The hatchet has been buried. Literal bread has been broken. The feud, alas, is over. On Tuesday night, Ariana Grande ran into Piers Morgan at a restaurant in Los Angeles, prompting the singer and the obnoxious talk show host to sit down and hash out their differences. Back in November, you may recall, Morgan trashed Ellen DeGeneres as a hypocrite and the all-girls group Little Mix for showing some skin on the comedian’s talk show. The chauvinistic Brit criticized the group for using its sexuality to promote their music, an accusation that angers both Grande and even her mother. Ariana quickly jumped on Twtitter to explain the concept of female empowerment to Morgan. “I use my talent AND my sexuality all the time because I choose to,” Grande Tweeted at Morgan in response to his remarks. “Women can be sexual AND talented. Naked and dignified. It’s OUR choice.” As summarized below, and as we mentioned above, Grande’s mother even got in on the Morgan bashing: View Slideshow: Ariana Grande and Her Mom Destroy Piers Morgan Over Misogyny Fast forward about two months and these stars came face to face by accident. But they used this chance meeting to try and clear the air. “Thank u for a great night @ArianaGrande x,” Morgan Tweeted on Tuesday after their discussion, to which Grande wrote back: “thank u for some laughs and some v productive conversation ! it was nice bumping into u ! #FutureFeministPiers #FingersCrossed.” Followers were curious about what transpired between Ariana and Piers, which prompted Grande to spill a little more tea: “well………… we bumped into each other. at a restaurant. and i decided to sit with him and we spoke for a while. i think some progress was made! turns out face to face discussions are a bit kinder and gentler, even if you do indeed disagree.” How mature, right? Grande and Morgan even posed for a selfie together (below), alongside which Piers echoed Grande’s sentiment. He wrote as a caption to this unexpected snapshot: So… we bumped into each other in a LA restaurant, she joined me for ‘a chat’ & 2 hours later we were still chatting. We laughed, we argued, she cried, I nearly did, the drinks flowed & we bonded. Turns out we really like each other. Weird. Thank u @ArianaGrande – next? We’re glad Grande and Morgan worked out their differences. Now, Morgan just has to make time to sit down and talk in depth with the other celebrities he’s angered over the years. This means he’ll need to hash it out with Chris Evans … and Sophie Turner … and Tess Holliday …
Millions have been left confused and outraged by reports that Empire star Jussie Smollett staged an attack , which he then reported as a racist and homophobic hate crime perpetrated by two Trump-supporting white men. While no charges have been filed against the actor yet, his case is set to go before a grand jury as early as this week. Smollett is clearly gearing up for a legal battle, and he’s reportedly hired famed defense attorney Mark Geragos, who’s apparently planning to argue that Smollett is being framed by the Chicago Police Department. Needless to say, Smollett’s got a hard road ahead of him. If the allegations against him prove to be accurate, then the best he can hope for is that he’ll lose his career but retain his freedom. The worst-case scenario for the actor is that he’ll be sent to prison. As new facts emerged about the case, Smollett lost support from several high-profile defenders — but it seems he still has some powerful VIPs in his corner. Earlier this week it was reported that Smollett would be fired from Empire . On Tuesday, those reports were amended, and sources close to the show revealed that Smollett’s role on the show has been dramatically reduced for the season’s final two episodes with the goal of eventually cutting him loose. Today, however, Fox issued a statement revealing that Smollett has not been fired and neither the network nor the producers of Empire have any intention of firing him anytime soon. “Jussie Smollett continues to be a consummate professional on set and as we have previously stated, he is not being written out of the show,” the statement reads. This is surprising news for a number of reasons. With the show’s ratings already declining over the past two seasons, the Smollett scandal could be the nail in the coffin for Empire . While it makes sense that producers would wait until the police investigation to be completed before they would make a final decision on Smollett’s future, it’s puzzling that they would issue any statement at all about his role on the show. We know that for the show’s second-to-last episode of the season, Smollett’s role has been reduced from nine scenes to four. He was also scheduled to perform a song that has now been excised entirely. The move represented a subtle compromise that would allow producers the option to gradually write Smollett out of the series. Today’s announcement is something of a bold move, as it might be interpreted by some as a sign that Smollett has his boss’ wholesale support. View Slideshow: Jussie Smollett: Did He REALLY Stage His Own Attack?! Empire Star Under Investigation [UPDATED]
For several weeks now, the strange saga of Jussie Smollett has dominated headlines and heated social media discussions. In case you somehow missed the story, here’s a brief recap: Smollett claimed that he was attacked by two white men while walking home from a Subway restaurant around 2 am. Despite frigid, polar vortex weather, Smollett stated that the two men had staked him out and recognized him from his role on TV’s Empire . He added that they came equipped with a bottle of bleach that they dumped over his head and a length of clothesline that they wrapped around his neck in an act mock lynching. Smollett claimed that the men used several racist and homophobic slurs and screamed at him, “This is MAGA country!” Many found the actor’s version of events suspicious from the start, but Smollett quickly gained the support of numerous celebrities and politicians, including presidential candidates Kamala Harris and Cory Booker. Over the course of the past week, however, Smollett’s story began to unravel. Currently, Chicago police are investigating the possibility that Smollett staged the attack with the help of two Nigerian who briefly worked as extras on Empire. His case is set to go before a grand jury as early this week. If convicted of a felony for filing a false police report, Smollett faces several years behind bars. So it should come as no surprise that he’s lawyering up — or that he’s reportedly hired one of the most famous defense attorneys in the country. According to TMZ, Smollett has hired Mark Geragos to represent him in court. Neither Smollett nor Geragos has officially announced that decision, but the attorney has spoken out on Jussie’s behalf on several occasions, most recently on Anderson Cooper’s CNN show: “Any time you start to get law enforcement drip, drip, drip leaks that, to me, is a telltale sign that something else is going on,” Geragos told the host. Geragos went on to express his doubts that it would have been possible for police to track down Smollett’s alleged co-conspirators via the “grainy footage” that was presented to them. He credits Smollett’s cooperation with the arrest of the brothers, and states — in somewhat contradictory fashion — that they were only taken into custody due to public “pressure” to make an arrest. “I haven’t seen anything but leaks from law enforcement sources,” Geragos added. “To me, that screams out that someone is trying to manipulate something.” No doubt by this time, many on both sides of the aisle would prefer for this ugly story to disappear from the headlines. But as Geragos and Smollett gear up for an epic legal battle, we’re reminded that this saga is just getting started. View Slideshow: Jussie Smollett: Did He REALLY Stage His Own Attack?! Empire Star Under Investigation [UPDATED]
Source: Stephen Green / Getty The ‘Empire’ Actor Recalls A Traumatic Night J ussie Smollett is finally speaking up after reports of his brutal attack by racist, homophobic MAGA must. Smollett sat down with Robin Roberts of Good Morning America for his first interview detailing his attack last month. He said he was in the middle of picking up some food from Subway in Chicago and was on the phone with his manager when someone called him a racist and homophobic slur. Jussie said a guy in a mask then punched him screaming “This MAGA country ni**er,” and Jussie punched him back, which resulted in a short scuffle outside. He said a second unknown guy jumped in, kicking Jussie in his back. In the interview with Robin, Jussie also addressed the doubters who might’ve thought he was lying about the whole incident: “I have to acknowledge the lies, and the hate. And it feels like if I had said it was a Muslim, or a Mexican, or someone black, I feel like the doubters would have supported me much more. A lot more. And that says a lot about the place that we are in our country right now… It’s not necessarily that you don’t believe that this is the truth, you don’t even want to see the truth. Smollett, who portrays the openly gay musician Jamal on Empire , said he suffered injuries to his clavicle bone and ribs during the attack. However, some still questioned his story: “For me, the main thing was the idea that I somehow switched up my story, you know? And that somehow maybe I added a little extra trinket, you know, of the MAGA thing,” Smollett said. “I didn’t need to add anything like that. They called me a f—-, they called me a n—-. There’s no which way you cut it. I don’t need some MAGA hat as the cherry on top of some racist sundae.” Jussie also addressed rumors that he was in the middle of a late night love visit when he got attacked. “I’ve heard that it was a date gone bad, which I also resent that narrative,” he said. “I’m not gonna go out and get a tuna sandwich and a salad to meet somebody. That’s ridiculous. And it’s offensive.” Jussie was actually hanging with his friend and creative director Frank Gatson in an apartment, and they got hungry, which prompted the Subway visit. Smollett said the only reports he heard that were inaccurate were the ones claiming the attackers were wearing MAGA hats, which they weren’t. Smollett also explained why he was initially reluctant to hand over his phone to the police: “They wanted me to give my phone to the tech for three to four hours. I’m sorry but — I’m not gonna do that. Because I have private pictures and videos and numbers: my partner’s number, my family’s number, my castmate’s number, my friends’ numbers, my private emails, my private songs, my private voice memos.” Jussie didn’t even want to call the police at first, but Gatson did it on his behalf. When the cops arrived, they said they found Smollett in his apartment with stained clothing and a “white rope draped around” his neck, according to the report. “I was looking at myself, just like checking myself out. I saw the bruise on my neck, you know, like the little — the rope burn around my neck,” he said. “So when the police came I kept the clothes on, I kept the rope on me. … I mean, it wasn’t, like, wrapped around. But, yeah, it was around because I wanted them to see.” Jussie said he believes the photos released of the two possible suspects are accurate. He’s hopeful that the police will track the culprits down, and he hopes his story will inspire other marginalized groups: “I think people need to hear the truth,” Jussie said. “Cause everybody has their own idea. Some are healing and some are hurtful, but I just want young people, young members of the LGBTQ community — young, black children — to know how strong that they are.” You can watch a clip of Jussie’s words below, then hit the next pages for more videos. “I want young people, young members of the LGTBQ community, young black children to know how strong they are.” @JussieSmollett thinks people need to hear “the truth” after his attack. https://t.co/b5efiP0JCG pic.twitter.com/YGVIDMipgC — Good Morning America (@GMA) February 14, 2019
Jussie Smollett was violently and brutally attacked by two men on the streets of Chicago early on the morning of January 29. Or was he , a bunch of very dumb and cruel and cynical people are now asking?!? As you’ve very likely heard about and/or read all about by now, the Empire star was harassed by a pair of assailants late last month on his way home from getting a late-night snack. These individuals allegedly screamed homophobic and racist epithets at the actor, prior to tying a rope around his neck and dumping bleach all over him. It was the epitome of a hate crime. It was a modern-day lynching. It was truly horrible. And yet… despite police confirming the assault… and despite Smollett certainly having no reason to lie about such a thing… a handful of people out there somehow don’t believe this heinous incident actually took place. “I don’t believe it happened the way he said it did,” said Agin Muhammad, who lives in the same high-rise near the Navy Pier as Smollett. On what is he basing this strong allegation? “I’ve been in this neighborhood five years. I don’t believe it, not around here … Half the people are gay and the other half are black,” Muhammad explained to Page Six . Elsewhere, a patron at Lizzie McNeill’s Irish Pub – located approximately a block from the scene of the alleged assault – said Smollett’s story “doesn’t really make sense,” expounding as follows: “It’s a lie, because Chicago is the most liberal city around,” said this unnamed man. “They have cameras everywhere … Why can’t they find the attack?” This is quite the take. For starters, there is surveillance footage (below) of two men spotted right around the time and right around the place Smollett says he was attacked. Secondly, yes, Hillary Clinton won Cook County (which includes Chicago) with 75% of the vote in the 2016 Presidential campaign. That’s a huge margin of victory over Donald Trump. But it still means 25% of residents voted to Make America Great Again, making it mathmatically very plausible that two of those people screamed that Smollett is in “MAGA Country” while they pummelled him, which is what the actor has claimed. Smollett will soon start filming episodes of Empire once again, while he returned to the stage for a live singing performance just days after the incident. “I am not fully healed yet, but I’m going to, and I’m gonna stand strong with ya’ll,” the actor/singer said during a concert at the Troubadour club on the Sunset Strip. He added at the time: “I had to be here tonight, y’all. I couldn’t let those motherf-ckers win. So I will always stand for love. “I will never stand for anything other than that. Regardless of what anyone else says, I will only stand for love and I hope that you all stand with me.” Elsewhere, Smollett has been asked to turn over his phone records to the police because he has said he was on the phone with his manager at the time of his assault. Authorities therefore consider these records important evidence for the case. However, TMZ reports that Smollett has responded by turning over a redacted PDF of his phone bill. And police have requested the full , actual phone bill — or a download of Jussie’s phone; they say a PDF can be manipulated and cannot be used as any sort of evidence. “We have no reason to doubt the statements, but for a criminal investigation, we need to independently confirm the phone records,” Chicago police spokesman Anthony Guglielmi says. As for those who are casting doubt on Smollet’s story? His spokesperson says the following: Jussie is the victim here, which has been slated by the Superintendent of Police. Jussie has voluntarily provided his phone records from within an hour of the attack and given multiple statements to police. Chicago PD has repeatedly informed us that they find Jussie’s account of what happened that night consistent and credible. Superintendent Johnson has been clear from day one that Jussie is a victim. We are continuing to work closely with the Chicago PD and remain confident that they will find Jussie’s attackers and bring them to justice.
Fans and celebrities alike were shocked and appalled at Liam Neeson’s racist confession about wanting to “kill a black bastard.” However, Michelle Rodriguez has come forward to defend the actor’s indefensible words. She claims that he cannot be racist, because … he kissed Viola Davis in a movie . On Wednesday night, Michelle Rodriguez spoke to Vanity Fair at the amfAR Gala New York. She attempted to defend Liam Neeson over this scandal, and she did not mince words. “It’s all f–kin’ bullshit,” Michelle claims, adding: “Liam Neeson is not a racist.” The actor had confessed to having, sought out trouble in the hopes that he would have an excuse to murder a black man. “Dude, have you watched Widows ?” Michelle asks. “His tongue was so far down Viola Davis’s throat.” Therefore, she asserts: “You can’t call him a racist ever.” “Racists don’t make out with the race that they hate,” Michelle apparently believes. “Especially in the way he does with his tongue,” she argues. “So deep down her throat.” “I don’t care how good of an actor you are,” she adds. “It’s all bulls–t,” she claims, instructing: “Ignore it.” “He’s not a racist,” she repeats. “He’s a loving man. It’s all lies.” That’s certainly a new twist on the I’m not racist, I have black friends argument. As you may recall, Liam Neeson’s confession begins in a heartbreaking, sympathetic manner. Many years ago, someone close to him had been sexually assaulted. Though the woman did not know the identity of the rapist, Liam had asked, and she had told him that the man was black. Liam had gone out with a cudgel in the hopes that a black man, emerging from a pub, would attack him. For a week or a week and a half, he continued this routine. He was not merely seeking a fight — he was, he says, hoping for an excuse to kill a “black bastard.” What he is describing is intent to commit a lynching based upon racial hatred against a random black man. The world’s most influential showrunner, Shonda Rhimes, probably said it best. She tweeted: “The lack of historical context, bias blindness, and willful ignorance required to open one’s mouth and say this about racism is mind boggling.” It is absolutely understandable that Liam’s friends might feel sorry for him. But Michelle Rodriguez’s claims just do not make sense. We’ll break it down for you. First of all, Michelle seems to view “racist” by the narrowest possible definition — as a member of the KKK. Very few, even among white ethno-nationalists, are willing to describe their views as “racist.” Whatever one’s views on Liam Neeson as an actor or as a person, it is difficult to portray his confession as anything but one of racism. He wanted to find a random black man and kill the man. It is extremely understandable to want to kill a rapist. But that is not exactly what happened here. Exacting revenge upon a random black man for the wrongdoing of another whom you cannot find is a real thing that has happened many times in America. One of its most notorious forms has been lynching. Also, Michelle’s belief that kissing Viola Davis is “proof” that he’s not racist is … absolutely absurd. First of all, everyone wants to kiss Viola Davis. She’s a treasure and she’s beautiful. But second of all, racists have sex with women of color all of the time. Sometimes, they marry women of color and have children with them. You can find no shortage of people’s stories about those experiences on the internet. If you’re having trouble believing it, remember that the vast majority of misogynists marry women despite their misogyny. Liam Neeson’s racist confession may or may not tank his career. However, many have written about how people from racist, hard-right, and otherwise bigoted backgrounds can grow and change as people. (Obviously, if Liam had acted upon his murderous impulse, we would be having a very different conversation) This is a very difficult time in our culture, when white nationalists seek to exploit fears and racism to change the ethnic makeup of the United States. Ractions to racism are strong and very justifiably emotional. Many connected Liam’s past desire to how some police appear to have felt right before shooting unarmed black men. This is serious, but Liam can redeem himself in the public eye, but it will take time.
Source: Matt Dinerstein/NBC/NBCU Photo Bank / Getty LaRoyce Hawkins Stars And Eriq LaSalle Directs “Chicago P.D.” Episode About Police Involved Shooting NBC is set to air an especially sensitive episode of “Chicago P.D.” Wednesday night called “Night In Chicago,” where Detective Kevin Atwater goes undercover to bring down a dangerous drug lord and ends up in a difficult situation after a traffic stop turns into an officer involved shooting! Eriq La Salle, who directed the episode, spoke with BOSSIP exclusively about working on the show. “The first thing I told LaRoyce [Hawkins, who plays Det. Atwater] was we owe it to a lot of brothers and sisters who can’t tell the story,” La Salle told BOSSIP. “It’s our responsibility now to make sure that we tell the story right and that we represent that. That was really the start for me.” Source: Matt Dinerstein/NBC/NBCU Photo Bank / Getty “I’ll never forget that call,” LaRoyce Hawkins told BOSSIP about his initial conversations with LaSalle about the episode. “What I love about working with Eriq La Salle is his excitement for the job. This was a story that really touched him, written by Ike Smith who is a Chicago native, and actually I am from the Chicago area, and Eriq La Salle thought it was really important that we made this story so authentic and real to the people who have actually been in those experiences, to the people who have actually been pulled over, to people who haven’t been pulled over to the people who don’t understand and the people who do. I like to think we tell stories for everyone’s perspectives, even the people you might not like in this episode. Atwater gets jammed up and the struggle for power gets political and uncomfortable but at the end of the day it’s a night in Chicago that I don’t think anybody can really run away from.” With a plot that feels pulled straight from the headlines, the show ventures into some complicated waters, particularly after some of Atwater’s superiors try to place the blame for the shooting on him, saying he should have disclosed his undercover status to diffuse the situation. “I think when these kinds of things happen, officer involved shootings, now there is somewhat of a vulnerability or a perception of a vulnerability because people are becoming more vocal and things need to be criticized,” La Salle told BOSSIP. “We’re not telling anybody how to think… We’ve become so segregated and divided, not to point out the obvious, but things become very black and white. If you’re from the black community you see it this way, if you’re from white community you see it this way. That’s not necessarily true, people have their own opinions. We don’t try to force feed any of our stories, we basically just put it out there and let the audience decide which side of an issue they fall on.” One of the cops who makes the traffic stop is blatantly racist — something that viewers will likely grapple with while watching. The other, La Salle says, is simply doing his job. At the end of the day, Atwater will play a major role in deciding whether or not to publicly burn the offending cop. “The piece of advice that Atwater takes to heart is from Voight, when he tells him ‘Win lose or draw, you have to live with yourself at night. Whatever is going to allow you to go to sleep peacefully is ultimately the best decision or the right thing to do for you, that might be the truth, that might not be the truth,’” Hawkins told BOSSIP. The highly acclaimed Wendell Pierce has a crucial guest role on the episode, as a local Alderman whose own political agenda only further complicates matters for Atwater. Both Hawkins and La Salle heaped praises on his performance in the episode. “Wendell and I go way back, we went to college together,” La Salle told BOSSIP. “He’s an amazing actor. For me it’s just bonus when you get to go basically play with one of your boys who happens to be extremely talented. He makes us all look good and I’m thankful for him and appreciative of what he contributes. I think his character having the potential mentor role over an Atwater in this episode is really interesting, but it’s really about Atwater finding his own way and being his own man and standing on his principles and what he believes is right no matter what. He’s really torn, he’s stuck between a rock and a hard place. Wendell represents the community… so if Wendell is saying ‘Maybe you should lie a little bit,’well you have to decide where your moral compass is. That’s a major theme of this episode.” Hawkins told BOSSIP he saw the opportunity to act in a scene with Pierce as a dream come true, especially because it coincided with other meaningful milestones for his character. “The relationship with Wendell Pierce’s character Ray Price and Atwater is really interesting,” La Royce Hawkins told BOSSIP. “I’m excited about where that relationship can go. That was my first scene with him… Just off the strength off the relationship, I think that Atwater respects Ray Price, even though he knows that Ray Price is a politician. I just appreciate Wendell Pierce for being so gracious in that scene and not just running circles around me because I am a big fan of his work. He’s a dynamic actor… It’s a lot of dreams come true for me on this show. This episode brought a lot of those things out, like I’ve always been a fan of Wendell Pierce, to be able to work with Mikelti Williamson and be directed at the same time by an Eriq La Salle. That’s pretty amazing for me as a young black man, so I learned a lot.” La Salle and Pierce weren’t the only pair of longtime friends on set either. Hawkins told us he and the actor who played the racist cop, Officer Doyle, have a lot of history. “Actually I met the cop that plays Doyle, who is the racist cop, I met him in high school,” LaRoyce told BOSSIP. “We used to compete against each other in speech. We ended up going to college together, he’s actually a real good friend and he was probably the perfect person for us to explore that energy with because he and I were so close. But he’s a great actor, he did his thing, I believed him, but for topics this sensitive it was almost extremely perfect for me to be working with a homie like that.” Source: Matt Dinerstein/NBC/NBCU Photo Bank / Getty Fans of “Chicago P.D.” know that this isn’t the first time the show has touched on such sensitive matters, particularly when it comes to race, and Eriq La Salle said it’s not just coincidence. He credited “Chicago P.D. writer and showrunner Rick Eid for not shying away from tough conversations. There’s a moment between Det. Atwater and Officer Adam Ruzek where Ruzek acknowledges his whiteness will never allow him to truly experience what Atwater has to deal with, but he pledges to have his back regardless of his lack of understanding. “I think that to me sort of represents what I was saying about Rick Eid,” La Salle told BOSSIP. “We gotta just start having honest conversations about race and gender if we hope to make any progress. A man has to be able to talk to woman, a white man has to be able to talk to a black man and so on. We have to be able to talk and we have to be willing to own what we don’t know and that’s what I love about that conversation between Ruzek and Atwater. ‘I don’t know and I’ll never know but I got your back’ We have to be able to say what we know and what we don’t know and that scene is my relationship to a degree with Rick. He teaches me certain things and I teach him certain things but we both respect each other as men. One happens to be black and one happens to be white and we respect each other as men that we’re able to have conversations.”
The soap opera world, and the entertainment industry in general, is in mourning. On Monday morning, February 4, we learned that Kristoff St. John has been found dead at his home in California. The multiple-time Daytime Emmy Award nominee, wh starred on The Young and the Restless since 1991, was only 52 years old. According to TMZ, there were no signs of foul play. With information still coming in about what transpired, scroll down for the latest on this tragedy and also to see what those who knew St. John best are saying about his passing… 1. What Do We Know at the Moment? The soap opera star was found dead Sunday, Februsary 3 after one of his friends went to check on him at his home in the San Fernando Valley. Police and paramedics were alerted and responded to the house, where the actor was pronounced dead on the scene. 2. He Was a Daytime Drama Icon Kristoff had portrayed Neil Winters on The Young and the Restless since 1991. This role that earned him nine Daytime Emmy Award nominations and he also won 10 NAACP Image Awards as a result. 3. Is There an Official Cause of Death? Not yet. An autopsy has been scheduled, but a police official has confirmed that the actor’s death was possibly due to an alcohol overdose. 4. Might This Have Been a Suicide? We do not want to speculate. But, yes, there is a reason to make this assumption: St. John’s son, Julian, with ex-wife Mia St. John took his own life in 2014 at the age of 24. 5. A Tragic History?: Julian was getting treatment at a mental facility at the time, and Mia and Kristoff sued the facility for negligence. (The suit was eventually settled.) 6. Fast Forward Three Years… In 2017, around the anniversary of Julian’s suicide, Kristoff threatened to kill himself with a gun. The police placed him under a 72-hour hold for psychiatric evaluation. View Slideshow
N ew Jersey Senator Cory Booker has announced his candidacy for president, joining what was expected to be a crowded field of people challenging Donald Trump for the White House. Booker, 43, made his announcement Friday morning, NBC News reported . “I believe that we can build a country where no one is forgotten, no one is left behind; where parents can put food on the table; where there are good paying jobs with good benefits in every neighborhood; where our criminal justice system keeps us safe, instead of shuffling more children into cages and coffins; where we see the faces of our leaders on television and feel pride, not shame,” he said. “It is not a matter of can we, it’s a matter of do we have the collective will, the American will? I believe we do. Together, we will channel our common pain back into our common purpose. Together, America, we will rise.” Booker’s announcement came about a week after California Sen. Kamala Harris threw her presidential hat in the ring and said she would be running for the White House. Trump and Booker have been taking shots at each other for years now. But it was perhaps Booker’s role on the Senate Judiciary Committee that may have compelled him most to run for president after he saw firsthand the types of judges Trump has been pushing to be confirmed. While he has always been a prominent voice in the Senate, Booker raised his political profile significantly during the Senate confirmation hearing for Brett Kavanaugh , who was nominated by Trump and ultimately confirmed as a Supreme Court Justice despite a damning sexual abuse scandal that resurfaced from his past. Booker was also behind the introduction and Senate passing of the landmark legislation last year to finally outlaw lynching. Booker, Harris and Republican Sen. Tim Scott introduced the Justice for Victims of Lynching Act of 2018 in June. The bill called for a life sentence for those found guilty on federal anti-lynching charges. After helping to draft the legislation in June, Booker criticized Congress for taking so long—even after the civil rights movement—to pass anti-lynching legislation. “It’s a travesty that despite repeated attempts to do so, Congress still hasn’t put anti-lynching legislation on the books. This bill will right historical wrongs by acknowledging our country’s stained past and codifying into law our commitment to abolishing this shameful practice,” he said in a statement. SEE ALSO: Cory Booker Speaks Out On Gay Rumors Cory Booker Releases More Brett Kavanaugh Documents [ione_media_gallery src=”https://newsone.com” id=”3844029″ overlay=”true”]
Source: Anthony Barboza / Getty Here’s some key events that happened on this day brought to you by Black Facts 1. 1997 – First 24-Hour Black Movie Channel BET Holdings and Encore Media Corp. launch BET Movie/Starz the first 24 hour Black Movie channel. 2. 1997 – Black Facts Online Goes Live! Black Facts Online, the premiere spot for Black history goes online. 3. 1990 – Original Sit-In Revisited In Greensboro, North Carolina, Joseph McNeil, Jibreel Khazan (Ezell Blair), Franklin McCain and David Richond repeated the original sit-in of 30 years prior, by having breakfast at the Greensboro Woolworth store. 4. 1990 – Ida Wells Postage Stamp Issued Ida Wells, a black reformer who compiled records on lynching, is the subject of a United States Postal Service stamp. 5. 1978 – The first stamp of the U.S. Postal Service’s The first stamp of the U.S. Postal Service’s Black Heritage USA series honors Harriet Tubman, famed abolitionist and “conductor” on the Underground Railroad 6. 1974 – Good Times premieres “Good Times” premieres on CBS. 7. 1967 – Poet Langston Hughes dies Poet Langston Hughes dies. 8. 1965 – Selma Demonstration Ends in 700 Arrests More than seven hundred demonstrators, including Martin Luther King Jr., arrested in Selma. 9. 1965 – Actress Ruby Dee in Shakespeare Festival Ruby Dee was the first African American actress to play a major role at the American Shakespeare Festival in Stratford Conn. 10. 1960 – Sit-in Movement in Greensboro, North Carolina Four students form North Carolina A&T College started Sit-in movement at Greensboro, N.C., five-and-dime store. By February 10 movement had spread to fifteen Southern cities in five states. 11. 1952 – Singer Rick James born Rock/Funk singer Rick James is born 12. 1937 – Actor/Comedian Garrett Morris born Actor/Comedian Garrett Morris, formerly of Saturday Night Live, born in New Orleans, Louisiana. 13. 1926 – Negro History Week Begins What is now known as Black History Month, was first celebrated on this date as Negro History Week by Carter G. Woodson. It became a month long celebration in 1976. 14. 1902 – Langston Hughes One of the most famous poets, Langston Hughes was born in the year 1902. Hughes came from the Harlem Renaissance, the early stages of the Black Arts Movement. Hughes was well known in the streets of Harlem, making him one of the greatest poets of all time. Before his death in 1967, he wrote fifteen collections of… 15. 1887 – J. Robinson patents food carrier Robinson, J. Dinner Pail Feb. 01, 1887 Patent No. 356,852 16. 1871 – 1st Black to Speak in US House of Representatives Jefferson Long of Georgia became the first Black to make an official speech in the House of Representatives. He opposed leniency to former Confederates. 17. 1870 – Jonathan Jasper Wright Jonathan Jasper Wright is elected to the South Carolina Supreme Court. He is the first African American to hold a major judicial position. 18. 1865 – First African American Before US Supreme Court John Sweat Rock (1825-1866), a noted Boston lawyer, became in 1865 the first African-American to practice before the U.S. Supreme Court and the first Black person to speak before the U.S. House of Representatives. 19. 1865 – Ratification of the 13th Amendment The 13th Amendment to the U.S. Constitution, which abolished slavery, was adopted by the 38th Congress. Ratification was completed December 6, 1865. 20. 1834 – Henry McNeal Turner Born Henry McNeal Turner was born on what is now Hannah Circuit, near Newberry, which was then in Abbeville County, South Carolina. Young Turner was “bound out” to the hardest king of labor in the cotton fields and the blacksmith’s trade in Abbeville until his “manhood” at age 12. He possessed an insatiable craving for…
