P Diddy for The Evening Standard.
In the latest edition of ES Diddy discusses politics, therapy and America’s race problem. This from the dude damn near supported Trump. Anywho he’s obviously promoting something………You can read his article HERE!
#RHoA: SAY WHAT? EVA MARCILLE to join RHoA?
PEEP THIS TEA! Eva Marcille is allegedly testing to joining The Real Housewives of Atlanta.
According to TMZ: cording to TMZ, the former ANTM winner has been filming with the peach-holders for the upcoming season of ‘The Real Housewives of Atlanta.’
“The Real Housewives of Atlanta” wanna switch things up this season, and it’s up to former “America’s Next Top Model” winner Eva Marcille to pass the test. Sources close to the production tell TMZ … producers invited Eva for the upcoming season to see if she fits with the current cast.
We’re told she’s already shot a few scenes with NeNe Leakes at her home. Eva — who won season 3 of ‘Top Model’ — could possibly replace Cynthia Bailey or Porsha Williams because we’re told one of them might be phased out next season on account of their story lines drying up.
Eva’s age also makes her attractive — at 32 she’d be younger than the other ladies. However, we’re told the most important requirement is chemistry and drama. Eva’s gotta bring it … like she totes did on ‘ANTM.’
What do y’all think?
#EMPIRE: Lee Daniels developing Fox drama ‘Mason Dixon’ that tackles race and class
Lee Daniels and 20th Century Fox Television are putting forward a new drama called “Mason Dixon,” which will tackle issues of race and class.
The show follows a black politician’s wife and a “good ol’ boy” who form an unlikely bond after their spouses are caught cheating. Their alliance blends their families and shakes up a small community that is still deeply divided when it comes to both race and class.
The project is part of an overall deal that Daniels is under with Fox and is his second network sale after an untitled megachurch project. Daniels already has two other hit series on Fox: Empire and Star.
#NEWMUSIC: June’s Diary Release New Mixtape ‘Male Edition’
Female R&B quintet June’s Diary have finally delivered new music for their fans.
Formed in 2016, the group–consisting of Kristal Lyndriette Smith, Ashly Williams, Brienna DeVlugt, Gabrielle “Gabby” Carreiro and Shyann Roberts–were the winning members of Kelly Rowland and BET’s singing competition show “Chasing Destiny.”
On the very last day of June, the ladies premiered their debut mixtape ‘Male Edition.’ The 7-track project includes original covers of classics by iconic male R&B groups including Jodeci, Jagged Edge, and The Deele. Showing their diverse abilities they even take on The Beatles “Hey Jude.”
Before the release, June’s Diary had released a cover of Jodeci’s “Stay” as a teaser for what listeners could expect to hear on the mixtape. Combining their outstanding vocal talents, inspiration from ’90s R&B and adding their own modern vibes, the mixtape is sure to have fans everywhere hitting replay and wanting more.
Stream June Diary’s ‘Male Edition’ mixtape HERE
#HIPHOPNEWS: Report: Kanye West Leaves TIDAL, JAY-Z Threatens to Sue
JAY-Z and Kanye West’s simmering feud continues, and now, it might turn into a legal battle. Yeezy has decided to leave TIDAL over a financial dispute, and Hov’s streaming service is planning to sue.
According to TMZ, Mr. West has been displeased with TIDAL for quite some time and he feels he is owed more than $3 million, in part due to bonuses over The Life of Pablo, an exclusive that helped score 1.5 million new subscribers for the platform last year.
In addition to the bonuses, Kanye’s camp claims that TIDAL reneged on reimbursing Yeezy for music videos. The streaming service says he didn’t deliver the amount of visuals required under their contract and West says he will put them out once he’s paid.
The dissent began one month ago, when ‘Ye’s lawyer sent a letter to TIDAL to say that he was cutting ties with the company due to a breach of contract. For two weeks, lawyers from both camps tried to sort things out, but two weeks ago, Kanye’s lawyers sent another letter, claiming once again that the deal was over.
This could eventually lead to a legal battle. According to insiders, TIDAL is saying that it will sue Kanye if he breaks his exclusivity with another streaming platform, and West is reportedly willing to countersue.
In November, Kanye said he was against the label politics between Apple and TIDAL, claiming that it prevented him from collaborating with Drake. He also demanded to speak with Hov about their differences. “Jay Z, call me,” he said. “You still ain’t called me. Jay Z, I know you got killers. Please don’t send them at my head. Please call me. Talk to me like a man.”
JAY-Z addresses his fallout with Kanye on multiple songs off his just-released album 4:44, including “Kill Jay Z.” “You ain’t a saint,” raps Hov. “This ain’t ‘Kumba-yay’ / But you got hurt because you did cool by ‘Ye / You gave him 20 million without blinkin’ / He gave you 20 minutes on stage, fuck was he thinkin’?”
On “Caught Their Eyes,” JAY references Yeezy’s “Big Brother” song and their Watch the Throne collaboration, “Ni**as in Paris.” “Don’t big bro me, don’t big homie,” he raps. “I’ve seen pure admiration become rivals / I’ve been to Paris at least two times / I’ve seen the Eiffel, I’ve seen an eyeful.”
#PRAYERS: Maria Menounos Diagnosed With Brain Tumor as Mom Fights Brain Cancer
Maria Menounos is on the mend after undergoing surgery to remove a golf-ball-size meningioma brain tumor last month. Her mom, Litsa Menounos, is currently battling stage 4 brain cancer.
"This February I thought I had an ear infection so I went to a doctor, and he said, 'Your ears are the cleanest things I've ever seen. What else are you feeling?' I'd been getting light-headed on-set and having headaches. My speech had gotten slurred, and I was having difficulty reading the teleprompter. I said, 'I know you're going to think I'm crazy, but I think I have a brain tumor like my mom,’” the E! News coanchor, 39, recalled to People magazine. “He said, 'I don't think you're crazy. Let's just get an MRI.' The next week I started feeling better, so I was like, 'I'm clearly paranoid.' So I kept pushing the MRI."
Three months later, Maria had the scan and learned of her brain tumor, which was not cancerous. She had it removed and her prognosis is hopeful.
Maria has decided to step down from her E! News position following the health scare. She spoke out about her ordeal in an emotional interview on the Today show, which aired on Monday, July 3.
“For me, I saw it as a huge blessing and a huge gift because I needed to change my life,” she said, crying. “We’re caretakers as women and we help everybody and we put ourselves last always. And I don’t think — at least for me — I guess I realized I didn’t value myself in a lot of ways. And so I think that that was a really important lesson.”
Maria has been receiving support from her fiancé, Keven Undergaro, as she continues to recover from home. “I want to start a family,” she added on Today. “You realize really quickly when something like this happens that nothing else really matters.”
Amber Rose criticizes Kodak Black’s comments about Black women
Kodak Black found himself in extremely hot water with Black women last month when he made the insensitive and confounding comment online that he’s not really into Black girls. Since then, Black women and men across the web have been blasting Kodak over his distaste for Black women. Recently, Kodak tried to clean up his words by saying there are only certain types of Black women that he likes but Amber Rose recently weighed in on Kodak’s comments and explained how problematic they are for the Black community.
In a recent interview, Kodak explained his comments about not liking Black women and he ended up putting his foot in his mouth again as he explained that he doesn’t like dark-skinned Black girls because he doesn’t like his own skin color.
“I’m an average dude cause I don’t see myself no better than him, no better than him, you know, or no less than him. So if he could say that he like skinny women … if he prefers skinny woman more than a more chubbier [sic] or more heavy set woman, he could say that and nobody won’t get mad at him,” he said. “I just said I don’t like women with my complexion. I like light skin [sic] women. I want you to be lighter than me. I love African American women, but I just don’t like my skin complexion.”
Kodak then claimed that dark-skinnned people are rougher and tougher and more aggressive than lighter-skinned people and that light-skinned women are just easier to deal with.
“My complexion, we too gutta. Light skin [sic] women … they more sensitive,” he went on. “Nah, nah, they too tough. Light skin [sic] women, we can break ’em down more easy, you know what I’m saying?”
Well, like many folks, Rose was upset about Kodak’s comments and she went on Instagram and explained how colorism and racist social mindset that pits light-skinned and dark-skinned Black women against each other played a major role in her childhood and how Black women across the board view and treat each other.
“Smh this really makes me so sad. Being a ‘yellowbone’ 🙄 mixed light-skinned woman I know unfortunately that Modeling jobs, boys and opportunities came to me easier but did not realize that until I got older. Growing up in Philly I went to an all black school. I was the ‘white girl’ The one that the boys DIDN’T like, The girl that wasn’t as cool as the brown skinned girls. Black was the thing to be! 😍 But for me my mom was my only black parent, my dad was as white as snow and I came out just as light as him. I would lay out in the sun and try to get as dark as I could. I would look at all of the beautiful dark skinned girls in my class and wish that I could wear bright color shirts like they did but it never quite looked as good on my complexion…… but the Brown skinned girls would pick on me, pull my hair and want to fight me for no reason? Why tho?! I loved them! I wanted to be them! Little did I know at such a young age society was teaching them to hate me. Society was telling these girls that they weren’t as beautiful as me because of their complexion. They were too strong and too outspoken. It was OK for men to have sex with them behind closed doors but not OK to have them on their arm. As if light skinned girls were some type of trophy for a man, it was a social status smh. Insinuating that he had money or he just had a ‘bad b–ch.’ I wanted to be them and they wanted to be me. Getting older I found myself always battling racism and feminism, asking directors why isn’t there any dark skinned girls in the music videos I was featured in? Even when I was Stripper maybe there were 1 or 2 brown skinned girls that would get hired because they didn’t want the club to be too ‘Black’ 😔 I can’t help that I was born with light skin but I am a woman before anything else! We need to stick together as women and educate society, educate men like this with black mothers! Not let men/people dictate what type of woman is in style or more beautiful. We are all smart and capable of being great! No matter where we come from or what complexion we are! If no one tells you you’re beautiful I’m here to tell you that you are! 😍 let’s change the stigma I love you all – Muva,” Rose wrote.
What do you think of Rose and Kodak’s comments? Who do you agree with?
NBC Cancels ‘The Carmichael Show’ After Jerrod Carmichael Quits
Jerrod Carmichael got sick and tired of NBC dragging their feet on renewing “The Carmichael Show” for another season, so he quit the show.
Subsequently, NBC officially announced season 3 of the beloved comedy will be it’s last.
Here’s the scoop via Deadline:
“For three seasons (okay 2.5), I got to make a show that I love with my friends. It’s something I’ve wanted to do since I was 13. Now, I’m excited to go make other things that I love. Thank you to every person who worked on or watched the Carmichael show,” he said.
Just like last May, we heard renewal negotiation between NBC and 20th TV had been difficult, with the two sides far apart and talks going slowly. With no clear indications from the network one way or the other, I hear 20th TV quietly sent out feelers to other networks to gauge potential interest in case NBC opted to cancel the show.
“The Carmichael Show was such a wonderful show that we choose to focus today not on its loss but on the three incredible seasons we had the pleasure to produce,” said 20th Century Fox TV presidents Jonnie Davis and Howard Kurtzman today in a statement. “We are thankful to the brilliant Jerrod Carmichael and his talented cast, and to showrunner Danielle Sanchez-Witzell, our fantastic writers and devoted production team. It’s a rarity that a comedy series tackles the social and political issues of the day in such a clever and hilariously funny way. This show was special, and we will miss it.”
Jerrod and NBC have had a history of bumping heads when it comes to “The Carmichael Show,” and it’s become evident that he’s tired of the tomfoolery.
#SPORTSNEWS: Steph Curry Signs Five-Year, $201 Million Super-Max Deal, Richest Deal in NBA History
Back in 2012, Steph Curry signed a four-year, $44 million extension with Golden State Warriors, amid lingering concerns about his ankle injury.
At the time, Curry was aware of the concerns, saying “My ankle was a big factor in the [contract extension] number.” In the previous season, Curry was limited to 26 games with his scoring average dropping to 14.7 points. “They had to protect themselves a little bit,” he said.
Five years later, the two-time NBA MVP has earned his keep, landing the richest deal in NBA history.
According to ESPN, the eight-year veteran has agreed to a five-year, $201 million extension with the Golden State Warriors to become the first Baller in history to sign a supermax contract, crossing the $200 million threshold.
For five consecutive seasons, Curry has led the league in 3-pointers, ranking 10th of all time, emerging as one of the best players in the league.
Congratulations to the two-time NBA MVP, four-time All-Star and three-time All-NBA first team baller, Steph Curry.
OMG, Hannibal Buress Sent A Lookalike to the Spider-Man: Homecoming Premiere In His Place
Hannibal Buress, who plays Coach Wilson in Spider-Man: Homecoming, was unable to attend the film’s L.A. premiere because he was down in Atlanta shooting the upcoming comedy Tag. Luckily, he came up with a very creative solution to his scheduling conflict.
According to Entertainment Weekly, Buress sent out some tweets on Wednesday, June 28 offering $500 to hire “a lookalike with solid comedic timing for an event tonight.” (The tweets have since been deleted.) Actor Joe Carroll took him up on the offer.
While on the red carpet, Carroll also gave interviews and signed autographs as Buress. When asked about his role in the film, Carroll gamely played along with the reporter in the video below – who I think genuinely believes that this is Buress.
“You know, it was a great opportunity,” Caroll said. “I had a lot of fun. Spider-Man‘s huge. You know, we grew up watching Spider-Man. So to play Coach Wilson, working with the cast…it was just a great time. I had a blast. I wouldn’t trade it for nothing in the world.”
“Did you have a particular gym coach [or] gym teacher that you modeled him after?”
“Not necessarily. You know, in high school I had a really tough coach. I wasn’t a big fan of physical education.”
Inside Edition also caught up with Carroll to ask him about the evening.
Mostly, this prank is just hilarious. I love that Buress transformed a complication from his busy schedule into something clever and fun, and I am even happier that he expected to pay Carroll for his night. (Nobody should work for exposure.)
However, there’s also something profoundly uncomfortable about the reporter getting fooled by this prank. I mean, Buress and Carroll look similar, but only in the way that I look like every other ginger under 5’8” with a pixie cut. From people mistaking Franchesca Ramsey for Jessica Williams to the “I’m America Ferrera, not Gina Rodriguez” joke at the 2016 Golden Globes, it’s pretty well-established that uber-white Hollywood can treat actors of color as interchangeable. This interview is no exception.
As with all the best jokes, this stunt also makes a larger commentary. It speaks to both the inanity of red carpet questions (see how easily and vaguely Carroll cooked up responses) and the way that Hollywood views black actors – all while giving Burgess and his fans a good laugh.
At Long Last, Germany’s Lawmakers Legalize Same-Sex Marriage
Germany has for many years been out of step with other EU nations in not recognizing the legal right of same-sex couples to marry. Love wins once again, however, and Friday’s parliamentary vote made same-sex marriage the law of the land.
It might surprise some casual Germany watchers that the country, often thought of as forward-thinking and generous on issues like welcoming refugees, was lacking same-sex marriage. Marriage equality has long been accorded to populations in many Western European countries, with the Netherlands and Belgium leading the charge. Spain and France have followed suit.
But cities like the uber-liberal Berlin, where most tourists soak up a German experience, are hardly representative of the nation of a whole—no more so than New York City speaks for the rest of America. Germany’s leading political party, the Christian Democratic Union, has been more stalwart in espousing “traditional” values, though same-sex civil unions were legalized in 2001. Those partnerships did not accord the same rights as marriage, so this is a huge step forward.
Germany is a major EU power player and is headed by a woman, Angela Merkel, that articles have anointed the new “leader of the free world” in the wake of Donald Trump’s defection from the role. Much of the resistance to marriage equality was supported by Merkel and her CDU party, who opposed the measure for years. Merkel, the daughter of a Protestant minister, has in the past stated, “For me, personally, marriage is a man and a woman living together,” and she repeated similar sentiments on Friday. She also voted against same-sex marriage in the parliamentary vote.
But Merkel is more than anything a savvy politician who knows which way the wind is blowing, and European conservatives are often of a wildly different cut than their American counterparts. It’s Merkel who paved the way for Friday’s landmark vote, knowing that the German parliament was overwhelmingly in favor of equality—in line with the public’s growing support of the matter.
It was a smart move that allowed her to retain her stance while permitting Germany to catch up with the rest of the modern world. While I might strongly disagree with Merkel’s personal conviction, I can admire her tactics and decision not to fight tooth and nail to block progress because of her own views. The Washington Post reported:
By allowing the law to pass before the elections despite opposing it, Merkel appealed to the majority of voters but might have avoided the anger of much of her party — following Merkel’s long-standing rationale of trying to make the least enemies whenever possible. “I hope that with today’s vote not only that mutual respect is there between the individual positions, but also that a piece of social peace and togetherness could be created,” Merkel said after the Friday vote.
Just imagine Donald Trump expressing a sentiment like this and praising “social peace and togetherness.” I’ll wait.
Despite the bumps in the road to getting there, love won today in Germany, and it did so to the sound of raucous applause and under a rain of confetti. Ehe für alle!
AND FINALLY FROM “THE CRAZY PEOPLE SHOPPING AT WALMART” FILES
‘Red, White & Blue’
Looks like someone caught a sneak peak of me at every party I’m going to this holiday weekend. #Murrica.
EGGPLANT NATION: Meet The Patriot Bear
Meet The Patriot Bear. So you know what to do to see more. Just CLICK HERE TO SEE THE PICS and remember they’re NSFW!
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ENJOY YOUR 4TH OF JULY ALL!
EFREM
