Bill Cosby was sentenced to 3 to 10 years in prison for the 2004 rape of Andrea Constand. Back in 2006 the case was settled for an undisclosed amount that was later found out to be $3.38 million. The case resurfaced in 2015 when Cosby was facing several felony counts of aggravated indecent assault. Cosby will be serving his sentence at Pennsylvania’s State Correctional Institute at Phoenix. Upon his release from serving his sentence Cosby will have to have monthly counseling and be placed on a sex offender’s list.
Rapper Mac Miller has died at the age of 26, according to reports in US media.
TMZ reported that Miller died on Friday of an apparent overdose, citing law enforcement officials.
The rapper was found on Friday about noon local time in a bedroom at his San Fernando Valley home, and he was pronounced dead at the scene, the site reported.
Musicians including Chance the Rapper and J Cole were among those to pay tribute to Miller on Twitter after the news of his death broke.
A gunman identified as Stephen Paddock killed 58 people and injured more than 515 others by firing from the 32nd floor of the Mandalay Bay hotel in Las Vegas, Nevada towards the Route 91 Harvest country music festival.
Authorities said no other shooters were involved and the US Department of Homeland Security added that there was no “specific credible threat involving other public venues.”
The deadliest mass shooting in US history targeted the audience at the festival on an 15-acre lot across Las Vegas Boulevard from the hotel. The death toll surpasses that of the Orlando, Florida shooting at the Pulse nightclub in June 2016, where 49 were killed. An off-duty police officer attending the concert was among those killed. Authorities have not yet publicly named the other victims, and provided a contact number for family and friends seeking information: 1-866-535-5654. Police confirmed that two officers on duty were injured.
US president Donald Trump addressed the nation after initially tweeting that he sends his “warmest condolences” to victims and their families: “We are joined together today in sadness, shock and grief. It was an act of pure evil. The FBI and the Department of Homeland security are working closely with local authorities to assist with the investigation and they will provide updates as to the investigation and how it develops,” he said.
Trump also thanked local authorities, “the speed with which they acted is miraculous. To have found the shooter so quickly after the first shots were fired is something we for which we will always be thankful. We cannot fathom their pain, we cannot imagine their loss. The families of the victims we are praying for you, we are here for you.”
He did not mention gun control despite the speech being on the deadliest mass shooting in US history. This is especially pertinent as the shooting took place in Nevada, which has some of the laxest laws on guns and ammunition in the US.
Joseph Lombardo, the Las Vegas sheriff, said there was only one shooter—”a lone wolf” named as the 64-year-old Paddock—who was found dead in his hotel room. Police confirmed he was a resident of Mesquite, Nevada, a retirement and golf community of about 20,000 that is 80 miles from Las Vegas. Mesquite police spokesman Quinn Averett said that Paddock had no prior arrests or even a record for a single traffic violation.
Lombardo said there is nothing “derogatory” in the background of the suspect and that “we believe the individual killed himself prior to our entry.” Some 10 guns were found in Paddock’s room, from which he fired multiple rounds.
The police say the investigation will be long and protracted. The Clark County district attorney, Steve Woodson, said that “this was a classic WMD. This was a weapon and a man of mass destruction. This doesn’t involve politics. All of us are Nevadans. We’re working to get through this.”
Paddock’s house was under search by authorities. Meanwhile, the brother of the shooter, Eric Paddock, went on CBS News and described his shock at what transpired. He said he was confused how his brother obtained automatic weapons and that Stephen Paddock was “just a guy that lived in a house in Mesquite,” and who “ate burritos.”
The police said it all started when around 10:08pm local time, the police received calls that multiple shots were being fired at the concert.
The police found out that the shooter was on the 32nd floor of Mandalay Bay hotel and after a SWAT team used a controlled explosion to breach the room, he was “engaged.” Authorities say he had already been shot by the time authorities entered his room. Our prayers and thoughts go out to all the families of the victims involved in this terrible tragedy.
Beyonce is pregnant with twins – but that isn’t stopping her from going full steam ahead with her 2017 Grammys performance this Sunday!
“She’ll be taking it easier than normal,” a source told TMZ about superstar, who reportedly is “very pregnant” according to this report.
Beyonce is in rehearsals for the show and will not be locking anything down until Saturday, apparently, due to her pregnancy and the limitations she may face. The report continues that the performance may go at a slower pace.
In addition to being some cameos (could it be Jay Z?!), there will also be a digital screen used during the show.
The 2017 Grammys are set to air on Sunday (February 12), and we’ll be covering the whole show. Make sure you don’t miss it. It’s going to be a good show!!!
Ask Lance Bass, JC Chasez, Joey Fatone or Chris Kirkpatrick why Justin Timberlake left ‘N Sync at the height of the boy band’s success and you’re likely to get different answers. Timberlake’s truth is revealed in The Hollywood Reporter‘s Feb. 17 issue. “We were on a stadium tour, and I just felt like the whole thing was too big. It started as a fun snowball fight that was becoming an avalanche,” the “Can’t Stop the Feeling!” singer remembers. “And, also, I was growing out of it.”
“I felt like I cared more about the music than some of the other people in the group,” he explains. “I felt like I had other music I wanted to make and that I needed to follow my heart.”
In addition to becoming a solo artist, Timberlake found success in Hollywood with Alpha Dog, The Social Network, Friends With Benefits, Runner Runner and other films. But he doesn’t prefer one form of expression to the other. “I want to do both things. I really do idolize the golden era of Hollywood, when actors were required to sing and move. But I’m just following my gut in the decisions that I make about what I’m going to do next. I’m mostly just glad this is all working out because I really can’t do anything else,” Timberlake confesses. “I’m not gifted at anything else.”
At the moment, Timberlake is unsure whether he wants to focus on acting or music. “Going on tour is a circus. You set up the tents, you play the show, you tear the tents down and go on to the next place. It’s like Groundhog Day,” he says. “After the 125th show, you feel debilitated.”
Even so, Timberlake is excited about his new music. “It sounds more like where I’ve come from than any other music I’ve ever made,” he tells The Hollywood Reporter. “It’s Memphis. It’s Southern American music. I want to make it sound modern—at least that’s the idea right now.”
The most important thing to consider, though, is how his career will affect his family.
“Everything feels divisive to me right now,” he says. “Everything.”
Frank Ocean is facing a $14.5 million defamation lawsuit from his father Calvin Cooksey, TMZ has reported.
The allegations stem from a Tumblr post Ocean penned last year in the wake of the Pulse nightclub shooting in Orlando, Florida. “I was 6 years old when I heard my dad call our transgender waitress a faggot as he dragged me out of a neighborhood diner saying we wouldn’t be served because she was dirty,” Ocean wrote. Cooksey alleges that this passage is untrue and “damaged his financial opportunities in film and music.” He’s asking for $14.5 million in damages.
This is the second multi-million dollar lawsuit Cooksey has served relating to Ocean: last year, he asked a court to award him $142 million after Def Jam mogul Russell Simmons called him “a deadbeat dad.”
Update: February 3, 2:15 p.m.: Cooksey accuses Tyler, The Creator of being “devil worshiper” in the full complaint.
Pitchfork has obtained a copy of Cooksey’s complaint against Ocean. In it, Cooksey accuses Ocean’s collaborator Tyler, the Creator of being a “devil worshiper,” and calls Ocean “a fraud and only cared about making millions of dollars through Defendant’s exclusive deal with Apple, Inc.”
The lawsuit reads: “It’s important to note that on June 21, 2016, the Defendant did NOT include a homophobic bigot named Tyler the Creator in the Defendant’s June 21, 2016 anti-homophobic Tumblr essay.” The complaint goes on to accuses Frank Ocean’s mother, Katonya Breaux, of hypocrisy for slamming gospel singer Kim Burrell’s homophobic rant while not calling out Tyler’s use of slurs.
“This is the reason Defendant did not include this homophobic Tyler the Creator on June 21, 2016, because it would expose Defendant as a hypocrite and fraud who dishonestly betrayed the LGBT fans base for Tyler the Creator, who has clearly demonstrated hate for the LGBT community,” the lawsuit says.
Cooksey’s complaint makes frequent mention of Tyler’s ongoing ban from the United Kingdom, instituted by in 2014 by then-Home Secretary (and current British Prime Minster) Theresa May. According to another document viewed by Pitchfork, a judge has ordered Cooksey and Ocean into mediation in an attempt to reach a settlement.
Just days after the season three premiere aired, the rapper took to Instagram where he shared a screenshot of Taraji P. Henson and a headline claiming Empire’s ratings were down.
“Well look at the bright side at least. You can eat your trophies,” 50 Cent wrote on Instagram. “I was talking to old girl but you felt like you had to respond. SMH you know I love you cookie. I got a new show for you BMF COMING SOON !!!#EFFENVODKA.”
As it turns out, Taraji saw the message and decided to speak up with her own message.
“For the confused ppl. Do REAL research!!! Loose change makes sooooooo much UNNECESSARY NOISE,” she shared on Instagram Saturday afternoon. “STILL LOOKING FOR THAT DAMN CENT SIGN!!! I guess it’s obsolete. AGAIN CONGRATS ON YOUR SUCCESS BLACK MAN!!! @50cent.”
She later included a screengrab from a recent story that said Empire remains the No. 1 scripted show on broadcast TV.
Ultimately, 50 Cent wasn’t done just yet. After reading Taraji’s response, he went back to social media where the digs kept coming.
“All this back and forth s–t is starting to turning me on cookie, LMAO I ran into Lee Daniels at the gym on Sunset Blvd. he asked why I didn’t except his offer to be on EMPIRE. I told him I have a lot going on, I’m actually working on the show FOX is gonna replace EMPIRE with, he looked at me like…why the f–k are you doing that?” he wrote. “It’s because I’m a drug dealer, and I was taught to get in, get your weight up, then take over. So that’s the deal #EFFENVODKA #smsaudio #FRIGO.”
Reports have also circulated that Empire co-star Jussie Smollett may have joined in on the conversation. A post has surfaced on social media where the actor appears to respond to 50’s Cent’s original post.
“So here we go…I’ve always taken the high road when you’ve said our show was too gay, was stealing the word ‘power’ in our marketing from your show, or was too whatever you felt like saying at the moment,” he wrote in the now deleted post. “But now you’re messing with @TarajiPHenson.”
Speaking of Taraji, even though she has some disagreements with a certain Power star, that doesn’t mean she doesn’t support the cast especially Naturi Naughton.
“Sooooooooo proud of you @naturi4real I WANT YOU TO KNOW I will NEVER let any NEGATIVITY come between the LOVE I have for my sisters!!!” Taraji shared while supporting Power. “As women we put up with enough BS. I will NEVER add to that stress and heartache!!! YOU ARE DOPE on #Power and in life!!! #BlackGirlMagic SHINE BABY SHINE.”
Drake has fired another salvo in his feud with Meek Mill after that rapper called Drake’s “Charged Up” diss track “baby lotion soft.” Three days later, Drake has responded again with “Back to Back Freestyle,” and there’s nothing soft or vague about this diss track as the Toronto rapper lays into Meek Mill.
The cruelest barbs in “Back to Back Freestyle” come when Drake attempts to emasculate Meek Mill for serving as opening act for his girlfriend Nicki Minaj’s Pinkprint Tour. “You love her then you gotta give the world to her / Is that a world tour or your girl’s tour?/ I know that you gotta be a thug for her / This ain’t what she meant when she told you to open up more,” Drake says. (Incidentally, Meek Mill showed up 90 minutes late and was promptly booed when the Pinkprint Tour hit Drake’s native Toronto Tuesday night.)
Drake then takes aim at Meek Mill’s decision to beef through social media. “Trigger fingers turn to Twitter fingers,” Drake raps. “You’re getting bodied by a singing nigga.” Drake then warns all his “boss bitches” – but likely Minaj especially – “make sure you hit him with a pre-nup.”
The feud between Drake and Meek Mill stems from Mill’s accusations that Drake employed a ghostwriter for his guest verse on “R.I.C.O.,” a track off Meek Mill’s new album Dreams Worth More Than Money. An Atlanta rapper named Quentin Miller was then identified as Drake’s ghostwriter, though Miller and Drake’s producer Noah “40” Shebib denied the ghostwriting allegations.
“When I look back, I might be mad that I gave this attention / But it’s weighing heavy on my conscience / And fuck, you left me with no options,” Drake says on the new track. “I’m not sure what it was that made y’all mad / But I guess this is what I gotta do to make y’all rap.”
Meek Mill previously shared his own Drake “diss track” titled “Beautiful Nightmare” which just featured 15 seconds of moaning.
Bobbi Kristina died on Sunday at Peachtree Christian Hospice in Duluth, Georgia, about six months after she was found face-down and unresponsive in a bathtub in the suburban Atlanta townhome she shared with Nick Gordon, the man she called her husband. She was 22-years-old.
“Bobbi Kristina Brown passed away July, 26 2015, surrounded by her family. She is finally at peace in the arms of God. We want to again thank everyone for their tremendous amount of love and support during these last few months,” Kristen Foster, a representative for the Houston family said Sunday.
The Fulton County Medical Examiner’s Office confirmed Bobbi Kristina’s death Sunday night and will issue a news release on Monday.
Police said she was found Jan. 31. A police report described it as a “drowning.”
Bobbi Kristina was the only child between Houston and Brown.
She was hospitalized for months in Atlanta — eventually being placed in hospice care — after being found in a manner grimly similar to the way her megastar mother died three years earlier. Gordon said at the time it seemed Bobbi Kristina wasn’t breathing and lacked a pulse before help arrived.
Brown — the sole heir of her mother’s estate — did have dreams.
She identified herself on Twitter as “Daughter of Queen WH,” ”Entertainer/Actress” with William Morris & Co., and “LAST of a dying breed.” She told Oprah Winfrey shortly after her mother’s death in 2012 that she wanted to carry on her mother’s legacy by singing, acting and dancing. But her career never took off. Actor and producer Tyler Perry said she had a future as an actress after her debut on his TV show “For Better or Worse” in 2012, but she only appeared in one episode. Aside from two ill-fated reality TV shows and the occasional paparazzi video, her image mostly showed up in the “selfies” she posted online.
She attended award shows and appeared on red carpets with her mother and father. She performed a duet with her mother in 2009, singing “My Love Is Your Love” in New York’s Central Park. She became social media sensation, sending more than 11,000 tweets and attracting 164,000 followers.
As the news of her death spread across social media, several celebrities tweeted their condolences.
Grammy-winning performer Missy Elliot tweeted, “My heart is truly heavy. May u rest in peace with your mommy #BobbiKristina sending prayers 2 the Brown/Houston family.”
“Empire” star Taraji P. Henson tweeted, “Rest in heaven.”
“RIP #BobbiKristina My deepest sympathies 2 your father #BobbyBrown n your GrandMa #CissyHouston We will miss ya 4sho darling 😉 Actress Vivica A. Fox said on Twitter.
And Winfrey tweeted, “Peace at Last!”
Whitney Houston, known as “America’s Sweetheart,” was an impossible act to follow.
The late singer sold more than 50 million records in the United States alone during her career. Her voice, an ideal blend of power, grace and beauty, made classics out of songs like “Saving All My Love For You,” ”I Will Always Love You” and “The Greatest Love of All.” She earned six Grammys and starred in the films “The Bodyguard” and “The Preacher’s Wife.”
Bobby Brown, who had a bad-boy image, also became a huge star, selling platinum records with New Edition and going solo before drugs and legal woes derailed his career.
Bobbi Kristina appeared alongside both parents in 2005 on the Bravo reality show “Being Bobby Brown,” which captured her parents fighting, swearing and appearing in court. The Hollywood Reporter said it revealed that Brown was “even more vulgar than the tabloids suggest,” and managed “to rob Houston of any last shreds of dignity.”
Years earlier, as Houston was preparing to give birth to Bobbi Kristina, she expressly left Bobby Brown out of her will, putting everything in a trust “for the benefit of her children and more remote descendants,” according to the Houstons’ 2012 petition.
After their divorce in 2007, Houston kept custody of Bobbi Kristina and raised her alongside Gordon, an orphan three years older than her daughter. Houston brought Gordon into her family, and while she never formally adopted him or included him in the will, both teenagers called her “mom.”
The threesome’s tight bond was shattered when Houston’s assistant found the singer’s lifeless body face-down in a foot of water in her bathtub at the Beverly Hilton just before the Grammy Awards in 2012. Authorities found prescription drugs in the suite, and evidence of heart disease and cocaine in her body, but determined her death was an accidental drowning.
Bobbi Kristina, then 18, was at the hotel and became so hysterical she had to be hospitalized. “She wasn’t only a mother, she was a best friend,” she told Winfrey.
She and Gordon then went public with their romance, posting defiant messages online after the tabloids accused them of incest.
The Houstons tolerated their relationship, appearing with them on television that year in Lifetime’s reality show “The Houstons: On Our Own.”
But in one telling episode, the late singer’s relatives lectured the pair about drinking after they show up in an obviously altered state, and accused Gordon of failing to take care of the grieving girl.
Relations between Gordon and some other relatives continued to sour over the past year after Bobbi Kristina was hospitalized. A protective order barred him from being within 200 feet of Pat Houston, Bobbi Kristina’s aunt. A feud erupted over whether Gordon could visit Bobbi Kristina while she stayed in the hospital.
On June 24, Bobbi Kristina’s court-appointed representative sued Gordon, accusing him of misrepresenting his relationship with Bobbi Kristina. The complaint accused him of being violent toward her and taking more than $11,000 from her account while she was in a medically induced coma after the Jan. 31 tragedy.
The lawsuit also accused Gordon of assault, battery, intentional infliction of emotional distress, unjust enrichment and conversion.
Fulton County District Attorney Paul Howard said he and his office are interested in reviewing the investigative file to determine whether any charges will be filed.
Also on June 24, Pat Houston said Bobbi Kristina had been placed in hospice care.
Bobbi Kristina was fabulously wealthy for a teenager, but her money was in a spendthrift trust, designed to keep creditors and predators from taking advantage of people who can’t manage their money. Bobbi Kristina’s grandmother, Cissy Houston, and aunt, Pat Houston, eventually took over control of the trust and then took Bobbi Kristina to court to protect the estate.
The Houstons called Bobbi Kristina “a highly visible target for those who would exercise undue influence over her inheritance and/or seek to benefit from (her) resources and celebrity,” and urged a judge to delay how quickly she could control the money.
Bobbi Kristina agreed to the delay, and the judge granted their request to seal the case.
The size of Houston’s estate is a privately held secret.
In May, a judge appointed Bobby Brown and Pat Houston as co-guardians of Bobbi Kristina, giving them joint responsibility in decisions related to her care and medical needs. Lawyer Bedelia Hargrove was appointed conservator to oversee Bobbi Kristina’s assets, including her rights and legal claims.
Houston signed a $100 million record deal in 2001, but failed to deliver, and lost two homes to foreclosure toward the end of her life. But her untimely death revived a hunger for her music, and her name and likeness generated revenue that became part of Bobbi Kristina’s inheritance.
By January 2014, the young couple who grew up as brother and sister were sharing a townhome in Roswell, Georgia, and calling themselves husband and wife.
They posted images of their hands wearing wedding rings, with the caption “#HappilyMarried. So #InLove. If you didn’t get it the first time that is.” They got identical “WH” tattoos with flying doves on their wrists, and Gordon added a large portrait of Houston’s face on his arm.
Their marriage announcement troubled Pat Houston, who obtained a restraining order against Gordon two months later.
“Damn, lol, it’s incredible how the world will judge you 4ANY&EVERYthing,” Bobbi Kristina tweeted at the time.
By last September, Pat Houston said she was “very proud of Krissy.”
“Young people today are up against so much with social media and everything else that presents itself to them,” Pat Houston told The Associated Press. “We try to be there for her, just to try to guide and direct her.”
Judging from her postings online, Bobbi Kristina was focused on the approaching anniversary of her mother’s death. In one of her last tweets, she said, “Littlelady&yourgrowing young man @nickdgordon miss you mommy ..:’) SOmuch.. loving you more every sec. #Anniversary!”
