KANYE WEST SAYS HE HAS 'ISSUES' WITH JESUS: 'I PRAYED & HE DIDN'T SHOW UP'
Kanye West has a long list of people he’s got problems with, which now includes none other than Jesus Christ himself.
Yeezy and Ty Dolla $ign stopped by Big Boy TV to discuss all things Vultures on Friday (March 15), though the interview took a turn when the radio personality asked Kanye about his current relationship with Christianity.
Big Boy began by asking West about his current religious feelings, and West was more than happy to explain his outlook.
He began: “I have my issues with Jesus. There’s a lot of stuff I went through, that I prayed, and I ain’t see Jesus show up … I had to put my experience in this world, my experience with my children, my experience with other people, my experience with my account, my experience with my brand, and my experience with the level of music that I was dealing with in my own hands.
Does Bruno Mars Have A $50 MILLION Gambling Debt with MGM Casino?
*Is Bruno Mars indulging a tad too generously in his MGM alliance? That’s the burning question being probed by NewsNation’s “The Scoop” newsletter. Mars, 38, who formerly admitted to grinding out a living as a poker pro, has often found himself entangled in substantial gambling debts, as whispered by a well-connected informant in Vegas.
“He’s in hock to the MGM for millions,” disclosed the insider. According to the grapevine, his debts have ballooned to a staggering $50 million.
“He’s essentially beholden to them,” the Vegas source added with a knowing nod.
Despite reaping a bountiful $90 million annually from his casino deal, Mars finds a significant chunk gobbled up by his debts, leaving him with a mere $1.5 million per night after taxes. For those crunching the numbers, $90 million post-tax dwindles closer to $60 million.
Sure, he enjoys complimentary accommodations during his contractual stint, but one might reasonably expect him to pocket (or stash away) a considerably larger sum since inking the long-term agreement back in 2016.
Nevertheless, MGM is doubling down on Mars. The Pinky Ring, his plush lounge at the Bellagio (an MGM enclave), made its grand debut during the Super Bowl, with whispers of another opulent project in the pipeline with the elite casino.
NN’s attempts to extract a statement from MGM’s representative went unanswered. Similarly, Mars’ spokesperson opted for silence.
Reflecting on his early gambling days in a 2013 GQ interview with Chris Heath, Mars reminisced about his brash demeanor and penchant for high-stakes games at the Commerce Casino in Los Angeles, long before fame embraced him. “You gotta lose. You just have to lose to win, to understand,” he philosophized, recounting his initial nerve-racking forays into the world of gambling, Complex reminded.
SEXYY RED NOT PHASED BY CRITICISM OF HER SINGING AT ROLLING LOUD
Sexyy Red‘s performance at Rolling Loud has been met with some pushback from Hip Hop fans, and she simply doesn’t care what they have to say.
Taking to X, formerly known as Twitter, on Friday (March 15), the rapper poked fun at herself while addressing the haters.
“Dis how it be when somebody hear you singing in da shower [laughing face emojis],” she wrote, quote-tweeting a fan who shared a clip of her performance from the venerated festival.
The video showed Red singing SZA’s section of “Rich Baby Daddy” in a notably out-of-tune voice a la Biz Markie. The fan responded, “What is this[?]” followed by a series of crying emojis.
BLUEFACE ‘HAD A LITTLE SCUFFLE’ IN JAIL, WACK 100 SAYS
Blueface had a bit of an incident behind bars, according to his manager Wack 100.
In an Instagram Live made on Friday (March 15), the controversial manager revealed that his client was doing just fine after a minor fight in a Los Angeles jail.
“He had a little fight. That’s it,” Wack began. “Just to let her [his mother, Karlissa Saffold] know. She flipped out, started hollerin’ and screamin’. Maybe that’s some mama shit. I don’t know.”
He continued: “But all I told her is, he had a little fight. A little scuffle. That’s it. We all know Blueface know how to fight. Right?”
MEGAN THEE STALLION PROMISES ‘HOTTEST EVENT OF THE SUMMER’ WITH NEW WORLD TOUR
Megan Thee Stallion is all set to take her act on the road later this year as she has announced plans for an international trek scheduled for the summer.
On Wednesday (March 13), the Houston Hottie shared a visual on Instagram that resembles the cover of a magazine. Over a photograph of her in a swimming pool is a list of cities that she will be passing through as part of her upcoming tour in mid-May.
The itinerary for the United States comprises Minneapolis, Chicago, Detroit, New York City, Philadelphia, Baltimore, Memphis, Atlanta, Raleigh, Hollywood (FL), Tampa, New Orleans, Dallas, Austin, Houston, Denver, Phoenix, Los Angeles and Las Vegas. For the international leg, she will make stops in Glasgow, Manchester, Paris, Amsterdam, Cologne, Dublin, Birmingham and London. Specific dates and venues will be announced on March 20.
“HOTTIESSS GET READY TO COME HAVE SOME FUN WITH ME AT THEE HOT GIRL SUMMER TOUR,” she wrote in the post’s caption. “Get your outfits ready nowww! We getting started this MAY [fire emoji] I told you what cities today to get yall prepared! Check back in on thee 20th for official dates.”
NO Money, MO’ Problems: Wendy Williams Hit with Six-Figure Tax Lien Over NYC Condo
Wendy Williams’ health issues may currently command the spotlight, but that has not prevented Uncle Sam from coming in to get his cut from her.
Citing legal documents it obtained, TMZ reports a hefty tax lien amounting to $568,451.57 has been put on Williams over her New York City condominium.
Records show the former daytime talk show ruler bought the residence for $4.5 million in 2021.
The unpaid balance stems from federal taxes owed for the years 2019 and 2021.
The records further reveal Williams’ lien was generated in January 2024 and was recorded with the New York City Department of Finance in early February, TMZ noted.
As it stands now, evidence of efforts to take care of the issue does not appear to be present. Despite reaching out to the court-appointed guardian of Williams’ finances, Sabrina Morrissey, TMZ has yet to receive a response. Morrissey was appointed in Spring 2022, after the alleged tax violations.
News of the tax lien comes as the former radio fixture deals with various health issues, including the recent disclosure from her health team that she has been diagnosed with aphasia and dementia.
LATTO SEEMINGLY ADDS FUEL TO RUMORS THAT DRAKE IS DATING HER YOUNGER SISTER
Latto fans have seemingly decided that Drake and her sister Brooklyn Nikole are an item after the “Put it on Da Floor” rapper re-shared a social media post.
The post in question saw Drake share a picture of a bottle of water with “Clayco” on the label which is short for Clayton County, Georgia, where Latto and her sister are from.
The speculation started after Drake released a remix of 4batz’s “act ii: date @ 8” which features the line: “What kind of water they serving in Clayco?”
The two were also seen leaving a restaurant after somebody slyly recorded the alleged couple.
Latto seemingly adds fuel to rumors that Drake is dating her younger sister pic.twitter.com/HIABQUIWlQ
— HipHopDX (@HipHopDX) March 17, 2024
Fans had numerous reactions to the rumors.
One questioned the age difference as Drake is 16 years older than Brooklyn: “Why do ya think older people date people that’s much younger than them ? I really want to hear opinions.”
Another defended the age gap: “As long as they met when she was 21 & up: She’s Grown. Period. Stop all that crazy talk actin like 21/22 yr olds are Toddlers. If she wants to date him, that’s her Choice.”
One commented: “Why can’t these men date women their age. 21 is a baby to drake.”
Fat Joe Moderates Criminal Justice Panel with Vice President Kamala Harris
Fat Joe's rubbing elbows with some of the top politicians in the country ... specifically Vice President Kamala Harris -- and he's sharing his solutions for some of the country's greatest issues, too.
The outspoken rapper met up with the VP on Friday afternoon and led a panel regarding criminal justice reform featuring Kentucky Governor Andy Beshear and White House Director of the Office of Public Engagement Steve Benjamin.
The convo -- which featured a few other prominent criminal justice advocates and three recipients of marijuana-related pardons -- lasted about an hour and featured lots of personal anecdotes from those pardoned.
We're told Fat Joe expressed his gratitude for how his journey through hip hop had landed him in a close relationship with the vice president -- who he apparently met through his healthcare reform group Power To The Patients.
BTW ... we're told Joe actually sat down for a private conversation with Kamala where the two talked about healthcare price transparency and other issues close to Joe's heart.
Harris isn't the only exec who Joe's spoken to in recent days ... the Bronx-bred rapper also caught up with President Joe Biden himself -- following the Prez's SOTU address, which took some shots at Donald Trump.
Sources told us members of both parties wanted a piece of Fat Joe after he dapped up Biden ... with reps on both sides of the aisle rushing to the man for an autograph.
Fat Joe's been on the advocacy grind for a while now ... and we even talked to him about Power to the Patients on "TMZ Live" back in January.
Pornhub Pulls Out of Texas Over Age-Verification Law Protest
It seems PornHub wants your children so bad they got mad about it and left Texas.
In a statement, the popular pornography site noted that it made the “difficult decision” to “disable access” in Texas, Complex reports.
“As you may know, your elected officials in Texas are requiring us to verify your age before allowing you access to our website,” reads the message displayed to users in the state. “Not only does this impinge on the rights of adults to access protected speech, it fails strict scrutiny by employing the least effective and yet also most restrictive means of accomplishing Texas’s stated purpose of allegedly protecting minors.”
Earlier this year, Pornhub blocked access in North Carolina and Montana over bills regulating access for underage users. The site is also unavailable in Mississippi, Utah, and Virginia.
“Providing identification every time you want to visit an adult platform is not an effective solution for protecting users online, and in fact, will put minors and your privacy at risk,” the message on Pornhub’s website states.
“The safety of our users is one of our biggest concerns. We believe that the only effective solution for protecting minors and adults alike is to verify users’ age on their device and to either deny or allow access to age-restricted materials and websites based on that verification,” the message continues.
The company claims that the age verification procedures will redirect users to other websites lacking adequate safety measures.
“Texas has a right to protect its children from the detrimental effects of pornographic content,” said Texas Attorney General Ken Paxton, per Houston Chronicle.
Paxton had previously initiated legal action against Pornhub’s parent company in an attempt to compel its adherence to the law.
“I look forward to holding any company accountable that violates our age verification laws intended to prevent minors from being exposed to harmful, obscene material on the internet,” Paxton added.
‘Power Book II: Ghost’ Star Reacts to Show Cancellation: ‘They Trippin’
Starz has announced the cancellation of “Power Book II: Ghost,” confirming that the upcoming fourth season will be its final installment.
The beloved crime drama series will be split into two parts, debuting on June 7 and September 6. Check out the teaser trailer above.
Deadline reports that the cancellation is part of the network’s plan to curb costs on existing series and prioritize the creation of new shows.
“You look at the [Power] map and say, ‘OK, if I take one of those characters out and spin one of those out, I can bring that on to replace the Power show at half the cost.’ Now I’m putting a lot of money right to the bottom line,” said Starz CEO Jeffrey Hirsch. “And I’m really not losing anything in terms of acquisition costs and subscriber viewership, because we know what those demos want. And we know how to line those up. And so that’s really the core of getting to that 20% [margin] — turning that slate over with fresh content to drive the business.”
It seems the cast learned about the cancellation at the same time we did, as series star Michael Rainey Jr., who portrays Tariq, took to Instagram to share his surprise.
He wrote on his Instagram story, “Don’t ask me nothing idk what’s going on in them offices lmao they Trippin. Final season otw tho I guess.”
Rainey also reposted TV writer L. Darian’s tweet about how he “ain’t hear from STARZ or Lionsgate once about the show.”
Series producer 50 Cent responded on social media, sharing a screenshot of a TMZ report about Raney’s reaction with the caption, “Yeah because @michaelraineyjr don’t answer his phone [shrug emoji].”
Also In The Power Universe.......
*50 Cent announced this week that he’s explaining the “Power” universe that will unpack the origin story of Tommy and Ghost.
“You asked, I answered. Young Ghost and Tommy coming your way,” Fiddy wrote in an Instagram post about the forthcoming series titled “Power Origins.”
T.I. TAKES AIM AT CURRENT GENERATION OF TRAP RAPPERS IN NEW STAND-UP ROUTINE
T.I. has jokingly taken aim at the younger generation of trap rappers during an appearance on BET’s stand-up series ComicView.
The rap legend turned stand-up comedian appeared on the revived comedy show and offered a take on current trends in trap music.
T.I. said: “You listen to first generation of trap music, people like me, Jeezy, Yo Gotti, you know what I’m saying? We were rapping about things we had done, got away with, and moved on. You hear me? You listen to [this] new age trap music? Oh, they talkin’ bout shit they finna do tomorrow, you feel what I’m saying?”
MEEK MILL GETS $1M OFFER FROM AKADEMIKS AFTER SAYING HE'S READY TO ENTER PODCAST GAME
Meek Mill has received an offer from Akademiks that the rapper may find hard to refuse after announcing his intention to enter the podcast game.
Taking to X, formerly known as Twitter, on Saturday (March 16), the Dreams & Nightmares rapper revealed that he has a lot to say, and can only say it on a podcast platform.
“I want a podcast deal I have a a lot to say on many different levels!” he said, in part. “If you have a podcast business moving slow I can reverse that! From – meek mill – I’ve always been my own media and I wanna join the culture of black media!
“I wanna partner with somebody already good in the business not just dive in! 2 episodes a month! Yeah just a podcast deal my boy…. I just wanna get in media now and rap to tell reforms stories about the system let others share their stories and address all propraganda [sic]… uplift the black culture … stop beefs publicly ..
He added: “it’s gonna be called ‘culture currency’ Teach the level of business knowledge I know from the streets to being around extreme wealth! Like how you had the show on Spotify but fueling street beefs I want that type of opportunity!”
That prompted Akademiks, a longtime podcaster and rival, to make an offer to the Philadelphia rapper.
“I’ll offer you a Million dollars up front for you for 52 episodes,” he responded in a quote-tweet. “1 a week. We own video and audio, with a option to renew for a second year. Also we buss down ads 50% on any ads we bring in (Prizepicks, Fashionova etc). You can own the podcast, but we share the IP as long as u in the deal.”
R. KELLY SUING THE UNITED STATES OVER SEIZED COMMISSARY FUNDS
R. Kelly has sued to get his commissary funds back, after they were allegedly taken by the United States government to satisfy a judgment against him.
According to court documents obtained by HipHopDX, a hearing on the matter is scheduled for Monday (March 18), with Assistant United States Attorney Kayla Bensing representing the United States. The oral arguments will be livestreamed, and a link to the livestream can be found here.
In March 2023, the Illinois Supreme Court ruled Heather Williams was entitled to access the disgraced singer’s label fund — which was reportedly valued at $1.5 million in 2020, according to Billboard — before Midwest Commercial Funding, a property manager that won its own separate $3.5 million ruling against Kelly over unpaid rent on a Chicago studio.
The following August, U.S. District Judge Ann Donnelly signed an order demanding that Kelly and his label, Universal Music Group, turn over more than $500,000 in royalties. The order, which was signed on Wednesday (August 23), previously demanded that the “Ignition” singer turn over $28,000, which was in his prison canteen.
“The defendant is appealing his conviction and the government’s seizure of his substantial Bureau of Prisons commissary account to satisfy the financial penalties imposed in the case,” read the announcement accompanying the livestream link, which also confirmed that each side will have ten minutes to argue their point.
VYBZ KARTEL GRANTED FREEDOM AS MURDER CONVICTION OVERTURNED
Vybz Kartel has a reason to celebrate, as a judge in Jamaica has overturned his long-standing murder conviction.
According to the BBC, the appeal has been made official as of Thursday (March 14) after a Privy Council in London concluded that one of the jurors in the case had been bribed, and as such, should not have been on his jury.
A high court in Jamaica has yet to decide whether the dancehall legend’s case will be tried again, but as of this writing, the dancehall superstar has been freed pending the outcome of the retrial.
Over the summer, Vybz Kartel was granted the right to go before the Privy Council, though he was originally scheduled to go sometime next month.
He was heard alongside his co-defendants Shawn Storm, Kahira Jones and Andre St. John, who all were given life sentences alongside Vybz in 2014 for the murder of promoter Clive “Lizard” Williams.
The privy council, much like the United States Supreme Court, is the highest court in the United Kingdom, which governs Great Britain, Ireland, Wales, Scotland, and all the commonwealth countries. If the privy council had denied Vybz Kartel’s bid for freedom, he would have remained in prison under a sentence of life imprisonment with a minimum of 32 and a half years.
Last February, Vybz Kartel petitioned to go before the privy council to plead his case, but that petition was denied, according to LoopNews.
Black activists, political leaders, and supporters of diversity, equity, and inclusion programs are urging Black student-athletes to boycott colleges and universities in states that have promoted or passed anti-DEI policies.
Their calls come as 81 anti-DEI bills that target programs at colleges have been introduced in 28 states and in Congress since the start of 2023, according to a tally by the Chronicle of Higher Education. Eight have been signed into law, in states, including Texas and Florida.
After the Florida Board of Governors banned public colleges from spending state funding on all DEI programs in January, the University of Florida made sweeping changes.
Derrick Johnson, president and CEO of the NAACP, said in a statement accompanying the letter that DEI is “paramount (to) ensuring equitable and effective educational outcomes.”
“The value Black and other college athletes bring to large universities is unmatched,” Johnson said.
“If these institutions are unable to completely invest in those athletes, it’s time they take their talents elsewhere.”
Last May, Florida Governor Ron DeSantis signed a law defunding DEI programs at state universities and colleges, calling them a “distraction from the core mission of public universities.” Texas Gov. Greg Abbott has also signed similar legislation banning DEI offices at state colleges, which has forced some campus programs at the University of Texas-Austin to stop providing services to students.
DEI initiatives are designed to address discrimination, biases, differences of opinion, and marginalization issues and to create a culture of respect and inclusion for employees from all backgrounds. These initiatives can take many forms, from training and education programs to hiring practices and policy changes.
