The Daily Buzz For April 15

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YES!!! Jackie Robinson Biopic ’42′ Homers $27.3M #1 At The Box Office! 
The Jackie Robinson biopic 42 (3,003 theaters) nicely overperformed tracking which was in the mid-teens for an original movie about race and baseball with no hot stars. (Granted Harrison Ford is a legend but not box office nowadays.) The opening number is a record for a baseball flick in terms of straight dollars, topping the $19.5M debut of 2011′s Moneyball. Even factoring in higher ticket prices and inflation, the $13.7M debut of 1992′s A League Of Their Own would have been on par with 42. The moderately budgeted film ($38M) received an ‘A+’ CinemaScore which will help word of mouth. Grosses on MLB’s Jackie Robinson Day – which is April 15 - when every player wears Robinson’s #42, could even stay level because of the attention. In addition to the $38M marketing spend, the film has generated a ton of national media and awareness that didn’t cost any money. “Just watching the film’s box office growing at a rapid pace all day,” a Warner Bros exec gushed on Friday. “Great news for Thomas Tull and his team at Legendary.” (Question still remains whether financier/filmmaker Tull’s Legendary will exit Warner Bros, or vice versa. But Sue Kroll’s marketing did well by him.)  Still, I wondered whether Academy Award winning writer-director Brian Helgeland’s soft-focus storyline would turn off moviegoers to Thomas Tull‘s passion project, especially without the street cred of African-American filmmakers involved. But no. ‘All you can do is put these things together in the way you think is best,” Tull told me Thursday. Instead he relied on Rachel Robinson. ”Her voice helped us with authenticity. That was the person who lived it,” Tull said. “And that was a really important story for us to tell.” Tull does admit that, had Rachel herself not been so involved, there may have been more focus on the tough stuff. The filmmakers wound up with the highest testing movie that Legendary has ever had. Rachel Robinson had been promised over the last two decades that Hollywood would make this movie – and never did. Then, at 90 years old, she was approached by Tull two years ago. ”She looked me in the eye and asked, ‘Are you going to make this movie?’ and I said we’d make it happen,’” Tull recalled.

Far, far, far behind in #2 was Scary Movie 5 (3,402 theaters) which bombed badly considering that 2006′s Scary Movie 4 opened to $40.2M from 3,202 theaters. This franchise has run out of steam. For one thing, there’s no Anna Faris or Regina Hall who both starred in all four earlier installments. But it does have the nauseating casting of Lindsay Lohan and Charlie Sheen playing themselves. (Audible groan…) Once again, Dimension just isn’t bringing the box office heat to Weinstein Co grosses like it did to the old Miramax. Bringing back the Scream and Spy Kids franchises produced only 1/2 and 1/3 of the originals’ openings. This fifth Scary Movie installment which cost $19.5M is directed by Malcolm D. Lee and written by/produced by David Zucker who also directed 3 and 4. Dimension really needs to get off its butt and incubate new low-budget genre storylines.

Here’s the Top Ten list based on weekend estimates:

1. 42 (Legendary/Warner Bros) NEW [Runs 3,003] PG13
Friday $9.1M, Saturday $11.3M, Weekend $27.3M

2. Scary Movie 5 (Dimension/Weinstein) NEW [Runs 3,402] PG13
Friday $5.5M, Saturday $6.0M, Weekend $15.1M

3. The Croods (DreamWorks Animation/Fox) Week 4 [Runs 3,689] PG
Friday $3.0M, Saturday $6.1M, Weekend $13.2M, Cume $142.5M

4. GI Joe: Retaliation (Paramount) Week 3 [Runs 3,535] PG13
Friday $2.9M, Saturday $4.9M, Weekend $10.8M, Cume $102.4M

5. Evil Dead (Ghost House/FilmDistrict/TriStar/Sony) Week 2 [Runs 3,025] R
Friday $3.1M, Saturday $4.0M, Weekend $9.5M (-64%), Cume $41.5M

6. Jurassic Park 3D (Universal) Week 2 [Runs 2,778] PG13
Friday $2.4M, Saturday $3.9M, Weekend $8.8M (-53%), Cume $31.9M

7. Olympus Has Fallen (FIlmDistrict) Week 4 [Runs 2,935] R
Friday $2.0M, Saturday $3.2M, Weekend $7.3M, Cume $81.9M

8. Oz The Great And Powerful (Disney) Week 6 [Runs 2,504] PG
Friday $1.2M, Saturday $2.2M, Weekend $4.8M, Cume $219.3M

9. Tyler Perry’s Temptation (Lionsgate) Week 3 [Runs 1,805] PG13
Friday $1.3M, Saturday $2.0M, Weekend $4.5M, Cume $45.4M

10. Place Beyond the Pines (Focus) Week 3 [Runs 514] R
Friday $1.2M, Saturday $1.6M, Weekend $4.0M, Cume $5.3M

YES CONGRATS TO THE MAKERS OF “42”!!

Adele, Rita Ora, & Alicia Keys Cover ‘ELLE’ Magazine’s Women In Music Issue

Adele, Rita Ora and Alicia Keys brought their own style to the May cover of ELLE Magazine.  Each individually grace the rotating May cover that celebrates the annual Women in Music issue. Catherine Stuart of Elle writes: For this year’s Women in Music Issue, ELLE highlights today’s brightest stars. Here, we check in  with the crew who brought two of our cover subjects, Alicia Keys and Rita Ora, to life. Assistant Fashion Editor Sarah Schussheim: "We shot Alicia Keys on the rooftop of Siren Studios. She radiated cool New York glamour, relaxing and singing along to a Grace Jones album." Photographer Doug Inglish: "Alicia brought her two-year-old son,

Egypt, and played with him constantly." Photographer Thomas Whiteside: "We flew to London to shoot Rita Ora. Fans kept asking for her autograph—she even stopped to dedicate a soccer ball to someone’s dog." Schussheim: "Rita loved hairstylist Ken O'Rourke's whimsical headpieces. She kept Instagramming selfies." ELLE Creative Director Joe Zee: "Including one of her in Mickey Mouse gear! Not many people get so excited to have their picture taken in whiskers—Rita definitely has a special aura."

The music issue includes a tribute to Adele and fellow musician’s thoughts on her meteoric rise to fame such as Katy Perry, Britney Spears, John Mayer and legend Barbra Streisand.

Also from Elle Mag

New York City’s Edison Ballroom played host to the 4th Annual ELLE Women in Music Celebration.

With divas Rita Ora, Adele, and Alicia Keys serving as the mag’s covergirls to commemorate the event, the celebration saw some of music’s best and brightest ladies join forces for the cause.  Amongst distinguished guest was ‘Kisses Down Low’ diva Miss Kelly Rowland who served as the night’s entertainment.

See more snaps of the other celebs who showed up:

The event comes as one of many stops Rowland has made in the past days in promotion of her fourth forthcoming album ‘Talk A Good Game’ (due summer 2013).

Ex “Housewife” Sheree Whitfield Offers Divorce Advice To RHOA’s Porsha Stewart?

Former Real “Housewife” of Atlanta Sheree Whitfield just refuses to give us a chance to miss her and with an upcoming appearance on OWN’s “Iyanla: Fix My Life” she’s speaking out more than ever.

Whitfield has been quite busy getting her buzz up in preparation for her onscreen debut…. filing “trespassing” restraining orders against Atlanta bloggers for reporting on Chateau Sheree (which were quietly dismissed by the way) to hitting up CNN’s headline news to speaking out about Phaedra Parks new ‘Rich People’s Problems’ court show, while also admitting she’s a bit low on dough and misses those easy RHOA checks

Her antics have even been awarded by RHOA when during part 1 of the 5th Season Reunion show, Bravo’s Andy Cohen referred to the ex-”housewife” as “disposed of at 40″…

With age comes wisdom and Whitfield, who publicly battled divorce woes through 4 seasons on the popular reality show, has generously offered newbie Porsha Stewart a bit of advice on handling her bitter divorce from former NFL great Kordell Stewart.

Here’s what Sheree wants Porsha to know about handling her divorce…

Sheree hit up RumorFix with some unsolicited advice for Porsha, stating:

Well my heart goes out to her. Stay positive, stay strong and keep moving forward.

It’s not easy. It’s not easy for anyone, but it will get better. I would tell anyone whether they were married to an NFL player or a trash collector, ‘You definitely have to have those people you can trust around you — and, of course, you have to cry!

That was nice of her.

Sheree goes on to say that whatever problems a couple has will be heightened on reality TV.

I honesty think marriages that were broken up on any reality show came into the reality show with problems.

Well duhhhh! 

Anywhoo… just for the record, Sheree’s not talking for nothing.  There’s a petition she started to gather support for her to get her old job back on RHOA and I fully support her efforts.

It’s been up for several weeks and Sheree’s already gotten at least 116 signatures of support. 

Granted… she needs a million or more, but it’s a start, right?

Hot Shot: Chrisette Michele’s Shares New Album Cover

From the looks of things Chrisette Michele fans.can look forward to “Better Days”

After months of teasers the ‘Charades’ singer has unveiled the cover to her fourth studio LP ‘Better’.  Due June 11th from Motown Records, the album is set to feature a number of big names including Musiq Soulchild, Wale, 2 Chainz, etc. and follows her well received mixtape ‘Audrey Hepburn:  An Audiovisual Presentation‘.

Joining songstress India Arie, Kelly Rowland, Ashanti, Ciara, and many more with her release, it appears R&B will be alive and well this summer.

Your thoughts?

MAGAZINE FAB: Nas INVESTS In "MASS APPEAL" Magazine RE-LAUNCH

Fans of the original Mass Appeal Magazine, a graffiti magazine founded in 1996, get excited.  The magazine will be rebooted with Nas (shown above on its 2002 cover) as its Associate Publisher.

The rapper spoke to FORBES recently about his new acquisition, explaining that he was disappointed with the lack of options available to readers interested in hip hop culture. 

“Mass Appeal has a legacy and respect. It already has a foundation … I just feel like I can add on because I can lend my kind of cultural expertise and my professional acumen, and develop the business.”  He added,  "They invested into the culture … I saw their vision for what they planned and I thought I could add value across the board."

After a five-year hiatus, the magazine's re-launch as a quarterly print product with web, video , monthly event components, is thanks to a hefty six-figure investment from the Life Is Good rapper.

While other rap moguls like Jay-Z, Diddy and 50 Cent each began exploring big business opportunities early in their careers, Nas explained his late start saying,

“I knew that this was down the road,” he says. “I didn’t care to interrupt me being a creative musical artist … I said I’ll be more of a businessman down the road. I’m down the road now.”

As a far as getting any criticism from the magazine about his own contributions to hip hop, Nas is letting his editorial board off the hook saying,

“If that happens, I don’t want to see it until it’s out,” he says. “I won’t get involved with that at all … I won’t touch anything, they’re free to say whatever they want. They can say I’m a psychopath, they can say I’m a sweetheart … as long as it’s from their honest opinion, that’s all that matters to me.”

Congrats to Nas!  Glad he's working on business moves outside that rap life.

Sean "Diddy" Combs Is Not Sleeping With Kate Upton

Cassie can breathe a little bit easier. News broke this morning said that Sean "Diddy" Combs was allegedly spotted kissing Kate Upton in Miami late last month. However, both the Bad Boy Records founder and the swimsuit model refute these claims.

TMZ reports:

Sad news from the Diddy camp ... the rap mogul says he's 100%, positively NOT having s-xual relations with model Kate Upton ... despite the fact it would be totally awesome if true.

Reports surfaced this morning that Diddy and Double-Diddy were spotted making out at a NY restaurant last week ... and the Internet instantly exploded with jealousy.

But Diddy says it just ain't true ... tweeting, "Attn all Media. I don't even know Kate Upton personally! I'm not dating her! What's being reported is not true. END of story!"

A rep for Kate also tells TMZ ... Kate and Diddy "barely know each other" and they are definitely not dating.

And that's that. You care.

Gossip Game’s’ JasFly Says Don’t Blame Mona Scott Young For Black Women Fighting On TV

One of the freshest faces of VH1 reality tv, Jas Fly, is giving another perspective on black women fighting on TV–and it doesn’t involve pointing the finger. After only two episodes, the freelance writer, who now has a gig on ‘Gossip Game‘, is using her personal tumblr to weigh in on watching a few fights on the show. And although she’s inserted herself in the conflict between Ms. Drama and Vivian, she wants to make it quite clear that viewers should not blame one of the show’s producers, Mona Scott-Young, for black women throwing blows on TV.

Read a few excerpts from her post:

I’m tired of watching Black women fight on TV. We’re two episodes into The Gossip Game and last night we witnessed our second fight. Sigh. When I accepted Mona Scott-Young’s invitation to sit down for a casting meeting, I was more than skeptical. This was three weeks into Love & Hip Hop ATL and all that kept running through my mind was ‘she’s not gonna do me like she does these other women.’ And as soon as I sat down – in front of Vh1 execs, show creator Tone Boots and his team and the network casting department – I told her as much. Mona heard me out and then informed me that she never set out to abuse Black women. And that she didn’t prompt Stevie J to keep both a mistress and a wife. All she does is give a look inside their lives.

She continues:

Sometimes, we as Black women don’t treat one another very well. Societal factors have made us defensive and (often times) insecure about who we are and afraid of who we are not. We’ve been told that we’re all in competition over men, jobs, friends, adoration, etc. And because we are such an insular culture – Black woman are known for watching/dating/buying/talking/living in our Blackness – we turn a great deal of frustration back on one another. We’re so hyper-sensitive to criticism (because we’re SO over criticized)that in the moment we often can’t discern between someone attacking us and someone trying to help us. It’s hard to see kinship in someone you’re determined to make your enemy. So (often times) we fight.

I couldn’t get mad at Mona for the fights that happened between Drama and Viv. Not when I was dealing with the very same things (via toxic email threads, vicious sub-tweets, subversive moves against me etc) in my own life. Mona didn’t make those two women fight. In that moment, instead of risking being hurt or hearing something they didn’t want to, they chose to antagonize one another. This choice is made every single day. And I couldn’t expect Mona to create a television show about us and ask her not to show all of it, including the parts we’re not proud of. So we can continue to complain about how we’re portrayed on television. Or we can candidly address how we treat each other in real life.

Is JasFly right? Is Mona to blame for the drama (entertainment) that we watch on TV? Or are we (*raises hand*) to blame?

Kim Porter SUED By Ex-Nanny -- Stories Of The Twins Surrounded By Weed Smoke...And Covered In "White Powder"

Kim Porter better have Diddy call up every lawyer on speed dial.  Because a brand new lawsuit filed against her by her ex-nanny is a doozy.  Get the deets inside about how Diddy's baby's mama allegedly treats the twins...according to the former employee....

Whether all these allegations are true or not, Kim Porter's reputation as the mother of Diddy's kids will be tarnished for even being caught up in this--at least for now.

A woman named Dawn Drago, who worked for Kim as her kids' nanny from 2011-2012, filed a lawsuit against Kim after she was fired.

Dawn claims in the suit some interesting things-- 1) Kim chain smoked pot in the house when the girls, Jessie James & D'Lila Star, were home, 2) The girls were at one point covered in a "mysterious white powder" after they had gotten into a bag of Kim's pills that were capsules and Ms. Porter said was "medicine" and 3) Kim verbally & violently abused her.

As for that powder--it could be baby powder and the "capsule" story could be a fraud.  Or it could be something way harder than weed.

We wouldn't be surprised if any of these things ended up being true.  But will the nanny just end up sonding like a bitter & fired employee?

TMZ reports Dawn is seeking unspecified damages.

Frank Ocean Makes ‘Out’ Power List 2013

After spending the last year being celebrated for the undeniable quality of his music, ‘We All Try’ singer Frank Ocean is now being celebrated for the bravery he showed last when baring all on a personal experience he had shared with a friend some time before.

While he is yet to label himself, he has now been named at an LGBTQ hero by Aaron Hicklin’s ‘Out Magazine’, standing as the only African American to make the publication’s 2013 Power List.

Also standing as the highest ranking musician on the list, OUT said of Ocean:

 Beating record executive Clive Davis (42) and Bravo boss Andy Cohen (14), OUT’s celebration of the groundbreaking vocalist comes after he watched his debut album ‘Channel Orange’ certified Gold in the US, and after he watched his classic cut ‘Thinkin’ ‘Bout You‘ reach Platinum status for sales of over 1 million units.

Rick Ross’s Concerts Canceled & Reebok Pressured to Drop Rapper After Rape Song

I don’t know if you been keeping up with all the Rick Ross Drama regarding his new song about Rape, which has the World pissed. People are now canceling concerts and trying to get him endorsement dropped from Reebok check out the details below.

Ross is feeling the fallout from his verses on Rocko’s track “U.O.E.N.O.,” where he seemingly condones date rape. According to O.Canada.com, Rick Ross’s Tuesday performance at Canada’s University of Ottawa had to be cancelled amid “security concerns.” Apparently, concert promoter Urban Jamz Entertainment was worried that protests over the rapper’s questionable lyric could get out of hand. Before the concert was canned, the show took a big hit when the university’s Student Federation pulled out of the concert once Ross was scheduled to appear at the annual event. In past years the Student Federation has been integral in helping to organize the yearly concert.

Billboard reports Rick Ross is finding out that saying “sorry” just doesn’t cut it.

Reportedly more than 150 rape survivors are stepping-up their campaign to have Reebok dump its lucrative contract with the controversial rapper over what they describe as his “dangerous” lyrics.

Sources say Ross has found himself at the center of a media feeding frenzy after it emerged that in the lyrics of his song “U.O.E.N.O.” he boasted about drugging and raping a woman.

UltraViolet members are far from impressed by what they see as Ross’ “non apology” and they’ve launched a combined phone, Twitter, and online ad push to accompany its letter to Reebok.

“Every single day that Reebok continues rewarding Rick Ross with a lucrative endorsement deal, Reebok is condoning rape. When one in five women will be the victim of completed or attempted rape, this is dangerous and it has real-life consequences,” writes the letter, which is signed by Wagatwe Wanjuke. “Your silence on this issue is unacceptable. It’s time you took a stand against rape and drop Rick Ross as a spokesman.”

Ross has his own line of Reebok shoes, and stars in a TV and online campaign for the clothing manufacturer.

Since the uproar over the lyric, Rick Ross has apologized. Last week on Twitter the rapper took to Twitter to says he was sorry for the misinterpreted verse.

Dame Dash Drops Knowledge About The Fakeness Of The Industry, and Life After

In one of the realest interviews from someone who was in the industry but not of the industry, Dame Dash clears up what really went down with his infamous career.

Dame drops knowledge about why he's left the fake industry for good and why everything went down with Jay-Z, Aaliyah, Rachel Roy & Rocafella the way it did....

He's known as the original a**hole of the hip hop industry.  But he's also one of the first to truly build and own the rap brands he worked with. And with that, comes drama.  We haven't heard from him in years, but here's the lowdown if you've ever wondered (and we know we have) why the 41-year-old REALLY left his long time business partners like Jay-Z & Rocafella.  The 41-year-old dad of four also addresses the long time beef with Just Blaze (who shows up as well for some awkward talk).

Dame explained why he hates working with men in the industry, and prefers working with females. "Men can be too insecure. The more you do for a guy, the more they resent you.  I prefer working with females [like ex-wife Rachel Roy] because the more success you get, they take it as their success too.  They're thankful."

Interesting.

Dame drops some knowledge about the fake titles, fake power and fake people in the often fake industry.  If he didn't own it and it wasn't authentic, Dame wasn't having it.  He essentially let us know that being handed a title and some cash in a deal wasn't the way he wanted to win. But it's the way many people he worked with in the industry did want to win.  Instead, he wanted to own and completely control the deal.  So now he's clearing the air about being the bad guy.  And he's also talking about those "broke" rumors.

Check out the epic 2 hour interview with The Combat Jack Show below:

 

Thoughts?

MARRIED: Delonte West Has Gotten Married & Expecting A Baby

Former baller Delonte West announced he’s married….and he’s expecting a baby on away.  He posted the above pics with his new wife at the Justice of the Peace and tweeted from his now private account:

“Look at my two babies! Lil Charleeredz, coming to a theater near you soon.”

Kevin Durant's Nike Zoom KD V "N7" [PHOTOS]

The latest versionof the Kevin Durant's Nike Zoom KD V the "N7," is an Native American inspired shoe.

The sneaker features a turquoise upper as well as yellow fade print inspired by Native America art. The color selection is impportant, with turquoise representing friendship in many Native communities while yellow is one of the colors featured on traditional Native American medicine wheel. The right shoe features the KD logo while the left features N7 logo. Each shoe comes with a N7 KD t-shirt.

"Playing in Oklahoma City has connected me to the mission of Nike N7 and the meaningful impact that it has with Native Americans here and across North America," said Durant via a press release. "The new N7 KDV is very special—I believe in the power of sport to change lives and I support helping youth in Native American communities experience the positive benefits of being physically active."

The Nike N7 collection launched in 2009, and has raised more than $2 million for Native American and Aboriginal youth sport programs via the the N7 Fund.

Chris Brown’s Bodyguard Sues Drake Over Brawl Injuries;

Chris Brown’s bodyguard Big Pat, real name Patrick Strickland, is suing Drake and the SoHo nightclub over the brawl last June that left him with injuries to the head.  In his filing Pat throws shade at Drake, by referring to him as “a popular and successful, albeit critically derided, entertainer.” 

In his lawsuit filed Monday, Big Pat says the club W.i.P., is responsible for his injuries suffered during the brawl because it sat Chris’ entourage near to Drake’s even though the staff knew the two were beefing over Rihanna, reports the NY Daily News. The suits claims that seating arrangement created “a substantial and unjustifiable risk that a mass altercation would occur between the two camps.” The suit further claims, the club over-served Drake and his entourage and had an employee hand Chris a note from Drake that read: “I’m f*cking the love of your life.”  That note is what  led to a “verbal altercation” that caused a “massive bar brawl that involved bottle throwing, possible gunshots and a general state of riot and disorder.”

The suit which is seeking unspecified damages adds that Big Pat has ”severe and disfiguring injuries to his face, head and eyes.”

Is R&B Divas Nicci Gilbert Still Refusing to Film?

Last month there were rumors that R&B Divas' Nicci Gilbert walked away from the show after a big brouhaha between her husband and Latocha Scot's husband that ended with guns being drawn

From the looks of things Nicci is standing by her decision...

According to Funky Dineva

Nicci Gilbert has gone from being fired, to changing management & begging for her job back, to being rehired, to now refusing to show up to work.

Dineva dug up this picture from the filming of an upcoming R&B Divas Special with a certain someone noticeably absent. 

HMMMMM!

A Healthier Natalie Cole Hits LAX,

Is it me, or is singer Natalie Cole looking healthier these days?

The singer was caught by photogs, as she caught a flight at LAX. As we all know she has been battling some ailments yet and still we’re grateful to God for sustaining her! LOVE YOU NATALIE!

AND FINALLY FROM THE CRAZY PEOPLE SHOPPING AT WALMART FILES

‘Queen Of The Jungle’

Me Tarzan, you Jane. Me swing on vines and hunt for boar to eat. You go pick up some Sweet Baby Rays and maybe some Ben & Jerry’s for dessert.

HAVE A GREAT WEEK AHEAD EVERYBODY!!!

EFREM

The Daily Roundup for Aug 26

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The Dream Still lives:Martin Luther King Memorial Statue Opens In Washington D.C.

More than 40 years after his assassination and nearly 50 years since he marched on Washington and give his “I Have A Dream” speech, Dr. Martin Luther King has been honored with a memorial statue in the nation’s capital. The statue, made of stone, was unveiled yesterday. Sitting on 4 acres  on the Tidal Basin on the National Mall, the dedication of the statue is set to take place on August 28th and could draw crowds of up to 400,000 people. The monument is the first African-American as well as the first person who did not serve as president to be memorialized.

Engraved on one side of the statue are the words “OUT OF THE MOUNTAIN OF DESPAIR: A STONE OF HOPE.”

The $120 million dollar, 30-foot statue was created by Chinese artist Lei Yixin and its address is 1964 Independence Ave.

TEA TIME: Derek Fisher Has a Secret Love Child?

Has married baller Derek Fisher's secret love child been exposed?
SO the facts on Derek are that, he has a little girl out here in Vegas. I’ve seen her. The mother is the daughter of the lead Neurologist out here at UMC. She’s white and Puerto Rican.

I first met the little girl about 8 years ago when I was at Diversity Tattoo shop off of Las Vegas Blvd. This chick has a twin sister who has been linked to Mayweather for years as well.
Anyway, so the chick took Derek to court 3 times out here for paternity, and that negro was still trying to deny this baby. And FYI, this little girl is his exact copy, no lie.
That’s why people in Vegas dislike this dude.We all saw the piece about his little girl with his wife, and thought it was pretty F’d up that he had a healthy little girl in Vegas that could’ve helped her little sister. The sad thing is, chick comes from money and wasn’t your typical groupie at all. She’s well educated, and when people asked about the father, she would only say he’s a well known professional athlete”.
HMMMMMMMMMM Stay tuned for further developments.

Nasty Nas Dishes On Crazy Baby Mamas, Maritial Advice, & Going Back to The Beginning With Rap

He's hitting stages from the west coast to the east coast on the Rock The Bells tour, so we're finally getting to hear more from the usually quiet-but always sexy--Nasir Jones.
Our homies over at AOL/HuffPost Black Voices chatted it up with Mr. Jones about his advice on handling baby mamas who act crazy, being single, his style, hooking back up with his original homies in the rap game, and his charitable actions that mean so mch to him. Check it inside...
Nas is busy performing his classic Illmatic on the Rock The Bells tour. In addition to his new solo album he's still working on, the vintage tracks got him to start working on a new project with his The Firm homie AZ (and maybe even Foxy Brown) again. And he's also grown past all his pst-Kelis baby mama/ex-wife drama he went through.

Here's a few excerpts that Nas, who is a new spokesperson for UNICEF, dished on in his recent interview with AOL:

How was it to reunite with DJ Premier, Pete Rock and AZ during the kick off of this year's annual "Rock the Bells" concert in California?

Oh my god, it was crazy. I couldn't help but feel like the moment was just on a timeless space. I felt honored to be there, and I also felt good for the audience to see an album that came out before most of them were born. And the way they tuned into the different cultures, Pete Rock, AZ, and (DJ) Premier. I was just blown away.

A few days ago AZ tweeted a picture of you, your brother Jungle, and himself in the studio. Have you guys completed any material as of yet?

Me and A definitely hit the studio, even when we're in New York. While me and him were planning this tour, that just made us start building. Just recently we've been messing around with ideas here and there, so we're just getting started.

Initially you announced that the title of the album would be "Life Is Good." You have since stated that you were thinking about changing the title. What's the latest?

Yeah, when I first initially said it, of course it came as a shock to some of the people around me. Actually it was just one person around me. Jungle (Nas' brother) is pro "Life Is Good." He's one of the main riders for that title, along with everybody else. It was really just one dude, but everybody else over stand (sic) it. "Life Is Good" -- there's nothing better than that. There's nothing touching that. And that's real.

In terms of style, you have always been one of the very few rappers to have your own distinct look. Who would you consider to be some of your old-school hip-hop fashion muses?

Slick Rick, Eric B. & Rakim -- I mean, all of them. Some of the people in hip-hop think that the look isn't important. To me, the look is almost 60 percent of killing it out here, because the look is everything. So I think of Run-DMC and EPMD, with the bucket hats. The Dapper Dan sh*t, that was out. Heavy D kept it fly. LL (Cool J) was super on top of his A-game with the super-crispy fly sh*t. And even NWA, they came in with their sh*t that introduced us to how they do it in Watts, South Central and Compton. So the look is everything, man. If you sound amazing and you look like a burger, I don't care what's coming out your mouth, you're a cornfield! Especially on your debut (album), when you first come out. Your look reflects what's happening in your mind. You gotta have some swag to you.

Being the proud father of two children, can you talk about the importance of fatherhood in today's society?

All fatherhood is very important because single mothers shouldn't have to raise sons or daughters, they need that help. A lot of times, men may feel like the baby mother is so crazy, "I can't deal with her, I'm going to let it all go." I've been through it. Or they're playing games with kids, or whatever. But you know what, you gotta be that man. You gotta be that man for those kids, and even for the crazy baby mother (speaking for all the people out there with the crazy baby mothers). You just gotta do what you gotta do. Just because they're crazy, that don't got sh*t to do with what's going on with your life and you keeping the lights on. And you doing what you gotta do every day. So you gotta do what you gotta do as a man, don't make excuses.

For all the people out there considering or planning on getting married, do you have any advice?

No, and don't take anyone's advice, that's what you do. Everyone has their own walk, everyone's relationship is different. But don't take too much advice, even from a parent sometimes. You know, weed it out and see what stuff makes sense to you. But no, I don't have any advice. I think marriage is a beautiful thing. I'm still a supporter of it..

Funny funny that marital advice....

Check out Huff Post Black Voices for the rest of the interview. Gotta love Mr. Jones...

Zach Randolph of Grizzlies Investigated for Assault Against Weed Man

*While the NBA is on strike it looks like the players are having a hard time staying out of trouble.

Memphis Grizzlies forward Zach Randolph (pictured) is in a situation after police searched his Oregon home to investigate the alleged assault of a drug dealer.
The victim told police he came to the home of the basketball player Saturday morning to sell some weed. But he was met with the ends of pool sticks when three people beat him following a dispute over the price of the smoke.
He was not severely hurt and was released from the hospital after being treated for head and face injuries.
Randolph was home at the time of the beating. Police also say evidence backs up the victim’s testimony.

Zoe Saldana in a Balmain mullet gown: lovely, tragic or a total disaster?

Zoe Saldana was the star of the red carpet last night for the premiere of her leading turn in Colombiana. We’ve previewed the film before - I didn’t think it looked particularly good, and I’m still not really buying Zoe as the leading lady/action star that she desperately wants to be. We’ll see how Colombiana does.

For the premiere, Zoe wore a Balmain Resort 2012 mullet gown that I am having problems with. First, I’m just not big into mullet dresses (business in front, party in the back) in general. Second, this mullet dress seems to be designed to emphasize the biscuit area in particular… look at the way the skirt fabric drapes, look at the design of the skirt… Balmain created, in effect, a fabric-spotlight for Zoe’s biscuits. This is the opposite effect of “vagina drapes”. This is like a vagina valence.

My biggest problem? THE SHOES. Ladies, stop wearing these ankle booties with skirts and gowns. They are extremely unflattering with an exposed leg. They cut off the line of your leg, and add weight. That issue isn’t a huge deal with Zoe, considering how extremely slender she is, but these booties still manage to be horrible and unflattering with this fug gown. What pains me is that the gown could have been lovely with some editing - I would enjoy it if the whole dress was this gold beading, and it was a short little cocktail dress. But I have to say, Rachel Zoe did not serve Zoe Saldana well on this one….
Your Thoughts?

Republican lawmaker resigns after wife sends 'racist' email to Carl Lewis campaign team

A Republican lawmaker resigned after his wife sent a ‘racist’ email to the Democratic campaign team of Olympics star Carl Lewis, it's been revealed.
New Jersey politician Pat Delany, 42, stepped down from the state assembly this month because of the ‘offensive’ email, a GOP official said.
It was sent by Jennifer Delany to the state Senate campaign team of political novice Mr Lewis, 50, who is a nine-time Olympic gold medallist.

Mr Delany had originally cited an unspecified family issue as the reason for his abrupt resignation earlier this month.
But Burlington County Republican Chairman Bill Layton revealed it was because he wanted to save his children from embarrassment.
The email said in part: ‘Imagine having dark skin and name recognition and the nerve to think that equalled knowing something about politics.’
Mr Layton said the father-of-three decided to leave office to shield his children from ‘a hurtful and embarrassing public spectacle’.
He described her email, which was in response to a routine mailing from Mr Lewis’s campaign, as ‘inexplicable’ and ‘inexcusable’.
Mr Delany put forward his ‘sincere apologies’ to Mr Lewis on behalf of his family but said he does not share the same racial views as his wife.Take a gander at what this b*tch had to say:

"Imagine, not having to pay NJ state income taxes...It must be nice. Imagine getting a court ruling overturned so your name could get put on the ballot. Imagine having dark skin and name recognition and the nerve to think that equalled (sic) knowing something about politics. Sure, knowing someone with fat purse strings is nice, but you have no knowledge."

Mr Delany holds a physics degree from Rutgers University and served in the U.S. Navy for eight years, the New Jersey Legislature website says.
He was in the job for less than eight months and his wife was a Burlington County committeewoman at the time of the email, reported NJ.com.
Mr Lewis is running for state Senate in a New Jersey Legislative District. Mr Delany was part of the opposing GOP Assembly slate in the district.
The ex-athlete and Republicans have been fighting over whether he meets the state's four-year residency requirement for state Senate candidates. He grew up in Willingboro, a middle-class town between Philadelphia and Trenton, but recently has lived in California, where he owns a home.
He went to Texas for college and in 1984 moved from track star to celebrity when he won four gold medals at the Los Angeles Olympics.
Over the next 12 years, he would collect five more golds at the Olympics.
New Jersey's top elections official, Republican Lieutenant Governor Kim Guadagno, ruled Mr Lewis ineligible to run for office this

He has been a volunteer high school track coach since 2007 and has had a valid New Jersey driver's licence since 2006.
'On behalf of my family, we sincerely apologise to Mr Lewis for any pain this caused him'
Pat Delany, former New Jersey Republican lawmaker
However, records show that he voted in California through 2009, which Republicans contend made him a legal resident of that state.
Mr Lewis exhausted his appeals in state court when the New Jersey Supreme Court declined to hear the case.
The issue before the federal court is whether the state's residency requirement for state Senate candidates violates the 14th Amendment.
This is over an equal protection clause as applied to him.
Mr Lewis, who has not commented on the email, contends that he knows the issues facing the district and that voters know who he is.

PRETTY LADIES: Angela & Vanessa Simmons Get Cutesy With Pastry At MAGIC In Vegas

Television personalities Angela Simmons & Vanessa Simmons hit the Pastry booth at the MAGIC clothing trade show at the Las Vegas Convention Center in Las Vegas.

The Simmons girls showed of their new clothing and shoes line at the trade show in Vegas.
They wore fun black, white, and cheetah looks for the occasion.

And the ladies posed in their pop up booth with their merchandise:

Nice.

Child Services Removing Kids From Homes After Parents Arrested For Marijuana

Child Services is now taking into consideration parents who use drugs as a case for removal of the children from the home.
The problem is the drug arrests are minor. In one particular case a father lost custody of his 1-year-old daughter over a $5 bag of marijuana.
Michael Fagan, a spokesman for the Administration for Children's Services said,“We think the argument that use of cocaine, heroin or marijuana by a parent of young children should not be looked into or should simply be ignored is just plain wrong.”

If drugs are legally considered minor, how do they justify such a major action like taking away their children?

In Gospel News: Donald Lawrence Debuts At #1 With ‘YRM (Your Righteous Mind)’

Donald Lawrence debuts at #1 this week on Billboard’s Gospel Albums chart with his new project, YRM (Your Righteous Mind)! The album also entered at #41 on the Billboard 200. Congrats!
If you don’t have the album yet, you are missing out
Here’s the full top 10 at Billboard:

1 | Donald Lawrence – YRM (Your Righteous Mind)
2 | Kirk Franklin – Hello Fear
3 | Earnest Pugh – Earnestly Yours
4 | WOW Gospel 2011
5 | Pastor James R. Adams – Times of Refreshing
6 | Mary Mary – Something Big
7 | Richard Smallwood – Promises
8 | Lecrae – Rehab
9 | William McDowell – As We Worship
10 | Deitrick Haddon – Church on the Moon

I’m not sure how next week will shake out, though I’m inclined to believe that Donald will remain high on the charts for a bit.
The next releases I’m expecting to make an impact are Isaac Carree’s Uncommon Me ( just released on August 23) and Dorinda Clark Cole’s I Survived.

THIS B*TCH HERE: Mugshot Mania: Add Another One for Khia “Finch”…

Khia aka “My Neck & My Back” aka Khia Chambers has been arrested yet again!
The rapper turnt singer non descript professional mugshot poser was in Dekalb County, Georgia.

Khia, who has been arrested in the past under the name Khia Chambers was arrested this time using the alias Khia Finch.

Miss Finch has been charged with “concealing/endangering property-secured interest” under GA code 16-9-51. Bottom the b*tch couldn’t her car note and the repo Mn came to get it and she attacked and police were called in.

A person who destroys, removes, conceals, encumbers, transfers, or otherwise deals with property subject to a security interest with intent to hinder enforcement of that security interest and in so doing does damage to such property in an amount greater than $500.00 shall be guilty of a misdemeanor of a high and aggravated nature.
In other words, the “Thug Misses” probably schemed to hide a car (or some other valuable object that a bank holds a security interest), that she failed to make payments on and they found her “A”zz. :shock”

Khia was released 24 hours later on a $500 bond….Shoulda kept her ass in there!

R. Kelly’s Old Sex Mansion Sold 30% Under Price

*Times are tough and it isn’t easy trying to sell a mansion in Chicago.
Singer R. Kelly can testify to that since his Lake View home was sold 30 percent under his original asking price of $3.89 million.
He actually wasn’t the owner at the time of the sale. He handed the deed over in 2002 and in 2008 it was purchased out of foreclosure for $1 million and revamped for the current sale.

The renovations were tremendous, including a $7,000 shower head and elevator. It has 11 rooms, a 1,600 gallon salt water aquarium, an indoor swimming pool, sauna, spa room, and elevator access to the rooftop with a full kitchen.

Prosecutors said that the wood-paneled “Colorado room” in the house’s basement was the backdrop for a sex tape that allegedly featured Kelly having sex with and urinating on an underage girl. He was acquitted by a jury that found the man in the video to be unidentifiable

IT’S OFF TO ATLANTA FOR THE 2011 Bronner Bros Hair Show:

The Bronner Brother Hair Show has been known for highlighting black hair, many times in very eccentric ways, and this year’s show was no exception. The convention brought vendors, barbers, hairstylists and models from all over the world as well as a number of celebrities.

Actress Lisa Raye and hairstylist Derek J came to promote their new products, and actor Malcolm Jamal Warner was at the Ford booth promoting his new BET sitcom “Reed Between The Lines.” Other celebrity cameos included: Lisa Wu Hartwell, Dondria, Princess from Crime Mob amongst others.

The hair show offered a variety of hair styles and trends for men and women alike, from hair weaves to natural styles to colored hair cuts. Models and everyday people wore some of the most out-of-this-world styles.

Here are the photos. Would you rock any of these styles?

Workshops, seminars, classes and hair competitions took place throughout the day and culminated with a performance by Kelly Price that night.

How Jay Z Turns Sour Grapes Into Cash

Long but interesting article about how Jay Z suckers people into drinking his champagne.
I read this really interesting article about Jay-Z and his ultra luxurious Ace of Spades liquor. It was originally written by The Atlantic, but has now been mysteriously removed. Luckily the good folks @ MyGlobalHustle where able to repost the article before it was taken down..

Here is the copy. It’s quite lengthy, but it talks extensively on how Jay-Z may have fooled us with overvaluing Ace of Spade.
On a frigid February night, I’m waiting outside a ground-floor apartment in Harlem, beginning to wonder if I’ve got the wrong address. Suddenly, a voice calls my name. I turn around. Striding toward me amid a majestic cascade of dreadlocks is Branson B., the man credited with introducing champagne to hip-hop.
Branson gave rap legend Notorious B.I.G. his first taste of Cristal, the $500-a-bottle French bubbly that quickly joined Mercedes-Benz and Gucci as rap’s most frequently mentioned brands (he himself has been mentioned in over 60 songs). He greets me with a handshake and a chest bump and opens the door, then leads me into a room dominated by a full-sized bar.
Scattered before me are at least 20 bottles of wine and champagne in varying states of consump-tion; dozens more adorn the shelves behind the counter. My eyes fall on an empty gold bottle of Armand de Brignac, a trendy $300 champagne. “Respectfully, I didn’t care for it,” Branson pipes in, as if reading my mind. “I didn’t think it was worth the money.”
He gestures to a neighboring bottle. “This is a Nicolas Feuillatte Palmes d’Or Rosé, 1999,” he says. “I happened to go to a liquor store in New Jersey, and I was looking for something special for my birthday.”
”This,” he says, pointing back to the gilded Armand de Brignac, “is more the aesthetics, the pretty bottle—and everything that goes along with it.”

What goes along with Armand de Brignac is Jay-Z. The rapper put the flashy bottle on the map when he featured it in his 2006 music video for “Show Me What You Got.” The video is typical of mainstream hip-hop, with one possible exception: toward the end, a waiter presents Jay-Z with a bottle of Cristal champagne, and Jay-Z declines with a sweep of his hand. In its place, he accepts a gold bottle of then-unknown Armand de Brignac. Coming from someone who’d been rapping Cristal’s praises for years—and once bragged that he was “popping that Cristal when all y’all thought it was beer”—this marked a major departure.
“Everybody should take a lesson who wants to sell wine that sucks,” Fass says. “Because it is probably the most brilliant marketing in the history of wine.”
Jay-Z’s sudden change in attitude wasn’t without cause. In June 2006, a reporter from The Economist asked Frédéric Rouzaud, manager of Louis Roederer, which produces Cristal, what he thought of rappers drinking his champagne. “That’s a good question,” Rouzaud replied. “But what can we do? We can’t forbid people from buying it. I’m sure Dom Pérignon or Krug would be delighted to have their business.”

As soon as Jay-Z caught wind of the comments, he publicly denounced Rouzaud and replaced Cristal with Krug and Dom Pérignon in his clubs, as Rouzaud had mockingly suggested. But the release of the “Show Me What You Got” video on October 10 immediately established Armand de Brignac as his favorite. By simply associating himself with the brand, Jay-Z was able to almost singlehandedly lift it from obscurity to the heights of celebrity chic; the gilded champagne sold out its initial production run (and all subsequent ones, according to representatives).
Some observers suspected that Armand de Brignac was Jay-Z’s latest business venture. Accordingly, two days after the gold bottle’s inclusion in the “Show Me What You Got” video, Armand de Brignac attempted to dispel rumors of a financial connection. Representatives issued a press release explaining that the wine was simply an “ultra-luxury product in the high-end champagne category” that was “making its North American debut this year, after enjoying success as a premium, high-end brand in France.”

Amid the aftermath of the divorce between Jay-Z and Cristal, Branson B. found himself in France, hand-selecting grapes for his own Branson B. Cuvée champagne. During the three months he spent in the heart of wine country, he never heard a peep about Armand de Brignac or Ace of Spades. The notion that it had enjoyed “success as a premium, high-end brand in France” just wasn’t true. “Didn’t exist,” he told me.
Jay-Z may tout Armand de Brignac in his songs and videos, but to some champagne industry veterans, it’s at best a mediocre product masquerading as a high-end delicacy. “It tastes like shit,” says Lyle Fass, an independent wine buyer in New York. “At least Cristal tastes good.”
In response to such criticism, employees of Cattier, the French Champagne house that produces Armand de Brignac, like to tout their product’s accolades. In December 2009, for example, it was named the world’s best-tasting champagne by Fine Champagne magazine. Fass wasn’t impressed. “These wine tastings are garbage,” he says. “Everybody has a wine tasting … There’s a lot of stupid people in the world.”
Armand de Brignac tends to score in the low nineties on the industry-standard 100-point wine rating scale, which places it on par with wines that sell for $50 or less. Yet Armand de Brignac has sold 100 percent of every annual release. “Everybody should take a lesson who wants to sell wine that sucks,” Fass says. “Because it is probably the most brilliant marketing in the history of wine.”

So why would Jay-Z get involved with a second-tier champagne? Because of the immense profit potential. Fass estimates that Cattier’s production cost for each $300 bottle of Armand de Brignac is a mere 10 euros. Assuming Jay-Z is an investor, the connection could be through any number of outlets: Cattier itself, the brand Armand de Brignac, the importer, the exporter, or the distributor. All of these entities are registered with an array of state and national government agencies in the United States and France. Theoretically, the link could be established with a little bit of sleuth work.
My first call goes to the French offices of the Comité Interprofessionnel du Vin de Champagne, the leading Champagne trade association. A woman named Brigitte informs me that Cattier is 100-percent family owned, but that the brand Armand de Brignac might have a different structure. She suggests trying the French department of agriculture. Via e-mail, one Isabelle Ruault explains that the brand Armand de Brignac is registered to an export company owned by J. J. Cattier. Ruault supposes the brand belongs entirely to the family, but the exact details are impossible to know.
Turning my attention stateside, I place a call to the Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco, Firearms and Explosives in Washington, D.C. A representative redirects me to the Alcohol and Tobacco Tax and Trade Bureau, which in turn points me to the New York State Liquor Authority in Harlem. There, a man named Kashif Thompson informs me that Armand de Brignac is distributed by Sovereign Brands, LLC, and imported by Southern Wines & Spirits. Southern is one of the largest liquor distributors in the country, and it’s known for having personal relationships with some of the biggest names in hip-hop. A call to the Florida Department of Business and Profes-sional Regulation turns up a list of Southern’s owners. Jay-Z is not listed among them.
The last link is Sovereign Brands, whose owner is listed as Brett Berish. Berish, I later learn, distributes and owns a line of spirits called 3 Vodka. The brand was launched in 2004 as a partnership with Atlanta-based hip-hop mogul Jermaine Dupri, who overlapped with Jay-Z as a member of Island Def Jam’s executive ranks. I also discover that shortly after Armand de Brignac’s 2006 launch, Berish issued a press release saying that “Armand de Brignac and Jay-Z have not entered into any agreement, sponsorship or otherwise.” However, he didn’t specify whether there was a financial agreement between Sovereign and Jay-Z. Besides Berish, the only other owner listed for Armand de Brignac is Shannon Bullinger, Sovereign’s operations manager. If Jay-Z has a Dupri-style partnership with Berish, it’s not on the books.

Next, I return to hip-hop’s sommelier. Standing behind the counter of his champagne speakeasy in Harlem, Branson gazes intently at an empty bottle of Armand de Brignac.
”The funny thing,” he says, “is I drank that before.”
He points across the bar to a bottle of another Cattier champagne, Antique Gold, strikingly similar to the empty Armand de Brignac sitting in front of us. “That bottle there, a friend of mine brought it back from Monaco,” he says. “It’s like 60 dollars, 70 dollars, 80 dollars in the store.”
I nod, realizing the magnitude of what Branson has just said. Antique Gold has been around for decades. Armand de Brignac looks nearly identical and costs four or five times as much. Both are made by Cattier. The only real difference seems to be the Ace of Spades label slapped on the more expensive bottle.
My visit to Branson didn’t yield a concrete paper trail between Jay-Z and Ace of Spades, and my calls to government agencies in the United States and France had yielded only circumstantial evidence, but there was one last chance: a transatlantic trip to the birthplace of Armand de Brignac.

NEXT: The connection between Jay-Z and Armand de Brignac
In the tiny village of Chigny-Les-Roses, France, a guide leads me down Rue Dom Pérignon, stopping in front of an unnumbered house with all its windows shuttered. She takes me into a garage whose floor is littered with dusty champagne bottles and elaborate metal contraptions used to insert corks. Then she flips on an electric lantern, and we descend a narrow spiral staircase some 90 feet into the ground. The temperature quickly drops from a dry, sunny 80 degrees to a brisk 45 degrees moistened by 90 percent humidity.
We arrive in a room glimmering with golden bottles of Armand de Brignac. They hang by the dozen in racks, slanted at a slight angle so that sediment collects in the necks and can be removed easily in the next step of the champagne-making process. The thousands of bottles sitting like gilded test tubes are impressive, but what really strikes me is that the bottles are completely blank. There are no labels, and nothing to distinguish a bottle of Armand de Brignac from, say, a bottle of Antique Gold, which Cattier stopped producing in 2006—the same year it started producing Armand de Brignac.

I nod politely. When I ask Bienvenu for the name of the New York wine shop in which Jay-Z allegedly found his first bottle of Armand de Brignac, the affable Frenchman quickly becomes defensive.
After the tour is complete, my guide takes me back into the daylight and over to Cattier’s headquarters for a meeting with the company’s brass. First to greet me is Philippe Bienvenu, Armand de Brignac’s commercial director.
He introduces me to a few more Cattier employees, including the family’s kindly patriarch, Jean-Jacques Cattier, and his son Alexandre. As we walk the bright corridors of the Cattier headquarters, Bienvenu traces the origins of Armand de Brignac to Jean-Jacques Cattier’s mother, who first thought up the name in the early 1950s. Shortly after Armand de Brignac’s debut in 2006, Bienvenu claims, Jay-Z came across it purely by chance. “When we started to ship product to the U.S. and especially to New York, Jay discovered our champagne in a wine shop and bought a few bottles,” he says. “There has never been any partnership, any financial involvement, or something like this between Jay and us.”

As I press Bienvenu for more details, the cracks in the story begin to show.
”How,” I ask, “did the champagne find its way into Jay-Z’s ‘Show Me What You Got’ video?”
”He discovered our champagne by pure coincidence in a wine shop and a few months after came to Monaco to shoot a video,” Bienvenu replies. “On that occasion, he ordered a few cases that we shipped to his hotel there. We couldn’t imagine when we shipped those cases that the purpose of this was to include our champagne in the video.”
I nod politely. When I ask Bienvenu for the name of the New York wine shop in which Jay-Z allegedly found his first bottle of Armand de Brignac, the affable Frenchman quickly becomes defensive.

”I don’t know which wine shop,” he says. “I can’t tell you any more details because I don’t know.”
All of this makes for a great story: a family-owned champagne brand dreamed up by a little old French lady in the 1950s, dormant until resurrected half a century later, promptly discovered by the world’s most famous rapper, by sheer coincidence. But the U.S. Patent and Trademark Office confirms that the first bottles of Armand de Brignac weren’t shipped to the U.S. until the fall of 2006—months after Jay-Z’s video was filmed. Obviously, it would have been impossible for Jay-Z to stumble upon a bottle of champagne in a New York wine shop. When I later emailed one of Cattier’s publicists about this inconsistency, she backtracked. “There’s a misunderstanding regarding how Jay saw the bottle. It was in New York … but not in a store.”

In the weeks following my return from France, I realized that the answers had been here in the U.S. all along. I spoke with a number of sources close to the matter—including a prominent executive at a major record label, a wine distributor with ties to the entertainment industry, and the chief executive of a notable liquor company, to name a few. None of them would let me quote them by name for fear of damaging business relationships, and when I related everything I’d learned, all of them confirmed that Jay-Z receives millions of dollars per year for his association with Armand de Brignac. The connection wasn’t through the Cattier family, but through Sovereign Brands.

Jay-Z publicly denies any connection to Armand de Brignac because he wants to be seen as a connoisseur, a trendsetter with the sophistication to anoint a successor to Cristal. Or, as Bienvenu offhandedly explained to me: “He doesn’t want to be considered a brand ambassador or something like this.” More importantly, Jay-Z realizes that the revelation of a financial connection could endanger the authenticity of his endorsement—and jeopardize a lucrative arrangement.

The math looks extremely favorable for Jay-Z. The production cost per bottle of Armand de Brignac is about $13; the wholesale price is $225. The maximum output is 60,000 bottles per year. If Jay-Z splits the $212-per-bottle profit evenly with Cattier and Sovereign, a back-of-the-envelope calculation suggests his annual take would be a little over $4 million. One of my sources confirmed that number, and added that Jay-Z may have received equity in Sovereign Brands worth about $50 million. All for dropping a few lyrical references and featuring Armand de Brignac in a couple of videos.

For now, it looks like Jay-Z gets to have his champagne—and drink it, too.

DSK CLEARED AND READY TO RETURN TO FRANCE!

Dominique Strauss-Kahn paid tribute to his loyal wife last night as he was cleared of charges that he raped a hotel maid while on holiday in New York earlier this summer.
Describing facing the rape accusations as a 'nightmare ordeal', the former head of the International Monetary Fund said he was 'deeply grateful' to the determined wife who has stood by him despite revelations of infidelity and accusations of sexual assault, even paying for his accommodation while under house arrest.

'I am most deeply grateful to my wife and family who have gone through this ordeal with me, he said. 'We look forward to returning to our home and resuming something of a more normal life.'
The comments came as he was sensationally released from custody, after prosecutors filed court papers saying the case had to be dismissed because they could not ask a jury to believe Nafissatou Diallo's story when they do not find her to be a credible witness.

The 33-year-old West African maid claimed Strauss-Kahn, 62, attacked and sexually assaulted her in his $3,000 a night luxury suite at the Sofitel hotel in Manhattan on May 14.
Strauss-Kahn was seized by authorities aboard an Air France jet at Kennedy International Airport, as he attempted to flee the country.
Today, he looked unfazed as he and his wife were escorted to the proceedings in a six-car motorcade with black sport utility vehicles and a police escort - as hecklers shouted abuse.
A judge had already dismissed a request for a special prosecutor, paving the way for the case to be dropped.

Protesters wielded signs outside the courthouse carrying such messages as 'DSK treats women like property' and 'Put the rapist on trial — not the victim'.
Even once inside the courtroom, shouting could still be heard.
Prosecutors, however, argued DNA evidence showed sexual contact but not necessarily a forced encounter between Strauss-Kahn and Miss Diallo - leading them to deem the investigation's medical findings as inconclusive.
Strauss-Kahn described facing the rape accusations as a 'nightmare ordeal'.
Speaking after the court appearance, he said: 'These past two and a half months have been a nightmare for me and my family.

'I want to thank all the friends in France and in the United States who have believed in my innocence, and to the thousands of people who sent us their support personally and in writing. I am most deeply grateful to my wife and family who have gone through this ordeal with me.
'We will have nothing further to say about this matter and we look forward to returning to our home and resuming something of a more normal life.'
He reiterated the statement in French outside the posh townhouse where he was held under house arrest for much of the summer.
During the brief appearance in Manhattan State Supreme Court, Assistant District Attorney Joan Illuzzi-Orbon formally recommended the case be dismissed.

'Our inability to believe the complainant beyond a reasonable doubt means, in good faith, that we could not ask a jury to do that,' she said.
After the hearing, Strauss-Kahn's lawyer William Taylor said: 'We are obviously pleased and gratified.
'Its a little difficult to be overjoyed about this situation.
'90 days ago I had to visit Dominique Strauss-Kahn In Riker's island in an orange jumpsuit. Today the district attorney has told the court that it does believe he is guilty.
'What a turnaround. What a remarkable change in the life of a criminal case. What a tragedy for Dominique Strauss-Kahn.
'We are glad this is over. The family are glad this is over. They are looking forward to getting their lives together.'
Ben Brafman, the Frenchman's other lawyer praised the 'courageous' decision by the court and said his client and his wife had maintained their 'dignity throughout'.
'Unless you have been falsely accused of a very serious crime that you didn't commit it's impossible for you to understand or grasp the full measure of relief that Dominique Strauss-Kahn feels today.
'This is a horrific nightmare that he and his family have lived through.'
He added: 'This was not a forcible encounter.
'You can engage in inappropriate behaviour, perhaps, but it is not criminal'.

He added that Strauss-Kahn would be remaining in New York for the time being, suggesting he wants matters fully resolved before returning home.
Also speaking after the hearing Ms Diallo's lawyer Kenneth Thompson said: 'The district attorney has abandoned an innocent woman and has denied an innocent woman the right to get justice in a rape case, and by doing so has abandoned other women who will be raped in the future or sexually assaulted.'
He added he would 'still stand by' Ms Diallo during her pending civil case against Strauss-Kahn.

Another speaker afterwards was Michael Greys of 100 Black Law Enforcement, a black rights pressure group, who said prosecutors were guilty of 'sabotaging the case' and were part of a 'conspiracy' with Strauss-Kahn.
He claimed Ms Diallo was being 'raped a second time' by the way the case had been treated.
'Race plays a factor, class plays a factor, gender plays a factor and all those factors were against Ms Diallo,' he said.

'What does a black woman in America have to do to prove a white man raped her?'

Court papers released yesterday revealed that Miss Diallo rolled around on the floor hysterically crying when confronted about a web of lies she is said to have told to have him arrested.
The maid is said to have finally admitted to lying during investigations, saying simply: 'I wasn't under oath'.
Today's court report is expected to state that Miss Diallo has a history of lying that makes it impossible to ask a jury to believe her.
The development follows a meeting with Diallo and prosecutors about a 'bombshell' report with details of her alleged deception.
'In virtually every substantive interview with prosecutors, despite entreaties to simply be truthful, she has not been truthful, on matters great and small, many pertaining to her background and some relating to the circumstances of the incident itself,' the document states.
Judges immediately approve these kinds of requests, experts said.
'After an extensive investigation, it is clear that proof of two critical elements - force and lack of consent - would rest solely on the testimony of the complaining witness at trial. Indeed, the case rises and falls on her testimony.' the report continued.
'Because we cannot credit the complainant's testimony beyond a reasonable doubt, we cannot ask a jury to do so.'
Among evidence provided to prove Miss Diallo's lies is a history of supposedly fraudulent statements she is said to have made under oath in the past, as well as conflicting accounts told to investigators, the media and in court.
'We have no confidence that the complainant would tell the truth on this issue if she were called as a witness at trial,' the report states.
When she told prosecutors she was gang raped by soldiers in Guinea, her country of birth, she 'laid her head face down on her arms on a table in front of her,' as she said her two-year-old daughter was pulled from her arms and thrown to the floor.
The hotel maid later admitted she had not been gang raped and that she had made up the story to help gain asylum to the U.S.
When confronted about another lie, she is said to have 'dropped to the floor, and physically rolled around while weeping.'
The document goes on to allege that she failed to disclose $60,000 in deposits made to her account 'by individuals in four different states'.
When she was asked about the money, she said it was from her fiancé Amara Tarawally - who has been convicted of drug offences in Arizona after he tried to buy $36,500 of marijuana from undercover policemen.
While Miss Diallo insisted she had no intention to try cash in on her case against Strauss-Kahn, the papers allege that 'very close in time to these statements, the complainant had a recorded conversation with her incarcerated fiancé, in which the potential for financial recovery in relation to the May 14, 2011 incident was mentioned.'

The report continues: 'Although there is nothing wrong with seeking recovery from a defendant in a civil suit, the complainant's disavowal of any financial interest is relevant to her credibility.'
The sudden turnaround has led to speculation that Strauss-Kahn, a Socialist politician, could resume his campaign to succeed Nicolas Sarkozy as President of France next year.
Socialist Party chief Martine Aubry called it 'an immense relief' that prosecutors asked a judge to put an end to the case based on concerns about the accuser's credibility.
Mrs Aubry said on France-Info radio today: 'We were all waiting for this ... for him to finally be able to get out of this nightmare.'
The man who replaced Strauss-Khan as favourite for the Socialist Party presidential nomination yesterday said the former IMF chief's political comeback could be 'envisaged'.
Francois Hollande told France Inter Radio: 'A man with the abilities of Dominique Strauss-Kahn can be useful to his country in the months and years to come.'
Although Strauss-Kahn has missed the July deadline for potential Socialist candidates to declare, several party heavyweights have previously suggested it pushed back.
Outside the courthouse after the brief meeting, Miss Diallo's lawyer said the DA was making a mistake.
'Manhattan District Attorney Cyrus Vance has denied the right of a woman to get justice in a rape case. He has not only turned his back on this innocent victim, but he has also turned his back on the forensic, medical and other physical evidence in this case.'

AND FINALLY FROM “THE CRAZY PEOPLE SHOPPING AT WALMART” FILES
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EVERYBODY HAVE A GREAT WEEKEND!!!!
EFREM