Last night, the moment that Brooklyn has been waiting for finally arrived. Jay-Z Brings Out A Bevy Of Celebrity Friends For Barclays Center Opening Jay-Z, part owner of the newly minted Brooklyn Nets, opened the Barclays Center with a concert that brought out all of his celebrity cronies. Of course, Beyonce was front and center for the celebration, but even surprise fans like Star Jones and chef Mario Batali made the trek to BK to spread love with Jiggaman. Hit the flipper and peep the pics from backstage, the concert, and the after party at the 40/40 club with D’USSE Cognac! Images via Miguel Nuñez/Getty Images/SplashNewsPics/WENN
Justice served? Thanks to a corrupt system and false testimonies , 37-year-old John Edward Smith has been in jail…serving 19 years of his TWO life term sentences for murder. What’s got us so angry about this case is the LAPD’s internal affairs department ignored polygraph tests and repeated reports made by the witness; admitting before and after the sentencing that he’d falsely accused Smith. According to the LA Times… “I had days when I was really frustrated, but I knew I couldn’t stop,” John Edward Smith said of his bid for release in a phone interview minutes after he walked out a free man. He said he was most dazed by the lights of downtown Los Angeles and Staples Center, and was looking forward to going home and hugging his grandmother. Smith said he was putting the details of his case out of his mind and focusing on the small steps to rebuild a life on the outside, like getting a driver’s license. During 19 years behind bars, Smith, a 37-year-old former gang member, adamantly maintained his innocence in the drive-by shooting, insisting that he was miles away at his grandmother’s house at the time of the crime. His claims went unheard until three years ago, when a fledgling wrongful convictions group, Innocence Matters, took his case and identified problems with the testimony of the lone witness to identify him as the killer. The man subsequently recanted and at a brief and raucous hearing Monday afternoon, a Los Angeles County Superior Court judge vacated his conviction. Smith’s relatives and friends erupted in cheers as Judge Patricia Schnegg, the supervising criminal judge, said she was setting aside the 1995 verdict because Smith’s conviction rested almost entirely on perjured testimony….The judge’s ruling came after the district attorney’s office completed its own yearlong investigation and determined that the witness, a high school student injured in the shooting, had lied on the stand. That teenager, Landu Mvuemba, told Smith’s lawyers that LAPD detectives had pressured him into the identification and that he had tried on a number of occasions over the years to alert authorities about his false statements. Smith offered the jury an alibi: He was with a girlfriend and two others at his grandmother’s house nearly three miles away. But the jury believed Mvuemba, convicting Smith of murder and attempted murder after three hours of deliberations. He was given two life sentences. Smith’s family, including his grandmother Laura Neal, firmly believed in his innocence. At one point, his grandparents mortgaged their house to pay an appellate law firm $65,000. Mvuemba said he soon regretted it and reported his concerns to LAPD internal affairs twice. He even told the courtroom bailiff as he prepared to take the witness stand, he said. No one did anything, he said. He and Smith later took polygraph tests. Both passed. Outside the courthouse, Smith’s grandmother, a frail women who uses a walker, said she had willed herself to stay alive until he was free. “There was a part of me that was in there too,” she said of his prison stay. “I am free now.” It’s sad that one false testimony can have such a heavy impact on your life. We’d like to think the LAPD might feel some repercussion after ignoring Mvuemba and other members of Smith’s family for so many years…but we know what kind of world we live in. Images via KTLA
This is one “basketball wife” that has avoided all the drama and fawkery. Liza Morales Chats About Her New Book, Her Kids, Lamar & Khloe You may remember Liza’s interview with our homies over at The Breakfast Club a few months back. This time, Lammy’s baby mama digs a bit deeper into her new life without the struggling NBA baller. According to MommysDirtyLittleSecret: On the loss of their son Jayden to SIDS (Sudden Infant Death Syndrome): Liza: Jayden was born Dec. 15th 2005 and died of SIDS at 6 months. My mother and I found him in the crib. SIDS was just something you hear about. I knew no one who had been affected by it. I would say that I had never lost anyone in my life until Jayden. For Lamar — he had experienced loss, loosing his Mom. The loss was traumatic for both of us. We just dealt with it in different ways. I had to depend on my spirituality. Things happen for a reason and I went through it alone for a reason. Its not the type of loss to share with just anybody. Most people can’t relate and thank God most can’t. Lamar turned to work. He had his music he was working on, clothing company and an artist he was working with — thats how he dealt. I was alone during that time, but at least I had my family and friends. The lost never leaves you, but it does get better. We have pictures of Jayden around the house and the kids and I talk about him all the time. We are in a place of peace and acceptance. On dating and what kind of man she wants: Liza: I do date, but there’s no one special right now. It’s my fault I’m picky! I like a smart guy. Anderson Cooper and JT Holmes are my CNN secret crush. I enjoy getting my world news from a smart man, TJ Holmes has a smart man swag (LOL). A guy has to be willing to take a back seat to my kids and have a life of his own. I definitely am open to love and I want more kids. I really love children. I think that’s why having my own children’s clothing line was so natural for me. Hit the flipper to read more about Liza’s clothing line, her relationship with Lamar, and his relationship with their children.
With a sold-out crowd that brought in more than 50,000 people, Music Midtown proved it wasn’t going anywhere. T.I. and Luda hit the stage on different days but both performances had people hyped! Held in Piedmont Park it was considered an unqualified success. According to The Atlanta Journal , T.I. shut it down during his set on Friday… One of the more enthusiastic crowds was for Atlanta rapper T.I., whose wave-an-A-shaped hand- in-the-air performance showed off his charisma, if not his fluidity of his skills. Backed by a team on drums, bass and guitar, a DJ handling tracks and the requisite on-stage entourage, T.I. performed his hits “100 Grand,” “Whatever You Like” and his 2010 smash with Rihanna, “Live Your Life.” With five albums under his belt – or whatever one uses to secure sagging pants – T.I. raced through a lot of material during his 45-minute set, sometimes performing only 60-second snippets. However, his brevity didn’t disappoint this hip-hop-savvy audience that bounced and roared when some of those samples included covers of Kanye West and Jay-Z. Luda gave good music on Saturday… Before his set, the Atlanta rapper, clad in his stage uniform of black tank top with USA across the front, black shorts and also headphones around his neck, professed genuine excitement not only to be playing a festival in his adopted hometown, but also that he had a full hour to perform and could pull from his eight-album catalog. Backed by a full band, Luda asked the by-then-sold-out crowd, “Are you ready to party tonight?” Snippets of his high-profile work with others – Usher’s “Yeah,” Enrique Iglesias’ “Tonight I’m Loving You” (the clean version) and Fergie’s “Glamorous” – were interspersed with his own material. The agreeable crowd put their hands in the air, waved them like they just didn’t care and followed Luda’s other cheerful instructions on tracks such as “What’s Your Fantasy” and “Stand Up.” His fluidity as a rapper can never be overstated – he’s like verbal liquid when he gets going – but what made Ludacris’ set even more enjoyable was his obvious glee at performing. Hit the flip for pics from their performances…
Weezy F. Baby, and the “F” is for “Funny than a muhfugga!” Lil Wayne Talks Smack To Quincy Jones III Lawyer During Deposition According to TMZ reports : It’s the most entertaining legal proceeding — possibly ever! In a videotaped deposition … Lil Wayne — who is suing Quincy Jones III over a documentary about him — says he can’t remember ANYTHING — but what he DOES remember is hysterical. Q III had his production team follow Lil Wayne around for months to chronicle his life as he was putting together his album, “Tha Carter III.” It appears Lil was on board, but things fell apart because the rapper hated the movie, calling it a “scandalous portrayal.” Lil Wayne is grilled by Qunicy’s lawyer, Pete Ross from the powerhouse law firm of Browne George Ross, who hammers Wayne about his criminal record, but the rapper claims he remembers nothing. And then there are the alleged threats Wayne makes against Pete Ross. Wayne says he wasn’t threatening the lawyer. You be the judge. Say what you want about Wayne but he is one witty weirdo. Hit the flipside to watch the video, Weezy is OWNING this lawyer with every question! Image via YouTube
Woman Has Sex With Boyfriend’s Teenage Brother While He’s Imprisoned Here’s another case of an ain’t isht lady having an inappropriate sexual relationship with a minor. In this instance, the minor just so happens to be the teenage brother of this woman’s boyfriend! Via Huffington Post: Text messages and incriminating online chats show that a 30-year-old woman had a longterm sexual relationship with a 15-year-old boy, cops said. Tanner Vicory is accused of having sex on at least ten occasions with the teen brother of her boyfriend, according to the Arizona Republic. Her boyfriend was in prison at the time. The teen’s mother became suspicious when she found a text message on her son’s phone from Vicory saying that she loved him. Damn, she couldn’t find anyone her own age to chop down????? Photo: Fox 10
Money Mitt isn’t backing down. He also isn’t shook up at all about the shady azz statements he made during a private fundraiser he held earlier this year. We showed you the vid of this dirty politico talking candidly about the “47%” and today, Robney had an opportunity to save face…but of course he effed that up too! According to The Huffington Post: In an interview with Fox News’s Neil Cavuto on Tuesday, Mitt Romney continued to stand by his statements in the secretly recorded donor video. “We were of course talking about a campaign and about how he’s going to get half the vote,” Romney said. “And frankly we have two very different views of America.” “Those that are dependent on government and those that think government’s job is to redistribute — I’m not going to get them,” he said later. While Romney allowed that some of the people who don’t pay income taxes may be his supporters — senior citizens or members of the military, for instance — he argued that his message about “the 47 percent” would resonate. “I do believe we should have enough jobs and enough take-home pay to allow people to pay taxes,” Romney said. “I think people would like to be paying taxes.” His camp countered today after the viedo hit the internet… “Mitt Romney wants to help all Americans struggling in the Obama economy. As the governor has made clear all year, he is concerned about the growing number of people who are dependent on the federal government, including the record number of people who are on food stamps, nearly one in six Americans in poverty, and the 23 million Americans who are struggling to find work,” Romney spokeswoman Gail Gitcho said in a statement responding to the video’s release. “Mitt Romney’s plan creates 12 million new jobs in four years, grows the economy and moves Americans off of government dependency and into jobs.” Is it just us or does it seem like Robney doesn’t want to be the future POTUS??? Images via Facebook
The new film touches on the taboo topics of abuse and scandal in the church that are too often swept under the rug. There was a time when abuse in the church was thought to be the exclusive province of the Catholic church, but in recent years mushrooming allegations of abuse have reared its ugly head in the black church as well, shaking once heavily populated congregations to their very foundations. With his new movie “Wolf,” filmmaker Ya’ke Smith wants to shine a light in the darkness of a taboo subject that has lurked (and thrived) in the shadows for years. “The title comes from the analogy ‘a wolf in sheep’s clothing,’” explained Smith. “The preacher is hiding in this God-like clothing, coming off as a spiritual person who is helping everyone, but he’s lurking through the congregation, looking for the weaklings. From his actions, he is also turning other boys into wolves, promoting that cycle of abuse.” In the wake of the Bishop Eddie Long scandal, where the once blemish-free, mega-church preacher found himself settling out of court with a group of teenage boys who accused him of luring them with extravagant gifts in exchange for physical favors, there are those who might say that “Wolf” is coming at an opportune time. The film has been making its rounds around the country via the film festival circuit. Though it has yet to secure distribution for screenings in movie theaters, it is still one of the most talked about independent films today. What do you think about exposing abuse in the church? Source Images via Vimeo/Shutterstock
Kim Kardashian let us in on her LITTLE secret today. The reality star celeb tweeted a before and after of her daily session with her make-up artist. Kim Kardashian always looks flawlessly faced for the flashbulbs, but not without a lot of help from her makeup artist!…rarely photographed without her face fully painted, shared her sensational skin secrets with her Twitter followers on Tuesday, giving them a photo tutorial on how celebrity makeup artist Scott Barnes prepped her for a recent photo shoot, and RadarOnline.com has the images and details. The 31-year-old, who is famous for sharing racy photos of herself on the social media site, was clearly not bashful about posting images of her skin doused in foundation. “Wanna see how @scottbarnes68 contours?,” the reality star tweeted with the first photo of her made up face, followed by a slew of others showing the magic being worked by the celebrity makeup artist. Hit the flip to see the rest of the before and afters…
