Source: Lester Cohen / Getty Will.i.am ‘s tech startup, I.am+, made the announcement on Monday that they are entering the world of artificial intelligence, by way of a new voice assistant that will power customer service bots. Named “Omega,” this AI assistant is described as being similar to Amazon’s Alexa and Apple’s Siri. This AI-powered tool serves as a huge departure for the company, which has primarily focused on consumer products like wireless headphones for their 5-year lifespan. The launch was also accompanied by the information that I.am+ has raised whopping $117 million in venture funding, with the bulk — $89 million — raised by Salesforce Ventures in a round that closed in March but was never announced until now. The former Black Eyed Peas member introduced Omega at Salesforce.com’s Dreamforce conference in San Francisco. He told Reuters that the corporate community was ready for a new AI-powered voice assistant saying, “I wanted to create something that allows us to do many things. There’s so much you can do with a voice platform.” The tech startups’s website describes Omega as a “voice-first A.I. platform that delivers natural and engaging user experiences for organizations of any size.” It is being advertised as a highly customizable tool with a “series of pluggable modules” that can give Omega “personality” and “opinions.”
Ever since Harvey Weinstein was accused of rape , following other accusations of sexual harassment, more and more powerful men in Hollywood have been called out and accused of varying levels of disgusting, inexcusable behavior. But that doesn’t mean that the world has moved on from Harvey Weinstein. More than 60 women have come forward with horror stories about him. Yet another woman has come forward, and actress Paz de la Huerta accused Harvey Weinstein of having raped her not once, but twice. The LAPD is actively investigating Harvey Weinstein , which means that everyone who comes forward with their story about the one-time mega-producer’s story is that much more important. Among the dozens of women who have told their #MeToo stories specifically about Weinstein were some big names. Lupita Nyong’o shared details of her Weinstein encounters . This may shock you, but Harvey Weinstein claims through a spokesperson that he remembers things differently. Game of Thrones star Lena Headey shared a story of narrowly escaping from Weinstein after his keycard miraculously failed to work. But it doesn’t take a big name to have an impact. A former assistant has come forward with a chilling story of how her attempts to fend off Weinstein’s alleged advances by telling him that she was on her period didn’t work, and she says that he forced himself on her anyway. And now Boardwalk Empire actress Paz de la Huerta has come forward with her #MeToo story. Speaking in a phone interview to Vanity Fair , Paz de la Huerta accuses Harvey Weinstein of raping her twice . She says that she was 21 years old when Weinstein sent her science fiction novels and said to her that she might be right for a role in one of his projects. It was in 2010, when de la Huerta was 26, that Weinstein offered her a ride home to Tribeca after a hotel meeting. (Remember, not that it matters because nothing excuses sexual assault, but hotel meetings are pretty standard in the entertainment industry) Paz de la Huerta says that Weinstein did more than just give her a ride, but followed her to her apartment and demanded to come inside and have a drink with her. “Things got very uncomfortable very fast,” de la Huerta told Vanity Fair . Paz de la Huerta continued her harrowing story: “Immediately when we got inside the house, he started to kiss me and I kind of brushed [him] away.” Be warned, folks, this is where it gets worse: “Then he pushed me onto the bed and his pants were down and he lifted up my skirt. I felt afraid. … It wasn’t consensual … It happened very quickly. …” That’s a small comfort, if any. “He stuck himself inside me. … When he was done he said he’d be calling me. I kind of just laid on the bed in shock.” Tragically, de la Huerta says that this was the first of two assaults. She since tried to avoid him, but came home from a photoshoot in late 2010 to find that Weinstein arrived at her building’s lobby. “He hushed me and said, ‘Let’s talk about this in your apartment.’” We can only imagine how frightened she was in that moment. “I was in no state. I was so terrified of him. … I did say no, and when he was on top of me I said, ‘I don’t want to do this.’” Awful. “He kept humping me and it was disgusting. He’s like a pig. … He raped me.” Paz de la Huerta describes how that second encounter ended. “I laid there feeling sick. He looked at me and said, ‘I’ll put you in a play.’ He left and I never heard from him again. He knew he had done a bad thing.” This is truly sickening. De la Huerta showed true bravery for sharing this story. Not only does Weinstein deny all accusations of rape, but other people will come out of the woodwork to ask stupid, insulting questions intended to place the blame on de la Huerta and not on the man she accuses of rape. Maybe one of the accusations against Weinstein will stick and, for the first time, he’ll face real consequences. View Slideshow: #MeToo: Stars Share Stories of Sexual Harassment, Assault
Source: Getty Images / Getty With shows like Insecure and Atlanta breaking barriers and changing the way we view Black television today, it’s hard not to reminisce about the legendary shows that paved the way for them to thrive. Moesha is one of those series that shifted the culture, sparked conversation and represented Black youth unlike television has ever seen before. On Friday, the cast of the beloved series, which came to an end in 2001 after six seasons, reunited on The Real and dished on whether or not there’s a Moesha reboot in the making. Less iconic shows have inched their ways back onto our TV screens, so it would be refreshing to have something so nostalgic and essential to the culture back on tv. Hit the flip to see the cast get emotional about reuniting.
Michael Emerson is in the building! On Arrow Season 6 Episode 4 , the popular actor debuted as Cayden James a.k.a. the man who founded Helix. Watch Arrow Season 6 Episode 4 Online He was not impressed with everything that happened to him, so he was ready to embark on a revenge mission, and that meant taking some people down. Alena revealed the truth to Felicity, and it sent Felicity right to her team to let them know there was something villainous on its way to Star City and they had to be prepared. Felicity and Alena joined forces to find a ghost mirror drive that would give them access to some of Helix’s most important files. When they found the device, their mission was thwarted by none other than Black Siren who showed up to cause some mayhem for them. Cayden revealed himself to both Alena and Felicity before ordering Black Siren to murder them. He also revealed that he saved Black Siren from death on Lian Yu. In a scuffle that involved all of Team Arrow, Alena was injured and made her way to the hospital. Felicity managed to confirm that Diggle was right about Black Siren’s murders being covers. They make their way to a place known as “the vault,” which the villains are trying to access. Oliver played Overwatch and Felicity managed to take the firewall down and save the internet, and of course, their lives. While it seemed the team won, it was quickly revealed that Cayden wanted her to take the firewall down so he could upload some malware of his own to get the upper hand. In a somewhat surprising move, Felicity, after conferring with Alena, decided to call her company Helix Dynamics. Alena wanted to become a permanent fixture at the company, but it seemed like Ms. Smoak was on the fence about the potential hire. She was worried about the trust because Alena’s loyalty wavered in the past, but would she really stick the knife into Felicity twice? Also, Oliver and Felicity celebrated the third anniversary of their first date, but things were thrown into doubt when it emerged that the villains wanted to play a little game. The episode concluded with Oliver getting a phone call from Slade Wilson who wanted his help with a brand new mission. Could it involve his son? We’ll have to wait to find out! What did you think of all the action? Sound off below! View Slideshow: 17 Characters Who Ruined Perfectly Good TV Shows
Michael Emerson is in the building! On Arrow Season 6 Episode 4 , the popular actor debuted as Cayden James a.k.a. the man who founded Helix. Watch Arrow Season 6 Episode 4 Online He was not impressed with everything that happened to him, so he was ready to embark on a revenge mission, and that meant taking some people down. Alena revealed the truth to Felicity, and it sent Felicity right to her team to let them know there was something villainous on its way to Star City and they had to be prepared. Felicity and Alena joined forces to find a ghost mirror drive that would give them access to some of Helix’s most important files. When they found the device, their mission was thwarted by none other than Black Siren who showed up to cause some mayhem for them. Cayden revealed himself to both Alena and Felicity before ordering Black Siren to murder them. He also revealed that he saved Black Siren from death on Lian Yu. In a scuffle that involved all of Team Arrow, Alena was injured and made her way to the hospital. Felicity managed to confirm that Diggle was right about Black Siren’s murders being covers. They make their way to a place known as “the vault,” which the villains are trying to access. Oliver played Overwatch and Felicity managed to take the firewall down and save the internet, and of course, their lives. While it seemed the team won, it was quickly revealed that Cayden wanted her to take the firewall down so he could upload some malware of his own to get the upper hand. In a somewhat surprising move, Felicity, after conferring with Alena, decided to call her company Helix Dynamics. Alena wanted to become a permanent fixture at the company, but it seemed like Ms. Smoak was on the fence about the potential hire. She was worried about the trust because Alena’s loyalty wavered in the past, but would she really stick the knife into Felicity twice? Also, Oliver and Felicity celebrated the third anniversary of their first date, but things were thrown into doubt when it emerged that the villains wanted to play a little game. The episode concluded with Oliver getting a phone call from Slade Wilson who wanted his help with a brand new mission. Could it involve his son? We’ll have to wait to find out! What did you think of all the action? Sound off below! View Slideshow: 17 Characters Who Ruined Perfectly Good TV Shows
Getty Images Study Reveals Black Writers Get Little Love In Hollyweird Almost all of your favorite network TV shows and shows you like to stream regularly are most likely to never have a person of color in their writer’s room. According to Color Of Change , Black writers are STILL being shut out of Hollyweird. Even all Black casted TV shows feature someone White in their writer’s room. Here’s what they found: The study examined all 234 of the original, scripted comedy and drama series airing or streaming on eighteen networks during the 2016-2017 television season. Strikingly, 65 percent of all writers’ rooms had zero black writers, and less than 5 percent of writers were black. These hiring decisions are made by showrunners, and the report finds that 91 percent of showrunners across all 18 networks were white and 80 percent were men. The report finds that in the 17 percent of cases where there is a single Black writer in a room, they are often excluded from influencing the creative process—especially when it comes to topics of race—and passed over for advancement. Out of nine procedural crime dramas analyzed, zero had black showrunners, and only one had multiple black writers Only 13.6 percent of shows led by white showrunners had two or more black writers in the writers’ room. By contrast, every writers’ room led by a black showrunner had multiple white writers. Sheesh, Black writers, when they are lucky RARELY have an influence on the creative approach of the show. Just some research to gauge how far we’ve come in entertainment. Was this something YOU already guess?
Source: Hulton Archive / Getty There’s a thin line between paying homage and being racist when it comes to Halloween costumes. We’ve seen the worst of the worst when it comes to non-Black people trying to impersonate Black people for Halloween (as well as the other 364 days of the year for that matter). But thanks to the bold and wise Ms. Amanda Seales , we have concrete examples of how to show love to Black folks and the culture without crossing the line of cultural appropriation or racial taunting. And now, some examples of non black folks who showing love to black culture on Halloween, the RIGHT way! (A Thread) — Amanda Seales (@amandaseales) October 31, 2017 Hit the flip to see how it’s really done. Take it away Amanda…..
Halloween is a time for three things: For kids to dress in some kind of adorable outfit. For women to turn the most benign of costumes into the skankiest of costumes . For celebrities to cross certain lines with their controversial costume ideas. With the third point in mind, we present 14 especially scandalous celebrity Halloween costumes over recent years: 1. Tomi Lahren as…The Flag? Tomi Lahren thinks she’s being all Patriotic with this photo. But she’s really in violation of the flag code. 2. Snooki as a Missing Child It may sort of seem like a silly concept, but milk cartons are actually used sometimes to alert people to missing children. Not exactly something one should mock, Snooki. 3. Julianne Hough as Crazy Eyes Julianne Hough going as a character from Orange is the New Black was a funny idea. She just should have avoided the whole blackface thing. 4. Chris Brown as a Terrorist Chris Brown went as a member of the Taliban in 2012. We were impressed he managed to dress up as the one type of person more hated than he is. 5. Bill Maher as Steve Irwin In 2006, mere months after the death of Steve Irwin, Bill Maher dressed as a “dead” version of the crocodile hunter. His outfit included a bloody stinger stinking out of his chest. 6. Adrianne Curry as Amy Winehouse Adrianne Curry dressed as Amy Winehouse in 2009. The costume included a beehive wig and a fake hypodermic needle sticking out of her arm. Yikes! View Slideshow
