foot German man trying to physically engulf him.
Ben Affleck Goes Shirtless and Shows Off Massive Back Tattoo After Claiming It Was Fake!
Almost two years after claiming his massive back tattoo was fake and something he only got “for a movie,” Ben Affleck was spotted showing off the ink while shirtless in Hawaii.
Affleck, 45, was photographed during a training session alongside Charlie Hunnam, Oscar Isaac and Garrett Hedlund as the costars prepared for their upcoming film Triple Frontier.
The back piece, which is a full color picture of a phoenix taking flight, completely takes up Affleck’s back.
Although the public got its first glimpse of Affleck’s tattoo in the summer of 2015, shortly after the actor and Jennifer Garnerannounced their split, it wasn’t seen in full until December of that year while the actor was filming Live by Night.
While at the time PEOPLE reported the inking was the real deal, in March 2016 Affleck claimed it was just a temporary thing.
“[It’s] fake for a movie,” Affleck told Extra’s Mario Lopez. “I actually do have a number of tattoos but I try to have them in places where you don’t have to do a lot of cover up they get sort of addictive, tattoos, after awhile.”
But while Affleck may have gone on the record about how the tattoo wasn’t real, that didn’t stop his exes from speaking out about the inking.
In a 2016 interview with Vanity Fair, Garner hinted she wasn’t the biggest fan of her ex’s back tattoo.
“You know what we would say in my hometown about that? ‘Bless his heart,’ ” she told the publication.
“A phoenix rising from the ashes. Am I the ashes in this scenario? I take umbrage,” she said. “I refuse to be the ashes.”
Putting the matter even more bluntly, Jennifer Lopez — who was previously engaged to the actor — actually said the tattoo was “awful.”
“It’s awful! What are you doing?” Lopez told Andy Cohen during the “Plead the Fifth” segment on Watch What Happens Live.
“His tattoos always have too many colors, they shouldn’t be so colorful. They should be cooler,” she added.
The Batman v Superman: Dawn of Justice star also has a dolphin on his right hip covering up the name of his high school sweetheart, and has been seen with barbed wire across his right bicep, a large design featuring a fish and a skull and crossbones on his right arm and some initials inscribed on his shoulder blade.
Jim Carrey Painted a Sarah Huckabee Sanders Portrait, and It’s Not a Pretty Picture (Photo)
You might want to put a “Mask” on Jim Carrey’s portrait of Sarah Huckabee Sanders. The actor revealed his latest work of art on Saturday, and it’s not a pretty picture.
Though Carrey didn’t mention Sanders by name, many Twitter users found it to be a perfect rendering of President Trump’s White House press secretary.
“This is the portrait of a so-called Christian whose only purpose in life is to lie for the wicked,” Carrey captioned his piece. “Monstrous!”
Anyway, here it is:
LOL!
AND FINALLY FROM “THE CRAZY PEOPLE SHOPPING AT WALMART” FILES
Shia Labeouf covers the April 2018 issue of Esquire magazine photographed by Matthew Brookes.
On redemption: “I’ve got to look at my failures in the face for a while. I need to take ownership of my shit and clean up my side of the street a bit before I can go out there and work again, so I’m trying to stay creative and learn from my mistakes. The truth is, in my desperation, I lost the plot.”
On the similarities between his character tennis phenom John McEnroe’s outbursts and his own: “McEnroe was a master at his rage. I’m a buffoon. My public outbursts are failures. They’re not strategic. They’re a struggling motherfucker showing his ass in front of the world.”
In a “No More Parties in L. A.”outtake, Kanye West raps, “I wish I dressed as fresh as Shia LaBeouf.” Kanye West then asked Shia to have some of his clothes for a pop-up shop: “I took my mother to his concert. She is, of course, obsessed with Kanye West. He was a fucking sweetheart to her. So I’m like, ‘Go for it, my guy. Take everything you want.’ And he did. He took all my fucking clothes. Me and him haven’t really been in contact since he blew up onstage and, you know, shit on me.”
On his and Kanye’s relationship now: “I fucking love Kanye West. He’s going through a lot. And I don’t know where he’s at or what he’s doing.”
On the Georgia incident: “What went on in Georgia was mortifying. White privilege and desperation and disaster. . .I fucked up.”
#FLORIDA TRAGIC! FLORIDA FOOT BRIDGE COLLAPSE LEAVES FOUR PEOPLE DEAD!
MIAMI (Reuters) - A newly erected pedestrian bridge spanning several lanes of traffic collapsed at Florida International University on Thursday, killing four people, Miami-Dade County Fire Chief Dave Downey said.
Emergency personnel with sniffer dogs searched for signs of life amid the wreckage of concrete slabs and twisted metal after the 950-ton bridge crushed vehicles on one of the busiest roads in South Florida.
At least eight vehicles were trapped in the wreckage of the bridge and at least 10 people have been transported to hospitals, officials and doctors told news conferences.
Witnesses told local media the vehicles were stopped at a traffic light when the bridge collapsed on top of them at around 1:30 p.m. ET (1730 GMT).
“We’re working our way into the pile trying to create holes that we can actually physically see,” Miami-Dade Fire Department Division Chief Paul Estopian told reporters.
At one point, police requested television helicopters leave the area so rescuers could hear for any sounds of people crying for help from beneath the collapsed structure, CBS Miami television said.
Complicating the rescue effort was the uncertainty about the integrity of the bridge, parts of which remained off the ground, much of it inclined, local media reported.
The 174-feet (53-meter) long bridge connects the university with the city of Sweetwater and was installed on Saturday in six hours over the eight-lane highway, according to a report posted on the university’s website.
“If anybody has done anything wrong, we will hold them accountable,” said Florida Governor Rick Scott, at a Thursday night press conference, after his office issued statement saying a company contracted to inspect the bridge was not pre-qualified by the state.
The bridge was intended to provide a walkway over the busy street where an 18-year-old female FIU student from San Diego was killed while trying to cross last August, according to local media reports.
Students at FIU are currently on their spring break vacation, which runs from March 12 to March 17.
‘A MIRACLE’
Student Aura Martinez was having lunch in a nearby restaurant with her mother when a waitress told her the bridge had collapsed. She ran outside and helped pull a woman out of her car, most of which was flattened by the bridge.
“Her car, it was literally a miracle of God, her car got squished by the bridge from the back, so she was able to get out and she was on the floor and it was just very traumatic,” she told the local CBS affiliate.
To keep the inevitable disruption of traffic associated with bridge construction to a minimum, the 174-foot portion of the bridge was built adjacent to Southwest 8th Street using a method called Accelerated Bridge Construction (ABC). It was driven into its perpendicular position across the road by a rig in only six hours on Saturday, according to a statement released by the university.
The $14.2 million bridge was designed to withstand a Category 5 hurricane, the most dangerous measure by the National Hurricane Center, and built to last 100 years, the university said. (bit.ly/2tQ2ARg)
The National Transportation Safety Board was sending a team to investigate why it collapsed.
President Donald Trump thanked first responders for their courage on Twitter. Along with Governor Scott, U.S. Senator Marco Rubio went to the scene of the collapse.
Munilla Construction Management, which installed the bridge was founded in 1983 and owned by five brothers, according to its website. In addition to its Florida operations, the company also has divisions in Texas and Panama and employs 500 people.
“Munilla Construction Management is a family business and we are all devastated and doing everything we can to assist,” the company said in a statement.
FIGG Engineering said it took part in the bridge project and the collapse was a first in its 40-year history.
Colorado-based engineering company BDI said in a tweet on March 12 that it was “thrilled” to have conducted structural monitoring during the “spectacular” process of moving the bridge into place. The company removed the tweet on Thursday and said in a statement it did so out of respect for individuals affected by the collapse.
Scott’s office said FIU picked a firm that was not pre-qualified to check the design of the bridge, which was required because it was such a long pedestrian bridge and other unique characteristics.
“The firm selected, Louis Berger, was not FDOT pre-qualified for this service, which is required under FIU’s agreement with the state. FIU’s design build team is responsible for selecting a pre-qualified firm and ensuring this process is followed,” the governor said in a statement.
Officials at the Miami office of global engineering services firm Louis Berger were not immediately available for comment.
#RHOA What’s The Tea Here? Eva Marcille Admits She’s ‘Scared’ Of Kim Zolciak-Biermann and Kenya Moore?
Eva Marcille may be new to the Real Housewives of Atlanta, but she’s familiar with the drama! The model opened up to Us Weekly‘s managing editor Brody Brown about the series, and even admitted she’s afraid of costars Kim Zolciak-Biermann and Kenya Moore.
“It doesn’t exist,” Eva, who made her debut on RHOA during the January 28 episode, exclusively told Us when asked about her relationship with Kenya. “Yeah, she’s like coming for me and no one sent for her. I really don’t understand what it is.”
“She was gone for most of the season,” the America’s Next Top Model cycle 3 winner continued. “And I thought mean girls died in like high school like, I didn’t realize they were knocking on 50 but hey girl live your best … I thought like she’s on this whole other space you know … I get her irritation towards certain people that she’s had history with.”
Kenya has been noticeably absent from the most recent episodes of RHOA, skipping the cast trip to Barcelona. Kim also chose not to attend the vacation.
“I haven’t been around Kenya and her husband … Or Kim,” Eva explained. “Yeah, they both scare me. Just to be completely honest they both scare me.”
Kim and Kenya do not get along and their feud escalated earlier this season when the Don’t Be Tardy star called Kenya’s marriage to Marc Daly “fake” and Kenya accused Kim of “pimping” out her daughter Brielle for John Legend tickets.
“You know what, I’m not really friends with either of them,” Eva said. “And because I’m pregnant I can’t have a cocktail yet so I would wait to, like, really interact with them when I can have a cocktail.”
As previously reported, Eva, who is currently working on the Eva Marcille Home Collection, announced in November that she is expecting her first child, a baby boy, with her fiancé, Atlanta mayoral candidate Michael Sterling. Eva also shares daughter Marley Rae, 4, with her ex-boyfriend Kevin McCall.
The Real Housewives of Atlanta airs on Bravo Sundays at 8 p.m. ET.
#EMPIRE: Jussie Smollett goes from having breakfast with Alfre Woodard for first "Empire" audition to directing her on network TV
The wait for all new episodes of Empire is almost over and singer-actor Jussie Smollett, who stars as Jamal Lyon on the hit Fox show tells ABC Radio about a very special time with celebrated actress Alfre Woodard the morning of his first audition for the series.
"Alfre, actually, I had breakfast with her, not a lot of people know this, I've never talked about this, but Alfre and I had breakfast and she prayed with me the morning that I went on my very first audition for Empire."
And in a complete full-circle moment, Jussie says that he's directing Alfre in an upcoming episode of Empire.
Alfre, who Jussie says he's known "since I was fourteen years old" will join the Empire cast as Cookie's mother. "Four years to the day that I got the job, I was directing Alfre in Empire, he says."
"I directed episode sixteen this year. So, it'll air, I think in May, mid-May it'll air...I direct all of my [music] visuals, but this is my first time directing network television and that was amazing."
Empire returns to Fox on March 28.
#RnBTHURSDAYTHROWBACK: The Jones Girls ‘NIghts Over Egypt’
The Jones Girls were an American R&B vocal trio of sisters from Detroit, Michigan, United States. Consisted of Brenda, Shirley and Valerie Jones. They worked with Diana Ross from 1975–78 and were the backup singers on Linda Clifford's 1978 album If My Friends Could See Me Now and on Tower of Power's lowly rated 1979 album Back on the Streets. Their biggest hit was "You Gonna Make Me Love Somebody Else".
But they had an R&B Cult classic titles ‘Nights Over Egypt’ in 1982 written by Dexter Wansel. This song was later covered by the jazz soul infusion British group ‘Incognito’
LISTEN HERE
2 of the sisters would unfortunately pass. Valorie Jones died on December 2, 2001, in Detroit, Michigan and the other sister Brenda died On April 3, 2017, while visiting her daughter in Wilmington, Delaware.
#HIPHOPNEWS: Wu-Tang Clan & StockX Team Up for C.R.E.A.M. Charity
Source: StockX
A joint charity effort launched with the involvement of the Wu-Tang Clan and StockX will give nine lucky fans a chance to win some exclusive items directly from the Shaolin swordsmen. The C.R.E.A.M. (Charity Rules Everything Around Me) campaign kicked off Tuesday and runs until this Friday.
StockX, which bills itself as the “world’s first online stock market of things,” crafted this clever initial public offering campaign with proceeds directly benefiting the Wu-Tang Foundation. With a donation of just $10 dollars, fans gain an entry to win an assortment of items that were either previously owned or exclusively provided to StockX to bolster the campaign.
Among some of the prizes are Raekwon’s signed Polo Ralph Lauren Snow Beach hat and poncho that he wore in the “Can It Be All So Simple’ video. Method Man also has a signed pair of his adidas mid-level sneaker collaboration with Def Jam on the docket. And Ghostface Killa’s Wu-Wear hoodie, and Cherchez La Ghost hoodie, both signed, up are for grabs.
“Working with StockX makes perfect sense because they have been doing great work in the celebrity charity space for a while,” Oliver “Power” Grant, Co-Director, Wu-Tang Foundation, said via a press statement “A joint venture like this has the potential to positively expand the foundation’s efforts and reach in communities.”
To learn more about the Wu-Tang Clan and StockX C.R.E.A.M. fundraising collaboration, click here. Hit the flip for images of the IPO’s prizes.
Cardi B is Pregnant and due in July!
Back in February, rapper and foreign-affairs expert Cardi B shut down pregnancy rumors in a truly iconic Instagram video, telling fans she was “just getting fat,” and imploring them to let her “fat in peace.” Now, sources are telling TMZ that Cardi would like to pregnant in peace, thankyouverymuch. The rapper is reportedly expecting a child with her fiancé, rapper Offset, and the baby is due the first week of July.
Rumors have been swirling about Cardi B’s pregnancy for a few weeks. Last month, when she was performing at various Super Bowl–related events, TMZ reported that members of the rapper’s team said she didn’t want to party after her performance because she was pregnant.
Cardi is still scheduled to perform at Coachella next month, and if TMZ’s sources are correct about her July due date, she will be about seven months pregnant while doing so.
Neither Cardi nor Offset have confirmed the news yet. But I'm sure they will
Snapchat Apologizes for Violent Chris Brown & Rihanna Ad
WOW!!! Snapchat is apologizing after running an advertisement that referenced Chris Brown’s infamous 2009 assault of his then-girlfriend Rihanna.
Promising “Impossible Choices,” the “Would You Rather?” ad asked if users would rather “Slap Rihanna” or “Punch Chris Brown.” The ad outraged many users, who complained on social media.
“I know that social media ads go through an approval process from the platform,” wrote prominent activist Brittany Packnett. “This means @Snapchat approved an ad that makes light of domestic violence.”
Snapchat removed the ad and addressed the outrage with a statement, according to BBC. “The advert was reviewed and approved in error, as it violates our advertising guidelines,” they said. “We immediately removed the ad last weekend, once we became aware. We are sorry that this happened.”
Toni Braxton STILL Owes Almost $800k In Back Taxes
Toni Braxton owes the tax man a lot of money. Like, a lot of money, as in, more than a quarter of a million dollars.
According to court documents obtained by The Blast, the newly-engaged singer owes $780,808.29 in back taxes. Toni owes the federal government more than $550,000 for the tax years of 2015 and 2016. She also owes the state of California more than $230,000 for the same years.
Toni's financial troubles are nothing new. She's filed for bankruptcy twice, once in 1998, and again in 2010.
In an interview with ABC News in 2012, she said she only got a $1,972 royalty check from her first recording contract. She said her 1998 bankruptcy were caused by her record label, as well as her love of the finer things.
"I love dishes and house things, so I kind of lost it a little bit on the houseware," she said, adding that she fell in love with "girly things" like plates, Faberge eggs and 1,000 thread-count sheets.
"That's what I indulged in. I loved that part of it," she said. "I'm a little odd."
Serena Williams Is Launching a Beauty Line
If it seems that Serena Williams is on a winning streak, by all accounts, that would be correct. In between giving birth, getting married, fielding the odd set of billboards dedicated to her greatness, and her regular schedule as one of the greatest athletes of all time, Williams just staked her claim in the beauty world. Going by recently found trademark documents, you can expect to see makeup, hair, and body products from the multi-hyphenate.
As TMZ first spotted, Williams filed the paperwork to trademark "Aneres"—"Serena" spelled backwards—in January. From the filing, it looks as though Williams is getting ready for some empire building. She locked down the Aneres name for 18 beauty categories, among them lipstick, lip gloss, eyeshadow, powder, foundation, eyeliner, mascara, makeup remover, skin care, perfume, body lotion, shampoo, dry shampoo, hair rinses, hair spray and gel, cosmetics cases, and makeup brushes.
It's a detailed list; essentially the only thing not listed is eyebrow products, which seems unfair, given Williams' incredible set of brows. Maybe hers are all natural, or maybe she's already found the best brow enhancer and doesn't think she can make a better one (though that wouldn't really align with her competitive spirit).
Jessica Alba & Gabrielle Union Tease 'Bad Boys' TV Spinoff!
Jessica Alba and Gabrielle Union are teaming up to tease their new drama!
The actresses got fans fired up by posing in a picture together on Wednesday (March 14).
The upcoming NBC drama will feature Gabrielle as Syd Burnett, her character from Bad Boys 2.
In the show, she has left the DEA and now has a fresh start in her new job as an LAPD detective. Jessica will play Nancy McKenna, her partner. Nancy joined the Army out of high school and spent most of the 2000s in Iraq and Afghanistan. Women weren’t allowed in combat, so she joined the military police to get closer to the action. She’s now a detective raising two preteen stepkids with her husband.
I can’t wait to catch them in action!
David & Tamela Mann Will Star In ‘MERRY WISH-MAS’ Presented By TV One!
Production is currently underway in Atlanta, GA for TV One’s new original holiday film Merry Wish-mas starring one of my favorite duos—David and Tamela Mann. The project is directed by award-winning actress and Greenleaf star Terri J. Vaughn.
Tamela stars as Keneisha ‘Kenni’ Wright, a single and successful Atlanta businesswoman who hasn’t returned home for the holidays in years. David plays Jessie Jenkins, Kenni’s old high school friend. The two reunite at Jessie’s fledgling wellness facility, the Beverly Living Center, where Kenni is reminded of the transformational power of love, hope and faith, amplified by the spirit of the holidays.
Merry Wish-mas also features Kim Fields as Celine, a regular at the center who loves seeing the new smile Kenni puts on Jessie’s face, but is protective about his feelings. Towanda Braxton stars as Natalie, the persistent local woman who has a crush on Jessie. Elizabeth Omilami appears as Kenni’s matchmaker mom Regina, while Chrystale Wilson steps into the role of Kenni’s sister and food truck entrepreneur Dionne, adding a high dose of sibling rivalry. Rap artist and reality star Yung Joc also makes a cameo appearance.
“Heartwarming stories like Merry Wish-Mas that bring families together and make us laugh are as much a part of the season as Christmas trees and Santa himself,” said Vaughn, who makes her TV One original film directorial debut. “And this movie, touching upon family conflicts, singlehood and love, money woes, and wishing for Christmas miracles, is set to become a highlight of the coming holidays.”
Merry Wish-mas is written by Cas Sigers-Beedles and is executive produced for TV One by Roger Bobb and Angi Bones of Bobbcat Films. It is also executive produced by Vaughn and Siger-Beedles for Nina Holiday Entertainment and David and Tamela Mann.
George Lucas’ L.A. Museum Breaks Ground For 2021 Completion
The official groundbreaking is underway for the Lucas Museum of Narrative Art, which will celebrate the art of visual storytelling in painting, illustration, comic art, photography, film, animation and digital art. Construction is commencing immediately and is anticipated to be completed by late 2021.
RelatedMark Hamill Interviews Reveal 'The Last Jedi' Was Not His Vision Of Luke
Co-Founders George Lucas and Mellody Hobson, along with the Museum’s Board of Directors, joined Los Angeles Mayor Eric Garcetti, Los Angeles County Supervisor Mark Ridley-Thomas, Los Angeles City Councilmember Curren Price, and a group of more than 100 civic and community leaders to break ground on the museum, to be located at Exposition Park in South Los Angeles.
“The focus of the Museum is to open up people’s imaginations and inspire them to dream beyond what is considered possible,” said co-founder George Lucas. “Narrative art and storytelling stirs our emotions, shapes our aspirations as a society, and is the glue that binds us together around our common beliefs.”
Co-founder Mellody Hobson emphasized the non-profit museum’s inclusive and accessible vision. “We are excited to call Exposition Park home, surrounded by more than 100 elementary and high schools, one of the country’s leading universities, as well as three other world-class museums.”
The building is designed by Ma Yansong of MAD Architects, boasting 300,000-square-feet of collection galleries and exhibition spaces displaying original works of art from world renowned artists, cutting-edge digital technologies, and daily film screenings in two state-of-the-art theaters. The project sits on 11 acres of what will be new parkland and gardens designed by Los Angeles-based landscape architecture firm Studio-MLA.
It will also offer educational opportunities with hands-on and digital classrooms and a free public research library for educators, scholars, and students.
“The Lucas Museum of Narrative Art will be an architectural wonder, a cultural treasure, and a center of storytelling and creativity at the heart of a reimagined Exposition Park,” said Los Angeles Mayor Eric Garcetti. “I thank Mellody Hobson and George Lucas for their incredible generosity and vision, which will inspire countless Angelenos and visitors from around the world.”
The official website is lucasmuseum.org.
Tamar Braxton Liberates Herself By going BALD says she’s ‘Finally Free’
Tamar Braxton shaves her head just days before her 41st birthday,
In a post on her Instagram page, the singer and “Braxton Family Values” star wrote:
WE can choose to stop these things from having the power and victory over us!! And for me, that starts TODAY #happysttamarsday
I’m over feeling captive to a wig, weave, people, people’s comments & opinions hell…even my OWN feelings!
See Tamar’s new look below.
WOW……Well BE FREE TAY TAY, BE FREE!
Miley Cyrus Sued for $300 Million Over ‘We Can’t Stop’ Copyright Infringement Claim
Miley Cyrus was hit with a $300 million copyright infringement lawsuit on Tuesday, March 13, after Jamaican songwriter Michael “Flourgon” May claimed the pop star’s hit “We Can’t Stop” closely resembles his song “We Run Things,” Reuters reports.
According to documents obtained by the news agency, May said “We Run Things” has been “a favorite for lovers of reggae music worldwide” since the dancehall tune hit No. 1 in his home country in 1988. He claimed in the suit that about 50 percent of “We Can’t Stop,” which peaked at No. 2 on the Billboard Hot 100 in the summer of 2013, comes from him.
Cyrus, 25, is credited as one of the songwriters of “We Can’t Stop,” in addition to Mike “Mike Will Made It” Williams, Pierre “P-Nasty” Slaughter, Theron and Timothy Thomas (a.k.a. Rock City), Douglas “Doug E. Fresh” Davis and Ricky “Slick Rick” Walters.
According to Reuters, May accused Cyrus and her label RCA Records of misappropriating his song, specifically his lyric “We run things / Things no run we,” which the Hannah Montana alum sang as “We run things / Things don’t run we.” May also said in the lawsuit that Cyrus’ single “owes the basis of its chart-topping popularity … and its highly lucrative success to May’s protected, unique, creative and original content.”
In addition, the news agency reported that the Kingston, Jamaica, native is seeking a halt to further sales and performances of “We Can’t Stop.”
AND FINALLY FROM THE CRAZY PEOPLE SHOPPING AT WALMART FILES
