BRING THAT WEEK BACK: Week of May 3
Diddy lands a deal with Macy's | Kilpatrick tells Detroit to move on | plus more!
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Gucci Mane to be Released - Jailed rapper Gucci Mane is set to be released next week, according to radio station Hot 97. Gucci, who was sent to Georgia’s Fulton County Jail for violating probation late last year, will be out on May 12 – which will make him available to perform at the station’s Summer Jam concert in June.
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Diddy Scores Deal with Macy’s - Hip-hop mogul and entrepreneur P. Diddy has signed a distribution deal for his clothing label Sean John to be sold exclusively at Macy’s. Sean Jean will join other brands such as Tommy Hilfiger, Ellen Tracy, Diesel and Martha Stewart, that also have exclusive deals at the department store. Specific financial details of the play haven’t been released, but Sean John has “done more than $1 billion of business at Macy’s, and we plan to do a couple billion more,” according to Diddy.
3 / 23
Paper Shows Obamas as ‘Sanford and Son’ Characters - The depiction of President Obama and First Lady Michelle as characters from the sitcom “Sanford and Son” in a New York newspaper has many offended. The publisher of the Smithtown Messenger on Long Island says the photo was intended as political satire. The photo spread features "before and after" shots of the last six presidents and their wives. The "after" photo of the Obamas is a shot from the 1970s show, with Redd Foxx as Fred Sanford and LaWanda Page as Sanford's sister-in-law, Aunt Esther.
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Are Beyoncé and Jay-Z Moving to P.A.? - Rumors are swirling that music superstars Beyoncé and Jay-Z are planning to buy an $11.9 million home in eastern Pennsylvania. The home, located in Schuylkill County, has 16,000 square feet and views of Hawk Mountain. No one is quite sure how the rumor got started, but many locals are excited about the idea of having celeb neighbors in the small town, known best for a Yuengling brewery. The property’s agent, however, says the couple has not expressed any interest.
5 / 23
Brown Back in Court for Update - Singer Chris Brown appeared in an L.A. courtroom on Thursday to give the judge an update on his community service and domestic violence counseling. According to his lawyers, Brown has completed almost 300 hours of community service and about 20 percent of his required community labor. Last year, he was sentenced to five years of probation and six months of community labor for attacking Rihanna. He’ll head back to court on Aug. 26, for another probation report.
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6 / 23
Dwyane Wade’s Ex, Kids Sue Gabrielle Union - In another strange twist in NBA star Dwyane Wade’s divorce battle, his estranged wife, Siohvaughn Wade, has filed a lawsuit against his girlfriend actress Gabrielle Union alleging that their relationship is causing her two sons emotional distress. The suit alleges that Union “engaged in sexual foreplay” in front of the boys which “severely inflicted the Plaintiffs emotionally and mentally.” The kids are also named as plaintiffs. Wade has called the suit “baseless and meritless.”
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Lawrence Taylor Arrested For Rape - Former N.Y. Giant linebacker Lawrence Taylor was arrested Thursday morning and charged with third-degree rape and patronizing a prostitute. According to the complaint, Taylor engaged in sex acts with a 16-year-old runaway in a hotel room before paying her $300 in cash on Wednesday. His lawyer, Arthur Aidala, denied the charges again Friday on NBC's "Today" show. Rasheed Davis, the man who allegedly set Taylor up with the girl, was charged with sex trafficking of a child.
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LeBron James Wins MVP - Cavs star LeBron James has won the NBA’s Most Valuable Player award for the second year in a row. James was presented with the honor last Saturday, shortly before his team began its series with the Boston Celtics. “It’s another humbling experience,” he said. James is the 10th player in league history to receive the award for back-to-back seasons.
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Kilpatrick to Detroit: Time to Move On - Disgraced former mayor of Detroit has a message for his home town: Let’s move on. Kilpatrick, who now lives in the Dallas-Fort Worth suburb of Southlake, resigned as the Detroit mayor in 2008 and spent 99 days in jail for lying under oath about having an affair. In an interview with The Dallas Morning News, he said, “"The city has not been allowed to move forward, and the city has not been allowed to heal."
10 / 23
D.C. Council Votes for Medical Marijuana - D.C.’s city council passed a measure to legalize medical marijuana Tuesday, sending the bill to Mayor Adrian Fenty. Under the measure, patients with chronic illnesses such as AIDS or cancer could obtain marijuana with a doctor’s recommendation at five to eight distribution centers. If the mayor signs the bill, as he is expected to, Congress would have 30 days to review before it becomes law.
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11 / 23
James, Howard Picked Unanimously for All-NBA - Sports writers and broadcasters voted for Cav’s star LeBron James and Magic star Dwight Howard unanimously to be on the All-NBA team. Kobe Bryant received 119 out of 122 votes and Kevin Durant (Oklahoma Thunder) and Dwyane Wade (Miami Heat) completed the first team on Thursday. Carmelo Anthony, Dirk Nowitzki, Amare Stoudemire, Steve Nash and Deron Williams were selected to the second team.
12 / 23
Alphas Boycott Arizona - In protest of Arizona’s controversial new immigration law, Alpha Phi Alpha, the nation’s oldest Black collegiate fraternity is moving its annual convention from Phoenix to Las Vegas. The group’s national Board of Directors reached the decision unanimously, according to Herman “Skip” Mason, the fraternity’s national general president. About 10,000 Alphas are expected to attend the convention, scheduled for July.
13 / 23
“Fela” Nabs 11 Tony Award Noms - Broadway musical “Fela,” which was produced by Jay-Z co-produced by Alicia Keys, Will Smith and Jada Pinkett-Smith has been nominated for 11 Tony Awards. The play tells the story of Nigerian musician Fela Kuti, whose music has been sampled by Common and The Roots.
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N.J. Gov. Drops Black Judge - New Jersey’s Gov. Chris Christie ousted the only Black justice on his state’s Supreme Court. Outgoing New Jersey High Court Judge John Wallace was let go weeks before the end of his first seven-year term. Christie nominated Anne M. Patterson, who is White, to be his replacement. Dems are in an uproar and state Senate President Steve Sweeney has already vowed not to put Patterson up for a vote.
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Former NFLer Dies in Accident - Former NFL player Nick Rogers died in a one-car accident early Monday morning. He was 30. Rogers’ car hit a utility pole in College Park, near Atlanta, according to medical authorities. The 250-pound linebacker spent four years in the NFL with Minnesota, Green Bay, Indianapolis and Miami. He was drafted in 2002.
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16 / 23
Lil Jon Has Chocolate Love - Rapper Lil Jon wants to show love to the darker-skinned ladies with his new single, “Ms. Chocolate,” which features singers Mario and R. Kelly. “All the rappers always shout out the light-skinned girls and make light-skinned references in the songs, nobody shout the chocolate girls out, so it was time to put the chocolate girls on a pedestal and show them that they are beautiful too and champion them.” The rapper’s new CD, “Crunk Rock,” is set to come out in June.
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Ohio Man Freed After 30 Years - After almost 30 years, Raymond Towler was set free from prison Tuesday when DNA evidence showed he did not rape an 11-year-old girl in 1981 and a judge vacated his conviction. "It finally happened, I've been waiting," Towler, 52, said as he hugged sobbing family members in the courtroom. After throwing out his conviction, the Judge Eileen Gallagher told Towler that he could sue for his ordeal. He had been serving a life sentence for raping a girl in a Cleveland park in 1981.
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Nigeria President Dies - Nigerian President Umaru Yar'Adua died Wednesday evening after a long battle with kidney ailments. Goodluck Jonathan, who has been the country’s acting leader for three months, was sworn in Thursday as the president of Africa’s most populous nation.
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Solange Talks Adoption, Beyoncé as a Mom - Singer Solange Knowles recently spoke out about adoption, her relationship with Kelly Rowland, and the kind of mom she thinks her sister Beyoncé would be. In an interview with WonderWall, she called adoption a beautiful thing and revealed that Rowland actually moved in with the Knowles family when she was 5. She also said Beyoncé would make a great mom because, “she’s just a very kind-hearted and patient person.”
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Legendary Soap Actress Dies - Actress Helen Wagner, who played Nancy Hughes on the CBS soap opera “As the World Turns” for over 50 years, died last Saturday. She was 91. Wagner opened the show when it premiered back in 1956, with the words: “Good morning, dear.” She held the Guinness World Record for playing the same role on television for the longest amount of time, 54 years.
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Kobe in White - L.A. Lakers star Kobe Bryant donned all white for a photo spread for an L.A. Times Magazine story. The photos received mixed reviews across the web, and the Lakers blog on the L.A. Times reports that his teammates were “befuddled” by his wardrobe in the photos. James Valeri, the shoot’s stylist, told the blog that the whole thing was an attempt “to do something modern.”
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Dolla’s Murder Trial - The court heard conflicting statements this week in the murder trial of rapper Dolla, whose real name is Roderick Anthony Burton. Dolla was allegedly murdered in May of last year at a mall in Beverly Hills by Aubrey Louis Berry. Prosecutors call the killing a premeditated act, while lawyers for Berry say he was defending himself because he feared for his life. The two had gotten into a fight a couple of weeks earlier at an Atlanta strip club.