Source: Max Mumby/Indigo / Getty The Duchess of Sussex has no time for y’all President during his upcoming London trip. According to CBS News , while Donald Trump and his wife, Melania, plan to meet the Royal Family in June, Meghan Markle has decided not to attend any of the festivities. The Royal Family recently announced the details of the trip in a press statement. “The President of the United States, President Donald Trump, accompanied by Mrs. Melania Trump, has accepted an invitation from Her Majesty The Queen to pay a state visit to the United Kingdom,” it reads. Apparently, the visit will last for three days and will include one event which will consist of a private palace lunch and tea with Prince William , Kate Middleton , Prince Harry and the Trumps, CBS noted. Once again, Markle cannot and will not be bothered. Granted, she recently gave birth and probably would rather spend time with baby Archie, but she’s also no Trump fan. In a 2016 interview with Comedy Central’s Larry Wilmore , the former Suits actress called then-presidential candidate Trump “divisive.” “Trump is divisive, think about female voters alone, right? I think it was in 2012, the Republican Party lost the female vote by 12 points; that is a huge number and with as misogynistic as Trump is, and so vocal about it…Trump has made it easy to see that you don’t really want that kind of world that he’s painting,” she said. Listen…we don’t blame her. Girl, stay at home with your baby and live your best life. RELATED NEWS: Meghan Markle Gives Birth To Baby Boy! Next Time, Trump’s Attorney General Should Play The Lotto Instead Of Kamala Harris This Former Black Trump Staffer Is Suing The President For Trying To Kiss Her Without Her Consent [ione_media_gallery src=”https://hellobeautiful.com” id=”3027141″ overlay=”true”]
Source: Netflix / Netflix Ava Duvernay was just a teenager when five young Black boys, from Harlem, were arrested and convicted for the rape of a white woman in Central Park on the night of April 19, 1989. So when Raymond Santana, one of the “Central Park 5” sent her a wishful tweet about bringing the Central Park 5 story to the screen, “it meant a lot” to her, she revealed to NPR . Ava and Netflix’s When They See Us chronicles the events of the Central Park Five case that captivated the nation. The four-part series will span 25 years, taking on the wrongful conviction of the boys, as well as highlight their exoneration in 2002 and the settlement reached with the city of New York in 2014. Antron McCray, Yusef Salaam, Raymond Santana, Jr., Kevin Richardson and Korey Wise were beaten upon arrest, forced into making false confessions and convicted of a crime they did not commit. They served seven years in prison and were later exonerated only to have a convicted murderer, who was serving a life sentence, eventually confess to the crime. Their story is perfectly aligned with Duvernay’s mission to raise awareness around the injustices of the prison industrial system, which she explored in her critically acclaimed documentary the 13th. When They See Us stars a stellar cast Michael K. Williams, John Leguizamo, Niecy Nash and Blair Underwood, who opened up to us about this role in the series. “My character’s name is Robert Burns and I play the defense attorney to one of the, no longer Central Park 5, the Exonerated 5,” he says making a clear distinction. Burns comes into action in the second hour of the four-hour series. According to Underwood, his character isn’t necessarily “a huge part” of the limited series. Albiet small, the emotional toll of a role like this can’t be underestimated. “Ava did something I’ve never seen on any project I’ve done. She made a grief counselor available to everyone on the set,” Underwood revealed in a candid conversation. “They were up and running by the time I came to set and I’d get e-mails from production that would say this is a very tough material. It’s emotional and it dredges up so much in all of us. Especially the young boys recreating these emotions. To be able to say here’s the person to contact if you need any grief counseling is amazing. It’s apart of what we do. It’s our job as actors to bring those emotions to the forefront and let it manifest. People deal with it different ways.” Underwood said he took several walks to connect with nature after filming. “It’s very deep themes. The thing with this story is there is no distance from history to separate then and now. There’s 30 years logistically but emotionally, how far we’ve come? Theres very little daylight.” When They See Us is on Netflix now. RELATED STORIES: Ava Duvernay, Spike Lee ‘More Of Black Hollywood Recreate The Iconic ‘Great Day In Harlem’ Portrait Secure The Bag! Ava DuVernay Tapped To Direct DC Comics Movie ‘The New Gods’ CBS Picks Up Ava DuVernay’s Drama Pilot ‘Red Line’
Let’s face it a person accent can add a swagg to a person you might not have noticed before they opened their mouths. If you’re from the dirty south and more particularly Texas… we’ve got good news! Big 7 Travel came out with their list of the top 50 sexiest accents in the United States and that Texas drawl comes in at the top spot of number one. Here’s the list: 50th. Long Islander People from ‘Lawnguyland’ might be a bit upset with being voted as having America’s least sexiest accent. But look, can they really disagree? 49th. New Jersey North Jerseyan? Think ‘cawfee’ and dropping the ‘Rs’. South Jerseyan? It’s more like the Philly accent, but not close enough to bring up Jersey’s overall sex appeal. 48th. Minnesotan Throw in plenty of Minnesota “yahs” and “hons” to get that famous Fargo accent. 47th. Alaskan A massive migration of Minnesotans during the 1930s means that the Alaskan accent sounds all too similar to Minnesota folk. 46th. California Valley The often-ridiculed San Fernando “Valley Girl” accent rose to fame in the 1980s, but is still spoken by many in South California today. Like, awesome? 45th. Southern Ohioan In the southern end of Ohio, where a pin is actually a pen and tin means ten, the accent is almost southern, yet not. 44th. Floridian Not including the sexy twang of Miami, the Florida accent is a baffling mix of Midwest and Northeast with a hint of Southern. A sandwich is a ‘sangwich’ and the people have spoken – it’s nowhere near the top 10. 43rd. Pittsburgh “Yinz going dahntahn?” The Western Pennsylvania English accent is often considered the ugliest in all of America, so Pittsburgh locals can feel lucky that they’ve escaped last place this time around. 42nd. Cincinnati Slowly but surely dying out as younger Ohioans speak with a more general Midland accents, the classic Cincinnati accent has short ‘a’s, so class becomes cless. 41st. Pennsylvania Dutch While a typical US state might have max two or three dialects, Pennsylvania has five. The Pennsylvania Dutch dialect has been dying out, as non-Amish younger Pennsylvania Germans tend to speak modern General American English. “Yah, well.” 40th. Appalachian Also known as Smoky Mountain English or Southern Mountain English, words get joined together and ‘a’ gets added onto random words – think “I’m goin’ a-huntin’”. Potato becomes ‘tader’ and hollow becomes ‘holler’. Charming yes, but sexy it ain’t. 39th. Colorado Coloradans don’t have a distinctive sound, but there’s definitely an accent here, despite what some people might say. It’s recently been influenced by the Californian vowel shift, yet still holds on to dropping the ‘t’s, so mountains becomes ‘moun’uns’. 38th. Providence Want to talk Rhode Island? The Boston-meets-Brooklyn accent is hard to mimic, but clearly distinct. Listen to any episode of Jersey Shore with Pauly D and you’ll understand instantly what it sounds like. 37th. Tallahassee You’re most likely to hear a Southern twang in Tallahassee, Florida, but the accent here is clearly different to others down south. Sure, they say ‘y’all’, but not quite right. 36th. Ozark Spoken in the Ozark Mountain region of northwestern Arkansas and southeastern Missouri, the vowels are shifted all over the place. Calm becomes ‘cam’ and share becomes ‘sheer’. And yes, Ferners (anyone not from the Ozarks) might have trouble understanding it. 35th. “Hoi Toider” High Tider, or Hoi Toider, is the accent spoken by a small amount of people on the Outer Banks of North Carolina. It’s an unusual brogue that sounds a bit Australian,a bit Irish and also a bit British. 34th. San Francisco You might not hear it so often what with the multicultural mix of folk now living in SF, but the classic San Francisco accent is super fast with words running into each other. “Whereja-go?” 33rd. Hudson Valley Hudson Valley English still holds some traces of Dutch in the rural areas, with a touch of New York City’s short vowels. It’s basically New England English-meets-General American and New York State. 32nd. General American This standard American accent is what you’re most likely to hear on the radio or TV, where it’s near impossible to tell where the newscasters are from. It’s slightly boring, but nicely inoffensive to the ears. Listen to Stephen Colbert on The Late Show to hear a prime example. 31st. Atlanta A true Atlanta accent is musical, with dropped ‘r’s. Can’t quite picture it? Opportunity sounds like ‘opp-ah-tunity’ and whatever is spoken like ‘what-eh-vah’. 30th. New Mexican This lovely type of Spanglish has unique expressions that you won’t hear outside of New Mexico, such as ‘The Fe’ for Santa Fe and a liberal use of ‘Eeeeeeee’ in the middle of sentences. 29th. Milwaukee If you want to know how to speak perfect Milwaukee-ese, pronounce ‘bag’ as ‘baig’, add an ‘aina’ on to the end of a question – like saying ‘ain’t it?’, which comes from the states Germanic influences. And don’t forget to say the city like ‘M’waukee’. 28th. Western Generally spoken by locals in Nevada, Arizona, Utah, and Wyoming, the typical Western accent is distinguished by the cot-caught merger, where both vowel words sound the same. Hella sexy? Kinda. 27th. Charleston Typical of older Southern U.S. English, the Charleston accent is lyrical and low, but is likely dying out in younger generations. Old Charleston charmers will say “hoose” instead of house and “stey-it” for state. 26th. Kentucky Kentucky accents vary all over the state, but it’s a southern beaut – y’all living here apparently have a smooth drawl and long vowels that sounds like a mix of Midwestern and Southern tones. 25th. New Orleans New Orleans English, or “Yat” (this name comes from the phrase “Where are you at?” which is shortened in NOLA to “Where y’at?”), is not to be confused with Cajun, which our readers considered way sexier. Yats say ‘doze’ for those and drop the ‘r’s. 24th. Oklahoma The Okie dialect is a blend of Midlands/Ozark and Deep South. Not sure if you have it? If you’ve ever used the expressions “might could” or “fixing to”, you’re from Oklahoma through and through. 23rd. Cleveland Clevelanders might say they don’t have an accent, but oh-boy they really do. They speak with hard, nasally a’s or and short o’s that sound more like an ‘a’. 22nd. Connecticut In between New York City and Boston, the Connecticut accent has been influenced by both yet is much, much subtler. There’s a lot of ‘o’s that sound like ‘u’s, and the ‘t’ is often dropped completely in words. 21st. Kansas You can forget about the myth that says people from Kansas don’t have an accent. Kansas City is in the Midland speech area, while a new accent has emerged in the town of Liberal, where people now speak with a Latin American Spanish tone – even if they’re native English speakers. 20th. Tennesseean If you call a window a ‘winder’ and your hometown your ‘stompin’ grounds’, congratulations! You have a sexy Tennessee accent. Words like goose become shorter, sounding more like ‘gus’. 19th. Virginia Piedmont Do the words “four dogs” become “fo-uh dah-awgs” when you speak? Do you say “ote” for “out” or “abote” for “about”? If yes, then we’re happy say you have an officially semi-sexy Virginian accent. 18th. Baltimorese Similar to Philly speak (but according to our survey, not as sexy), Baltimore residents will commonly pronounce mirror as “mere” and water as “wooder”. The key feature of the Baltimore accent is identified by a sound change called “fronting back vowels”, where words like goose sound more like “gewse”. 17th. Alabama The Alabama accent is strongly rhotic, with extra ‘r’s added to words that don’t need them – like “warsh” instead of wash. A slow drawl, plenty of “y’all’s and dropping the ‘ng’ at the end of words. 16th. Midwestern The 12 states that make up the Midwest have some of their own unique accents, but generally speaking the Midwestern accent in say, Iowa and Nebraska, is subtle and sweet. The words Mary , marry , and merry all rhyme with each other. New Orleans’ Cajun English is most strongly influenced by Cajun French, and is experiencing a revival as younger people want to celebrate their heritage. A ‘th’ sounds like a ‘d’, and you’ll hear lots of slang French loanwords. “Allons” = “Let’s go!” 14th. Yooper ‘Yoopernese’ is the dialect you’ll hear in the Upper Peninsula of Michigan. The accent is heavily influenced by the area’s Scandinavian immigrants, so they say ‘yah’ instead of yeah, “d” for “th” (“dere” for there, “dat” for “that”) and ‘eh’ at the end of most sentences. 13th. Miami A relatively new young accent, the Miami accent has the same sexy rhythm as Spanish with Cuban loanwords thrown in for good measure. The word “salmon” in Miami is pronounced with the L: “sall-mon.” Long may it last. 12th. Chicano The dialect of many Mexican Americans from Texas to California, Chicano is so much more than “just a Spanish accent.” Most common in East L.A, Chicano English uses Spanish words mixed into English sentences and the same sexy lilt. 11th. Northwestern The hard-to-pin-down Northwestern accent is found in Oregon and Washington has features of the Canadian/California Vowel Shift. The letter “e” in words like egg sounds more like ‘ay’, so don’t be confused if you hear someone ordering avo and “ayggs” for their breakfast. 10th. Californian The typical Californian accents sounds similar to General American, meaning to American ears it isn’t an accent at all. But we’re here to tell you that it is. Vowels are super long, so yep, dude really does become ‘duuuuuude’. But it sounds hella sexay. 9th. St. Louis St. Louis, Missouri has some unique features of its own that make it different than the rest of the Midlands. Native speakers swap the ”ar” sound for “or” (as in “farty” for “forty” and “carn” for “corn”), so get ready to make the joke ‘I Farty-Far’ a lot. 8th. Philadelphia One of the world’s most unique dialects is in the Delaware Valley – the infamous Philly talk. The words “fight” and “bike” sound more like “foit” and “boik,” while “very” becomes “vurry”. It’s a thick accent, but hey, if it’s good enough for Will Smith… 7th. Hawaiian Hawaiian is a Polynesian language, so it’s slow vowels and elongated words that together sound so relaxing you’ll never want to stop listening. America’s only official bilingual state, native speakers mix Pidgin and English, so the “r”s are generally dropped. 6th. Mississippi A classic ‘Deep South’ accent, when Mississippians say “e”, they make it sound more like “uhay”. Watch The Help starring Emma Stone and Octavia Spencer for the perfect example. 5th. Chicago Where to begin? Some hate it, but turns out a LOT love it. Words like “but” and “cut” sound a bit more like “bought” and “caught”, and you’re not “looking at a picture”, you’re “lookin’ atta pitcher.” . 4th. Mainer The Maine accent is surprisingly popular, ayuh! If you’re a real “Mainah”, you’ll drop your ‘r’s, go to “yoger” class instead of yoga and add in wicked to make every adjective extra powerful. 3rd. New York The New York accent is probably one of the most recognizable dialects in all of America, thanks to many a famous movie. NYC speakers have loooong vowels and short ‘a’s. Fast and hypernasal, yet quite charming at times. 2nd. Bostonian One of America’s most imitated and parodied accents, Boston almost comes out on top of the country’s sexiest accents. And yes, just like Mahhhhk Wahlberg, locals really do say “pahk yuh cahr in hahvuhd yahd”. 1st. Texan Who can resist a slow, Texan drawl? Not us, and not our community, clearly. The typical Texan accent is a “Southern accent with a twist”, with strong ‘r’s and plenty of ‘Howdy’s’. America’s sexiest accent? Take Our Poll
Source: Paul Morigi / Getty W e now know what happened in the park that night in April 1989. A gruesome crime. The police and city roaring with anger. They rounded up all the Black and brown youths in the park they could find. They forced them to talk, despite all evidence to the contrary, about a grizzly happening they hadn’t committed. Their names are Raymond Santana, Kevin Richardson, Antron McCray, Yusuf Salaam, and Korey Wise. They had a lawyer named Robert Burns, who — in director, writer, and documentarian Ava DuVernay’s When They See Us — is played by the always neatly spooled Blair Underwood. History, ours and America’s, is as alive as we are. History walks with us. It speaks to us as we wonder how events in the present have come to be. It aligns us: through memory, through DNA, through culture. It weds itself to our perceptions. It twists evidence, where damp grass only so wide now finds itself a cesspool big enough for five bodies instead of one. The Central Park Five is a part of that history. They are children of that history. They bear the scars of American selfishness, its intolerance, its admittedly complex sense of grandeur and its self. New York City has an outsized presence in that self. In that way, it embodies the worst of America’s campaign to turn Black people into its shadow. The Central Park Five have a Sarah and Ken Burns documentary in their shadow. But Ava DuVernay has unearthed this story to tell it differently—for Netflix, of course, because for who else? And for love, because for what else? When They See Us , then, is as dramatic as American history. Somehow, as the title suggests, Black people are without form until, suddenly, they come into view trying to survive through roiling waters in New Orleans or hanging large through New York City’s monumental patch of green. Then, before your eyes, children become hardened criminals. Humans aching to survive become pariahs. To help bring this harrowing tale to life, Blair Underwood had to embody the role of a man who was in way over his head and ill at the time of the trial. Salaam didn’t know this at the time, but his lawyer was on medication, which would explain why he’d nod off during the trial at times. Why he’d ramble at points. Bobby Burns would die soon after the trial ended. He was more Salaam’s family friend than a crack-pot attorney, but in trying times all Salaam’s mother knew was to try. CASSIUS: What did you know about the five before you were cast? Blair Underwood: I knew the broad strokes of the case. I knew a white, female jogger had been brutally assaulted, beaten, and raped. I knew that five young Black and brown boys –– four African-American, one Latino, were accused of it. And I knew there was a rush to judgment. I knew that days later Donald Trump had taken a number of full-page ads out calling for the death penalty of these young boys–– literally within days. Before any trial. Before any facts came out. Before any notion of due process. Those were broad strokes that I knew. So when I came to the project, I had an opportunity to do a deep dive into the attorney for Yusuf Salaam (Bobby Burns), to really learn about the specificity of the case and the lack of evidence. [To learn about] the complexity of having videotaped confessions coerced and also being falsely accused and eventually being exonerated. But what these four one-hour films bring is the opportunity to dig deep and delve into their personal lives. [It] makes you feel the injustice, even more, this miscarriage of justice even more. C: Why do you think this case was such a large datapoint in New York City and American history? BU: First you had a brutal crime. And brutal crimes happen all the time, but you had the brutal crime of a white woman. So, you inject and have the confluence of race because you have five Black and brown boys. That’s what you have to remember. They were boys. They were children. They were 14, 15, 16-years-old. They were accused of doing this crime. And this was in the midst of many crimes around Central Park. So this did not happen in a vacuum. People were afraid. People were scared. And somebody did that crime, we found out later because a guy who was a serial rapist around uptown manhattan confessed to it. And then again you have a high profile real-estate magnate like Donald Trump at the time calling for the death of children. That’s what he was calling for. To bring back the death penalty with no facts on hand of who did it. And we have to remember there were a crime and an injustice. And the meaning of justice is to have a balance of right and wrong, good and bad, and the understanding of that and the administering of justice. That’s why I love the title of this film When They See Us. The inference is When They See Us , not always, but too often people fear when they see men of color. But the double entendre is When They See Us in the film they can see us for who we really are. You got me preachin’ this morning, brother! [Laughs] C: As someone with children, did you have to bury the anger that comes with seeing children put in harm’s way or did you use it for the role? BU: I don’t think you bury it. I don’t think you bury any of those emotions. In fact, our jobs as actors, our jobs as artists, and our job as storytellers is to bring those emotions and thoughts and fragility and weaknesses and strengths –– all of that which makes up our humanity to the character. I think you have to. But that’s a general statement. Particularly to my character, Robert Burns was a family friend to Yusuf Salaam. He was actually Yusuf Salaam’s mother’s divorce attorney. So he really was in over his head when it came to the case. He’d actually never done a criminal case as he was a divorce attorney. But they had a certain amount of trust in him and had a certain amount of loyalty to him. Legally, I’m sure they could have made better choices, but he gave them a sense of calm and comfort when he was on the case. C: What kind of research did you do that helped you embody Robert Burns? BU: Most helpful, after Ava gave us all a dossier on the case, was talking to Yusuf Salaam and seeing how he saw Robert Burns. And he saw him as a kind of father figure. And Robert Burns, by all accounts, felt the same way towards him and very much wanted to protect him. Regardless of his experience as an attorney, he wanted to protect him as best he could and the Salaam family trusted him. C: I know this is a naive question, but what do you think made everyone involved so quick to condemn these children in the way they did? BU: Well that is the topic of conversation in the news every day now. The othering of people. Demonizing, vilifying those that are different than us. We hear that from the high prophets of the land and we really have to fight against that and try to find our commonality. So that’s a big question. There’s a lot to how we got to this point in our country and the way race relations are. Listen, I’m a hopeful person and I see hope in the future generations. I see hope in your generation and in the future generations because you look at race relations in this country and those people who are trying to turn the clock back, that’s a losing game. C: If this case happened today, do you think there would have been a similar miscarriage of justice or do you think we’d have been more thoughtful as a society toward them? BU: [Laughs] I would say there would be an attempt to have the same miscarriage of justice. I don’t think it would work as easily, if at all. You think about what has changed since then and, yes, there’s social media, but [there’s] also that we’re all photojournalists. We all have cameras, computers in the palm of our hands. Most people in a metropolis like New York City have phones. It doesn’t change things completely, sure, if you look at [the case of] Eric Garner, for example, but it makes it a little more difficult for those doing things to get away with it. It doesn’t stop it, but it’s another tool in the arsenal. So, yeah, I think there are definitely those people who would like to keep the status quo. Keep all the Black and brown people in their place. But those days are gone.
Source: E. Charbonneau / Getty T he Boondocks played a heavy role in the development of many teenagers in the 2000s and now fans can rejoice in the return of the series, according to John Witherspoon. Witherspoon, 77, has played a prominent role in the animated TV show, portraying the retired grandfather Pops Freeman. Along with his grandsons, Huey and Riley, he lived in suburban Chicago facing a whirlwind of challenges and hijinks. A show that is seen as ahead of its time, The Boondocks tackled political commentary at the height of the Bush era and other pop culture references (e.g. R. Kelly’s child pornography trial). John was a guest on the Joe Rogan Podcast to discuss his career and dropped some not-so-subtle nuggets on the show’s future. “I’m on the cartoon – what is it? The Boondocks ? I didn’t change my voice for The Boondocks . And they coming back: Boondocks is coming back… It’s one of the best cartoons I’ve ever been on,” he tells Rogan. View this post on Instagram Political Niggas vs. Get Money Niggas. #BoondocksBack the following text is a message from Aaron Mcgruder “Did these for fun (and to see if I still could). More to come… exactly how much more is tough to say. These strips were only possible due to the enormous talent of my good friend Seung Kim, who did the animation for the old show – and he’s a busy guy. Thanks to him and thanks to Charlamagne for putting these out for me while I get my instagram act together.” AM A post shared by LENARD (@cthagod) on Feb 5, 2019 at 8:34am PST Details are still sketchy at the moment, as no word was mentioned regarding who was returning for the show. Aaron McGruder wasn’t involved during the development of Season 4 due to creative differences, and it’s unsure that he’ll return to the project that he created. For all we know, Witherspoon’s words should be taken with a grain of salt, as he’s also a part of the forever elusive Last Friday with Ice Cube. If Season 5 of The Boondocks does come to fruition, it would be in a very timely fashion given the current political landscape. McGruder himself has teased a number of new comic strips of The Boondocks, highlighting the current news cycle involving Robert Mueller, R. Kelly, and more. Still, this doesn’t confirm whether he’ll be returning to the television project going forward. Check out the clip of both John and JD Witherspoon on the Joe Rogan Podcast below.
T he city of Chicago is still hungry for Jussie Smollett . Therefore, a judge ruled to unseal the documents in his case — however, it’s only the documents from the perspective of the corrupt Chicago Police Department. One revelation is that the home of the Osundairo brothers was packed with drugs and guns. See Also: Complete Timeline Of Jussie Smollett Investigation TMZ reports they had a vault of guns that included the following: — a hipoint model C9, 9MM caliber semi-auto pistol — 9MM caliber magazine with live rounds — 45ACP caliber magazines — Boxes labeled Remington 22 Rounds — a box labeled Hornady 00 buck shotgun shells No wonder on what these guns were for or if the guns were legal. The site also says, “They found a paper packet containing 2 small plastic bags with white powder, but there are no specifics about what that white substance was.” The report also claimed that one of the brothers sold weed to the “ Empire ” actor but this was already reported back in February . Abel and Ola , who have never commented publicly on their involvement in the case, reportedly have not been able to land an agent since the Smollett case went public. Originally, their fitness training business was skyrocketing but “many of their potential clients turned out to be feigning interest in getting in shape and were really looking to get details on Jussie’s case.” Other damning information about the brothers has surfaced in April. It was reported that Olabinjo Osundairo was charged with attempted murder in 2011. He reportedly reached a plea deal “with prosecutors and pleaded guilty to aggravated battery; he was sentenced to two years of probation and ordered to pay a $674 fine.” As for Smollett, his career has also taken a hit. He is no longer being considered to play the lead role in the Broadway revival of “ Take Me Out ,” which is about a mixed-race baseball player. The role supposedly went to Jesse Williams . There have also been several reports that he will no longer be on “Empire” but his contract is still in place. On Jan. 29, while walking to a subway, Smollett claimed two men yelled racial and homophobic slurs at him, investigators told The Hollywood Reporter . They allegedly punched and poured bleach on him while one of the suspects put a rope around his neck. As they fled the scene, Smollett told police they said, “This is MAGA country.” Smollett has maintained his innocence. SEE ALSO: Kamala Harris Leads Senate To Finally Passing Anti-Lynching Bill WTH? ‘Black Panther’ Writer Roxane Gay Was Not Invited To The Movie Premiere Can Racial Profiling Be Stopped? A Federal Jury Sides With The Louisiana State Police [ione_media_gallery src=”https://newsone.com” id=”3844029″ overlay=”true”]
Source: Cassy Athena / Getty We will reportedly get to see the next generation of peanut butter and jelly soon when the original PBJ LeBron James and Dwyane Wade sons team up in high school. ESPN’s Ohm Youngmisuk and Dave McMenamin and Tarek Fattal of the Los Angeles Daily News are reporting both LeBron James Jr. (14) and Zaire Wade will be taking their talents to Sierra Canyon next fall. Bronny, when he arrives, will be a freshman while Wade who is currently attending American Heritage School in Plantation, Fla. will be a senior. James’ younger son Bryce James will also be following his brother to the school which enrolls students starting from preschool to 12th grade. The Los Angeles Daily News reported that LeBron James took a tour of the school during spring break fueling rumors of his arriving there. The decision to enroll both Bronny and Bryce in Sierra Canyon was purely a basketball decision for his kids per ESPN . The school is no stranger to basketball royalty either. NBA Champion and Hall of Famer Scottie Pippen’s son Scotty Pippen Jr., as well as Kenyon Martin’s son KJ Martin, had impressive seasons leading the school to back-to-back CIF State Open Division titles. Pippen and Martin both have committed to Vanderbilt where for NBA star Jerry Stackhouse is the head coach and will look to further the young hooper’s careers. As for D-Wade and LeBron James, the two have been looking forward to spending more time with each other again. Wade has plenty of free time on his hands now that he has retired and both himself and his wife Gabrielle Union plan to be in Los Angeles more now that his professional basketball playing days are over. Speaking with the Sports Inquirer , last December James added: “I told him, ‘No one likes to work out by themselves. So he can come to Staples. He can come to the practice facility anytime he wants to get workouts in. He can come help me with the young guys as well. He’ll be around a lot more personally for me, so I’ll love that.” Sierra Canyon home games are going to be lit, especially with LeBron James and Dwyane Wade in the stands cheering their boys on as they cook the competition. — Photo: Cassy Athena / Getty
Source: Blogzworth / Radio One Digital It’s been about a week since billionaire Robert F. Smith pledged to pay off the student loan debt for the entire 2019 Morehouse College graduating class. Studio One in Atlanta had the unique opportunity to speak with some of the young men blessed by Saint Robert, as they had the time to reflect on the blessing in front of the camera. The young men voiced a strong urge to give back to their local communities, almost like it was their duty. They also appreciated, more than anything, the burden lifted that debt brings to so many people in America. Because of this, it makes their biggest and brightest dreams seem so much more achievable. Check out the video below and CONGRATS TO ALL THE 2019 Morehouse Grads!
Source: Johnny Nunez / Getty Earlier this week City Girls and Hazel-E found themselves in some social media drama after the Love & Hip Hop star tried to come for the Miami based girl group. With that being said City Girl’s latest video couldn’t have come at a better time given the joints title. In the rap duo’s Lil Yachty guest featured clip to “Act Up,” JT and Yung Miami challenge spring breakers to get it as turnt as they can while they call out any and everyone who talks out the side of their mouth about them. Hmmmm… Keeping things in Miami, two of Brooklyn’s favorite OG sons in Smif N Wessun leave their Timbs in Bucktown USA and take in the South Beach sun and conduct personal business in the Musiq SoulChild assisted clip to “Ocean Drive.” They don’t got South Beach themed Timbos out yet? Check out the rest of today’s drops including work from Skepta featuring Nef Smallz, Freddie Gibbs and Madlib, and more. CITY GIRLS – “ACT UP” SMIF N WESSUN FT. MUSIQ SOULCHILD – “OCEAN DRIVE” SKEPTA FT. NEF SMALLZ – “GREAZE MODE” FREDDIE GIBBS & MADLIB – “CRIME PAYS” DRIPPY – “MAK TALK” KNOXXY & MUGGZ LOGAN – “CLOUT DROUGHT” FAMOUS DEX FT. LIL GOTIT – “FULLY LOADED” TASHA THE AMAZON – “THAT AIN’T YOU” Z MONEY – “SHAWTY PAID INTRO” DOMANI – “TIME WILL TELL”
Source: FOX / Getty Star is officially a wrap. After weeks of attempts to land a new home for the recently canceled Fox musical drama, Lee Daniels shared the news that those talks have proved unsuccessful. View this post on Instagram Thank you guys for loving Star! I’m at a loss for words to describe my sadness. So I’m gunna just say THANKS ….to my incredible cast and crew and FANS!!!! And a shout out to #foxtv for letting us into your homes every Wednesday A post shared by Lee Daniels (@theoriginalbigdaddy) on May 30, 2019 at 4:47pm PDT Various outlets reported that BET, OWN and Amazon had been approached for interest to pick up the show for its fourth season. The Empire spinoff had the highest ratings of canceled series for this TV season. The Queen Latifah led show followed three talented singers ( Jude Demorest , Ryan Destiny & Brittany O’Grady ) looking for to make a career for themselves in the cutthroat music industry. The series also starred Miss Lawrence , Luke James , Lance Gross , Brandy , Quincy Brown and Evan Ross along with plenty of high-profile guest stars including Lenny Kravitz , Naomi Campbell , Paris Jackson , Patti Labelle , Gladys Knight , Monica Brown , Quavo , Missy Elliott , Teyana Taylor . Most fans were left wondering what happened after the events of season 3, where the fate of multiple characters hung in the balance following a lavish wedding. RELATED: Report: ‘Empire’ To Be Canceled After Season 6
