Drake Friendly Crowd at Michael Rubin's White Party, No Kendrick Lamar Songs
Drake's White Party appearance could've gotten real awkward given his beef with Kendrick Lamar ... but, we're told the DJs played it safe -- staying far from K. Dot's discography.
Sources with direct knowledge tell TMZ ... everyone who hopped up to the turntables at Michael Rubin's famous Hamptons soirée passed on playing anything by Kendrick. And the DJs weren't the only Drake-friendly folks in attendance BTW ... 'cause we're told Lil Wayne, Travis Scott and Quavo also pulled up to the event -- and, they're all on good terms with Drizzy.
Our sources says the main DJ was a dude in Travis' crew too ... and, he and Drake get along -- so there was never a concern the White Party might turn into a Red Brawl. As we told you, Michael Rubin's 4th of July annual Hamptons White Party took place on Thursday ... with some of the biggest stars in the world like Kim Kardashian, Khloe Kardashian, Tom Brady, Megan Thee Stallion, Rob Gronkowski, Lala Anthony, Glorilla, Emily Ratajkowski and more pulling up for the big event.
Rubin posted a pic alongside Drake to Instagram ... and, the pic got fans to wonder if anyone dared play the hit diss track "Not Like Us" at the event. Seems nobody made the hip hop faux pas at MR's lavish event though.
Taraji P. Henson Addresses Keith Lee's Response After Mix-up
The Color Purple' actress said Lee "wasn't in his seat" during a viral mixup where she confused Lee with another influencer during the BET Awards on June 30. Taraji P. Henson has responded to a now-deleted TikTok posted by food influencer Keith Lee after a viral mixup at the 2024 BET Awards.
On July 2, Henson, 53, commented on an Instagram post that showed Lee, 27, dropping the rose she gave to him during a segment of the show meant to honor creators. Henson hosted the BET Awards for the third time on June 30. During the segment when she passed out the flowers, she went up to influencer Jordan Howlett and confused him for Lee. Howlett then pointed to Lee sitting with his wife, Ronni Lee, in a different seat and Henson apologized for the confusion.
Related: Taraji P. Henson Brings Head-Turning Outfit Changes While Hosting the 2024 BET Awards — See Them All!
"I got caught up in my own inner monologue, I’m so sorry," she said about the moment before she gave the influencer a rose, which he initially accepted.
A short time later, Lee posted the now-deleted TikTok of him dropping the flower to the floor and captioned it: "Our name will be known in every room it's supposed to be, when it's supposed to be, how it's supposed to be, with no confusion. God is amazing." In another TikTok posted on July 2, Lee said, “I am not upset with Taraji P. Henson by any stretch of imagination.” He added that he thought “she smoked it last night.”
ESPN’s Carolyn Peck gives WNBA Rookie of the Year nod to Angel Reese
The race is on for Rookie of the Year in the WNBA, with Caitlin Clark of the Indiana Fever and Angel Reese of the Chicago Sky seeming to be the top choices for it.
Now, ESPN’s Carolyn Peck has shared the reason why she’s giving the nod to Reese over Clark if the season ended now. “It is a thin, thin line. It’s really tight, but when you look at where the teams are,” Peck said. “And I also went a little deeper and I looked at plus/minus and I also look at NET rating. When you look at that, Angel Reese has to get the nod.”
The race is tight between the two young stars. For now, though, BetOnline has Caitlin Clark as the favorite to win the away at -700. Meanwhile, Reese is sitting at +400.
“Now, I know it’s not a popular position to take because Angel Reese has to do the dirty work. I have said. It’s not sexy to have to battle and rebound inside where you have to do the blue-collar work,” Peck said. “But this is a player that has come in as a rookie and is putting up grown woman numbers. 12 double-doubles in a row…So, when you see a young woman come in like that and do that, I would have to give the nod with her efficiency rating and also plus/minus.” Caitlin Clark was the first overall draft pick ahead of the 2024 WNBA season and has garnered tons of attention for both herself and the league. Meanwhile, Angel Reese was just a few picks later at seventh overall. This came after the two played a pair of massive postseason games head-to-head in college, including a national championship that Reese and her LSU Tigers won.
Already as rookies, the two appear to have their rivalry budding for the long term in the WNBA as they are both working to help get their respective teams to the playoffs. They’re also both already All-Star selections.
This season, Angel Reese is averaging 13.9 points, 11.7 rebounds, and 1.9 assists per game as an interior player. For her part, Clark is averaging 16.1 points, 6.0 rebounds, and 7.4 assists per game. That’s as a guard, making it difficult at times to compare them against one another as the two play different positions. egardless, the season isn’t ending just yet. The season is going to continue into September. So, there’s plenty of time for either Clark or Reese to improve on their case for the Rookie of the Year Award. At the same time, both players would probably point out that winning games is more important to them.
The post ESPN’s Carolyn Peck gives WNBA Rookie of the Year nod to Angel Reese over Caitlin Clark appeared first on On3.
BUSTA RHYMES TELLS CROWD TO ‘PUT THEM DEVICES DOWN’ DURING ESSENCE FESTIVAL SET
Busta Rhymes took some time out of his performance during this weekend’s Essence Festival to make sure audience members were staying in the moment.
At one point during his performance on Friday (July 5), the veteran rapper appeared to take issue with the amount of people he saw on their phones. “Fuck them cameraphones too,” he said. “Let’s get back to interacting like humans. Put them weird-ass devices down.
“I ain’t from that era,” he continued. “Them shits don’t control the soul. Fuck your phone.” In addition to having problems with electronics, the Dungeon Dragon seemed to object to the amount of people in the Ceasar Superdome who were seated during the performance.
“I will point every last one of y’all out until y’all asses is up,” he said to the crowd. “Thirty-three years of doing this shit, I ain’t used to n-ggas sitting down at my show. I don’t give a fuck. All age groups, get your ass up now.”
LIL DURK'S 10-YEAR-OLD SON ACCUSED OF SHOOTING STEPFATHER WITH MAN'S OWN GUN
Lil Durk‘s family is sure to be reeling following an incident captured on tape, in which a boy reported to be his 10-year-old son appears to shoot his stepfather.
The man in question, Joshua Pippens, took to Instagram on July 1, where he shared a video of the domestic altercation that led to the shooting. As y’all can see I was not the aggressor,” he wrote in the caption alongside the video, “and y’all also can see how I still had my gun on my hip he grabbed my gun off my hip following his moms lead and tried to shoot me and then actually shot me I advise y’all see it before they take it down #buildawareness.”
In a later post, Pippens shared a photo of an official document detailing a visit by the boy — identified as Jerome Harris Jr., and reported to be Lil Durk’s son by multiple online outlets — was questioned by the Indianapolis Metropolitan Police Department’s Homicide Office “as part of the assessment investigation.”
According to the document, the boy told authorities that he witnessed his mother, identified throughout the report as Ms. Collier, and Pippens arguing outside of the man’s home. At one point, the child stepped out of the car and pushed his stepdad.
The boy eventually admits to picking up a gun which Pippens dropped during the argument and shooting him to protect his mother.
As of this writing, Durk has not commented on the incident.
Diddy Sued by Woman Claiming He Sex Trafficked Her at Parties
Diddy hired a former porn star to have sex with people at some of his legendary parties, and threatened to blackball her and her model boyfriend if she didn't comply ... according to a new lawsuit she's filed. Adria English, who says her porn stage name was Omunique, says she first met Diddy around 2004, when her BF was auditioning for a Sean John modeling gig. In the docs, obtained by TMZ, Adria claims things got freaky with Diddy right out of the gate.
Adria claims her boyfriend and another model were asked to perform oral sex on Diddy in order to get the job. She says her BF refused, but he got a second chance when another Diddy associate offered him the job ... as long as he got Adria to work as a "go-go dancer" at Diddy's upcoming white party in the Hamptons. She and the boyfriend agreed, and she indeed worked the party over Labor Day weekend 2004 -- the lawsuit includes pics of her there -- and says she subsequently worked other Diddy parties where she regularly had to drink alcohol laced with narcotics like ecstasy, and was encouraged to flirt with guests. Although she did not have sex with guests initially, she claims Diddy "groomed" her into sex trafficking over time. Adria claims things ratcheted up when Diddy demanded she have sex with Jacob Arabov -- famously known as "Jacob the Jeweler" in hip hop.
According to the suit, filed by attorneys Ariel Mitchell-Kidd, Esq. and Steven Metcalf, Esq., she had "forced sexual intercourse" with him, and then was paid an additional $1,000 on top of what she usually got for working Diddy's parties. She took a photo with Jacob after the alleged assault, while still at the party ... and claims Diddy himself personally congratulated her for having sex with Jacob, as directed, and told her job well done. Jacob is listed as a defendant in the suit. Adria claims things got worse after that, because she was being "passed off" to other people at Diddy's parties ... and they, too, sexually assaulted her. She's also suing a woman named Tamiko Thomas, who she accuses of facilitating Diddy's sex trafficking operation.
In fact, Adria says Tamiko is the Ghislaine Maxwell to Diddy's Jeffrey Epstein. She also claims Diddy promised to advance her career -- even helping her join a girl group to enter the music business -- but backed it up with forceful demands and threats to blackball her and her BF from the industry if they didn't comply. She says she eventually did escape and returned to CA in 2009 and believes Diddy blackballed her and her BF as punishment.
We've reached out to reps for Diddy and Jacob the Jeweler ... no word back, yet. Adria claimed she has suffered emotional trauma, including intimacy issues and painful memories, as a result of the alleged sex trafficking. She's suing Diddy, Bad Boy, Tamiko Thomas, "Jacob the Jeweler" and others and seeking unspecified damages.
Chet Hanks Condemns Bigots Using 'White Boy Summer' Catchphrase
Chet Hanks is hitting back at people using his "White Boy Summer" catchphrase to promote hate and bigotry ... saying they've warped his good intentions.
Tom Hanks and Rita Wilson's son reacted Wednesday to a New York Times piece highlighting the tagline's growing popularity among white supremacists.As Chet put it ... he in no way cosigns the way his phrase has been co-opted by hate groups.
He adds, "White Boy Summer" is a lighthearted saying -- as well as a song -- which he described as "a celebration of fly white boys who love beautiful queens of every race."
Chet reiterates, if the phrase gets "twisted into [something] to support any kind of hate or bigotry against any group of people is deplorable and I condemn it." It didn't take long for his fans to respond to his message ... as they applauded him for speaking out, and for clarifying where he stood on the issue. Yet, this isn't the first time Chet has had to address his viral meme ... previously explaining on "Channel 5 with Andrew Callaghan" that the catchphrase -- a play on Megan Thee Stallion's "Hot Girl Summer" -- was meant to promote interracial relationships.
i asked chet hanks if he wanted to apologize to any marginalized communities pic.twitter.com/EEzD9VrtNs— ziwe (@ziwe) May 6, 2022 @ziwe
Chet, who's been accused of cultural appropriation for frequently speaking with a Caribbean patois, was also confronted by comedian Ziwe Fumudoh on her Showtime show when she asked if he wanted to apologize.
He refused at the time, as he believed he hadn't done anything offensive.
B.G. WILL HAVE TO TURN OVER ALL NEW LYRICS TO PROBATION OFFICER
B.G.‘s probation officer will now be reviewing all of the rapper’s song lyrics before they’re recorded as part of his supervised release.
The former Hot Boys rapper was released from prison late last year following a conviction in 2012 for firearms possession and obstruction of justice. In March, the U.S. government accused him of glorifying a life of crime in the songs he has released since getting out, which they felt was a violation of his probation terms. They also said recording songs with convicted felons Boosie Badazz and Gucci Mane was a violation.
Now in a new filing obtained by HipHopDX on Tuesday (July 2), the court ruled he did not violate his probation with any of the aforementioned actions, but he now must get written approval from his probation officer before working with convicted felons.
United States District Judge Susie Morgan called the government’s attempt to censor B.G.’s lyrics “unconstitutional” – but she did grant the government the right to look at his lyrics in advance. The judge said that if the state had any objections, prosecutors could attempt legal action.
“To address the legitimate concerns expressed by the Government, the Court will impose a special condition that the Defendant provide the United States Probation Office with a copy of the lyrics of any song he writes, in advance of his production or promotion of such song, and that those lyrics be shared with the Government,” the court document reads.
“At that time, the Government may, if it deems necessary and appropriate, file another motion for leave to file a rule to show cause why the Defendant’s conditions of supervised release should not be modified because the Defendant’s conduct is inconsistent with the goals of rehabilitation.”
Cam’ron has paid tribute to one of his heroes OJ Simpson by dressing up as the late NFL legend.
The Dipset legend celebrated the Fourth of July by seemingly attending a fancy dress party in his current home of Las Vegas, where he wore a Buffalo Bills uniform complete with “Simpson #32” on the back. Killa Cam even rocked a Bills helmet and carried a football as he donned the costume while walking through a Vegas casino alongide a few friends.
“OJ was here!!!! Happy INDEPENDENCE DAY!” he captioned a video of the moment on Instagram. “This ain’t really Our holiday.. But it Feels good not to have to answer to nobody!! #FreeNigga #IIWII” OJ Simpson died aged 76 in April due to cancer. Prior to his passing, the controversial athlete and actor had found an unlikely career as a guest host of Cam’ron and Ma$e’s sports talk show It Is What It Is.
Following his death, the Harlem rappers, along with co-host Treasure “Stat Baby” Wilson, paid tribute to Simpson by sharing their memories of working with him.
“You could tell he was getting more comfortable week after week after week after week, and he was starting to loosen up,” Cam said.
“Besides that, on the show, I don’t care what nobody say, he was probably top three football analyst this past season. Because he didn’t only have personality, he really knew the game.
