Singer Brandy took to Twitter to announce that she will be headed to Broadway to play Roxie Hart in the classic musical Chicago.

I’m so excited to announce that I’m joining the Broadway cast of @CHICAGOMusical as Roxie Hart. http://t.co/8GxWwgIN3n

— вяαи∂у (@4everBrandy) March 24, 2015

The actress will no longer be referred to as Chardonay from her run on BET’s The Game and is currently in rehearsals for the Broadway show. She’s joining an eight week run of the classic at the Ambassador Theatre in New York City from April 28th– June 21st.

Tickets are available at ChicagoMusical.com

Devon Still, an NFL player with the Cincinnati Bengals announced on Monday that his 4-year-old daughter Leah Still‘s cancer is now in remission.

In his Instagram post announcing the good news, he called Monday the greatest day of his life.

“After 296 days of day dreaming about what it would feel like to hear the doctors say my daughter is in remission, I finally know the feeling,” he wrote. “Funny thing is there is really no way of describing it because I never knew this feeling existed. When I look at my daughter all I can do is smile and hug her.”

Still’s story garnered attention when the Bengals, who had cut the 25-year-old defensive tackle, decided to re-sign him when they learned of his daughter’s condition. The team gave him a spot on the practice squad so that he could keep up with Leah’s medical bills, but he has since been added to their active roster.

Doctors diagnosed Leah with stage 4 neuroblastoma on June 2. She underwent surgery and chemotherapy after doctors found a cancerous growth in her abdomen.

Fans have rallied around Leah as she battled cancer. She was a part of a ceremony in December in which the Bengals presented a $1 million check to the Cincinnati Children’s Hospital to go toward pediatric cancer research. She also strutted her stuff at the New York Mercedes-Benz Fashion Week in February.

Still is extremely proud of the way that Leah fought through her experience and “kicked cancer’s butt.” He thanked Leah’s doctors at the Philadelphia Children’s Hospital, the Bengals franchise and the many supporters who sent letters and messages of encouragement.

Although Leah is not done with treatment, her dad is confident that his “little warrior” will make it through.

“She has made an impact on me and on the world, at the age of four, that I can only wish to make in a lifetime,” he wrote.

[Source]

When Beyoncé released the silly, home-made visual to her hip dance tune “7/11″ last November, girls everywhere grabbed their girlfriends, taking to hallways and bathrooms to re-create the video in their own way. And tennis superstar Serena Williams is the latest to put her spin on the radio hit, but instead of pretty girls, she added mature men, tennis rackets and booty -popping on a tennis court instead.

With the help of Vogue magazine, the 33-year-old tennis champion used only a GoPro to film her cute dance moves at the BallenIsles Country Club in Florida.

Now that’s how you work it.

Although Marvin Gaye‘s children and widow were granted a victory in the trial against Pharrell Williams and Robin Thicke over their copyright violation of Gaye’s song, “Got to Give it Up” in their song, “Blurred Lines,” not everyone is celebrating. Gaye’s sisters say that they are not receiving any of the $7.4 million that was awarded in the case, and they believe their legendary brother would not have wanted it this way.

Gaye’s sisters, 69-year-old Zeola Gaye and 78-year-old Jeanne Gaye, were both featured on the original recording of “Got to Give It Up,” with Zeola making the party noises that were the center of the recent trial. The sisters say that their brother’s second wife of 11 years, Jan, is in charge of his estate and that she will not give them any money made from Gaye’s music because of a book that Zeola wrote titled, “My Brother, Marvin.”  In the book, Zeola said that Jan cheated on Gaye with singers Rick James and Teddy Pendergrass.  She also said that his wife, who was only 16 when he met her, was unpleasant toward their mother and tried to poison Gaye.

“Jan is very unhappy that I wrote a book and told the truth. Some people can’t handle the truth. But I stand by everything I wrote, 100 per cent,” Zeola told Daily Mail.

Gaye’s second wife told Daily Mail that the things she was accused of in the book were shocking.

“She accused me of some pretty vile things in her book like trying to kill Marvin” said Jan. For somebody to accuse me of trying to murder the father of my children was really distasteful.”

Jan has accused the younger sister of “picking on [Marvin’s] bones,” according to Zeola.

The ladies of The Real always know how to start a discussion, whether it’s positive or negative, and they recently got the conversation going when they brought up the subject of bullying. The hosts all shared their own stories of how they feel they have been bullied in school and during their time in Hollywood, but it was Tamar Braxton who really took things to an emotional level.

The “All The Way Home” singer discussed her experiences of dealing with negative comments on her social media page, and then brought up the insult that gets to her the most, which is being compared to a muppet. Tamar began to weep when she talked about how personally she takes the specific criticism, and even revealed that sometimes she starts to believe it, asking her husband Vincent Herbert if he thinks it’s true. The insult was first introduced by singer/reality star K. Michelle with whom Tamar engaged in a war of words online, and was only enhanced further when Tamar got into another public back-and-forth with Chris Brown who said the same thing.

Every action warrants a reaction. You can’t go and start a fight with someone then when they reply cry and play victim.

— K. Michelle (@kmichelle) March 25, 2015

Some of the ladies shed tears alongside Tamar while she shared her thoughts. “This person has the whole world calling me that and it’s just so devastating because it takes me back to high school.” Tamar’s co-hosts continued to offer their support to Tamar, with Adrienne Bailon even adding to “stay positive” at the end of the segment.

Taraji P. Henson started a huge discussion after sharing the story of her son, Marcel, being racially profiled while visiting the University Of South California. During her interview with Uptown last month, the prestigious school has gotten word of the Empire actress’ claims, and they are finally responding.

The Department of Public Safety’s head John Thomas released a statement addressing Taraji’s comments.

“I was deeply disturbed to read news reports about a prospective student who felt profiled on or near campus because of his race. We encourage reporting of allegations of bias and I hope for the opportunity to have a conversation with the young man and his mother,” said Thomas who described his disgust with her claims.

Thomas continued by saying that he wants to investigate the incident, in order to come to a resolution. “I would like to look into this matter further and better understand who was involved and what took place. As someone who personally experienced racial profiling as a teenager, I have a stake in learning more about this incident and doing all I can to reach a just resolution,” he said.

Thomas also mentioned that he did not receive any information on the incident when it occurred, stating, “It is not clear to me which police departments were involved. Any allegation of bias or unequal treatment by university officers would trigger an investigation that I would supervise along with the university’s Office of Equity and Diversity. It is my expectation and that of the university that our department uphold the highest standards of constitutional policing, affording equal rights and respect to all persons.”

While sharing the story with us, Taraji revealed that it led her to want to send Marcel to an HBCU, her alma mater Howard University specifically, so that he may avoid any racial profiling in the future.

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Footage of fraternity members from the University of Oklahoma reciting the lyrics to a racist chant has been the video watched around the world, and now the students who participated are speaking out. Levi Pettit was one of the frat members who was expelled from the university for leading the chant in the video, and issued a publicly apology at a press conference yesterday, while surrounded by many Oklahoma City community Black leaders.

Pettit said in his statement, “Some have wondered why I hadn’t spoken out publicly. The truth is I have had a mix of pain, shame, sorrow and fear over the consequences of my actions,” said Pettit, whose voice quivered slightly as he spoke. “I did not want to apologize to the press or to the whole country first until I came to apologize to those most directly impacted.”

He also explained his actions, but did not describe where he learned the chant in the first place, “The truth is what was said in that chant is disgusting … and after meeting with these people I’ve learned these words should never be repeated.”

State Sen. Anastasia Pittman, who was in attendance at the press conference, revealed that Pettit reached out to her to meet with officials and offer an apology. “I admire his courage of reaching out to me and saying, ‘I want to meet with you face to face and apologize to you directly,”‘ said Pittman, D-Oklahoma City. “I believe he is sincere.”

Since the video’s release, OU has disbanded the SAE chapter at the school, and the frat claims to want to take steps to be more inclusive at schools across the country.

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Having an acting career that spans more than 20 years, Malik Yoba has experienced the death of many of his characters, including Gavin’s fatal auto collision in Why Did I Get Married Too? and Bill Harken being amongst the collapsing victims in the Alphas series finale. But the visceral reaction from fans to Empire‘s Vernon Turner‘s fatal fate has been a surprise. One that has sparked rumors, thinly veiled as theories, about why Yoba was let go from the hit FOX series. Now Yoba is addressing the fallout from the season one finale, explaining how he isn’t fazed by Vernon’s death, and revealing the true purpose of his fame.

The blogosphere has been whirling with two rumors regarding Yoba’s dismissal from Empire. One being that Vernon’s death was payback from Lee Daniels, who is gay, for Yoba supposedly “outing” co-star Jussie Smollett before he was ready. The other rumor is that Yoba is on drugs and the rest of the cast and crew were finding it difficult to work with him.

However, Yoba says the reason he was dismissed from Empire was simpler and definitely less salacious than both rumors. FOX, he says, demanded that a major character die in the season finale. He says he learned of Vernon’s death from an equally surprised Daniels in episode 11, but was still in support of the story because what they were doing was something “very, very special.” He says he remains proud to be a part of Empire because they made TV history, like he did previously with New York Undercover.

“When I did find out what was going on with Empire, it was a creative decision,” said Yoba. “And people can decide however they want to tell that story … I left the show on good terms.”

It’s safe to assume killing off Vernon was a tactic to keep the buzz going long after the season finale. And it’s worked, because this fan of Empire still can’t get over how Vernon went down.

The “revenge from Lee Daniels” rumor doesn’t make sense, however, because Yoba says he always signed onto the project because of Daniels, recalling his audition in which the co-creator of the series stopped Yoba and apologized for making him audition. In addition, Yoba says he left Empire with the option to direct future episodes. Surely, Daniels wouldn’t seek payback and then allow another opportunity. In his decades-long career, Yoba has not only worked in front the camera, but also behind it as a writer, director, and executive producer for other projects.

Yoba says the “drug abuse” rumor is a symptom of people, bloggers specifically, not being able to separate fact from fiction. His character Vernon had a cocaine relapse and went to rehab, but Malik Yoba the man doesn’t have those troubles.

“The irony is that in the television show I play a character that had a relapse. People don’t seem to be able to differentiate the two or someone woke up and said, ‘You know what? I’m just gonna put out some negative press about this individual so that I can position myself.’ And that’s a tragedy.”

Yoba does take issue with those who are spreading this gossip and maligning his character in the process.

“We’ve seen recently how people can use pop culture to malign people — misinform the public. And the scary thing is people don’t check facts anymore … I think it’s more of a commentary on who we are as a culture and a people … You know growing up journalism was a very serious profession and you couldn’t print something without checking the facts. Now we live in a world where people say anything they want just because they can,” explains Yoba.

So what’s a man to do?

[Image: Kevin Kneeland & Nicole Oriatti of K&N Media]

Yoba lives by the Mahatma Gandhi quote: “First they ignore you. Then they laugh at you. Then they fight you. Then you win.” And as a man of faith, he says he’ll continue walking in his true purpose, which is using his celebrity to foster positive change.

“You know I got shot at 15 and I’ve been a community servant since then, even before that. I was just one of those young people that had a lot of wisdom and I would share it,” Yoba said. “But my father was the type of man that always said if there’s a hole, fill it. Community activism, helping folks, it’s just in my DNA. I raise my children that way, to be of service to people.”

Yoba is working with the National Urban League in Ferguson, Missouri. He also helped Save Our Sons raise $1.25 million. The program provides jobs and job training to unemployed and under-employed Black men.

“Empire was a great experience to be on the show with some great people. And creatively, people make decisions on what happens to characters,” said Yoba. “And I think that speaks to something my father always said, ‘Build your own generator so when they turn out the power, you have light.'”

To that end Yoba’s one of the creative minds behind lifestyle company iconic32, which “fuels and harnesses the unlimited creative potential of the masses, with a specific emphasis on the emerging youth populations, to develop cultural movements -– all in the name of societal progress,” according to its website. A portion of profits from the socially-driven i32 products are donated to partner foundations, while the i32 Be consultancy helps companies develop brand strategies that benefit them and communities at large.

Although Yoba has desire to once again step behind the camera as a director and is promoting a more socially-conscious business world, he isn’t leaving acting behind. He has completed Brotherly Love and has four more projects in post-production. In Brotherly Love, out April 24th, Yoba plays the Overbrook High School basketball coach who was instrumental in the life of Sergio Taylor, the nation’s top high school basketball player. The film stars Keke Palmer, Corey Hardrict, and Eric D. Hill Jr. as Taylor. Yoba also stars in the Christian faith-based drama Restored Me; the romantic suspense Of Sentimental Value, in which he plays a Nigerian; the action film Hood; and the Brooklyn-based drama Where the Heart Lies. He’s currently in Los Angeles working on another action film titled Paradox, in which he plays a time traveler who goes back to the past in order to position himself well in the future, by creating a time machine with the help of a group of MIT students, and things go horribly wrong.

“It’s cool to fall into a completely different role and I get to do some character work. I don’t get much of a chance to do some voice work and the physical stuff I like to do,” said Yoba of his Paradox role. “The guy I play is an Englishman, so I get to go completely different from how most people have seen me before.”

[Image: Kevin Kneeland & Nicole Oriatti of K&N Media]

You were missing the Puerto Rican princess Joseline Hernandez and her “husband” Stevie J, weren’t you? Well, the cast of VH1’s Love and Hip Hop: Atlanta is back, with more drama than ever before and a few mix-ups in the lineup.

Joseline will return, but will miss a few episodes for assaulting numerous cast mates at the season three reunion. Mimi Faust and ex-boyfriend Nikko are making a comeback, but this season, his wife will tag along for the ride.

Karlie Redd, Lil’ Scrappy and girlfriend Bambi, along with his baby mother Erica Dixson and on-again-off-again friend Erica Pinkett will also be returning with Rasheeda and husband Kirk. K. Michelle will be returning to Atlanta, after making appearances on the New York series and starring in her own spinoff show.

You won’t see Benzino and fiancé Althea, after the couple got fired from the show. Waka Flocka Flame and wife Tammy will also not return.

Even though Joseline admitted the story lines are fake, will you still tune in to the ratchetness?

The accusations of sexual assault by legendary comedian Bill Cosby still linger over his head like a heavy weight, despite some coming to his defense, including fellow Philadelphian Jill Scott. But others aren’t so supportive, as Chelsea Handler revealed a weird encounter she had with America’s Dad in a hotel room that mirrors current accusations from Cosby’s alleged victims.

In an interview with Esquire, Handler said the alleged incident took place “like 10 years ago.” The late night TV host said she was told Cosby wanted to see her in his hotel suite. “And I said, ‘That’s really weird. I don’t want to go alone.’ I go, ‘I don’t know him.'”

She continued: “So the three guys I was with — thank God these guys were with me. One was filming and one was like a producer; we were filming something — I brought them up with me to his room and thank God I did, because now I know what would’ve happened if I went up there alone.”

The 40-year-old comic was only reminded of her story recently, after one of the men who accompanied her texted her about Cosby’s rape assault allegations. “He said, ‘Hello! You could’ve been one of his victims if we weren’t there.’ And I went, ‘Oh my gosh …,'” Handler said. “Yeah, so yeah, he’s guilty.”

Cosby’s lawyer has vehemently denied any wrongdoing and hasn’t been charged with a crime. Athlough the 77 year old hasn’t much acknowledged the dozens of accusations of rape and drugging, his career took a huge hit. Despite still performing standup comedy routines, “The Cosby Show” was yanked from syndication and his upcoming NBC show got the boot.

I don’t believe in apologies. I don’t believe in giving them, demanding them, or trusting them. Most apologies are either just empty words used to placate someone in an angry, frustrated, or sad state, or an admission of how sad someone is they got caught. Very rarely does an apology truly symbolize someone’s heartfelt resentment of their past actions, but what will always indicate true remorse more than any word a person can utter is their actions. Don’t tell me, show me.

So when I woke up this morning to the news that one of the boys from the SAE fraternity video, Levi Pettit, was issuing an apology for leading the racist chant, I was instantly disgusted. I am truly convinced that if this story was NOT a video, but rather a Black student’s first-hand account of what happened or even an audio clip where no faces were clearly visible, that white boy would’ve denied any involvement and would probably be using his family’s resources to threaten the accuser with legal action. The truth is, Pettit’s a privileged young white man in America which means he has a bright future that he does not want to see derailed by scandal. He knew that by admitting his guilt and forcing out an apology, he can do some semblance of damage control in certain communities. But it wasn’t his fake-ass apology that disgusted me the most. It was the old Negroes behind him seemingly cheering him on and congratulating him for “coming to his senses.”

Simply put, those old folks can go fuck themselves.

Look, I understand that there is much to be said for forgiveness and empathy, but in a country so irrevocably damaged by RACISM, it’s time that Black people start demanding tangible change instead of empty apologies and promises. When I talk about racism, I don’t mean unkind and offensive words, I mean the type of racism that affects minorities’ employment opportunities, how we are racially profiled by the authorities, and how we’re discriminated against in the legal system. That oppression is systemically held in place by racist douchebags like these SAE kids. Today, they’re young men singing about “lynching niggers” and tomorrow they are the CFOs of prominent firms, owners of small to medium sized businesses, and hiring managers at Fortune 500 companies. These kids, who so comfortably sing and joke about killing Black people, are literally the leaders of tomorrow, and telling them that their prejudice proclivities will be easily forgiven by a “heartfelt” apology is to miss the point of defeating systemic racism.

The same can be said about Joey Casselberry, the college student who referred to young Mo’ne Davis as a slut. It was kinda cool that her youthfully ignorant response was to claim that the boy should not have been thrown off the team because he worked hard to get there, but his ass NEEDS to be out of baseball NOW, until he changes his outlook on the world, if he ever gets that far. It’s idiots like him that get to become assistant coaches or even head coaches, who are then tasked with the immeasurable responsibility of shaping young people’s minds, and the ease with which he degraded a young girl he’s never met says there’s a lot of foul, vile shit going on in his head. Maybe, just maybe, we should investigate what’s up there and examine if and how he wants to carry out those views before we say “it’s all good fam.”

I wrote this here months ago when that Black church decided to bring in Donald Sterling and forgive him during the height of his controversy: When it comes to our values, Black folks are cheap. We believe that the nicety of accepting one’s alleged atonement is equal to the actual damage they’ve committed through their racist actions. The truth is, by accepting apologies from racists and keeping it moving, we hold them to no standard of accountability to live racism-free lives.

Picture a child molester who goes around sexually abusing young boys and young girls, getting caught red handed, and arrested. Imagine that the pedophile’s punishment was apologizing to “anyone he may have hurt.” Now imagine that molester being released back into the public with no one monitoring their actions. That’s damn near impossible for many of us to even consider, because we all know that pedophiles NEED to be registered, carefully watched, and heavily scrutinized. There’s a high probability that they will repeat their actions. Well, that’s how I feel about racists. As much as one young man can say they’re sorry, their racism is embedded so deep into them that releasing them back onto an unsuspecting society will have calamitous effects on the next person of color that has to interact with them.

The reason racism never goes away is because we allow Black cowards to convince us that all we truly need to do is “extend a loving hand” to those who would rather see us oppressed, than socially castrating them in the harsh manner which they deserve. When we allow overtly prejudice assholes to spew hatred with only a little slap on the wrist as a punishment, we don’t make it disadvantageous for them to employ racist practices in their lives, or even hand-down racist ideology to their children. At most, we just teach them to be more quiet about it. It’s time for Black people to stop begging to hear “I’m sorry” from people who hate us, and start demanding that they SHOW us how much they’ve actually changed.

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.

The OWN network is rolling out more than a few captivating series for the latter part of 2015. Network heads have already revealed that they have green-lit a docu-series for reality star Evelyn Lozada, who was once featured on “Iyanla: Fix My Life.” Now, Jay Williams, the man with 34 children who was also once the subject on an episode of Iyanla Vanzant‘s life coaching program, will have his own show on the channel this fall.

Williams appeared on ‘Fix My Life’ to confront his issues of continuously impregnating woman and refusing to take care of his responsibilities.  Williams’ relationship with most of his 34 children was nonexistent, and he had claimed he wanted help to build those connections with not only his offspring, but also the 17 mothers.

The OWN network released a statement saying that the aforementioned is exactly what will be displayed in Williams’ upcoming show:

“Untitled Jay Williams Project” (Working Title – Premieres September 2015)

On the heels of the highly-rated and controversial “Iyanla: Fix My Life” multi-part “mega fix” featuring Atlanta resident Jay Williams who says he fathered 34 children with 17 different women, OWN follows Jay as he works to put his life and relationships in order.  With spiritual life coach Iyanla Vanzant holding him accountable every step of the way, OWN’s cameras follow Jay as he works to heal and establish new connections with his family, his children and the mothers of his children. He says that he wants to change and to be the best father he can be, but his extreme situation will challenge his best intentions and whether or not he can live up to all the responsibility.  The series is co-produced by OWN and Evolution Media.

Watch this clip from Williams’ powerful intervention with Vanzant for a peek of what you can expect from the reality show.

Things just keep getting better and better for Taraji P. Henson.  The actress has a hit television show on her hands with Fox’s Empire, and now she is set to host the iconic sketch comedy show Saturday Night Live next month.

Henson has been completely ecstatic about her upcoming gig, as it’s her first time ever hosting the show.  She posted a message on her Instagram page confirming the news and expressing her excitement:

“DREAMS DO COME TRUE!!!!!!!! #Believe #Faith #HardWorkPaysOff MOST IMPOTANTLY #GodIs Have a BLESSED day!!!! *cue @pharrell #HappySong*”

She confirmed it again when she retweeted a picture posted by SNL of its recent Empire parody.

The joke in the segment is that the new office manager at Empire Entertainment is a White guy who finds himself uncomfortably out of place among the majority-Black staff.  The sketch is giving some Empire fans hope that Henson will be in character as Cookie Lyon when she hosts.

Jussie Smollett, who plays her son, Jamal Lyon, on the show, wrote some words of congrats to Henson via his Instagram page: “You deserve all of this so much.”

The SNL episode hosted by Henson will air on April 11.  The music guest will be Mumford & Sons.

Indiana is in crisis after its governor, Mike Pence, declared the state to be under a public health emergency.  His executive order was enacted due to the alarming spike in new HIV cases, mostly coming from Scott County in southeast Indiana. Since January, the county has experienced 79 new cases of the virus, and drug use is the culprit of the epidemic.

The amount of Scott County citizens diagnosed with HIV is steadily increasing. Health officials report that the country generally has five cases of the illness per year. State epidemiologist Pam Pontones says that the root of the increase is drug users sharing needles.  Pontones specifically mentioned that the drug being abused in many of these cases is Opana, a liquid prescription painkiller.

“This is all hands on deck. This is a very serious situation,” Pence announced during a press conference Thursday.

Govenor Pence’s executive demands will be enforced for at least 30 days and include HIV and substance abuse treatment; a campaign highlighting HIV, safe sex, drug abuse, and needle safety awareness; and the enforcement of needle exchange programs, which allows for turning in used hypodermic needles for clean ones. The latter tactic is typically prohibited in Indiana.

“I do not enter into this lightly,” Pence said. “In response to a public health emergency, I’m prepared to make an exception to my long-standing opposition to needle exchange programs.”

But Beth Meyerson, the co-director of the Rural Center for AIDS/STD Prevention at Indiana University, doesn’t support the governor’s efforts.  She says that more needs to be done, and that the needle exchange program will be a failure.

“There’s zero evidence to support the governor’s proposition. His solution is not based on public health science,” Meyerson said. “I appreciate the governor’s flexibility, but it’s not even close to being an appropriate response.”

But there are some health experts who are faithfully behind Pence’s strategy, such as Indiana University School of Medicine’s infectious disease specialist, Diane Janowicz. She also believes that the HIV rise may stem from the economic and social disparities that Scott County experiences.

“This is a very large HIV epidemic that we have not seen before, particularly in an undeserved rural setting where resources are more limited than in a large urban area, and there are going to be social and economic obstacles that we will have to overcome in order to make sure that we’re providing the best care for these patients,” said Janowicz, who serves as the medical director for the Midwest AIDS Training and Education, an organization that is assisting with the Scott County crisis.

After the initial 30-day period is up, Pence will be able to determine whether the executive order needs to be extended.

If you hear the name Naturi Naughton, you might be familiar with her as one of the main characters on the Starz hit series Power, and if you see her face, you might remember her as portraying Lil Kim in the Notorious film. Well, before she was part of hit projects on the small screen and big screen, she was making hit songs with the former girl group 3LW. Since then, fans have wondered why Naturi hasn’t made any new music since the group’s disbandment, and she finally gave some answers during her sit-down interview with VladTV.

Naturi revealed that she was blackballed in the music industry following her time in 3LW, while speaking on Mo’Nique claiming she has been blackballed in Hollywood. She explained, “I remember hearing that and thinking ‘Damn, this is crazy!’ One minute you’re up, and one minute you’re down. I think there’s always this cycle when you’re a Black woman in Hollywood. It can be frustrating. You start to feel like you’re just a fad.”

Though Mo’Nique believes she was blackballed by Hollywood execs, Naturi said she can relate, based on her experiences in the music industry.

“When I was in 3LW, I feel like they tried to blackball me in the industry then. I wanted to get back in the record business. When I was pushed out of that group, I was kind of put in this box where nobody could sign me, and nobody could touch me. That’s actually exactly what I felt,” she said.

Naturi also reveals that she doesn’t feel her being blackballed in the music industry impacted her career in Hollywood, as she was still able to find work. The “audience embraced me,” she said.

It’s not too often Dr. Dre does in-depth interviews, but Big Boy was able to speak on a lot of topics with him on his radio show this week. The former Death Row founder stopped by “Big Boy’s Neighborhood,” where he gave the scoop on the upcoming N.W.A. biopic titled Straight Outta Compton.

The first trailer for the movie was released last month, and already has fans on their toes, waiting for it to hit theaters. In his interview, Dre talked about what he wants fans to get from the film and why he was worried about doing it in the first place.

“I hope they can be inspired. That was the main word that we used when we got into this. We wanted to be inspirational, show just the ultimate brotherhood, betrayal, and you know, it has everything,” said Dre about the message he wants moviegoers to receive from the film.

Dre also wanted to address the assumed misogyny among the N.W.A. artists. “One of the things was how we feel about women, because there was a big misconception, you know, how much we respect our women,” he said. “These were some of the things we wanted to get across.”

Dre also revealed that he was initially hesitant to do the movie, since he was worried it would “put a blemish on our legacy” when referring to the success of N.W.A.

Dre discussed his time working with Snoop Dogg, specifically on their classic hit “Ain’t Nuthin But A G Thang,” making music with Eminem when he first was signed, as well as the story of making amends with the late Eazy E after their differences.

While biopics for Aaliyah, Whitney Houston, and N.W.A. have already been filmed, there has also been talk that a Destiny’s Child biopic is on its way. As much as longtime die-hard fans would love to see that happen, former member LeToya Luckett has some concerns with the idea.

The singer recently sat down with The Grio and talked about a slew of topics, and one of them being the concept of the girl group’s story being adapted for the big-screen. “I feel like there’s so many versions of that story. You’ve got like five people in that situation. So I think that as long as something like that is done with respect, and it celebrates all of us and doesn’t tear any of us down… That’s fine. As long as it’s done the right way.”

The group and its members have managed to stay away from negative publicity for the most part, but LeToya acknowledged that many will be looking for personal details of the ladies’ private lives if the Destiny’s Child story is told.

“People love a secret, and people love finding out the secret. We’re all very secretive; we’re all very private about our private lives and that situation. If a movie is done about it… okay, but I would want to celebrate all of us, because we were kids. You gotta tell that story in a certain way because you’re dealing with kids. Some of us got in that group at 8 or 9-years-old. So… careful.”

In addition to the Destiny’s Child biopic, LeToya also talked about the influx of Black actresses portraying popular characters in Hollywood. “I hope that this lasts for a very long time. I hope that it’s not a trend,” she said. “I think that everyone, all races, all genders, should be able to play leads. Now networks aren’t afraid to take that chance on a leading lady of other ethnicities. I thank the networks for opening up to that.”

Model Karrueche Tran has been the subject of negative mass media attention for the past few weeks following a break with notorious R&B bad boy Chris Brown, but it seems that one prospect isn’t going to let that deter him from pursuing the newly-single beauty. Up-and-coming boxer J’Leon Love took to his social media pages to claim Tran as his crush and campaign to take her out on a date. “[Karrueche] I hear is in town. I would love to take her out to eat,” he tweeted last night.

Once #teamchris fans got in their feelings about that statement, the tweet was deleted and replaced with this:

No disrespect to anybody but idk Chris Brown and he doesn’t know me. We met before awhile ago but nothing more.

— J’Leon Love (@JLeonLove) March 27, 2015

For those who aren’t boxing enthusiasts, here’s some background on Love: the 27-year-old is a WBA International Super Middleweight Champion, hails from Michigan and has close ties with Floyd Mayweather, Jr. (they both share the same manager and Love opens many of Mayweather’s fights.) Love failed a drug test commisioned by the Nevada State Athletic Commissionin in 2013, suggesting he may have used steroids before an important fight. All things considered, could Love be a good catch for Karrueche?

Tran has not yet responded to Love’s advances, but Saturday, OWN fans will get the see her full exclusive interview with Iyanla Vanzant, where the model will finally confess to the world the reasons she stayed with Brown and how his secret love child damaged their relationship. Snippets of the interview have been released, where Tran admits she knew about the mother of Brown’s baby, Nia, but refused to believe they were romantically involved.

We’re approaching the end of Women’s History Month, so to celebrate, Angela Simmons stopped by web show Ladies First to talk about becoming an entrepreneur, her vegan lifestyle, what it’s like to be the daughter of hip-hop royalty and her continuous growth in the fashion world. 

The 27-year-old, who has been a vegetarian for 7 years, is slowly becoming a vegan to adopt a more healthy lifestyle (and the new bikini photos show it). The fashionista gave a sneak preview of some pieces from her new faux-fur line “FOOF” and revealed that while she’s single, she has a very specific set of qualities she’s looking for. “[I’m looking for] someone ambitious, someone doing something for themselves and someone open-minded.”

Along with a healthy fear of God, any guy in Angela’s life must be a family man with a good sense of humor.

New evidence has come to light suggesting that the two Detroit children found dead in a deep freezer may have been put their by their siblings, at the command of their abusive mother.

Stoni Blair, 13, and 9-year-old Stephen Berry were found by a crew working to evict their mother, Michelle Blair, on Tuesday. The dead bodies were stored in a deep freezer. A court petition found that both children suffered severe abuse leading up to their deaths. Allegedly, Blair, 35, tortured Stephen two weeks before his death by tying a belt around his neck, scalding him with hot water and putting a plastic bag over his head. Stoni was burned with a clothing iron, hit with a 2-by-4 and struck with a hot curling iron, causing one of her front teeth to break.

Based on findings by forensic examiners, the children had been in the freezer for at least a year before they were discovered.

Blair’s two surviving children, a 17-year-old daughter and 8-year old son, also suffered abuse at the hands of their mother and told authorities that they were aware of where their siblings were stored. The oldest confessed that she was forced to put them there by Blair and that neither she nor her siblings have gone to school in two years.

Blair, who reportedly claimed she killed the children because they were abusing her youngest son, has been arraigned on child abuse charges and is being held on a $1 million bond due to the “heinous” nature of charges. The state is seeking to terminate the parental rights of the fathers of Blair’s two surviving children, who are now in the care of a family member.