Join Our Text Club To Get The Latest Music, Entertainment, Contests And Breaking News On Your Phone. Text BOX to 24042 to join! Source: FOX / Getty UPDATE: A Cook County grand jury has opted to charge Smollett with felony disorderly conduct for filing a false police report. Felony criminal charges have been approved by @CookCountySAO against Jussie Smollett for Disorderly Conduct / Filing a False Police Report. Detectives will make contact with his legal team to negotiate a reasonable surrender for his arrest. pic.twitter.com/LvBSYE2kVj — Anthony Guglielmi (@AJGuglielmi) February 21, 2019 ORIGINAL: Well, the Jussie Smollett case, assault, situation, whatever you want to call it has taken another twist. Chicago PD spokesperson Anthony Gugleilmi revealed on Twitter that the 36-year-old Empire actor is now officially classified as a suspect for filing a false police report. The crime is a class 4 felony and detectives are delivering evidence before a grand jury in Chicago. Case Update: Jussie Smollett is now officially classified as a suspect in a criminal investigation by #ChicagoPolice for filing a false police report (Class 4 felony). Detectives are currently presenting evidence before a Cook County Grand Jury. pic.twitter.com/FhDcbBKsuU — Anthony Guglielmi (@AJGuglielmi) February 20, 2019 It just broke that the two brothers identified in the Smollett case were seen on surveillance purchasing the same items that were originally reported in the January 29 assault on Smollett. RELATED: Jussie Smollett’s ‘Empire’ Screen Time Reduced In Wake Of Attack Investigation RELATED: Did Jussie Smollett Stage His Own Attack?
The Russians are back! Well, we guess they never left if you count Agent Orange and his gang of hate , but according to data scientists it seems like “foreign actors” have taken to social media to once again spread misinformation campaigns about your favorite Democratic 2020 candidate. Politico is reporting that top Presidential candidates Kamala Harris, Beto O’Rourke, Bernie Sanders, and Elizabeth Warren are the targets in misinformation campaigns that include memes, hashtags, and “distortions of their positions.” Why? Because these social media distorters want to divide the democratic vote if not all together discourage people from voting for anyone not named Donald Trump in the coming 2020 election. “It looks like the 2020 presidential primary is going to be the next battleground to divide and confuse Americans,” said Brett Horvath, one of the founders of Guardians.ai, a tech company that works with a consortium of data scientists, academics and technologists to disrupt cyberattacks and protect pro-democracy groups from information warfare. “As it relates to information warfare in the 2020 cycle, we’re not on the verge of it — we’re already in the third inning.” Though it seems like the average person would be able to see through such tactics, Hillary Clinton knows all too well that this is an effective method as Evangelical Christians are convinced that Jesus Christ wanted Donald Trump to be President while Satan was rooting for Hillary Clinton. That’s not even a joke. That was a popular meme amongst the religious right that had Russian origins according to investigators last year. Now that Donald Trump’s popularity is in the gutter and his chances of re-election are slipping through his grabby fingers, foreign actors have once again taken to the internet to slander any and everyone that poses the biggest threat to his “Presidency.” Unfortunately people still fall for the jig and chances are they’ll continue to do so for the foreseeable future. “Moderates and centrists and Democratic candidates still don’t understand what happened in 2016, and they didn’t realize, like Hillary Clinton, that she wasn’t just running a presidential campaign, she was involved in a global information war,” Horvath said. “Democratic candidates and presidential candidates in the center and on the right who don’t understand that aren’t just going to have a difficult campaign, they’re going to allow their campaign to be an unwitting amplifier of someone else’s attempts to further divide Americans.” Stay woke, y’all.
View this post on Instagram No greater privilege than to cook for this man on Presidents’ Day. Thank you for the highest honor @barackobama! A post shared by Michael Mina (@chefmichaelmina) on Feb 19, 2019 at 7:16am PST Imagine being so blessed in life that your evening consists of dinner with President Barack Obama . Well, the Curry and Stephens families don’t have to imagine dinner with our forever Prez because, for them, it’s a reality. This past Monday, Obama hit up Ayesha Curry ‘s San Francisco restaurant International Smoke and dined with her, Stephen Curry , John Legend , and Chrissy Teigen , according to Page Six . Chef Michael Mina hit Instagram with a photo of Mr. and Mrs. Curry and Obama. “No greater privilege than to cook for this man on Presidents’ Day,” he captioned the pic. “Thank you for the highest honor @barackobama!” Teigen also took to Twitter with a boomerang from the night: truly had such an incredible meal at International Smoke last night. Cornbread with Thai curry, baked oysters ahhhhh amazing job @ayeshacurry and @ChefMichaelMina !! pic.twitter.com/bll0ni3icO — christine teigen (@chrissyteigen) February 19, 2019 Page Six writes that Teigen “having fellow cookbook author perks, she got a behind-the-scenes peek at the kitchen, which she shared on her Instagram story.” Check out the photos above. Photo: Getty
Source: Alex Wong / Getty Bernie Sanders Announces Run For President In 2020 Bernie Sanders still wants to be President of the United States. He announced that he would be challenging Donald Trump, and a basketball team worth of Democrats, for the White House keys in 2020. According to CNN , Sanders didn’t have a flashy campaign rally, instead, he did something much more on-brand: “I am asking you to join me today as part of an unprecedented and historic grassroots campaign that will begin with at least a million people from across the country,” he wrote in an email to supporters following an interview on Vermont Public Radio. Sanders and his fervent-if-not-downright-loathsome supporters inspired a chorus of “FOH!” during the 2016 election once it became apparent that they would strip Hillary Clinton of desperately needed votes to defeat d!ckhead Donnie and, well, we see how that turned out. While Bernie will be somewhat of a frontrunner due to his name recognition and heightened profile, nothing is coming easily to the senator from Vermont. He’ll be competing against what is currently twelve other Democratic candidates and Joe Biden hasn’t even announced his run yet. Today, Sanders is one of the most popular politicians among Democratic voters and his policy agenda — a suite of progressive proposals to expand health care, broaden the social safety net and make higher education free — has been embraced by many of the Democratic party’s leading figures. What say you? Will you be casting a vote for Bernie Sanders?
Source: Joe Pepler/PinPep/WENN.com / WENN Tiffany Haddish Has An Album In The Works Tiffany Haddish is trying to expand her portfolio and in a recent interview with Glamour , the comedian revealed that she’s working on an album. The Girls Trip actress might already have a leg-up in the music game–she was up for a Grammy for Best Spoken Word Album for her The Last Black Unicorn audiobook last year. She also sings a song in her upcoming film Lego Movie 2 , where she plays Queen Watevra Wa’Nab. Although Haddish ended up losing her shot at a Grammy to former President Jimmy Carter for his audiobook, she said that the Grammy nomination gave her the confidence she needed in order to give singing a serious shot. “It really inspired me. Like, ‘Wow if I can [get] nominated for a Grammy for telling my truth, what can I get if I really just apply myself and my vocal skills?’” she explained. As far as titles go, the comedian is thinking of going with something that pays tribute to her current stand up tour, She Ready . She revealed, “It will probably be the ‘She Ready’ album or ‘The She Ready Experience’ or ‘The We Ready Album.’” When it comes to features, the up-and-coming singer ahas hopes of Cardi B being featured on her new album. “I’m trying to get her on a couple of tracks,” she said before doing an impression of the rapper’s famous sound effects. “I’m like ‘She ready, brrrrrrr!” Haddish assures both herself and those who might listen to the album that she’s just determined to have a good time. “I’m going to see what happens. It might be really great, it might not. But who cares, right? You’ve got to give it a shot.” You can check out Tiffany’s full interview with Glamour down below for yourself:
Source: NBC / Getty Black History Month can be a drag if we don’t incorporate recent history into the stories of achievement. With viral dance crazes taking over the Internet in recent years, it’s important to know that many Black people paved the way for moves to be seen, practiced and spread across the world. It’s not just the dancers who get moves to go viral either. Someone has to spread the word. Back in the day, there were various DJs, radio hosts and T.V. pioneers who saw the potential of dance and made sure it reached the masses. Hit the next pages for some Black icons who were crucial to viral dance culture stretching from 1976 to 2015.
Source: Jason LaVeris / Getty Jussie Smollett gave his first interview to the media about his racist and homophobic attack , sitting down with Good Morning America’s Robin Roberts on Thursday . The “Empire” actor attempted to clear up those pesky rumors that he made up the “MAGA” details behind his attack. He stressed that his critics don’t believe the truth , because they “don’t even want to see the truth.” “What is it that has you so angry? Is it the attackers?” Roberts asked. “It’s the attackers but it’s also the attacks,” Smollett said. “At first it was a thing of like, ‘Listen, if I tell the truth, then that’s it, cause it’s the truth,’” the singer said. “Then it became a thing of like, ‘Oh, how can you doubt that? Like how do you not believe that? It’s the truth.’ And then it became a thing like, ‘Oh, it’s not necessarily that you don’t believe that this is the truth. You don’t even want to see the truth.’” “I think people need to hear the truth,” he said. Adding, “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.” The 36-year-old singer also doubled down on the validity of his story, stressing that he knows what he heard the assailants scream at him. “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 some racist sundae.” “I could only go off their words,” the actor said of the motivation. “I mean, who says, ‘f***** ‘Empire’ n*****, this is MAGA country,’ ties a noose around your neck and pours bleach on you? And this is just a friendly fight?” Smollett later explained his hesitation in turning his phone over to officials, who wanted him “to give my phone to the tech for three to four hours.” He continued: “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.” As we previously reported , on Jan 29, Jussie was reportedly attacked by MAGA supporters, in Chicago, who brutally beat him and left him with a fractured rib before putting a noose around his neck and pouring bleach on him, TMZ reports. He was treated at Northwestern Memorial before being discharged. Smollett was reportedly walking out the subway at around 2am when two men, wearing ski-masks approached him and asked, “Aren’t you that fa**ot ‘Empire’ n*gga?” The culprits reportedly yelled, “This is MAGA country” during the attack. Days before the incident (which is being investigated as a hate crime), a threatening letter addressed to Jussie Smollett was sent to Fox Studios Chicago with the words, “You will die black f**.” Chicago Police have released surveillance footage of two persons of interest who are wanted in connection with the brutal and possible hate crime committed against Jussie Smollett. Meanwhile CNN is reporting that CPD are questioning two people for the actor’s attack. “These individuals are not yet suspects but were in (the) area of concern and are being questioned,” police spokesman Anthony Guglielmi said Thursday in a tweet. “Investigation continues.” “The people of interest are alleged to be in the area where a crime was reported,” Guglielmi said in a subsequent tweet. “They are not considered suspects at this time as they are currently being questioned by detectives. Through s meticulous investigation, #ChicahoPolice detectives have identified the persons of interest in the area of the alleged attack of the Empire cast member. These individuals are not yet suspects but were in area of concern and are being questioned. Investigation continues. pic.twitter.com/tmy2jNvww5 — Anthony Guglielmi (@AJGuglielmi) February 14, 2019 Important for media reporting: The people of interest are alleged to be in the area where a crime was reported. They are not considered suspects at this time as they are currently being questioned by detectives. We remain in communication with the alleged victim. pic.twitter.com/JuH1kYRTYV — Anthony Guglielmi (@AJGuglielmi) February 14, 2019 RELATED NEWS: Joe Budden On Jussie Smollett Hate Crime: ‘Show Me Footage And I’ll Shut TF Up’ Jussie Smollett Speaks Out About Attack: ‘I Fought The F**k Back.’ Y’all President Called Jussie Smollett’s Attack ‘Horrible,’ But Then Made It About His Wall [ione_media_gallery src=”https://hellobeautiful.com” id=”3022208″ overlay=”true”]
We can’t believe we’re writing this, but … … a new development in the Jussie Smollett investigation has caused authorities to wonder whether the Empire actor actually staged his own attack late last month. As previously reported, surveillance footage taken from the vicinity around where the alleged assault took place early on the morning of January 29 depicted two men walking down the sidewalk . Police released photos of these two men and labeled them as “persons of interest” in the investigation. Here is one of the images unveiled to the public by the Chicago PD a couple weeks ago: According to TMZ and other outlets, the two men featured above were picked up by cops at O’Hare Airport on Wednesday night and taken in for questioning. Moreover, per WBBM TV reporter Charlie De Mar, the homes of these individuals were raided yesterday. Now here is where things get legitimately weird and troubling: The suspects are of Nigerian descent and both appeared as extras on Empire. Multiple insiders have told the local ABC affiliate in Chicago that police are investigating whether Smollett worked with these two men to stage the assault because Smollet’s character was being written off Empire. To be clear, no one associated with the police department has commented on this possibility just yet. However, Rob Elgas – a reporter at ABC 7 in Chicago – Tweeted the details of this theory on Thursday evening. He added that Smollett did not appear for a scheduled interview on Thursday. Brad Edwards, a reporter at CBS Chicago, has also cited a source who said that investigators believe the “non-cooperating 2 witnesses are co-conspirators in a potentially staged attack.” Smollett and his team have claimed on numerous occasions that the star was approached by two assailants around 2 a.m. on January 29. They say these assailants hurled racial and anti-gay epithets in Smollet’s direction; that they screamed he was in “MAGA country;” that theu doused him in bleach; and that they tied a rope around his neck. The attack made national headlines, with 2020 Presidential candidates such as Kamala Harris and Cory Booker commenting on the hate crime and President Trump also labeling it as “horrible.” In the days since, however, some people have questioned the validity of Smollett’s story. They’ve wondered why he didn’t call the police right away and why he’s seemed hesitant to turn over his cell phone, and/or non-redacted records for his cell phone, to the authorities. Smollett, who si 36 years old and who has been openly gay since 2015, appeared on Good Morning America on Thursday . He fought off tears at various points while talking to Robin Roberts and addressed those who doubted his story. “You don’t even want to see the truth,” he said of these critics, adding: “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 a lot much more. A lot more. “And that says a lot about the place that we are in our country right now.” Roberts asked Smollett about the time lapse between the attack and his 911 call, to which Smollett said the following… Jussie Smollett Speaks on Horrific Attack “There’s a level of pride there. “We live in a society where, as a gay man, you are considered somehow, to be weak, and I’m not weak. I am not weak. And we, as a people, are not weak.” He went on to say it was “offensive” and “ridiculous” to allege that he was lying about this assault. UPDATE : A lawyer for the two suspects has talked to the aforementioned CBS reporter, Edwards. She’s confirmed that the men do know Smollett from their work on Empire, telling the journalist: “They do know Jussie. They have worked with him on Empire. My preliminary investigations show that on set it’s very tight. “They’re all very cordial with each other, so they’re baffled why they are people of interest.” Edwards writes that police took bleach, shoes, electronics, receipts and other items from the home of these men — and he quotes a “TOP SOURCE” who sayss: Indicators point to Smollett orchestrating the event. This is a truly crazy twist. We aren’t about to rush to judgment in either direction, but we will keep readers apprised as more news breaks. UPDATE : 20th Century Fox Television and Fox Entertainment have released a statement in response to the rumor that Smollett was being written off Empire. It reads as follows: “The idea that Jussie Smollett has been, or would be, written off EMPIRE is patently ridiculous. He remains a core player on this very successful series and we continue to stand by him.” Again, we will update this article as more information comes in.
N early 12 years ago Camden, New Jersey native Carmen Day sat in a courtroom before New Jersey Superior Court Judge Charles Dortch awaiting her sentence for a minor offense that she committed. Day—who was 17-years-old at the time—pled with Judge Dortch to have her sentence reduced and promised to become a lawyer in the future. According to Black News , she kept her word and is close to bringing her promise to fruition. This Black judge gave a teenager a second chance 12 years ago, and now she's about to graduate from law school! #blackexcellence #blackgirlmagic #blackgirlsrock https://t.co/ieIyl7rtRD — Black News (@BlackNews) February 5, 2019 Prior to her brush with the law, Day aspired to go to college and law school, the news outlet writes. After she was granted a shorter probation sentence by Judge Dortch, Day got on the right track and is now finishing up her last semester at Rutgers Law School. She says she wouldn’t have been able to get to this point if it weren’t for Dortch giving her a chance to right her wrongs. “He didn’t see me as a docket number, or some poor girl from Camden,” said Day in a statement. “He saw me as a girl who needed help, who needed a chance.” Day—now a married mother of two—hopes that her journey will inspire other individuals who have been in similar situations. “You are not what happened to you. You are what you choose to become,” she said. Dortch and Day were reunited when she and other law school students visited the courthouse where he worked. “She really stuck out in my mind,” Dortch told NJ.com . “I saw a lot of perseverance in her face.” He also added that seeing her rise up, overcome her situation, and turn her life around for the better made his career. SEE ALSO: Denise Clayton Becomes First Black Kentucky Court Of Appeals Chief Judge How Chicago Could Get Its First Black Woman Mayor [ione_media_gallery src=”https://newsone.com” id=”3844698″ overlay=”true”]
Y oung actress Marsai Martin is out here winning. Nearly a month after it was revealed that she had made history by becoming Hollywood’s youngest executive producer , Martin, 14, has inked a huge production deal with Universal Pictures through her Genius Productions company, Variety reported. The first film under the deal is the comedy “StepMonster,” in which Martin will star as a teenager adjusting to life with a new stepmother https://t.co/FabClIuJkD — Variety (@Variety) February 8, 2019 Under the first-look deal Martin and her team will collaborate with Universal Pictures on a variety of scripted projects, the news outlet writes. One of the projects is an upcoming comedic movie dubbed StepMonster that explores the dynamic between a teenager and her stepmom. Martin is slated to star in the film. She is beyond excited about the deal and hopes that this move will inspire women and girls to step into spaces where they are underrepresented. “I am so excited for the magic I’ll be able to create and produce with Universal,” she said in a statement, according to the news outlet. “I’m happy to be a part of that legacy. My goal is to show young women and girls that our voices and ideas matter and you are never too young to dream BIG!” She also credited Donna Langley , Chairman of Universal Filmed Entertainment Group and Universal Pictures President Peter Cramer for making the effort to diversify their company and the entertainment industry by giving people from different backgrounds a platform to share their creativity. The team at Universal Pictures is looking forward to partnering with Martin. “She is not only tremendously talented in front of the camera, but offers a unique perspective as a creator and producer that will resonate with all audiences. We look forward to moviegoers getting to see how brilliant she is in ‘Little’ and watching her evolve as a filmmaker here at Universal,” said Cramer in a statement. Martin’s film Little —which stars Issa Rae and Regina Hall —is slated to hit theaters on April 12. SEE ALSO: #BossMoves: 14-Year-Old Marsai Martin To Become Youngest Hollywood Executive Producer In History Black Director Chinonye Chukwu Makes History At Sundance [ione_media_gallery src=”https://newsone.com” id=”3844698″ overlay=”true”]
