Sean Zanni/Patrick McMullan via Getty Images Someone we actually LOVE… Anok Yai Dresses As Avatar For Halloween A model who shot to fame after being discovered at Howard University’s homecoming has gone viral again. Anok Yai who attended the school’s 2017 Yardfest and was photographed looking picture perfect is once again turning heads, this time for Halloween. The Sudanese beauty won Halloween four days in advance when she dressed as Neytiri from the 2009 “Avatar.” DOESN’T SHE LOOK INCREDIBLE??? When Anok isn’t shutting down Halloween she’s celebrating being the first black model to open a runway show for Prada since 1997. We see you, Halloween Queen! More avatar Anok Yai on the flip.
Source: Courtesy of JWhiteDidIt Just before Cardi B and Nicki Minaj got into it again on social media, JWhiteDidIt visited the Global Grind offices to chat about his success with Bardi Gang’s formidable leader. As the producer behind “Lick,” “Bodak Yellow,” “Money Bag,” “I Like It” and her latest offering “Money,” JWhite has assisted Cardi in growing her credibility as an artist—in July, Billboard reported that Cardi is the first female rapper to earn two Billboard Hot 100 no. 1 records with “I Like It” and “Bodak Yellow.” Swish! In our interview the Kansas City producer talks all about watching Cardi progress . He also gets into why “Bodak Yellow” became the hit that it did, how her team decided to do a Spanish record, opening more doors for Latin music, and compares Cardi B’s success to that of a young 50 Cent. Get into it. On Cardi Honing Her Craft & Taking The Reigns “How I came in, I was a producer and Cardi was working on the mixtape and just trying to get records. I know as a producer we lead the show, so it was more like ‘Ok Cardi, we gonna do this, we gonna do that.’ But now, over the years she has developed an ear for what she likes and I think that’s dope for anybody to grow—and she’s been growing rapidly, as we all can see. I’m proud of her.” On “Bodak Yellow” & Why It Was Such A Big Hit “Timing, to be honest. None of us knew that it would be a hit record, we just knew that it was different and it was hard and it just felt good. You could hear the frustrations in Cardi’s voice, you could hear the hunger…and I think a lot of people at the time felt that.” When asked if the goal was to make a classic NY record, specifically, he added “No the goal was to, in my head, get a song that’s bigger than ‘Lick.’ ‘Lick’ was doing OK for the streets, but I know Cardi wanted that song on the radio. My job as a producer, and her team at the time, was to help give her that record. That was the goal, really.” “Honestly I thought ‘Bodak Yellow’…was [only] going to get us to another record. I didn’t think number one… ’cause it’s a weird record,” he said. “She’s from the Bronx and I’m from Kansas City and I think that mashup of sound…felt good for everybody and I think that’s why it worked. Cardi was something new, a breath of fresh air to this industry. Now look, she’s still commanding the airwaves.” Source:Courtesy of JWhiteDidIt On How “I Like It” Came About & The Decision To Incorporate More Spanish Into Her Sound “We were at the Atlantic offices and the CEO, Craig Kallman, he [told me] ‘I have this idea. I don’t know what record, I don’t know what song…but she needs a Latin record, but trapped out. It needs to have that ‘Bodak’ feel, or it needs to have an urban feel to it. We need to flip the song.’ So, that’s how that happened. I went to his house and he played me a lot of records—literally.” JWhite said Kallman played him so many records that he eventually started to doze off. “He’s playing me each Spanish record and…all I hear is ‘Yeaaaah baby!’ and I was like ‘That’s the one.’ The Pete Rodriguez joint, it woke me up because it was already a classic record. It’s hard to do but, we made another classic out of an already classic record, which is crazy. Everybody was a part of that record, because man it was work! On the production end…going through the sample, chopping it up the right way, just making it seem simple. But it paid off to get another number one. Later in our chat, he said the record “will open more doors for Latin music.” “It’s crazy hearing all these new records that have the Latin influence,” he adds. On Cardi B Saying She’s In The Game To Make Hits , Not Be Lyrical, & His Own Goals When They Create “Is she making money?! Is she making hits?! [Her statement] was real! I know how I feel about it is: it definitely feels good to makes hits, it feels good to make money, but it also feels good to bring people together—something that ‘Bodak Yellow’ did for the freaking culture! What song had a TV special? We had a TV special on Revolt…about a song!” He goes on to compare Cardi’s success to a young 50 Cent’s: “I feel like ‘Bodak Yellow’ is the female ‘In Da Club’ when that was out. I might be reaching, but I feel like it’s one of the biggest female hip hop records ever, if not the biggest. We had the most gangster of gangsters rapping it and my granddad, he’s a preacher, he knows the song.” On Working With Mary J Blige & More JWhite revealed he’s worked with a ton of artists, including Eric Bellinger, Fetty Wap, LeToya Luckett, and more—but working with living legend MJB seemed to be a highlight of his career. When asked if he saw her recent (drop dead gorgeous) photos, he talked about how beautiful she is inside and out: “When I seen Mary J. Blige in that studio I said ‘Halleluuuujah!’ I said ‘I dont know what done happened up in here!’ She’s beautiful. That outside is beautiful, but so is the inside. Me really hearing her talk and seeing who she is as a person, I got so much more respect for her, this legendary person that was so gracious enough to do two days with me in the studio and was open and excited about music…and to see somebody that’s been in the game that long…crazy!”
Getty Images Helicopter Crashes Into Florida Mobile Home Park And Kills Two At least two people were killed after a helicopter crashed into a Florida mobile home park on Tuesday afternoon, according to reports from authorities. Emergency crews responded to the crash at the Sebring Falls Mobile Home Park in Highlands County shortly before 3 p.m. Two homes remain on fire, according to the Highlands County Sheriff’s Office, but fortunately, it does not appear like anyone was inside either residence when the aircraft fell from the sky. Video from the scene of the incident depicts at least one charred residence completely engulfed by flames, which was sparked by the afternoon crash. Both confirmed fatalities were believed to be in the helicopter at the time, and there are no other suspected casualties. Another person was injured and transported to an area hospital. The names of the victims from the crash have not yet been released. Authorities have requested that the public avoid the area of Flare Road and Bryant Boulevard for the time being..
If you ask Sabrina Greenlee if she’s ever seen her son catch those ridiculous passes on Sundays in the NFL, she will tell you she hasn’t. She’s in the stands every Sunday but Greenlee has never watched her son, NFL All-Pro DeAndre Hopkins catch a single NFL pass. That’s because a vicious attack when Hopkins was a child left his mother blind. The abuse began in her childhood. “By the time I was 17, I had been put into the hospital three times. I remember attempting to take my senior pics at 18, and it didn’t happen because I had two black eyes and broken collarbone that day,” Greenlee told KHOU . She had married and divorced her first abuser and had three more abusive relationships and four children after. When Hopkins was 12, the “other woman” threw a mixture of bleach and lye into his mother’s eyes in 2002. “Within seconds, I realize my skin is coming off my face, my neck my back,” Greenlee said. “I was in a coma for 15 to 16 days. Totally blind when I woke up. Of course, that was terrifying.” It became a point of adjustment for Greenlee and despite her blindness, she became involved in her children’s lives, putting them all through college. With DeAndre, she’s become a vocal proponent of domestic violence awareness. Hopkins made a startling revelation to a group of HISD kids last year when he told them the startling truth: his mother had never seen him play football or basketball since he was 12. Her non-profit organization, SMOOTH exists to help victims of domestic abuse. Her top suggestions to other victims: Talk to someone. Ask for help Do not believe things will change on their own Plan your escape carefully. Do not run in the heat of the moment. Here are other resources: Domestic Violence Hotline: (713) 528-2121 National Domestic Violence Hotline: 1-800-799-7233 Houston Area Women’s Center Join Our Text Club To Get The Latest Music, Entertainment, Contests And Breaking News On Your Phone
Whitey Bulger, one of the most notorious gangsters in American history, was found dead at 8:20 a.m. on Tuesday inside U.S. Penitentiary Hazelton in West Virginia. He was 89 years old. According to TMZ and other outlets, Bulger had only just been moved to this facility, after having been spending his life sentence behind bars in Florida. He was transferred briefly to Oklahoma City last week and had only just recently arrived in Hazelton shortly before his murder. Bulger had manage to evade federal authorities for more than 16 years prior to his arrest in June 2011. He was found guilty in 2013 for his role in 11 murders, although it is believed he took part in many more than that. In November of that same year, Bulger was sentenced to two life terms plus five years for his role as architect of a criminal enterprise that, in the words of a federal judge, committed “unfathomable” acts that terrorized a city. Overall, Bulger was found guilty at the time on 31 counts, including racketeering, extortion, money laundering, drug dealing and weapons possession. “The testimony of human suffering that you and your associates inflicted on others was at times agonizing to hear and painful to watch,” US District Court Judge Denise Casper said at the crime boss’ sentencing, adding: “At times, I wish we were watching a movie, that what we were hearing was not real. “But as the families of victims know all too well, it’s not a movie.” Bulger’s life was documented on the big screen on multiple occasions, however. Most famously, Johnny Depp portrayed Bulger himself in the 2015 film Black Mass. It’s also widely assumed that Jack Nicholson’s character in The Departed was based on Bulger. Johnny Depp is pictured here as Whitey Bulger. Details regarding Bulger’s death remain almost entirely unknown at this time. A union official for correctional officers at the high-security prison told WV News there was a homicide at the facility, yet couldn’t say whether it was Bulger. Hank Brennan, Bulger’s lawyer, told BuzzFeed News, he couldn’t “confirm or deny it at this point.” “The Federal Bureau of Investigation was notified and an investigation has been initiated. No staff or other inmates were injured, and at no time was the public in danger,” the Bureau of Prisons said in a statement. An original photo released by the FBI in 1984 depicts James “Whitey” Bulger. In 2016, auctioned items seized from Bulger’s Santa Monica, California, apartment raised almost $110,000 to compensate victims’ families. He was born on September 3, 1929, in Dorchester, Massachusetts. Bulger had a son with a waitress and former model named Lindsey Cyr, but he died at the age of six from Reye syndrome after having an allergic reaction to an aspirin injection in 1973. We hope he does not rest in any kind of peace. View Slideshow: Celebrities Who Died in 2018: In Memoriam
Shannon Beador’s great apology tour kicked off on Tuesday’s episode of The Real Housewives of Orange County. The 54-year-old had previously lashed out at her castmates when everyone admitted that her behavior at the top of the trip to Jamaica was not the best. Who can blame them for trashing her? She’s been so hostile to just about everyone who wants to help her out. Absence makes the heart grow fonder, and after a day of hiding, Beador rejoined the ladies and opened up about her thoughts. “To address the elephant in the room, I appreciate you guys giving me the time and space because I’m a person when I’m upset, I need to take a step back,” Shannon declared as though she was addressing her lemmings. “After last night, I am incredibly hurt. I know there are discussions that have to be had at some point, and we can do that. But I needed time.” That’s when she finally admitted that she was going through a lot of things. “I get it, we all have stuff on our plate, but for me, in my life, it is more than I’ve ever had on my plate,” she said with a stern look on her face. While most of the women just nodded to shut Shannon up because she’d already sucked most of the fun out of the vacation, Emily Simpson was quick to point out that Shannon refused to support her. “It’s a fair criticism, and I apologize for that,’ Shannon told her, but there was no confirmation whether Shannon was going to make progress with both Emily and Gina. The biggest surprise here was that Kelly later revealed she was mad about the way Shannon handled things. “Thanks for finally coming, I’ve been calling you. I was worried about you,” said Kelly with tears in her eyes. “All you had to say was to have manners and to be kind and nice. You could have just said ‘I’m here.’ It was hurtful, Shannon, I was worried about you,” Kelly complained. The biggest concern for Kelly was that Shannon has long strived for people to have manners, noting that it was “ironic that she’s the one with the least manners.” “She went through all these cotillions, and it’s like, girl, you don’t have any manners,” Kelly continued. “Shannon has no idea of the stress that she’s put on us today. She has no idea how worried we were, and that’s the kind of apology we’re going to get?” Kelly fumed. Gina was up next to air her side of the story, and it quickly returned to the fact that Shannon was putting up a wall. “It was upsetting all around. I didn’t realize all this was going on. Honestly, I was just trying to break through. I was trying to be your friend,” Gina said to her enemy. “I have a very difficult time hearing that you’re going through a divorce and you’re still attracted to your husband, and he’s still your best friend because that’s what I wanted in my life,” Shannon finally admitted. “When you said that I was judging you, that wasn’t my intent. My intent was just to impart the experience and the information because I started my process with a very optimistic attitude,” Shannon continued. That allowed Gina to finally open up to Shannon in a way she never could have before. “I’m not sitting here and saying everything’s perfect and that’s why I’m getting divorced,” she said. “Like, no, obviously not. It’s a transition. It’s really hard. I hear you guys, but this is my journey. I just want to be respected for it, you know?” Gina said. Despite all of the arguing, the ladies were stronger by the end of the trip. It remains to be seen if grudges will be taken back to Orange County with them. What are your thoughts on all of this? Hit the comments below. View Slideshow: The Real Housewives of Orange County Premiere Just Gave Us So Much More Hope For Season 13
You’ve likely heard the rumors. You’ve probably read the headlines. But now we have the answer. About four months after Joe Giudice was told he was going to be deported next year after he gets released from jail, his famous wife has answered the question that continues to hang over her and her family. Will she or won’t she divorce Joe in light of this troubling development? Joe, who has been featured prominently on The Real Housewives of New Jersey, pleaded guilty years ago to multiple counts of financial fraud. He was subsequently sentenced to over 40 months behind bars, a stint he is currently serving. In late June, a judge decreed that Giudice (who moved here from Italy as a child, yet never became a United States citizen) must move back to his native country once he’s a free man because he’s an immigrant who committed a felony. It’s as simple as that. But Teresa and Joe’s relationship seems complicated. Can it survive such a traumatic jolt as one half no longer being permitted to live in America? Is Teresa devastated by this news or secretly celebrating her upcoming freedom ? Asked by Entertainment Tonight over the weekend when she would ever divorce her husband, Teresa answered succinctly : “No. We’re going to be a family, and we’re going to fight this and get through this.” Teresa and Joe pleaded guilty to numerous charges of fraud in 2014. The mother of four was sentenced to 15 months in federal prison and started her sentence in January of 2015, but was released early. Then, earlier this year, 31 months into his sentence, the U.S. Department of Justice confirmed that Joe had been ordered to leave the United States at the end of his prison sentence. (He has fewer than 30 days to appeal the decision.) But will he be going alone? Or might the entire Giudice clan uproot their lives to keep him company? “We are not even thinking about [whether we’d move to Italy] right now. We’re going to take it day by day. We’re going to take it one step at a time,” Teresa told ET, adding: “First, we’re going to process the paperwork to do an appeal, and we’re going to get through that.” Continues Giudice: “I can’t predict the future, and I am not going to be… I am going to be positive about it,” she said. “Joe starts talking about [the deportation order] and I don’t want to talk about it yet… “I shut him down. I don’t want to talk about it, and what comes first is our daughters and we’re going to fight this.” The embattled couple has four children: 17-year-old Gia, 14-year-old Gabriella, 13-year-old Milania and 9-year-old Audriana. In response to her dad’s situation, Gia recently tried to rally support for her imprisoned father. “My father is no threat to society,” she wrote as a caption to a throwback photo of dad and daughter, adding: “He is one of the most warm hearted people I know… “My father did his time. And learned from his mistakes. Isn’t being in there supposed to make you realize your mistakes so you can become a better person?” View Slideshow: Teresa Giudice: Filing For Divorce Once Joe Gets Deported?!
A Kentucky police chief finally acknowledged what was obvious to most people: the killing of two Black people by a white supremacist last week in suburban Louisville was race related. See Also: White Supremacist Who Targeted And Killed 2 Black People In Cold Blood Is Arrested Peacefully Speaking to the congregation of a Black church that was also targeted by the accused killer Gregory Bush , Jeffersontown Police Chief Sam Rogers said the Wednesday shooting at a Kroger supermarket parking lot was a hate crime, Wave 3 News reported. “The sentiments that were expressed to a witness by Mr. Bush, the suspect in this crime, are not indicative of this community. They’re not indicative of the Jeffersontown police. I wanted to call it what it was, and that’s racism in action,” the police chief stated. Maurice Stallard, 69, and Vickie Jones, 67, were killed by 51-year-old Gregory A. Bush at a Kroger in Kentucky. https://t.co/HhZbOPzmt3 — NewsOne (@newsone) October 26, 2018 Meanwhile, Louisville GOP mayoral candidate Angela Leet also said on Sunday that the shooting was a hate crime, according to the Courier-Journal , making her one of the first local Republicans to acknowledge the obvious. Rogers had been slow at coming to that conclusion. Ed Harrell , a white man who witnessed the shooting and brandished his own gun for protection in the parking lot, reportedly claimed immediately after the shooting that Bush walked by him and said, “Don’t shoot me. I won’t shoot you. Whites don’t shoot whites.” Yet the chief hesitated for several days to confirm that the double homicide was race related. “I can’t speculate on motive at this time,” Harrell said Thursday. Here’s what Rogers is now saying: “I wanted to call it what it was, and that’s racism in action,” Jeffersontown Police Chief Sam Rogers said of last week's shooting at Kroger that left two people dead. https://t.co/RciS9hj7ge pic.twitter.com/V8Ybl9zF9A — WLKY (@WLKY) October 28, 2018 Bush, 51, had attempted but failed to enter the First Baptist Church of Jeffersontown on Wednesday, according to the police. He then went to a nearby Kroger where he shot and killed 69-year-old Maurice Stallard and Vickie Lee Jones , 67, apparently at random. Bush was taken into custody shortly after he fled the scene. In his remarks at the church, Rogers noted the parallels between the shooting in their community and the mass shooting Saturday at the Tree of Life Synagogue in Pittsburgh, where the gunman made anti-Semitic statements before killing 11 people. “These two most recent examples of hate crimes were carried out by evil people that base their beliefs and actions on ideas and ideals that are contrary to the good of the American people,” he said. SEE ALSO: Watch: Drunk White Woman Who Racially Harasses Black Women Faces Consequences After Sobering Up From Trayvon Martin To Blackface: Megyn Kelly’s Most Racist Moments [ione_media_gallery src=”https://newsone.com” id=”3833615″ overlay=”true”]
So you know how people have been talking about how Tyler Baltierra should leave Catelynn Lowell for a long time now? Yeah, it’s this whole thing. It’s weird, because in the beginning of their reality television career, they were this adorable couple who made the painful decision to place their child for adoption because it was best for her. They were definitely Teen Mom fan favorites … so what happened? Things had been going downhill for a while, after Catelynn and Tyler neglected to do the things they’d planned to do after they had their first child. They never went to college, they never did all the things they said they were going to do to better themselves and change their lives. But then they had their second child, Nova, who they obviously kept. They also sent Nova to spend the night at Catelynn’s mother’s house multiples times a week, and they once even let Tyler’s father babysit her while they went out of the country. Fans will remember that Catelynn’s mother and Tyler’s father were pretty much the main reasons they thought they couldn’t raise their first child … So opinions began to change, definitely. Then, last year, Catelynn checked into a treatment center for six weeks to deal with suicide thoughts she began having after a miscarriage . And no one thought poorly about her for that. But then she came home, and a few weeks after that, she went back for another six weeks . Lots of people really thought poorly about her then. The thing was that she didn’t seem open to trying to get help at home — at outpatient treatment center in their state, therapy, nothing. Even after Tyler explained how hard it was on their daughter to have her gone for so long , she wasn’t moved. She even seemed kind of cold about it — she didn’t tell Nova she would be gone for over a month again, and she told Tyler that she’d “manage” without her. When we saw all of this happen on Teen Mom OG, Tyler was obviously frustrated by it all. He said at one point that he was beginning to think that he and Cate weren’t right for each other anymore. In more recent episodes, he called her behavior “repulsing,” and he’s really just seemed over her altogether. As he complained to some friends, “marriage is a bitch.” You might be thinking something along the lines of “hold up, aren’t they about to have another kid?” And it’s true — Catelynn is pregnant right now , and in March she and Tyler will welcome another daughter. But on the show, Tyler hasn’t seemed super excited about the whole thing because, as anyone who knows anything about any of this can see, the timing just isn’t good. He even claimed that they’d been doing everything they could to prevent a pregnancy. What we’re saying with all of this is that just a few months ago, things were really bad for these two, and perhaps they still are. So bad that Tyler recently sort of commented that he deserves better than Catelynn . In a recent post on the Teen Mom OG Instagram page, someone left a comment complaining about how Cate had been refusing to watch the show with Tyler, something his therapist reccommended. “I cannot STAND Cate,” that person wrote. “I hope he moves on from her at some point. He deserves a real woman, not a little girl.” And Tyler liked that comment. It got a lot of attention, because of course it did, but now, Tyler is claiming that the whole thing was just a misunderstanding. “OMG people!” he tweeted to kick off his explanation. “That was a comment that Cate’s dad replied to & since I got his notification I scrolled to see what he had responded to & must have hit the like button.” “Why would I like a negative comment about my wife with her dad on the thread?” he asked. “You people are psycho lmao!” Yeah, so that’s not terribly convincing, huh? Sure, lots of people probably accidentally like things all the time on social media, but if it’s something like this, they usually just un-like it, you know? Besides, the word is that the girl who wrote that original comment has made it clear that Catelynn’s dad never replied to it, so that’s something. Look, maybe Tyler’s telling the truth, and he really did like that comment accidentally. Or maybe he really has been feeling like he deserves a better partner than Catelynn . Either way, he’s made it perfectly clear that he has no plans to leave her, no matter what. View Slideshow: Tyler Baltierra: I’m Beyond Miserable Being Married to Catelynn Lowell That’s … good? Unfortunate? At this point, it’s hard to say. But good luck, Baltierras, however things turn out!
Image via Jack Berman/Getty Pittsburgh Synagogue Shooting Results In Several Fatalities And Injuries On the Jewish day of Sabbath, a mass shooting has taken place inside a Pittsburgh synagogue called Tree Of Life according to NYTimes . This act of terror follows a week of nationwide panic as 14 pipe bombs were mailed to Democratic detractors of Donald Trump. City councilwoman Erika Strassburger has confirmed that the shooter or shooters are still active inside the building where several are reported dead and three police officers are down. BREAKING: Pittsburgh police: Multiple casualties at Tree of Life synagogue in Squirrel Hill pic.twitter.com/V4nnONkkSl — NBC News (@NBCNews) October 27, 2018 At this time there are very few confirmed details, but one thing for sure, the area is NOT safe. ALERT: there is an active shooter near the Tree of Life in Squirrel Hill. Residents, please stay indoors. Our officers are on the scene. I will provide more updates once they are available. — Corey O'Connor (@CoreyOConnorPGH) October 27, 2018 Saturday is a holy day in the Jewish faith when Shabbat is observed and the synagogue was likely packed. MSNBC just confirmed on-air that the shooter is now in police custody. Prayers up for those injured and or deceased. BOSSIP will have more info it becomes available.
