Source: Megan Q Daniels/Getty Images / Getty / Getty Wait, what??? Bennett College Loses Accreditation, Gets It Back After donors nationwide rallied together to save an HBCU, a board STILL denied the college its accreditation—but ultimately was defeated, for now at least. As previously reported Bennett College proudly announced that it raised $8.2 million , surpassing the required $5 million to keep it accredited by the Southern Association of Colleges and Schools Commission on Colleges (SACSCOC). That number has since jumped to a whopping $9.5 million in donations. Despite that Wxii12 reported that Bennett STILL lost its accreditation. The SACSCOC released a press release to the news station confirming that Bennett’s accreditation was still revoked and noted that the Appeals Committee of the College Delegate Assembly would be holding up their December 9 decision. The board claimed that Bennett was still lacking financial resources. The school “failed to show that the institution possesses resources demonstrating a stable financial base to support the mission and scope of programs and services,” said the board. After the news broke, Bennett took swift action and filed a lawsuit against The SACSCOC. Journal Now reports that Bennett had their accreditation restored by a federal judge in Atlanta who granted the college a temporary restraining order that lets them keep their accreditation while the lawsuit remains active. The President of the college has since spoken out and she’s assuring students and alumni that Bennett’s still fighting. “Our fight continues, … ” said President Phyllis Worthy Dawkins. “The negative decision … to remove Bennett from membership will not interrupt the daily operations of the college. … We urge everyone to keep the faith and know that Bennett College is standing strong.” . @BennettCollege Files Lawsuit to Keep Accreditation: https://t.co/ESbXfx1iJy — Bennett College (@BennettCollege) February 23, 2019 Fight on Bennett, we’re glad to see that the Bennett Belles are still standing.
Source: Bettmann / Getty Barbara Johns, a sixteen year old student, staged a strike at Robert Russa Moton High School because of its deplorable conditions. One student John Stokes assisted Johns in the effort in 1951. He shares his story with me. John Stokes grew up in the Jim Crow South. He attended Robert Russa Moton High School in Prince Edward County, Virginia. This was the only school for African American students in the entire county. It was a one-story school that was built to hold 180 students. However, by 1950 there were more than 450 students attending the school. The educational resources at Moton were few with only eight classrooms, an office, and an auditorium. Text “Kiss” To 23845 for your chance at ticket giveaways and news before anyone else! …Standard Messaging Rates Apply Stokes and classmate Barbara Johns recognized the inequalities between Moton and the white-only schools, and decided to do something about it. Together Stokes and John helped lead a strike by all the students in April 1951. All of the students walked out in the middle of class and refused to return until a new high school for African American students was built. The National Association for the Advancement of Colored People encouraged the students to demand integration of all county schools instead. The U.S. District Court in Richmond rejected the lawsuit. The case went on appeal, and was combined with other lawsuits under Brown V. Board of Education. On May 17, 1954 the Supreme Court of the United States ruled that public school segregation was unconstitutional. Only a year after graduating from Virginia State University, Stokes went on to become Superintendent of Baltimore City Public Schools before retiring as principal in 1994. [ione_media_gallery src=”” id=”0″ overlay=”true”] How was the first Civil Rights Memorial initiated on Virginia State Capitol Grounds? First Lady Collis said during our interview that she was taking a stroll around Capitol Grounds with her daughter one beautiful day, Collis said her youngest daughter Eliza once inquired about the statues honoring white males during a walk around the square and wondered why none honored civil rights figures. “And know-it-all mom that I am or not, I realized I really couldn’t explain why to my child,” and so I worked to rectify that” said Collis. View the first Civil Rights Memorial on Virginia Capitol Grounds dedicated to the life and legacy of Barbara Johns, John Stokes and other students who staged a strike at Robert Russa Moton High School because of its deplorable conditions. [ione_media_gallery src=”https://kissrichmond.com” id=”2971246″ overlay=”true”]
Source: Spencer Platt / Getty One New York Resident Gives A Chilling Account Another moment of police terror reportedly went down in New York last year, and now a resident of the city is taking action. According to New York Daily News , a Brooklyn cop, who’s been accused of years of civil rights violations and false arrests, is once again being sued for excessive conduct. Evelyn Gonzalez, 51, who works as a security guard is accusing Sgt. David (Bellethead) Grieco of carrying out an early-morning raid at her Brownsville apartment, then arresting her and a family friend Tray Stroman, 27, on trumped-up charges that were dropped before they even got a chance to appear before a judge. Gozalez has filed a notice of claim and according to their lawyer, if a settlement is not agreed upon, they will file a lawsuit in state court alleging wrongful arrest. The whole incident went down shortly after 7 a.m. on April 13, 2018 when Gonzalez was asleep in her room and Stroman, who works in a barbershop, was resting on the couch. Emergency Service cops tried to bust through the front door so one of Gonzalez’s four children, Joseph Cordova, 24, left from his bed to open it. That’s when police rushed in with Grieco and other officers having their guns drawn, according to Gonzalez and Stroman. Neither Gonzalez nor Storman have ever been arrested, however Cordova has been arrested ten times, including two cases that are still pending for possession of a knife and for possession of drugs. He was convicted in 2014 for weapons possession, for which he received five years probation. Cordova, who isn’t apart of the lawsuit, and his mother believe the raid was part of an ongoing attempt to harass Cordova, considering that past charges against him didn’t stick. The cops allegedly swept through the apartment, flipped a living room table, and broke two televisions AND a humidifier that Gonzalez needs for her asthma. The cops also allegedly rampaged through the kitchen, dumping coffee and oatmeal on the floor. “They even ate my bananas,” Gonzalez said. Stroman, who posts rap videos online, went on to say the cops plugged their phones into a speaker and listened to his music. “I’m like, ‘Is this a warrant for music?” Stroman said. “I was lost.” It’s not clear if the cops even had a warrant to search the apartment. Gonzalez said when she asked, the cop tried to use a restaurant flyer to pass as a warrant. Gonzalez and Stroman said Grieco continually asked about guns and drugs, indicating the cops were tipped off. However, no guns or narcotics were found. The police only focused on one marijuana joint in the living room and two in a bedroom. Cordova admitted that he does smoke marijuana. The nightmare continued after the raid when Gonzalez said that she, Cordova and Stroman were handcuffed and taken into custody. Gonzalez said she and Stroman spent around 18 hours in custody and she said the police didn’t even give her access to her medicine. When they finally got out, The Brooklyn District Attorney’s office declined to prosecute them. Cordova was charged with marijuana possession and possession of a forged credit card, but the case was adjourned and dismissed soon after. Gonzalez says when she got home, $800 was missing from a jacket in her closet – money she said she was saving for her two granddaughters. On top of all this, Gonzalez’s Brownsville apartment is covered by the 73rd Precinct, but they were taken to the 67th Precinct where Grieco is assigned. No one has yet to explain why Grieco was carrying out a raid in a precinct he wasn’t even assigned to, although investigations do often cross precinct lines. Grieco, 48, has a long history of being an ain’t sh** officer, including searching two homes without a warrant and being involved in a 2013 75th Precinct investigation. The anti-crime unit at the time was accused of illegal apartment searches and the theft of jewelry and thousands of dollars, according to court papers, Internal Affair docs and police sources. Over the years, Grieco has been the defendant in 29 lawsuits. But yet… This man is still on the force. Gonzalez’s and Stroman’s lawyer Joel Berger said, “For this cowboy to still be on the force is outrageous. He should have been terminated years ago. The fact that he hasn’t been is really indicative of the travesty the NYPD discipline system is.” Grieco is currently a sergeant who was one of NYPD’s top overtime earners in 2017. His $73,000 of extra pay upped his salary to $190,000 and last year he made $164,700. Out of the 29 lawsuits against Grieco, 16 of them were settled, costing the city more than half-million dollars.
Source: Sakura/WENN.com / WENN The woman who accused Nelly of sexual assault is now claiming that the rapper is trying to intimidate her. The woman, known only as Jane Doe, says a motion filed by Nelly in order to get her to reveal her identity is a tactic to have her drop a connected lawsuit. The Blast reports : The woman suing Nelly (who filed the case under the pseudonym Jane Doe) is responding to the rapper’s request to dismiss the case unless she reveals her identity. “Nelly is attempting to intimidate his sexual assault victim into dropping her case by publicly ‘outing’ her,” Doe’s attorney writes in a new filing. “There is no other reason.” She is demanding his motion to force her to reveal her true identity be denied by the court. The woman says Nelly and his lawyers were already informed privately of her identity last year before this lawsuit was filed. They claim, “There is no prejudice to the Defense in allowing Plaintiff to stay out of the public eye such that her identity remains known only to the Court and to the parties here.” She points out courts have repeatedly ruled that allegations of “sexual assault and rape, as in this case, concern highly sensitive and personal subjects, and that forcing the victims to identify themselves publicly would deter those victims and others from reporting their assaults.” The lawsuit is connected to a November 2017 event in England where Jane Doe claims Nelly masturbated in front of her backstage and forced his penis into her mouth. The woman is also filing a defamation lawsuit against Nelly’s girlfriend, who blasted Jane Doe’s claims on social media. — Photo: WENN
Source: Stefanie Keenan / Getty The Two Parties Seemingly Formed A Relationship That Is Now Being Disputed It appears Fiji Water was getting extra comfortable with their new viral sensation Kelleth Cuthbert, a.k.a. Fiji Water Girl and now she’s suing them dry. Cuthbert was catapulted to fame at this year’s Gold Globe Awards when her good looks and flawless water bottle posing made it’s way into celebrity pictures. Her photobomb status was cemented in awards show history , and Fiji water had a new face to make their product go viral. However, Fiji Water allegedly went too far when they started using life-sized cut-outs of Cuthbert’s image in stores. According to TMZ , Cuthbert is suing Fiji for creating cutouts of her at the Golden Globes without her permission, one of which, ironically, photobombed John Legend at an L.A. grocery store. Cuthbert, whose real name is Kelly Steinbach, said Fiji tried to coax her into signing away her rights. Though she did a mock video with the company, Cuthbert said she never actually inked a real deal, and it was all for show. Steinbach says the cardboard cutouts of herself started showing up around L.A., including the one involving John Legend. She said her viral moment generated up to $12 million in brand exposure, and now she wants in on the cash. Fiji is calling BS though. A rep told TMZ , “This lawsuit is frivolous and entirely without merit. After the Golden Globes social media moment, we negotiated a generous agreement with Ms. Cuthbert that she blatantly violated. We are confident that we will prevail in court. Throughout our history, we have had a sterling reputation working with talent.” Eesh. When friends become enemies. There’s no word on the exact amount Cuthbert is asking for. But hey, you can’t be mad at her for trying to get her paper.
Source: David Livingston / Getty Salim Akil Thinks Alleged Mistress’ Lawsuit Is Too Little, Too Late Salim Akil has finally responded to a lawsuit that alleged he abused and stole a script from a former mistress, Amber Dixon Brenner . According to The Blast , the producer/director is demanding his alleged mistress’ lawsuit accusing him of domestic violence be dismissed. In court documents, Akil claims the statute of limitations on Amber Brenner’s claims has passed. He also says Brenner is barred from bringing claims against him due to her own “negligent, intentional or bad faith conduct.” Additionally, Akil is demanding her lawsuit be thrown out and she be made to pay his attorney fees. Yikes! Amber Dixon Brenner initially filed a lawsuit against Akil on November 20th, 2018 that detailed explicit sexual abuse she allegedly endured from him for over a period of TEN YEARS. She also claimed in the lawsuit that she shared a script with him, which he shopped around on her behalf. After months of failed communication, Akil’s show “Love Is____” was picked up by OWN, bearing similarities. Brenner is suing for compensatory damages, emotional distress, attorney fees, and punitive damages. The amount she is asking for is not disclosed in her complaint. Thoughts?
Source: Derrick Salters/WENN.com / WENN Rihanna has never had the closest relationship with her father, and it looks like things are just heading more downhill for the Fenty family. News broke today that the makeup and music mogul is suing her dad, Ronald Fenty, along with his company called Fenty Entertainment, for exploiting her name for his own gains. According to court docs , Rih claims that her father created the entertainment company and has been soliciting business acting as agents of the singer. Rihanna claims that her father booked a $15 million tour in Latin America and two concerts at the Staples Center in LA and the T-Mobile Arena in Las Vegas for $400,000, for which she says she has no involvement in. Rihanna, who has multiple business endeavors under the Fenty name including Fenty Beauty, Savage X Fenty, and Fenty PUMA, says she sent several cease and desist letters to her father and his partner, but is now suing him as a last resort. Even though suing your father seems harsh, Rihanna isn’t the only celebrity that’s had to handle some tough situations against family members. Here’s a list of some more celebrities that got an unfortunately close look at how money–and a lot of other things–can make family turn into foes. 1. Kanye West VS. His Cousin Kanye West hasn’t been quiet about having to pay his cousin $250,000 for a laptop–in songs alone, he mentions the situation more than once. He first addresses the scenario in “Real Friends,” basically admitting that his cousin extorted him with some adult videos on his laptop. “ I had a cousin that stole my laptop that I was f***in’ bi***es on Paid that n***a 250 thousand just to get it from him” On the same album, on “No More Parties In LA,” West makes it known that he has no hard feelings toward his cousin even after having to give him a quarter million. “And as far as real friends, tell all my cousins I love ’em Even the one that stole the laptop, you dirty motherf***er” Well, not exactly no hard feelings. But the love is still there, because they’re family. 2. Jay-Z VS. Solange Not exactly a fight over money, but like Beyonce says, “of course sometimes s**t go down. When it’s a billion dollars on an elevator.” Legend says that Solange was being protective of her sister and came at Jay-Z after his cheating allegations came to light–but of course, that information isn’t going to make it out of the Knowles-Carter household. One thing’s for sure: Bey wasn’t doing anything to stop her sister from throwing some punches, so it’s a pretty good assumption that Solange was stepping up on her sister’s behalf. Hov actually spoke on the infamous elevator fight on the Rap Radar podcast back in 2017, but he didn’t elaborate on the cause. He explained: “We had one disagreement ever. Before and after, we’ve been cool. She’s like my sister. I will protect her. That’s my sister, not my sister-in-law. My sister. Period.” Nobody wins when the family feuds. 3. Kobe Bryant VS. His Parents It’s not surprising that multiple celebs have had to deal with family members trying to capitalize off their success–and Kobe Bryant knows exactly what that is like. The former Lakers star had such a big problem with his parents auctioning off valuable memorabilia they kept at his house that he decided to take them to court. They finally reached a settlement which allowed his parents to auction only six of the items, which was 10% of the original listing–which would still sell for more than $500,000. The items included items such as Kobe’s old school uniforms and replicas of NBA championship rings he had made for his parents as gifts. They were given $450,000 up front for the sale lot from Goldin Auctions, which they then used to buy a house in Las Vegas. After the settlement, both his parents made a public statement as an apology to fans and their son. 4. Frank Ocean VS. His Dad Frank Ocean’s situation with family lawsuits is a little bit different than the rest on the list–because the star is actually the one being sued. The singer’s father, Calvin Cooksey, sued Ocean for libel and is currently seeking $14 million. The whole thing started when the singer told a not-so-flattering story about his father in a Tumblr post . “I was six years old when I heard my dad call our transgender waitress a f****t as he dragged me out a neighborhood diner saying we wouldn’t be served because she was dirty. That was the last afternoon I saw my father and the first time I heard that word, I think, although it wouldn’t shock me if it wasn’t.” Frank’s father denies that this exchange ever happened. “I have never discriminated against anyone transgender or heterosexual or homosexual,” he wrote to Rolling Stone . “The events that defendant describes on June 21st 2016, that I called a transgender waitress F****T NEVER HAPPENED … The defendant is a scam artist, a fraud and a hypocrite who deceive[d] the LGBT community.” This lawsuit between Frank and his dad is still ongoing. 5. The Kardashians VS. Their Stepmom Even though family feuds are pretty tough to imagine, it’s a lot easier to see how a family would have a poor relationship with one of their step-parents. Ellen Kardashian was married to Robert Kardashian Sr. before his untimely death, so she had personal items belonging to the Kardashian children–which included their personal journals and private photos. The family ended up later suing her for copyright over these items and wanted $500,000 in damages because they claimed she hid them. The family ended up settling in 2014 while the diaries and photos were returned to the Kardashians.
Text “RICKEY” to 71007 to join the Rickey Smiley Morning Show mobile club for exclusive news. ( Terms and conditions ). Source: Ted Soqui / Getty Many of us are guilty of using our family as well as friends passwords to log in and watch television shows and movies on Netflix . That soon might be coming to an end as a new software is being developed for the company. Sign Up For Our Newsletter! Close Thank you for subscribing! Please be sure to open and click your first newsletter so we can confirm your subscription. Email Submit According to ABC 7 Chicago the software maker Synamedia is working on a system to crack down on sharing your account information. Moreover artificial intelligence will locate users that share the passwords and ask them to upgrade to a premium account to share. SEE ALSO: Cardi B Served With Lawsuit Papers While Walking Onto Netflix Series Set Netflix mentioned that the password sharing has been costing them to much money to continue to ignore. We wonder if they decided to develop this after “Birdbox?” Right now Netflix is trying to figure out how 6 million people watched birdbox this weekend with only 22 active accounts —
Source: Ethan Miller / Getty 14 Times Celebs Looked Happy To Be Around R. Kelly Everything’s falling down for super saiyan sicko R. Kelly who’s STILL getting DRAGGED after Lifetime’s explosive “Surviving R. Kelly” series that just might bury him for good. And, um, there’s still that one pink elephant in the room to discuss: A-list celebs who seemed to love being around R. Kelly despite his very creepy rep. Now, to be fair, Lady Gaga recently apologized for their collab and we’re sure more celebs will follow her lead but that won’t stop everyone from wondering why A) they took so long to condemn him and B) they looked so happy around a man accused of so many disgusting crimes over the years. Source: Christopher Polk / Getty Hit the flip for a gallery of celeb faves cheesing it up with R. Kelly.
Source: John Lamparski/ Getty/ Gabriel Olsen/FilmMagic / Getty Teairra Mari Loses Sex Tape Lawsuit To 50 Cent Teairra Mari recently suffered a huge loss in court that’s going to cost her a substantial amount of money. As previously reported the “Love & Hip Hop Hollywood” star sued 50 Cent and her ex-boyfriend Akbar Abdul-Ahad after explicit footage was released of her post-fellatio with semen on her face. Teairra alleged that Akbar released the revenge porn without her consent and 50 made matters worse by reposting the clip to his 18 million Instagram followers. Lisa Bloom represented Teairra in the case and a part of it played out on LHHH. Now according to The Blast who obtained court documents, Teairra’s going to have to pay up because she lost the case—to 50 at least. A judge dismissed all claims against 50 and ordered her to pay him $30,000. Why? Well because 50’s lawyers successfully argued that by the time 50 reposted the image it was readily available online. Furthermore, it didn’t show genitals or a sexual act in progress. The Blast didn’t clarify however if Teairra’s case against Akbar is ongoing. Teairra argued that Akbar personally logged into her Instagram to send out the sexually explicit content in an effort to humiliate and degrade her. Things could have been much, much worse for Teairra, 50 wanted her to pay his entire $161,660.15 legal bill. Luckily the judge reduced it to $30,618. Still, that’s gotta sting. We’re sure 50’s concocting a super petty, out of pocket post for his Instagram. What do YOU think about Teairra losing her revenge porn lawsuit to 50???
