Tavis Smiley Sues PBS For Firing Him Tavis Smiley is swinging back at PBS after they canned him and cancelled his 14-year-run talk show over multiple instances of sexual misconduct. The talk show host has filed a lawsuit against the network, claiming that the allegations against him were “trumped up” in an attempt to push him out for other reasons. If you’ll recall, Smiley was suspended from the network back in December. He almost immediately he admitted to having multiple sexual relationships with some of his female subordinates, sometimes even telling them in the interview process that he’d much rather date them than hire them…but still somehow defended his actions as not at all creepy or inappropriate . Either way, he was officially fired before the beginning of the new year. However, in his lawsuit, he claims that all his in-office booty-chasing had nothing to do with the “real” reason he was canned by the network. According to TMZ , Smiley claims in a new lawsuit that there was always racial tension at PBS. He says network bigwigs routinely: “…hassled Mr. Smiley when he had African American guests who espoused controversial positions and effectively tried to stop any such guests from appearing.” Meanwhile, PBS says this whole thing is a pathetic attempt to distract the public from the revelation of Tavis’ nastiness, and it’s absolutely “ridiculous and false” to claim that their decision was based on anything else. We’ll see how far this suit goes. Bottom line…you generally can’t smash half the office and think it will all be okay forever. Splash/Getty
David Ryder/Getty Images TWO….DAYS… Officer Suspended For Two Days For Not Having Taser During Charleena Lyles Shooting The officer who fatally shot Charleena Lyles has been suspended for just two days for his actions in the fatal shooting. As previously reported Officer Jason Anderson who fatally shot Charleena Lyles in front of her children , did NOT have a Taser on hand because it “took up too much real estate” on his utility belt. Anderson told authorities he left his Taser in his locker the day he killed the pregnant mom of four who had a history of mental illness and approached him and another officer with a knife. Now according to The Seattle Times, Anderson is seeing repercussions, not for killing Lyles, but for only having his gun on hand. The officer was suspended for just two-days after Interim Police Chief Carmen Best determined that he violated department policy. “Your complacency in this regard is unacceptable and added an otherwise unnecessary element to an incident already of significant public concern,” Best wrote in her first high-profile disciplinary action since becoming interim chief after former Chief Kathleen O’Toole stepped down at the end of last year. “The impact of your disregard for this policy on public trust should not be underestimated,” added Best, who is seeking the job as permanent chief for which the city has launched a nationwide search. SMH, just two days?! The King County Prosecuting Attorney’s Office is still trying to determine if Anderson and the other officer should face criminal charges. Continue reading →
Image via Thomas Lohnes/Getty South African President Jacob Zuma To Be Forced From Office We need to take a page out of South Africa’s book and push our burnt sienna POTUS out of office. According to USAToday , the African National Congress has announced their decision to pressure President Jacob Zuma to resign from office. Says Nabila Patel: “We are positive about Zuma leaving because South Africa can begin its journey on the road to recovery,” said Patel. “I thought Zuma was an inadequate president … who showed signs of corruption and weakness.” Zuma is still currently the President, however the ANC has sent him a letter that states their decision to have him “recalled” according to Secretary General Ace Magashule. “We are giving him time and space to respond,” he said at a press conference here. “We haven’t given him any deadline to respond (but) when we recall our (president), we expect (him) to do what the organization expects him to do.” Its reported that the President has refused and parliament will soon hold a “no confidence” vote to force to him out. Zuma’s corruption scandals go back as far as 2009 when he spent millions of public money to upgrade his home in addition to previous illegal arms sales and charges of selling government contracts to his friends. South Africa sees a dangerous and untrustworthy leader and gets him out the paint. Wish we had those Wakandan super powers… Continue reading →
No Sexual Battery Charges Filed Against Seal Seal won’t have to worry about courts and jails as it relates to his alleged #MeToo moment with a busty blonde neighbour. If you’ll recall, an actress by the name of Tracey Birdsall accused Seal of aggressively kissing and groping her when she went to his house to retrieve a borrowed salad spinner. These claims came almost immediately after Seal seemingly called out Oprah for being chummy with Harvey Weinstein then turning around and championing the #MeToo movement and the #TimesUp fund. As it turns out, Tracey’s account of events was way too flimsy for prosecution. According to TMZ , the L.A. County District Attorney’s Office rejected the case due to a lack of supporting evidence. To top it all off, the statute of limitations on pressing formal charges for getting handsy has long passed — she claims the incident occurred in February of 2016. All in all, the criminal investigation turned up nothing of substance, so Seal faces no charges whatsoever. Getty Continue reading →
(Photo by Karwai Tang/WireImage) Halle Berry Breaks Silence On Vincent Cirrincione Allegations Halle Berry is adding her thoughts to explosive news that her former manager used his Hollyweird power and her name to allegedly seduce young hopeful actresses of. Earlier this week, news broke that Vincent Cirrincione had 9 women accusing him sexual harassment. According to People, three of the women say Cirrincione presented sex as a condition for his representation, and that when they refused, he did not take them on as clients. One of the actresses also claims he masturbated in front of her in his office while acting as her manager. Several of the women were actresses of color. Halle was a known famous client of Vincent as well as Taraji P. Henson. Now Halle, his long time client is speaking out about the disgusting allegations. I’m livid that he used me, and the role model he helped me become, to lure and manipulate innocent, vulnerable women of color for his predatory actions. I’m deeply hurt and I want these woman and countless others to know I see you. I hear you. You matter. I will fight for you. Good for her. Hopefully these women will find some peace in Halle’s response. Continue reading →
Source: Bob D’Amico / Getty Remember how Olivia and Fitz got it on last week after Olivia pretended to be crushed over Quinn’s death? Well, on tonight’s episode of Scandal , he asks her to go to Vermont and she surprisingly agrees, but when she gets to her beautiful cabin she discovers it’s an intervention. Huck, Abby, Rosen and Marcus pop out and tell her they know what she did and they have her on tape talking about it. The deal is, if she admits what she did then she just gives up B613 and all her power and Rosen won’t prosecute her. Olivia tries to gaslight everyone by claiming this isn’t her fault and that they’ve all done something dirty. via GIPHY Back at Rowan Pope’s house, we find Charlie preparing to beat the breaks off Rowan a few feet away from the baby, who is crying in her crib, but Quinn pops out him and tells him that Rowan is protecting her. Charlie is obviously freaked out and also pissed. Next, Cyrus tells Mellie that Olivia killed Rashad. Mellie asks for proof, Cyrus then says he thinks Quinn had something on her so now Mellie puts two and two together about Quinn’s “death” too. Mellie demands to speak to Olivia but gets informed that she’s not in the office. Jake doesn’t know where Olivia is either (for obvious reasons). He calls her but doesn’t get an answer. Mellie finds him in his secret B613 room in the White House and tells him she knows what’s up and Olivia better show up soon or there will be trouble, starting with filling that room with cement with Jake inside. via GIPHY Back at Rowan Pope’s house, we find Quinn and Rowan soothing the baby by singing Britney Spears’ “One More Time.” And Charlie is looking at them like… via GIPHY But this bonding time doesn’t last long. Charlie wants to take Quinn and the baby elsewhere, but Rowan Pope feels that they’re safer with him. Obviously, this is a source of contention. Charlie feels that he can take care of his family without Rowan. Rowan doesn’t think so but at the same time, he also lowkey enjoys Quinn’s company (she’s like the daughter he lost) and having a baby around. Charlie takes his case to Quinn, but Quinn also thinks it’s best that she stays at Rowan’s place and that Olivia thinks she’s dead. Knowing her man, she also tells him not to kill Olivia. Jake tells Cyrus he better tell Mellie to shut down her investigation and any impending punitive action or he will kill him and make it look like a suicide. Cyrus ain’t never scared and calls Jake’s bluff. Jake falls back for now, but he makes it his mission to find Olivia. In Vermont, Olivia is holed up in a room in the cabin acting like a petulant child while the gladiators take turns trying to talk sense into her. Abby tries from the girlfriend angle, you know she understands how the allure of power can get you in trouble (*coughs* Frankie Vargas). Rosen starts reading all of the potential charges she could face. It’s not working. Speaking of Abby, she apologizes to Huck for not believing him about Olivia. via GIPHY Mellie and Cyrus are trying to figure out what to do and at least wants answers before taking action, because she feels like Olivia did what she did for a reason. Cyrus reminds Mellie that neither Neither Olivia nor Jake will go quietly. Then he says that Mellie is really just afraid to lead without her and that Olivia is making a fool of her. Olivia finally comes out of her room and attempts to emotionally manipulate Huck. She tells him she needs him to get her out of the house and be B613 with her. He says he can’t because she killed one of their own and that what she did was unforgivable. He’s done serving her. In fact, he makes this very clear when he says, “I’m not your gladiator anymore.” When Huck is done with Olivia, you know this is the end of days. via GIPHY Jake heads to Liv’s apartment in searching of her. Mellie is waiting for him with her secret service. She wants to know why Olivia did what she did. Jake spills the tea about how Olivia made a deal with the Bashrani rebels. Mellie doesn’t believe it and demands to know the truth. Jake tries to keep it cute, but she keeps pressing the issue then he gives her the answer: Ain’t nobody got time for Mellie to be in love again! Olivia was not feeling the idea of Mellie falling in love with Rashad and ruining everything she worked for by making lovestruck silly decisions. Olivia seemingly comes to her senses and writes a note of resignation as Chief of Staff and keeps Mellie clean of any criminal involvement and she agrees to make her announcement that night at a live press conference. Olivia then says that she will step down from B613 but Jake has to dismantle it. Then she delivers a non-apology for not being able to admit that she’s wrong. That was basically the apology, “I’m sorry I can’t admit that I’m wrong, I know I hurt people.” She comes to tears claiming that she wishes she could tell Quinn, yatta yatta. via GIPHY Anyway, later on she’s back in DC and she finds Jake and tells him she’s about to lose every friend she has ever had as she seduces him in desperation. The gladiators watch the press conference, waiting for the announcement that never comes.They call around looking for Live, but she’s um, busy. Once Jake and Live are done getting busy, Liv barks orders at Jake. She demands that he talk Mellie out of shutting down B613. He pushes back, but she tells him to just do it. The way she talks to him is even more callous and distant than usual and for the first time, Jake has a look on his face like he finally sees her for what she is and he’s finally tired of being the Pope Family Pet. Think about it, if Huck can be done with Olivia, then so can Jake. via GIPHY The Gladiators, plus Fitz, are in a quandary, they don’t know what to do with Olivia because they don’t have enough evidence to convict her, and there would also be messy fallout because other people would get sucked into the storm for crimes they didn’t commit (*coughs* Mellie). Jake goes to Mellie as he’s told but the convo goes in a completely different direction. In the next scene, we find Olivia walking into work all cocky and assured that she got this, but then she finds Jake packing up her things in her office. Olivia confronts Mellie and demands to know what she did, but we’ll have to wait until next week for the answer. RELATED POSTS ‘Scandal’ Recap: Olivia Pope Has Become The Monster Rowan Is Afraid Of ‘Scandal’ Recap: Give Up Hope, Quinn Is Probably Dead
While the rest of us suckers are stuck toiling away in our moms’ basements at the office this Monday, here’s Sara Jean Underwood hard at work at her “office.” And honestly, I can’t even make fun of her. Somehow, Sara managed to figure out a way to fund her do-nothing lifestyle without having to resort to shacking up with some 80-year-old billionaire sugar daddy, so she gets to travel the world and we get these killer bikini pictures. I’d call that a win-win. Well, for everyone except the billionaires. » view all 13 photos
Atlanta is a Mecca for Black people and the home of a brand new African-American mayor in Keisha Lane Bottoms. But unfortunately, Atlanta is also a hotbed for criminal activity, especially carjackings. In this latest case, though, a mother was very lucky that a quick trip to a gas station convenience store didn’t end in tragedy when two teens stole her SUV with her children in the car. WSB-TV reports: The car theft happened Wednesday at a Clayton County gas station. A woman told police she left her vehicle running when she ran into the Quik Trip on Riverdale Road. Police said there were two children, a 4-year-old and a 1-month-old, in the back seat when someone jumped in the car and took off. The 4-year-old girl, Arya, was dropped off on the side of the road shortly after, police said. The 1-month-old girl, Ava, was still in the car. Ava was later found by a Channel 2 Action News photographer on the side of the road. The baby was taken to a hospital, where she was treated. The Clayton County Sheriff’s Office announced Friday that they arrested two people, Khyree Swift, 17, and an unidentified 16-year-old, and charged them with kidnapping, theft by taking, theft by receiving stolen property and cruelty to children. Investigators said the 16-year-old told them he and Swift planned to steal the car with another person that police are still looking for. Police said unreleased QT surveillance video shows a carload of people pulling up to the gas station in a silver sedan. One person jumps out of the car and into the mother’s car. “The two we have in custody are not admitting to being in the victim’s vehicle,” Maj. Craig Hammer said. Warrants reveal the victim’s sister used the “Find My iPhone” app to locate the iPhone and iPad that were in the car. Investigators found them in Swift’s house, less than two miles from where the driver dumped the stolen SUV. Swift said he was just trying to buy the devices from the 16-year-old. Swift made his first appearance in court Friday morning. He was denied bond. After leaving the courtroom, Swift’s father told Channel 2’s Nicole Carr that his son is innocent. “My child didn’t do nothing. He’s just a friend,” the father sai No bond for the man accused of stealing a car with a 4 year old and her 1 month old sister inside. More details at noon. @wsbtv pic.twitter.com/Sf1mdXjujj — Tom Jones (@TomJonesWSBTV) January 19, 2018 READ MORE STORIES ON BLACKAMERICAWEB.COM: GET THE HOTTEST STORIES STRAIGHT TO YOUR INBOX: Close Thank you for subscribing! Please be sure to open and click your first newsletter so we can confirm your subscription. Email Submit
A Dallas County Texas grand jury indicted a Mesquite police officer with felony aggravated assault with a deadly weapon for shooting an unarmed Black man he assumed was breaking into a truck but was actually trying to turn off the alarm of his own vehicle, NBC News Dallas reported. READ MORE: Texas Cop Shoots Unarmed Black Man For Entering His Own Truck Justin Moore , one of the attorneys for the victim Lyndo Jones , said his client wasn’t “too thrilled” with the indictment because District Attorney Faith Johnson should not have “punted to the grand jury.” “Her giving the grand jury the duty to issue the indictment shows that she does not have any fidelity to the people of Dallas County. She punted to citizens and, luckily enough, they ran that punt back and scored a touchdown today,” Moore said. Mesquite Officer Involved in #LyndoJones Shooting Effectively Terminated, Chief Says https://t.co/4wNzJIjqNX pic.twitter.com/cQomO7oo2l — Harry Triple O (@HarryO1975) December 5, 2017 According to the original police report, officers were responding on Nov. 8 to a possible vehicle burglary. They encountered Jones in a truck when they arrived, and Officer Derick Wiley shot him in a scuffle. They claimed Jones was trying to run away, so they charged him with misdemeanor evading arrest and had him transported to the hospital where they kept him handcuffed to his hospital bed. Jones’ attorneys dispute that story, arguing that Wiley shot Jones within 10 seconds of arriving at the scene and a second time in the back while their client was lying on the ground. After an internal investigation, officials suspended Wiley for violating police department policy. READ MORE: Unarmed Black Man Shot By Texas Cop Struggles To Pay Hospital Bills Attorney Lee Merritt , who also represents Jones, said his team had pressed Johnson for a month to file criminal charges against Wiley, adding that he’s “not positive that this office is capable of a zealous prosecution of a law enforcement officer.” Johnson dismissed Merritt’s concerns and stated that he didn’t have all the facts. If convicted, Wiley faces between five and 99 years in prison. SOURCE: NBC News Dallas SEE ALSO: Ex-Texas Cop Indicted For Murder In Death Of Jordan Edwards Family Demands Answers After 22-Year-Old Mother Dies In Texas Police Custody [ione_media_gallery src=”https://newsone.com” id=”3440564″ overlay=”true”]
As previously reported, Roy Moore has been accused of child molestation . The Alabama Senate candidate reportedly made sexual advances toward a 14-year old back when he was 32 years old. The Washington Post spoke to 30 sources for this bombshell story and has stood by every detail, despite threats of a lawsuit from Moore and a few harsh words from his supporters. One of those supporters, of course, is Sean Hannity. The Fox News host has gone to extreme lengths to attempt and explain why Moore's alleged actions really aren't a big deal, much to the shock and outrage of those who do think pedophilia ought to disqualify one from public office. In response to Hannity's support for Moore, Keurig is among the companies that has stopped advertising on the conservative host's talk show. And, as you're about to find out, loyal Hannity viewers have certain feelings about this decision… 1. Excuse Us, Keurig? The official Twitter account for this coffee maching responded to a concerned user by saying it has pulled its support for Hannity. 2. And From There? Well, the #MAGA floodgates opened wide, with various Fox News viewers finding unique ways to destroy their Keurig machines over the Internet. 3. Pulling an Office Space If you haven’t seen Office Space… what is wrong with you?!? Go rent Office Space! Also, this means the guy is about to use a hammer and other tools to break his Keurig into many pieces. 4. A Couple Quick Points to Make: 1. LOL. No liberal is “offended” by the destruction of a Keurig. 2. You can’t boycott a product you already purchased. 5. Deplorables Unite! It will be ironic when these people are too tired to go vote in the 2018 mid-term elections. 6. Liberals are SO Offended Or… you know, not. View Slideshow
