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*There’s not enough room to print what this writer has to say about this fight so why don’t I begin by talking about how this fight compares to one of the greatest fights in boxing history.

You see, way back a little over 100 years ago on April 5, 1915 in Havana, Cuba in front of a crowd of nearly 40,000 roaring fight fans world heavyweight champion Jack Johnson came into the ring to defend his title for the ninth time against a big 6ft. 6in. 238 pound guy named Jess Willard who was considered to be the “White Hope” that could be finally the one that could dethrone the very first African American heavyweight champion.

And in what turned out to be a grueling match that was scheduled to go 45 rounds it all ended 1:26 in the 26th when Johnson was laying on his back from getting knocked out by Willard.

Jack Johnson held the title for a total of seven years before it all came down to that devastating knockout in Havana and what makes this so much of a significant match tonight with similarities is the fact that Deontay Wilder is a the current WBC world heavyweight champion who ready to put it all on the line tonight as he goes against the latest “White Hope” contender who is eager to take it all away from him.

These two guys are really big and tall heavyweights with Wilder being 6′ 6″ 212lbs and Fury coming in at 6′ 9″ 256lbs as of the weigh-in on yesterday. And this is what makes this  comparable to Johnson vs Willard as these two are set to go against each other tonight at the Staples Center in an event that will be telecast live on Showtime pay per view as the whole world will be watching to see if history will repeat itself as it happened back on April 5, 1915. As I always say we’ll see what happens.

(l-r veteran broadcaster Jim Grey, Lennox Lewis, Evander Holifield, Riddick Bowe, Gerry  Cooney, Michael Spinks, and Earnie Shavers. Not pictured is James Buster Douglas )

Folks I got to tell you something, my hat goes off to Steve Espinosa the head of Showtime Sports and Chris Deblasio for inviting come of boxing’s former heavyweight champs and legends to participate in a round table discussion yesterday at the media center. It nearly brought tears to my eyes to see these guys all come together and still be alive to talk about their careers and give their thoughts about the fight tonight. They all are people whom I had the great fortune to meet when I first started hanging around the sport in 1982 at Ceasar’s Palace. May Allah continue to bless all of them.

“When the tide goes out, that’s when you’ll find out who’s been swimming naked- Warren Buffet.

(Mohammed Mubarak with Gerry Cooney at Ceasars Palace 1982)

Jack Johnson 72″x 96″ oil and acrylic

Mohammed Mubarak can be reached at qmubarak06@aol.com for your comments. He is an artist as well and you can go to mubarakart.com and qmubarak06 on instagram and view his works.

Source Link: https://www.eurweb.com/2018/12/ringside-update-wilder-vs-fury-the-battle-of-big-heavyweights/

*As you probably know, the movie “Green Book” is all the rage. The film is the true story of Don Shirley, a queer black classical musician  (played by Mahershala Ali) and his Italian-American chauffeur, Tony “Lip” Vallelonga (Viggo Mortensen). Recently, the film a great evening at the Golden Globes and this past weekend, Ali won a Critics Choice Award for his portrayal of Don Shirley.

However, behind the scenes, there’s a big problem. You see, Shirley’s family is calling the movie as a “symphony of lies” and condemns its rosy portrayal of Shirley and Vallelonga’s relationship. The family insists that Shirley and Vallelonga had an “employer-employee” relationship, not a friendship.

After the Golden Globes ceremony, the movie’s stars were forced to contend with the film’s reputation. Backstage, Ali was asked to respond to Shirley’s family’s allegations.

“I will say that my job is always the same, and I have to look at what I’m responsible for doing and all the prayers, the energy, the time, the work, I am not one who is going to necessarily throw all that away over things I had no control over and had nothing to do with,” he said.

“I respect the family, I respect Dr. Shirley and his family, and I wish them well. I have a job to do, and I have to continue to do my job as I move on to my next project and treat everyone I work with respect. In this case I didn’t know they were around. I made contact, and I’ve spoken to the studio. I have to move on at this point.”

EUR EXCLUSIVE: MIKE COLTER ON ‘LUKE CAGE’ FILM: ‘I WOULD LOVE FOR THAT TO HAPPEN’

Technically, Ali has been addressing this controversy for some time now. After the Shirley family came forward with their complaints, Ali called Shirley’s brother, Maurice, personally. Recounting the call to Shadow and Act, Shirley’s nephew Edwin said, “What he said was, ‘If I have offended you, I am so, so terribly sorry. I did the best I could with the material I had. I was not aware that there were close relatives with whom I could have consulted to add some nuance to the character.’”

Stop right there. the fact that the Shirley family was not consulted during the film is a problem.

Al,so backstage at the “GGs,” Octavia Spencer, who also stars in “Green Book” was asked as well to speak about the issue the Shirley family is concerned with. Spencer is also the movie’s executive producer. However, unlike Ali, who answered head-on, Spencer pivoted the question back to what the movie meant to her.

“I’m a little troubled that answering that question could cause them any more distress. What I’d like to say in lieu of anything directed to the Shirley family is what it meant to me,” Spencer deflected. “I have been a part of four films from this era, and it was the firs time I saw a person of color with agency. This is a guy whose story needs to be out there.”

It doesn’t sound good to say, but at this point it appears that The Shirley family will just have to deal with the situation as it is: the movie portrays Don Shirley as a secondary figure in Vallelonga’s story when it should be the other way around.

Damn, that sucks. But what else is new in Hollywood?

Meanwhile, don’t expect the family’s criticism of the film to impede it’s progress during award season in Hollywood. As Refinery 29 states it, if the Golden Globes victory sweep is anything to go by, “Green Book” could still have a big night at the Academy Awards.

Source Link: https://www.eurweb.com/2019/01/marhershala-ali-octavia-spencer-respond-to-green-book-controversy/

*A Texas mom is demanding answers from a high school after her 21-year-old autistic son came home wearing a Confederate flag cap.

Amelia Mornes-Njoka says her son, Austen, played with the Special Olympics flag football team at Lewisville High School. But when he came home earlier this month wearing a Confederate flag hat, she had to rethink her trust of the district, per yahoo.com. 

“You trust these people with your kid who has a disability,” Amelia, told CBS. “You know and as far as I knew, I knew them well enough for my son to be around them without my supervision.

OTHER NEWS YOU MIGHT HAVE MISSED: Toni Braxton Gets Emotional As She Discusses Surviving Divorce’ with Jada Pinkett Smith [WATCH]

Mornes said the coach told him to put on the hat and show it to his mother. When he asked what the flag meant, coach reportedly replied: “I don’t have no clue. Freedom.”

“He told me, like, put it on, keep it on, show it to your mom and stuff,” Mornes told CBS-DFW. “I said, ‘What does the flag stand for?’ I said, ‘I don’t have no clue,’ and he says, ‘Freedom.’”

His mother wants to know why three white coaches thought it was appropriate to give this hat to her son and mislead him about its meaning.

“My worst feeling was they were sitting there watching him and probably snickering or laughing under their breath,” she told the station.

In a statement released by Lewisville ISD, the district said the coach was a volunteer and that Mornes “expressed interest” in the cap and took it home.

The Lewisville Independent School District reportedly acknowledged to CBS-DFW that the coach was wrong in giving the hat to the student.  

“The adult volunteer, who is not an LISD employee, was wearing a cap the former student expressed interest in,” LISD said in a statement. “The student took the cap home. The volunteer coach contacted the parents to discuss what happened, and believed the situation had been resolved to everyone’s satisfaction.”

Mornes said going back to play on the team is “no good,” and his mother agrees.

Source Link: https://www.eurweb.com/2018/12/mother-outraged-after-white-coach-gives-her-autistic-son-a-confederate-flag-hat-watch/

*Fans of Wendy Williams’ talk show were surprised to see Don Lemon filling in for her on Monday. The daytime diva is taking another week off as she recoups from a shoulder injury.

Lemon joined a trio of notable women who held it down for Williams because “it takes four people to make up” for her absence.

Wendy was scheduled to return from holiday break on January 7, but the talk show was delayed another week, as explained on the show’s official Instagram account:

“Wendy Williams will be returning with all-new episodes of The Wendy Williams Show on Monday, January 14, 2019. After fracturing her shoulder, Wendy is on the mend and wants to return pain-free and be 200%, delivering the best show that millions of viewers tune-in to watch,” the post read.

OTHER NEWS YOU MIGHT HAVE MISSED: Wendy Williams Delays Return to Talk Show, Husband Kevin Slams Staff Over Leaks to Media

Don was on a guest hosting panel that included Elizabeth Wagmeister from Variety and Page Six TV, actor/comedian Heather McDonald, and Judge Faith Jenkins.

“Wendy is on the mend. She will be back next Monday,” said Lemon. “We love you Wendy, we’re rooting for you, we want you to be back, we want you to be 400 percent.”

Fans previously took to social media to voice concern for Williams after she was slurred her speech on the December 20 episode of her show. She blamed it on the pain meds she had taken for her shoulder injury.

“As I reported earlier in the week, I have a hairline fracture on my upper arm, which hurts like hell. I’ve never broken a bone or experienced a fracture in my life,” she wrote. “In the key place where the fracture is, and trying to scurry around and do too much, I am now paying the price. I’ve never taken a pain medication in my life (except when I got snatched over 20 years ago) until this week.”

Watch Don Lemon announce the cast of “Celebrity Big Brother.”

Source Link: https://www.eurweb.com/2019/01/wendy-williams-show-returns-with-don-lemon-as-host-video/

*OK, here it is straight, no chaser. Because of the way it ended, Ice Cube is not a happy man today. We’re talking about the way the Deontay Wilder/Tyson Fury boxing match concluded Saturday night in Los Angeles at Staples Center.

The heavyweight championship fight ended in a split decision draw which is why Cube is straight up pissed.

A TMZ video guy caught up to the rapper/actor/businessman leaving L.A.’s Staples Center moments after the boxers fought to a 12 round tie, and he called the outcome “bulls**t” because he thinks Wilder was robbed. True enough, Wilder did knock down Fury twice — including in the 12th — but he got up both times.

As you can imagine, opinions are split. For instance, boxer Andre Berto who was at the fight, said he thought the result was fair, and he’s looking forward to a rematch.

Actor and provocateur, Michael Rappaport, on the other hand, said he expected more from Deontay.

Meanwhile, both Wilder and Fury are down for a rematch, however, it’s unclear where Anthony Joshua fits in all this.

That’s because a lot of folks thought that the story after Saturday’s bout between Wilder and Fury would be a unification bout with Anthony Joshua, but instead all the talk is about a rematch because Saturday night’s match ended in a split draw.

One judge had it 115-111 Wilder, which is an obscene card given that, if anything, Fury definitely won the most rounds. Wilder, though, put together a pair of knockdowns, including a huge one in the final round, and may have closed the gap enough by the end of it to make a draw or even a close Wilder win seem reasonable.

But the 114-110 Fury card and the 113-113 card that wound up being a draw were both much more in line with what actually happened in the ring on Saturday. Either way, it was still a great bout. Both fighters were asked about a rematch after the fact and both were open to it.

“I don’t know if it’ll be my next fight,” Wilder said, “I’d love for it, let’s get back into it. I think it was a great fight and we gotta do it again.”

Source Link: https://www.eurweb.com/2018/12/ice-cube-straight-up-pissed-over-wilder-fury-split-decision-watch/

*Kanye West was so inspired by the light-infused installations of artist James Turrell at the Massachusetts Museum of Contemporary Art, that on Monday, the rap star announced plans to gift $10 million to the Turrell Art Foundation to help fund Roden Crater Project in an extinct volcano in Arizona.  

Turrell has been transforming the land into a series of rooms and tunnels since the ’70s. Kanye visited Roden Crater on Dec. 11. Days later he tweeted that the experience was “life-changing,” adding that one day “we will all live in Turrell spaces.” 

*Former Kansas City Chiefs running back Kareem Hunt apologized on Sunday for roughing up a woman back in February that was caught on surveillance video and released on Friday.

According to TMZ, the woman that Hunt slammed down and kicked was initially ready to press charges against the ex-NFLer, but she’s since gone ghost.

via TMZ Sports:

As we first reported, the woman repeatedly told Cleveland PD officers who responded to the scene she wanted to press charges. In the bodycam video we posted, she asked to see the surveillance footage, and also asked the police to look at it.

She said she wanted Hunt prosecuted for the alleged assault and/or for stealing her phone’s SIM card. In the attack video, you clearly see someone walk off with her phone. She says it was eventually returned but, apparently, without the SIM card.

OTHER NEWS YOU MIGHT HAVE MISSED: Kareem Hunt CUT from KC Chiefs After Video’d Beating, Stomping Woman in Hotel – WATCH

Law enforcement sources say the woman never took her case to the city Prosecutor’s Office and hasn’t been cooperative with the prosecutor — which might be why no charges have been filed against Hunt.

Police reportedly considered the incident a misdemeanor assault, because the woman hadn’t suffered any serious injury. She would need to present evidence of serious injury for the incident to be upgraded to a felony, the report states.

She has 18 months to press charges.

As far as the release of the video… Hunt explained…

“That’s not me. That’s not the person I am,” he told ESPN. “It’s out there. It happened. I’m very embarrassed about it. I’m ashamed of myself.”

He also apologized to his family, the Kansas City Chiefs organization and the woman in the video.

Watch the clip above.

Source Link: https://www.eurweb.com/2018/12/kareem-hunt-victim-goes-ghost-after-demanding-charges-video/

*A new day brings more new R. Kelly criticism, and this time in the form of a newly surfaced clip that appears to debunk earlier claims that the singer was unaware Aaliyah was underage when they illegally married.

Kelly’s camp has in the past denied that he knew the late pop star was just 15 when they wed in secret in 1994.

However, a documentary filmed that same year has the controversial R&B crooner discussing Aaliyah’s age as he worked on her debut album.

“Right now I’m producing a very talented lady – a young lady. She’s 14, Aaliyah. She’s real street,” Kelly says in the clip above.

*Saturday night saw the first heavyweight title pay-per-view match in America since 2002. Deontay Wilder and Tyson Fury fought to a split-decision draw in front of 17,6898 fans at Staples Center in Los Angeles.

Fury survived two knockdowns – including one in Round 12 that reminded many fans of wrestling legend Undertaker’s intros. The judges scored the fight 115-111 for Wilder, the second had it at 114-112 for Fury. With the final scorecard a tie at 113-113.

Before the match got underway, EURweb’s Jill Munroe hit the red carpet for the pre-fight event. On hand were ‘Shameless star’ William H. Macy, “The Affair’s” Dominic West, Desus and Mero, boxing legend Evander Hollyfield, Good Morning America’s Michael Strahan and journalist Jemele Hill.

Desus Nice and the Kid Mero gave Jill the scoop on their new upcoming Showtime series. After five months off of the Vice airways, the duo shared that their new show hits the air February 21, 2019.

Kid Nice gave a preview of what to expect with the new show.

“You can expect more of the same plus expansion. You’re still going to get what you want with the added bells and whistles.”

“A lot of people are afraid that we sold out, that it is just going to be us behind the desk, but our goal is to have you crying laughing by the end of it. It’s us with a lot more cursing and di*k jokes” said Desus Nice

ICE CUBE STRAIGHT UP PISSED OVER WILDER/FURY SPLIT DECISION (WATCH)

Jemele Hill talked about her recent move to the West Coast and the new projects she’s recently been working on.

“This part of my career is very different from what most of my career has been. Usually it was working for one entity, one company doing one thing. Now everything is a la carte. I love that I am able to create new content in different imaginative ways. L.A. is the place I needed to be to do that. Everybody is here. LeBron is like Noah’s ark, he brought everyone to the West Coast, two by two.”

Jemele is currently writing for The Atlantic, she is the featured narrator on Showtime’s LeBron James doc, “Shut up and dribble,” along with developing a scripted comedy with her best friend, Kelly Carter, that is being produced by Gabrielle Union.

All photos in this article by Jill Munroe. Check out more snaps from the red carpet:

Source Link: https://www.eurweb.com/2018/12/jemele-hill-evander-hollyfield-and-more-hit-the-carpet-for-wilder-vs-fury-photos/

*One Ohio father is being called a hero after he shared photos of the igloo be built out of snow for his disableddaughter.

Gregg Eichhorn’s actions have been hailed as “heart-warming” with social media users encouraging each other to “be like Gregg.”

But the father of nine insisted: “I’m not that special.”

“I just thought it was cool,” the said.

“My buddy Gregg built this handicap accessible snow fort for his daughter” said Daniel Thoms in a Reddit post, which gained more than 70,000 upvotes in 24 hours, per msn.com.

Gregg was stunned that his daughter’s igloo received so much attention from social media users.

“I just thought it was a cool snow fort” he said. “I enjoyed creating it with my other children.”

Gregg and his wife Katie have adopted eight children (with one adoption reportedly pending), six of whom were born with medical problems ranging from heart failure to developmental disabilities.

Gregg said the kids helped him build the igloo, which took four hours in total.

“What an awesome Dad” said one Reddit user.

“This is a special moment and very heart warming. The amount of joy on her face is making me tear up”commented another.

“Be like Gregg” one social media user told another.

“This is really amazing. My little sister is also in a wheelchair and I would love to do something like this for her!”writes Aesonn88.

Source Link: https://www.eurweb.com/2019/01/social-media-users-praise-ohio-dad-for-building-disabled-daughter-a-igloo/

*A group of white supremacist YouTubers are using a new app to trick celebrities like former NFL quarterback Brett Favre and rapper Soulja Boy into making coded anti-Semitic videos.

Now, Favre and Soulja Boy are doing some serious backtracking after a report from BuzzFeed News revealed that they had been bamboozled.

via mashable.com:

The app, Cameo, seems pretty harmless on its face. It connects Average Joes with celebrities, and allows the former to pay the latter to make some kind of statement. Cameo calls them “personalized video shoutouts.”

According to BuzzFeed News, white supremacists used the app to get in touch with Brett Favre and Soulja Boy, and then paid them to made cryptic statements that were ostensibly supportive of U.S. troops but were filled with anti-Semitic dog whistles.

JEMELE HILL, EVANDER HOLLYFIELD AND MORE HIT THE CARPET FOR WILDER VS. FURY (PHOTOS)

The group reportedly responsible calls itself the Goyim Defense League (GDL), and they used Cameo to get Favre to issue a statement containing their coded anti-Semitic message.

According to Cameo, a message from Favre costs $500.

“Brett Favre here with a shoutout to the Handsome Truth and the GDL boys,” Favre reportedly says in the video viewed by BuzzFeed News. “You guys are patriots in my eyes. So keep waking them up and don’t let the small get you down. Keep fighting, too, and don’t ever forget the U.S.S. Liberty and the men and women who died on that day. God bless and take care.”  

According to the report, the usage of “small” is allegedly a slur for yarmulkes, and the U.S.S. Liberty is a naval ship that was “accidentally” attacked in 1967 by Israeli forces.

Favre maybe didn’t realize exactly what he was saying, and he posted a statement to Facebook denouncing the hate group.

“I was distressed to learn that the request came from an anti-Semitic group that reposted my video with comments implying that I endorsed their mission,” read the statement in part. “Nothing could be further from the truth. I am therefore donating my $500 Cameo fee to Charities supporting their fight against hate and bigotry.”

DUANE MARTIN ACCUSED OF USING LOAN FROM WILL & JADA IN BANKRUPTCY SCAM

Meanwhile, Soulja Boy recorded a similar video promoting GDL ideology.

“Shoutout to Handsome Truth and Sway at GDL,” the rapper says in a video viewed by Buzzfeed News, “GDL for life, bitch.”

A representative for Soulja Boy told the outlet that the rapper was unaware of the group’s affiliation.

“Soulja Boy was unaware that the video on Cameo was tied to a group that promotes hate.”

In any event, according to The Root, the video below may or may not be Soulja Boy describing his retaliation on the GDL when he had been tricked.

An app spokesperson told BuzzFeed News that the videos were removed and that the user who paid for them was banned. The company hopes to prevent something like this from happening again by rolling out new filters.

Source Link: https://www.eurweb.com/2018/12/white-supremacist-group-tricked-brett-favre-and-soulja-boy-into-promoting-anti-semitism/

*Women’s March leader Tamika Mallory was grilled by Sunny Hostin and Meghan McCain on “The View” over her ties to Louis Farrakhan, and the conversation left many viewers riled up.

Things got heated because Mallory refused to condemn Farrakhan’s past remarks about Jewish people. She also, apparently, offended many when she previously said that the controversial Nation of Islam leader is the “greatest of all time because of what he’s done in black communities.”

“Tamika, you came under some fire for your relationship with Louis Farrakhan and the Nation of Islam,” Hostin said. “He’s known for being anti-Semitic, for being homophobic, but you do attend his events and you posted… a photo calling him the G.O.A.T., which means the greatest of all time. You are running an organization that says it fights bigotry. Do you understand why your association with him is quite problematic?”

*There’s probably quite a few of you out there who were expecting something different at the end of the night this past Saturday night after seeing these two big tall heavyweights battle for twelve rounds. And I’ve heard from a lot of people who’ve had differing opinions on who they thought actually won this contest. But to be totally honest with you after having been in and around this sport for nearly thirty years, and having been ringside for fights like Holmes vs Witherspoon, Duran vs Benitez, Dokes vs Weaver, Holmes vs Cooney, Tyson vs Holifield, Jones vs Tarver, ( I could go on and on folks)  and Bowe vs Holyfield just to name a few. I really don’t believe that this fight lived up to those great fights.

But with all that said, with everyone sitting on the edge of their seats throughout the bout this writer was really expecting a lot more hard hitting action to occur than what took place. As this one got going in the early portion of this event both fighters were seen measuring each other out with Fury sticking out the jab and dancing out of the way of Wilder’s powerful right hands. I was really impressed with the way he used his foot work and feinting, he put on an excellent display of boxing. And in some ways it seemed as if Wilder was hesitant to get in close to really land some good shots and when he did it looked like he was trying too hard to knockout Fury who would quickly get out of the way to avoid getting hit. This went on for several rounds up to the beginning of the ninth when I had Fury way ahead on points until Wilder finally connected with that powerful right hand to Fury’s head and dropped him. He then got back up and into the fight for the next three rounds until nearly the end of the twelveth when Wilder dropped him again this time with a more powerful shot that seemed like he wasn’t going get backup from. But low and behold, he found enough resilience to get backup and into the fight until the bell rang for the end of the bout.

But even that wasn’t enough to declare Wilder the clear winner of the fight which was ultimately ruled a split decision draw. So now there’s talk of the two of them coming back together for a rematch that’s if and when they can sit down and work out all the logistics to make that happen.

Nevertheless, it was a great promotional build up for this fight that this writer compares to Mayweather vs Mc Gregor another huge event that had an black American going against someone from the North Atlantic region of the world. And if there’s still people out there that seem to think that boxing is dead, then let me tell you all something it really isn’t and thank God all mighty Adonis Stevenson isn’t either after that grueling match in Quebec, Canada Saturday night in which we nearly lost him after getting knocked out in the eleventh against Oleksandr “The Nail”Govzdyk and losing his WBC light heavyweight title.

As of this posting Stevenson is now in a drug induced coma and his condition has improved from critical to stable. It is being reported that he has swelling of his brain so I’d like to encourage all of you boxing fans to keep him in your thoughts and prayers. Unfortunately sometimes this is the price that’s paid in this sport because it is such a brutal one and has always been since the days thousands of years ago in the Roman Colosium when men would wrap their hands with leather spikes and go toe to toe until someone would die. No matter what you may think of him, lets pray that Adonis continues to live.

“When the tide goes out, that’s when you’ll find out who’s been swimming naked”-Warren Buffett

Mohammed Mubarak can be reached at qmubarak06@aol.com for your comments. He’s an artist as well and you can go to mubarakart.com and qmubarak06 on instagram and view his works.

Source Link: https://www.eurweb.com/2018/12/ringside-update-wilder-vs-fury-the-epilogue/

*A number of celebrities gathered for a tribute concert in celebration of the Queen Of Soul on Sunday, Jan. 13, and The AP reports that every rendition of Aretha’s Franklin’s songs brought audience members to their feet at the “Aretha! A GRAMMY Celebration For The Queen Of Soul” in Los Angeles.

According to Page Six, a montage of the late singer was shown throughout the show including one with onscreen quotes from former President Barack Obama, Barbra Streisand, Willie Nelson and Tony Bennett.

“Aretha set the bar,” a quote from Quincy Jones read.

Jennifer Hudson, who will star in Franklin’s biopic “Respect,” kicked off the tribute with a performance of “Think” and Keys and SZA took the stage for a duet of “Day Dreaming.”

OTHER NEWS YOU MIGHT HAVE MISSED: Aretha Franklin: Queen of Soul’s Ex-husband Wants Cut of Her Royalties

Here are additional highlights via Page Six:

Celion Dion performed Franklin’s version of “A Change is Gonna Come,” and Patti Labelle served up a soaring rendition of  “Call Me.”

Fantasia, Andra Day, Brandi Carlile and Alessia Cara sang “Natural Woman” together, and Common joined Yolanda Adams for a performance of “Young, Gifted and Black.”

Smokey Robinson told the star-studded audience at the Shrine Auditorium that Franklin “was a gifted songwriter, a fantastic musician and a great formidable activist,” he said. “For me, she was my little sister who I loved so much. I still love her so much. But she’s gone home now to be with her father. I believe she has been reunited with her entire immediate family.”

The tribute was organized by the Recording Academy and music mogul Clive Davis, who told the crowd “There will never ever be another Aretha Franklin.”

Other performers included Shirley Caesar, Kelly Clarkson, Chloe X Halle, H.E.R., John Legend and BeBe Winans.

ET’s Nischelle Turner caught up with Dion at the event, who discussed her relationship with Franklin and what she learned from her.

“I’ve had the privilege of singing at [VH1’s] Divas with her and when I had one moment, I had one line I was not gonna mess on that,” she explained of her performance with the music icon in 1998. “I had a moment with her that I will never forget and I will cherish this for the rest of my life… I remember taking a picture with her after meeting with her, singing her [songs] of course, and when you love to sing so much, it’s gotta be done with the soul.”

The 50-year-old Canadian further explained how Franklin inspired her.

“You sing with your heart but she has taught us that, when we believe so much, that it comes from deeper than the heart, it comes from the soul,” she said. “So we did not invent those words, she gave those words. She put those words into our repertoire, into our lives and dreams…our performances.”

“I feel extremely, extremely fortunate and honored that they called me to pay tribute to her because I think that we all took through the years a little part of her,” she added. “We did not sing her tonight, we lived her.”

Franklin died in August at the age of 76 in her home in Detroit, Michigan, following a long battle with pancreatic cancer.

The concert event will air March 10 on CBS.

Source Link: https://www.eurweb.com/2019/01/stars-honor-aretha-franklin-with-concert-event-set-to-air-on-cbs/

*Gabrielle Union and Dwyane Wade opened up about their unique journey to becoming parents in an interviewwith Oprah Winfrey, airing Dec. 8 on OWN.

“You’re finally a mother at 46,” Oprah says in an all-new special, Oprah at Home with Gabrielle Union, Dwyane Wade & Their New Baby.

Union smiles while answering, “Yeah.”

The power couple, who wed in August 2014, was met with backlash from people who questioned why the actress made her baby announcement by way of photos showing Union resting in a hospital bed with her husband. Their daughter Kaavia James was born via surrogate.

“Everyone started talking about why she acting like she just had a baby,” Wade shares.

“You want to explain that?” Oprah asked Union.

“I’m already getting choked up. It’s still hard to let go,” Union added. She previously opened up about her struggles with infertility in her 2017 memoir “We’re Going to Need More Wine”. Gabby revealed she “had eight or nine miscarriages.”

“For three years, my body has been a prisoner of trying to get pregnant — I’ve either been about to go into an IVF cycle, in the middle of an IVF cycle or coming out of an IVF cycle,” wrote Union, who was diagnosed with Adenomyosis, a type of endometriosis that only occurs in the uterus.

“I never wanted kids. Then I became a stepmom, and there was no place I’d rather be than with them,” she told PEOPLE in September 2017.

Wade is dad to sons Xavier Zechariah, 5, Zion Malachi Airamis, 11, and Zaire Blessing Dwyane, 16. He also raises nephew Dahveon Morris, 17.

“So then I thought, ‘Well maybe I might be good at this, and maybe this is something I want to explore,’” she continued. “And I’m madly in love with this dude, so [having a baby] is something we could look into.”

Union and Wade’s Oprah interview will air on Winfrey’s “SuperSoul Sunday” and will stream on her Facebook page at 11 a.m. ET/PT. In addition, the interview will be available on Oprah’s “SuperSoul Conversations” podcast beginning Dec. 10 with part two available on Dec. 12.

“Oprah at Home with Gabrielle Union, Dwyane Wade & Their New Baby” will air on Dec. 8 at 8 p.m. ET/PT on OWN: Oprah Winfrey Network.

Source Link: https://www.eurweb.com/2018/12/gabrielle-union-reveals-she-faced-backlash-after-daughter-kaavias-birth-via-surrogate/

*Steve Harvey’s wife, Marjorie, has sparked a bit of outrage online after she shared a video of granddaughters Elle, 3, and Rose, 4, taking care of their baby dolls by pretending to breastfeed them.

When asked what they were doing, Rose responded, “Feeding our babies,” before Elle continued, “from our boobies.”

Many social media followers have decided that the imagery is inappropriate. Watch the clip below and decide for yourself. Let us know your thoughts about the two babies pretending to breastfeed their dolls.

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As noted by Yahoo.com, the girls are most likely mimicking what they’ve seen their mothers do when taking care of the youngin’. However, many people are not amused. One person responded in the comments: “I’m not sure how to feel about this.”

“Not cute” and “Inappropriate. A video for pedophiles,” wrote some critics, while another wrote, “This is why little girls grow up so fast…”

The Harveys had some supporters who found the clip “beautiful.”

“Breastfeeding is normal and kids imitate what they see,” a follower commented. Another joked, “So sweet! Little do they know what’s to come when they really get there.”

Marjorie eventually responded to the criticism on her Instagram Stories, stating that she thought the video was funny.

“Cleary some of y’all weren’t breastfed. Maybe that’s the problem,” she said. “Some of y’all need a hug.”

Source Link: https://www.eurweb.com/2019/01/outrage-over-video-showing-steve-harveys-granddaughters-pretending-to-breastfeed-dolls/

*Gabrielle Union and Dwyane Wade shared the first official photo of their first child together with Oprah and now the married couple have revealed that they will be appearing in an OWN special titled “Oprah at Home with Gabrielle Union, Dwyane Wade & Their New Baby.”

Union and Wade welcomed Kaavia James Union Wade via surrogate in early November. They sat down with the queen of media to talk about what life with a newborn baby has been like.

“From the Bottle to the Bassinet… No New Friends. Crew. Tight.  So excited to share what we have been working on with @oprah & @kaaviajames ,” Union captioned under a picture of her, her hubby and Oprah.

“We wanna thank @oprah for coming into our home to discuss our new bundle of joy!,” Wade wrote.

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Union wrote about her fertility struggles in her 2017 memoir, “We’re Going to Need More Wine”:

“For three years, my body has been a prisoner of trying to get pregnant. I’ve either been about to go into an IVF cycle, in the middle of an IVF cycle, or coming out of an IVF cycle.

Gabby gushed about her baby girl on IG and noted that “She has 102 nicknames including but not limited to Kaav, Kaavi, Kaavi Baby, Kaavi J, Jamie, KJ, Nugget, Nug, Pooters.”

She added: “We wanted to include my family in her name so the “James” is from my uncle James Francis Glass who is also my godfather. Union is her middle name. I’ve waited this long so fo sho I was gonna get in there”

Kaavia means “work of art” in the Sanskrit language.

Source Link: https://www.eurweb.com/2018/12/gabrielle-union-dwyane-wade-and-their-new-daughter-join-oprah-for-exclusive-special/

*Jaqi Wright and her sister, Nikki Howard, are furloughed federal employees who have found a way to bounce back during this partial government shutdown, which began Dec. 22.

800,000 federal employees and contractors are reportedly affected by Trump’s shutdown, and Wright and Howard — who work for the Justice Department and Food and Drug Administration in Washington D.C., respectively — are concerned about how the lack of pay will impact their finances. per time.com.

Rather than accept defeat, the Maryland-based sisters decided to launch The Furlough Cheesecake on New Year’s Day — selling cheesecakes for $29.98 each.

“We don’t know when this is going to end. We don’t have a clue,” Howard, the baker behind the operation, says. “But instead of dwelling on that and feeling the depression that tends to come with these kinds of situations, we’re making a decision to do something else.”

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According to the TIME report, it didn’t take long for the duo to get their business off the ground. Wright, 50, conceived the name for “The Furlough Cheesecake” and applied for an employee identification number on the IRS’s website. Howard, 48, already had her food handler license, so she enlisted her teenaged and college-aged daughters to help create their website and promote the business on social media.

“We have a little machine that’s working,” Howard says.

Source Link: https://www.eurweb.com/2019/01/sisters-on-shutdown-furlough-start-a-cheesecake-business-video/

*Magic Johnson’s daughter Elisa Johnson narrowly escaped from two armed men during a home invasion in San Fernando Valley over the weekend.

The 23-year-old was hanging out at an Airbnb, rented by her friends Sunday morning when two robbers entered the home and began terrorizing the 10 guests, holding them at gunpoint, according to TMZ.

Elisa was in one of the bedroom’s during the robbery when she overheard the disturbance and escaped out a sliding glass door and ran down the street to safety.

The intruders reportedly stole $30-$40,000 worth of jewelry, electronics and cash then fled the scene before police arrived. No one was injured. The investigation.

Now, Johnson, 23, is speaking out for the first time after the terrifying home invasion. She hopped on Instagram Stories to thank everyone who reached out with concern.. see her post above. 

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In related news, Laila Ali – daughter of Muhammad Ali – is speaking out after accidentally hitting an elderly man with her car.

In the statement shared to Instagram, she wrote, “As was reported, I was involved in a minor parking lot accident yesterday. I am okay, and am praying that the elderly gentlemen who was walking behind my car as I was backing up is okay.”

Ali was backing up in a parking lot of a shopping center when she accidentally hit the man. He was reportedly treated by paramedics on the scene and then transported by ambulance to a hospital. According to TMZ, the man was in stable condition.

Laila’s daughter Sydney was also in the car at the time of the incident, but is “okay.”

The retired boxer was not arrested or cited but that could change as the incident is still being investigated by police.

Ali concluded her message: “I am thankful for the medical responders and La county sheriff’s department, both of whom arrived promptly and tended to the situation with urgency and calm. Thank you to everyone who has reached out to me concerned.”

Source Link: https://www.eurweb.com/2018/12/elisa-johnson-on-escaping-home-invasion-laila-ali-on-hitting-elderly-man-with-her-car/

*Former NFL star Ray Lewis has reached a settlement in the $1.7 million dollar lawsuit he filed against his longtime friend & former lawyer, Marc Rosen, theJasmineBRAND.com exclusively reports. Lewis alleges Rosen screwed him out of millions by having him invest in risky ventures.

Lewis explained in his lawsuit that he worked with Rosen for several years on various matters. In 2008, his lawyer convinced him that it would be a lucrative business move to lend his name and likeness to an entertainment complex he was working on called MVP Entertainment. Rosen explained that none of Ray’s own money would be used to invest, but in 2010, Lewis unknowingly signed a series of loan documents, one for 1.5 million and another for 2.5 million.

The ex-NFL star said he learned about the loans in 2011, when Rosen approached him for an additional 200k to fund his business venture. Lewis agreed to obtain another bank loan for 200k for a grand total of 1.7 million that his lawyer promised to pay him back.

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When the business venture failed to launch, Ray was on the hook for the 1.7 million dollar loan. He filed suit against his ex-lawyer for malpractice, breach of contract and Fraud. He demanded Rosen pay him back the 1.7 million + damages for his actions.

Rosen fired back at the lawsuit, claiming that he was never Ray’s full-time lawyer, rather his “business partner”.

On April 27th, docs were filed in the case explaining that Lewis and Rosen had reached a settlement in the 1.7 million dollar legal battle. Per the deal, all claims against the other will be dismissed and the case will be closed. The terms of the settlement will remain confidential.