The drafting of the first openly-gay football player Michael Sam into the NFL’s St. Louis Rams was quite a feat for a sport and country that isn’t always accepting of others deemed “different,” but at least one NFL player wasn’t feeling very tolerant when the news broke Saturday. Miami Dolphin safety Don Jones summed up his apparent displeasure with a one-word tweet: “omg.” And when asked if that tweet was in reference to Sam kissing his boyfriend in celebration, Jones tweeted: “horrible.”

The Dolphins reacted quickly by fining Jones an undisclosed amount. The organization has also suspended him from team activities until he undergoes “educational training” for his actions, according to a statement released by Dolphins Coach Joe Philbin:

“We were disappointed to read Don’s tweets during the NFL Draft. They were inappropriate and unacceptable, and we regret the negative impact these comments had on such an important weekend for the NFL. We met with Don today about respect, discrimination and judgment. These comments are not consistent with the values and standards of our program. We will continue to emphasize and educate our players that these statements will not be tolerated.”

[Image: USA TODAY Sports]

Jones also apologized:

“I want to apologize to Michael Sam for the inappropriate comments that I made last night on social media. I take full responsibility for them and I regret that these tweets took away from his draft moment. I remember last year when I was drafted in the seventh round and all of the emotions and happiness I felt when I received the call that gave me an opportunity to play for an NFL team and I wish him all the best in his NFL career. I sincerely apologize to Mr. Ross, my teammates, coaches, staff and fans for these tweets. I am committed to represent the values of the Miami Dolphins organization and appreciate the opportunity I have been given to do so going forward.”

Let’s be real, Jones isn’t apologizing for his tweets; he’s apologizing because he got in trouble. There’s no way his homophobia could’ve been corrected in 48 hours.

Source/Source

Celebrity event planner David Tutera threw Lil Kim‘s baby shower on May 10 in New York. The lavish affair was perfect for the Queen Bee and her little princess.

There was a trumpet fanfare, royal purple decor, and a honeycomb-shaped cake. The luxury baby shower was also attended by Queen Bee’s most loyal subjects, er, friends, including Sandra “Pepa” Denton, LisaRaye McCoy, Kimbella, Juelz Santana, rapper Fred the Godson, and celebrity hairstylist Troy Turner. Lil Kim’s boyfriend/baby’s father Mr. Papers also attended the baby shower, as these types of events are now unisex.

Also on-hand were the cameras and production crew of Tutera’s “CELEBrations,” which will air Lil Kim’s baby shower Aug. 1 on WEtv at 9 p.m.

Keep clicking for more photos from the lavish affair.

[All images: Instagram]

Kimbella, Juelz Santana, Lil Kim, LisaRaye McCoy

Troy Turner, Pepa and her husband

Mr. Papers, Lil Kim, and David Tutera

Mr. Papers, LisaRaye McCoy, Fred the Godson, Juelz Santana

Pepa and LisaRaye McCoy

Troy Turner and Kai Morae, LisaRaye’s daughter

The purple decor fit for royalty.

A Maryland school arranged an untraditional graduation ceremony for one of their seniors in order to honor her mother’s dying wish. On Thursday, Megan Sugg graduated from Glen Burnie High School a month early with the requisite cap and gown, flowers and speeches at her mother’s hospital bedside.

Darlene Sugg had been battling colorectal cancer for four years before she took a turn for the worse and her family realized that she likely wouldn’t live to see her daughter’s June 10th graduation. At that point, Megan’s father, Steve Sugg, accepted an offer from school guidance counselor Kristin Canevazzi to have a private ceremony while Darlene would still be aware of what was happening.

“I know how proud her mom is of her and we really wanted to give her family a special time,” Canevazzi told the Maryland Gazette. “And to really honor Megan, because as much as she’s had going on, she’s pushed through and is going to graduate high school.”

Principal Vickie Plitt read a special speech that she’d written especially for Megan and her mother. Darlene even managed to open her eyes for the touching words. According to NBC News, there was not a dry eye in the room. “My wife was glowing to see Megan graduate,”said Steve.

Darlene passed away two days later. “She was hanging on to see my proud moment,” said Megan. “She knew it meant a lot.”

Google is testing out additional features for its popular email client Gmail design after announcing many of their programs will be bundled into one. A series of leaked photos shows a much cleaner and simpler Gmail design than last year’s update. The redesign will allow users to organize email using several different category icons, including finance, travel, updates, promotions and social media. The tabs, included in last year’s updates, that divided emails into primary, promotions and social sections have been removed.

Noticeably missing as well are the stars that allowed users to keep track of important messages. Instead, Gmail will encourage users to pin important messages to the top of their inbox or use a snooze feature that will move the email back to the top at a set time. More importantly the addition of a brand-new menu flying menu will replace the menu of links housed on the current static menu. The new Gmail design is aimed at making the desktop version easier to view at all resolutions and aligned with the mobile version-an important step toward consistency.

Google is working toward updating most of their programs or getting rid of them all together to push Google+ as a one stop shop. On May 15, Google Hangouts will serve as the new home for the soon to be shuttered internet call function currently provided by Google Voice. SMS messaging for Android phones is already merged into Hangouts as an all-in-one landing pad to send and receive texts.

Last week it was announced that Google Maps user can now easily request a ride and view the time for an Uber car while searching for a location. Google hasn’t announced a release date for the new email features but as Geek reports the updates may be coming soon. This Gmail design update gives the impression that Google understands the power of the catchphrase “Google it.”

Destiny’s Child member Kelly Rowland is now a married woman. Rowland wed her fiancé Tim Witherspoon on Friday, May 10 in a hush-hush ceremony in Costa Rica. US Magazine described the ceremony as “quick, simple” with “only 30 people.”

Despite early rumors of who was excluded from the guest list, attendees included Beyonce, sister Solange, their mother Tina Knowles and Michelle Williams. Jay-Z was noticeably missing from the guest list.

Although there aren’t any pictures of the intimate wedding, or any public posts from Rowland, Beyonce’ posted a picture some media sites suspect are from the wedding. Captioned with “Good morning”, it’s rumored Bey was wearing her bridesmaid dress.

Photo credit: Instagram/KellyRowland, Instagram/Beyonce
Rowland, 33, revealed her engagement to her manager/boyfriend on The Queen Latifah Show. The Motivation singer added he proposed on Skype!

“It was so late — we were just staring at each other,” she said of the moment before he popped the question last December.

This is Rowland’s first marriage. She was engaged to football player Roy Williams, but split in January 2005.

If Anderson Cooper‘s one-on-one sit down with Donald Sterling on “Anderson Cooper 360″ proved anything, it’s that the Clippers’ owner has too much money to care about truly changing his outlook on minorities. The disgraced billionaire had the following to say about Magic Johnson:

If I said anything wrong, I’m sorry,” Sterling responded. “He’s a good person. I mean, what am I going to say? Has he done everything he can do to help minorities? I don’t think so. But I’ll say it, he’s great. But I don’t think he’s a good example for the children of Los Angeles.

Johnson’s HIV activism and partnerships with AIDS organizations to lower statistics in the black community isn’t enough?

He also attempted to clean up his much-publicized racially insensitive remarks on the audio leaked by girlfriend V. Stiviano, telling Cooper, “When I listen to that tape, I don’t even know how I can say words like that…. I don’t know why the girl had me say those things,” he said. “I was baited … I mean, that’s not the way I talk. I don’t talk about people for one thing, ever. I talk about ideas and other things. I don’t talk about people.” He continued:

“I’m a good member who made a mistake and I’m apologizing and I’m asking for forgiveness,” he said. “Am I entitled to one mistake, am I after 35 years? I mean, I love my league, I love my partners. Am I entitled to one mistake? It’s a terrible mistake, and I’ll never do it again.”

He added, “I’m not a racist. I made a terrible mistake.” Which may make viewers wonder, what exactly Sterling considers to be a mistake about the lengthy voice mail message left to V. Stiviano – the fact that he said anything at all or that he was caught and banned for life from NBA games? We’re willing to bet this is not the last of Sterling’s outrageous remarks.

Magic Johnson has been fairly quiet on the matter since his tweets about Sterling’s first batch of remarks declaring that he and wife Cookie would never patronize another LA Clippers game with Sterling as owner. But yesterday, he addressed the matter on Twitter, seemingly for the last time:

After this week, no more Sterling talk. Just the NBA Playoffs, my @Dodgers and my @LA_Sparks!

— Earvin Magic Johnson (@MagicJohnson) May 13, 2014

A janitor who found $93,000 in a dirty toilet in August 2011 was awarded $76,000 of it this week for his good deed. The rest of the money will go to the state.

Chamimdu Amarsinghe was cleaning bathrooms in Australia’s Channel 9 headquarters in Docklands when he discovered a toilet filled with fifty and one hundred dollar bills.

“There was too much to count — I thought someone was playing a prank on me,” he said. “But when I touched the notes — all yellow and green — I realized it was real money.”

Upon discovery, Amarsinghe immediately summoned his supervisor. Police and a plumber retrieved the money from the pipes.

[Image: Shutterstock]

On Tuesday, Magistrate Michael Smith ordered the bulk of the money to the good Samaritan saying, “There’s no reason why such honesty should go unrewarded.”

Detective Senior Constable Daniel Thorne, who investigated the case, agreed. “All the guys in the office felt the same. He’s a struggling student who straight-up didn’t even think of pocketing it.”

Amarsinghe, who now works as a fast food worker, is studying IT in New Zealand. Describing his new fortune as a blessing, the former janitor will donate some money to help the disabled and some to a Buddhist temple in Berwick.

“I’m really, really lucky.” he said. “I’m not going to waste it.”

Source

Since his tirade against plus-sized women last week, former NBA player Charles Barkley has the following to say about issuing an apology, “That’s not gonna happen.”

Barkley came under fire from multiple organizations for the advocacy of full-figured women after making the statement on “Inside the NBA” that San Antonio is a “gold mine” for Weight Watchers because the women there are so big.

On the May 11 episode of TNT’s Inside the NBA, the outspoken Barkley said, “They want me to apologize? That’s not gonna happen.” He even told critics if they don’t like what he’s saying on the show, “Turn it off.”

Photo credit: Weight Watchers

After having his own struggles with obesity, even taking on the role of sponsoring Weight Watchers for men, you would think Barkley would be a bit more sensitive. Maybe he should shut up, “lose like a man,” and accept his defeat against plus-sized advocates. If he doesn’t, things could become a tad bit sticky. I foresee a firestorm of controversy coming his way, resulting in loss of endorsements and income before the deal is done.

Watch his current Weight Watchers campaign here.

Motorola is releasing the Moto E smartphone, priced at only $129 with no service contract. The average smartphone price is $337, with Apple’s 16 gigabyte iPhone 5s costing $649.

The “affordable for all” Android smart phone has a 4.3 inch screen, with 540 by 960 pixel resolution. With 4GB storage, the new smartphone boasts of a longer lasting battery for the average user. The downside to the Moto E is its limit to 3G networks and under. It cannot connect to the fast 4G LTE network.

The company is touting affordability and durability as the phone’s key qualities. Its body is protected with water-resistant coating with a Gorilla Glass front panel. Consumers will be able to customize the phone with a variety of different color and textures shells.

Moto E is the newest addition to the Motorola family, next to the Moto G, the company’s best selling smartphone to date. Motorola’s new marketing push says “smartphones haven’t always come at smart prices.” The company is going cheap in an attempt to lure customers to finally upgrade from their old phone, for a fraction of the price.

Customers can now pre-order the phone, with delivery set for early June.

Colorlines, a daily news site that puts race at the forefront of its conversations, has developed a new documentary series to discuss the plight of the Black man in America. “Life Cycles of Inequity: A Series on Black Men” is a project broadly covering the inequities that plague the Black male experience.

The project was largely borne out of writer Kai Wright‘s thoughts following the Trayvon Martin case. He felt that in order to fully understand the death of Martin and others like him, it would be best to explore the “context of their lives.”

“Each month, we will publish a package of content focused on a life stage or event that for black men in the United States is uniquely confined by broad, societal inequities. We begin with high school boys—Trayvon’s peers—and we will conclude with the early mortality that takes too many of our fathers, uncles and partners in their middle ages. We’ll explore issues ranging from school discipline to fatherhood, from job markets to health care access…The series is deliberately broad, but we certainly won’t cover the breadth of the black male experience. We won’t even exhaust the range of inequities that impact our lives. Rather, we’ve focused our efforts primarily on places where existing data shows a profound relationship between poor outcomes and being a black man.”

The first video of the series is a discussion between eight teens from Oakland. The segment, directed by André Lee, features the boys talking about some of the discrimination they face in the classroom and how they feel society limits them based on their identities as Black males.

Colorlines encourages those who watch the series to join in on the discussion via Facebook and Twitter to broaden the conversation. Watch the segment below:

Last night, as I was watching Anderson Cooper‘s exclusive interview with Donald Sterling, I found myself struggling NOT to laugh at everything that was spewing from his mouth. Truth be told, I love that Sterling did that interview without the assistance of a lawyer or a publicist. It was great seeing him torpedo his chances at regaining respect, eliminating the racist claims, and maintaining ownership of the L.A. Clippers. Every time Sterling attempted to seem remorseful, Cooper would ask him to expound on a comment, which only resulted in him looking far more ignorant. That interview will be used by every PR firm in America to justify why prospective clients need representation, and what can happen when you don’t have any, but, I digress.

The most interesting part of the interview was the comments Sterling made about Magic Johnson. Sterling repeatedly questioned what Magic did to deserve the praise he receives, as well as, questioned what Magic has done for the Black community. As “AC360″ progressed, Cooper did a great job of proving why Magic deserves praise by pulling the exact numbers he has raised for HIV awareness and by stating how his charity is highly-rated. But what I really want to talk about today is Sterling’s accusation that Black men like Magic don’t do nearly enough to help Black folk. My problem with that assertion is largely predicated on the fact that there are actually some Black folks who believe Sterling’s accusation actually has merit. But little do they know, Magic has done a lot for the Black community.

When Magic Johnson Enterprises was created, a division of the company called Johnson Development Corporation was launched to focus on inner-city development. In the 1980s, when the rise of crack met the living hell of Reaganomics, many urban epicenters were war zones. Neighborhoods where Black and brown people congregated were seen as “un-investable” and little was being done to provide those neighborhoods with businesses and employment opportunities. Magic saw how Blacks were being neglected across the country and decided to make a change. In 1995, the first Magic Johnson theater was launched in Crenshaw, and after that theaters popped up in Houston, Atlanta, Cleveland, and Harlem. These theaters created thousands of construction jobs and permanent positions to manage and operate them. Along with the theaters, Magic created strategic alliances with restaurants and other business that would be placed in and around the theaters, such as T.G.I. Fridays, Starbucks, Old Navy, Home Depot, Burger King, and Bed, Bath & Beyond.

In 1998, Magic forged an alliance with Canyon-Capital to create the Canyon-Johnson Urban Fund that has financed 31 real estate developments in 13 states. It launched its biggest investment fund in April of 2008 when it raised $1 billion from pension funds and other wealthy investors.

But there’s a reason that Donald Sterling wouldn’t see any of this as helping the Black community, because Magic is assisting the most overlooked group in America, poor folks. As far as Donald Sterling and his wife are concerned, poor Blacks are nothing more than the niggers they need to keep away from their buildings. Men like Sterling are the reason there were so few investments in urban communities, because that’s what housing discriminators do. The type of housing discrimination practiced by Sterling is the reason Black and brown folks had to drive 40-plus minutes outside of their own neighborhoods to see movies or go to a nice dinner. Magic may not be giving out “interest free million dollar loans” to Black entrepreneurs, but he has helped out the functional underclass who never will be millionaires or big-shot entrepreneurs. The same people who just want the security of a job that can help them pay their bills. If you want to ask what Magic Johnson has done for Black people, then that’s fair … unless your name is Donald Sterling and you engage in business practices that strongly assist structural racism in keeping people of color poor.

RELATED: Magic Johnson is Completely Done with Donald Sterling

LAB

Lincoln Anthony Blades blogs daily on his site ThisIsYourConscience.com, he’s an author of the book “You’re Not A Victim, You’re A Volunteer” and a weekly contributor for UPTOWN Magazine. He can be reached via Twitter @lincolnablades and on Facebook at This Is Your Conscience.

We often look to celebrities for style inspiration, and Jennifer Lopez rarely gets a sartorial moment wrong. Whether she’s working a booty-highlighting dress or a velour sweatsuit, La Lopez is always fabulous, chic, and age-appropriate. On a recent day in New York, Jennifer’s schedule ran the gamut from a low-key lunch with family to attending the NUVOtv 2014-2015 upfront. Although her two looks couldn’t be more different, they both fit her signature of looking effortlessly cool. The Zuhair Murad Resort 2014 look is right on-trend because it’s all-white. And there’s no look more casual than a white T-shirt and jeans. While funding may prevent you from purchasing Jennifer’s exact looks, we’ve got all the where-to-buy details for similar outfits.

[Images: Dara Kushner/Elder Ordonez/INFPhoto.com]

Draped Blouse, $29.95
Slim-Fit Pants, $14.95
Natasha Couture Box Clutch, $38
Manolo Blahnik Tayler Patent Pointed d’Orsay, $735

T By Alexander Wang Classic Jersey T-Shirt, $80
Topshop Moto ‘Hayden’ Patchwork Boyfriend Jeans, $84
Silver Coleman Sunglass, $50
Love Me Not Bangles, $59
Rio Sandals, $50

Not to be trite, but who didn’t love the Dog Pound during the original Arsenio Hall Show of the 1990’s? Unlike the banter Hall shared with past members of the Dog Pound, his current legal issues may be no laughing matter.

This week Paul Raff, a former freelancer for The Arsenio Hall Show filed a lawsuit in the Superior Court of California against Arsenio Hall, John Ferriter, CBS and Octagon. Raff is claiming fraudulent inducement, negligent misrepresentation, breach of fiduciary duty and unjust enrichment.

Raff, a seasoned television writer and former scribe for “Jimmy Kimmel Live” was initially sought after and approached by executive producer and agent John Ferriter to write for the new Arsenio Hall Show in 2012. According to the lawsuit, during his initial meeting with Hall, Raff was promised a head writer position on the series.

It was also during that initial meeting that Raff agreed to appoint Ferriter as his exclusive agent (which could have posed a conflict of interest since Ferriter was also Hall’s agent). A formal agreement was never executed so all the parties apparently operated on an oral agreement.

Raff ended up taking a freelance job writing, producing and directing clips for Hall’s website. Although it was a freelance job, Ferriter promised that the job would dovetail into pre-production. Raff completed five clips for the website but failed to shoot more because according to the lawsuit, “Hall was lazy and afraid of failure.” Subsequently Raff was never hired as a full-time staff writer for the series.

According to the lawsuit, Raff has been unemployed since June 2013. He claims he has suffered and will continue to suffer profound pain, emotional distress, anxiety, depression and sleeplessness. Because Raff forewent other employment in reliance on the promise that he would eventually be offered a permanent full-time position as a writer for The Arsenio Hall Show, he is also seeking monetary damages for lost wages, earnings and income. It is also worth noting that he is also seeking expenses for psychiatric counseling and treatment. Overall, he is seeking a total of $2 million in damages.

Because a formal agreement was never executed, Raff will have some difficulties proving all these claims. Moreover, if every writer in Hollywood filed a lawsuit over broken dreams and empty promises, the entire entertainment industry would be deemed inoperable. Perhaps this lawsuit is indeed on par with the Dog Pound jokes of past….

Jaia Thomas is a sports and entertainment attorney. For more information: www.jathomaslaw.com or @jaiathomaslaw. 

Rachel Roy, fashion designer, ex-wife of Damon Dash, and mother of his 14-year-old daughter Ava, attended the Met Gala two years ago with Solange Knowles on her hip. However, it has been speculated by several sources that an argument between the pair is what triggered Solange’s aggravated mood on the evening of this year’s Met Gala.

Radio maven-turned-talk show host Wendy Williams is never one to bite her tongue, and in Tuesday’s edition of “Hot Topics,” things got messy. Wendy revealed that she knew of Dame Dash’s and Jay Z’s past of passing around girls who pretended to be interns at the Rocawear offices, namely Roy herself!

View the full segment on the next page.

It is highly questionable that Beyoncé snapped on a partygoer for checking Solange. Wouldn’t someone have stepped forward as a witness to the scene? But ironically, Dame instagramed the following pic after news of the incident broke:

Is this an unspoken admission of Roy’s involvement, perhaps? And just when we thought things were all good between Dame and old pal Jay Z!

We all know what the sound of the ice cream truck means: warm weather, bright sunshine and, of course, ice cream. The tinkle of the tune it plays triggers a sense of yearning for the innocence of childhood. Well, it turns out that one of these seemingly innocuous little ditties is not so innocent.

Code Switch decided to delve into the history behind one of the popular tunes. Depending on where you live, the variation of songs may be different, but I know one of the ones I’ve often heard is the tune from “Do Your Ears Hang Low.” It turns out that this is derived from the 19th century song “Turkey in the Straw.” However, the song only became popular in the United States after it was widely spread as a minstrel song [warning: the song may be upsetting].

According to the article:

“Nigger Love A Watermelon Ha! Ha! Ha!” merits the distinction of the most racist song title in America. Released in March 1916 by Columbia Records, it was written by actor Harry C. Browne and played on the familiar depiction of black people as mindless beasts of burden greedily devouring slices of watermelon.

As quickly as it began, the music paused, and this call-and-response ensued:

Browne: “You niggers quit throwin’ them bones and come down and get your ice cream!”

Black men (incredulously): “Ice Cream?!?”

Browne: “Yes, ice cream! Colored man’s ice cream: WATERMELON!!”

E-cigarettes have been having the worst month ever. We reported last month that there were high rates of children being poisoned by them. Recently, the FDA made bold moves to regulate them and it will likely be granted this right. Now, studies have shown that e-cigarettes do not help people quit smoking, as some of the manufacturers claim.

Scientists at the University of California San Francisco analyzed 84 studies on e-cigarettes. Dr. Stanton Glanz, director of UCSF’s Center for Tobacco Control Research and Education, says that the devices are actually having the opposite effect. “Many people are using e-cigarettes because they are hoping to quit smoking. Smokers who use e-cigarettes are actually less likely to quit smoking than smokers who aren’t using e-cigarettes,” he said.

[Image: Shutterstock]

All of these developments will likely bolster the FDA’s argument for regulation of e-cigarettes. FDA Commissioner Mary Hamburg wrote in a letter to the New York Times:

“The proposed rule is a critical first step to bring an end to the completely unregulated e-cigarette marketplace. When it is finalized, e-cigarette companies will be required to report the levels of harmful and potentially harmful chemicals or chemical compounds delivered by their products. But we cannot enact a rule on reporting or restricting e-cigarette emissions until this foundational rule-making is completed, which is one of our highest priorities.”

Some cities have taken preemptive strikes and banned e-cigarettes where conventional cigarettes are not allowed. Although many e-cigarette companies like to say in their ads that the devices emit a “harmless” vapor, the studies have not proven that claim to be true.

There is still very little known about the health risks of e-cigarettes. At this point, all that seems to be known for sure is that they are exposing people to toxic chemicals.

A North Carolina girl has accused her six brothers of sexually abusing her at a family compound, and said their parents had full knowledge of the abuse for nearly a decade. Perquimans County Sheriff Eric Tilley said the six brothers, ranging in age from 19 to 27, have been charged with abusing the girl from age 4 to 14 years old, while they were home schooled. Her brothers have been identified as Aaron Jackson, 19, Benjamin Jackson, also 19, Nathaniel Jackson, 21, Mathew Jackson, 23, Jon Jackson, 25, and Eric Jackson, 27. Parents John Jackson, 65, and Nita Jackson, 54, face charges of felony child abuse because they were witnesses and allowed the acts to continue, Tilley said.

Police first learned of the crime from Eric Jackson, who came forward in 2012 after the pastor at Hope Baptist Church encouraged him to speak to the police. Then, two other brothers confirmed to police that they had abused their sister. When police attempted to question the young girl to investigate the claims, her parents blocked officials from speaking about what happened at the family compound. Her parents then moved the family to the Colorado Springs area of Colorado. An act that proved to be the break police needed to keep the investigation moving forward.

In Colorado, social services were notified about the allegations and stepped in to remove the young girl from the home. Only then were officials from North Carolina able to interview her about the allegations. For over eight hours the young girl told police about the details of the abuse. The family was arrested and brought in by police to face the charges.

Tilley is disgusted at the actions of the parents and holds them responsible for not raising the young men to know their actions were out of place. “I don’t think they know the magnitude of what they’ve done because I don’t think they knew it was wrong. They haven’t been taught any differently,” said Sheriff Tilley. All six of the brothers are now being held on $150,000 bond while they await sentencing. The parents are free on $15,000 bond.

[Image: Shutterstock]

The LAPD and Jay Z have closed the investigation into his stolen masters, worth $20 million, a few weeks after reports surfaced that engineer Chauncey Mahan would be charged with criminal extortion. LAPD officials were tipped off that Mahan contacted representatives of Live Nation, parent company of Jay’s Roc Nation entertainment group, to sell masters from 1998 – 2002 recording sessions. Those presumably are masters from recording sessions for six albums including Vol. 3…Life and Times of S. Carter and 2000′s The Dynasty: Roc La Familia. Mahan originally asked for $100,000 before agreeing to sell the tapes for a “storage fee” of $750,000 in April.

Mahan told investigators that record company Def Jam asked him to hold onto the masters because no one else would take ownership of them. He says he repeatedly attempted to contact Jay’s camp to return the masters, but he was a “a stupid kid smoking blunts.” He said those calls went unanswered until Jay’s camp caught wind of the pending sale. Jay’s reps said they believed the masters had been lost.

Now LAPD officials are saying that Jay Z has decided not to pursue pressing charges against Mahan for the masters, according to TMZ. But no so fast, Mahan isn’t off the hook yet. A judge order is still pending on who will end up with the masters. Jay’s camp hasn’t revealed why they have decided to drop the charges. Quite possibly they are attempting to shift the focus from the #CarterGate elevator fight with sister-in-law Solange Knowles or focusing on the Carters’ upcoming summer, stadium On The Run Tour.

An 11-year-old Tulsa boy shot his grandmother in the back of the head to avoid punishment for getting in trouble in school. Annie Mougell-Walker, said that her grandson got in trouble at school and she intended to discuss it with him after getting home from work. Before she could do so, he retrieved a loaded .22 caliber gun from her bedroom.

She recalls seeing a big flash and hearing the gunshot as she realized her grandson had shot her in the back of the head. Walker was able to call 911, who rushed to the scene and transported her to Saint Francis Hospital.

Walker, 42, originally lied to police saying someone else had shot her. Her grandson also told police that someone else committed the crime and sent them scrambling to find the culprit. Walker eventually changed her story and told officials her grandson was behind the trigger.  After the interview, her grandson was arrested and charged with shooting with intent to kill. Officer Jillian Roberson told reporters that the shooting was connected to some sort of progress report. Police have not released details on whether they will charge him as an adult.

Walker returned home later in the day wearing a neck brace and the bullet still lodged in her skull. Doctors were unable to remove the bullet but she said the doctors believe the metal piece will come out by itself.

Watch her interview below:

Just days ago, Michael Sam and his boyfriend were seen celebrating the good news of the Rams picking him up in the seventh round of the 2014 NFL draft. The kiss seen round the world had many wondering just who was the man standing beside Sam. Details are surfacing about the mafia and port connections of the boyfriend of Michael Sam, the first openly gay player drafted by the NFL.

Sam’s boyfriend Vito Cammisano is the grandson of the late Kansas City mafia boss William Cammisano. The New York Daily News dug up an article about a 1980s Senate hearing that described Willie earned the nickname ‘Willie the Rat’ “because he killed people and stuck them in the sewers so the rats could eat them.” On the less severe side, he received charges of bootlegging and refusing to cooperate with a Congressional probe into the mob. He spent years behind bars for extortion and contempt of Congress before his death in 1995 at 80.

Apparently the mafia life stretches further into the Cammisano clan.

Willie The Rat’s son racked up charges for running an illegal sports operation that made $3.5 million leading to his 2010 arrest. He was sentenced to one year and a day in prison. Vito’ s father Jerry was also connected to the family business and received a sentence of 14 months in federal prison and slapped with a $200,000 fine in 2011.

Also Michael Sam isn’t the first high profile man Vito has dated. Gay adult entertainment star Austin Wilde took to his Twitter in what serves as a friendly reminder that he and Vito dated last year. Wilde, a popular porn star, posted a picture of the former couple laying in bed with a dog. He captioned the picture “Oh. Who remembers when Vito (Michael Sam’s boyfriend) and I had a thing.” The photo has since been removed with Wilde saying porn company Str8upgayporn broke the story.

Despite connections to the Mafia and the porn industry, Vito has stayed clear of those paths. Instead he became an accomplished college swimmer at The University Of Missouri, the same school as Sam.