page contents data-tablet-width="1100" data-tablet-small-width="840" data-mobile-width="640">
Log in

High Profile Men Behaving Badly [WhatsThe411TV VIDEO]

VIDEO DISCUSSION: Tristan Thompson evades scrutiny; in separate cases, R. Kelly, Robert Kraft, and Jussie Smollett facing criminal charges

In this episode of What's The 411, award-winning journalist, Kizzy Cox, and comedian, Onika McLean are talking about R. Kelly; Tristan Thompson, Khloe Kardashian, Jordyn Woods; Jussie Smollett, Lee Daniels, Queen Latifah; the television show, Empire; Robert Kraft and his prostitution charge, and; the New York City Commission on Human Rights passage of new guidelines making Black hair legal.

What's The 411 Episode 87: Prince, Donald Trump, Kerry Washington, and more

Cosmetics entrepreneur Vera Moore will speak at the Essence Festival; actor Jussie Smollet will return to Empire; Tamar Braxton fired from The Real; actress Blake Lively finds out she's Becky and a whole lot more

What's Poppin' Quick Takes

The Minneapolis Star Tribune is reporting that the iconic pop artist, Prince, may have been dead for hours before he was found unresponsive in an elevator in his Paisley Park home.

Tamar Braxton has been fired from The Real.

The world of media has gained two new Black superstars. Elaine Welteroth has been named Editor-in-Chief of Teen Vogue; Aaliyah Williams is now the Vice President of Digital Content and Production of MACRO, a company started by African-American talent rep Charles King.

Actress Blake Lively stirred some controversy, when she posted a picture of herself on Instagram, posing at a recent gala in a gold gown with the caption "LA face with an Oakland booty."

Actor Jussie Smollett will return to Empire. Smollet posted on Instagram: "Listen 2 my words, I'll see ya'll season 3.

The television network, ABC, announced that Scandal will return for its sixth season in 2017, due to Kerry Washington's pregnancy.

What's Poppin'

Donald Trump is having difficulty raising money

Campaign contributions from some of the Republican Party's major benefactors may be hard to come by for the party's nominee, Donald Trump. Most notable is Stanley Druckenmiller, a New York-based investor who gave big bucks to John Kasich's campaign. Druckenmiller told Reuters that he won't donate saying, "Not sure why anyone would give money to Mr. Trump since he asserts that he is worth $10 billion."

The continuing saga that has become Bill Cosby's life

Bill Cosby's lawyers are again asking the state supreme court to have his criminal sexual-assault case thrown out. The issue is whether a current prosecutor has to live up to the promise made by a former prosecutor to not charge actor/comedian/philanthropist Bill Cosby for the alleged assault. Apparently Bill Cosby used that promise to provide certain testimony in another case and now his words are being used against him. We'll know shortly whether the case will be thrown out.

In-Studio Interview

Cosmetics entrepreneur Vera Moore will speak at Essence Music Festival

Vera Moore, President and CEO, Vera Moore Cosmetics; will be a panelist on the beauty panel at the upcoming Essence Music Festival in July. As we listen in on an impromptu conversation between Vera Moore and What's The 411TV CEO Ruth J. Morrison, we are pulled into Ms. Moore's journey from integrating the Green Acres Mall in Valley Stream, NY, in the early 1980s with a kiosk to selling her brand of cosmetics in 53 stores through Walgreens, the largest drug retailing chain in the United States. The Vera Moore Cosmetics brand can be found nationally at Walgreens in New York City, New Orleans, Las Vegas, and Puerto Rico among others, as well as internationally in Shanghai independently.

Under the Radar

Black-ish Writer Damilare Sonoiki initiates a new comedy based on African immigrant experience

Black-ish writer, Damilare Sonoiki, is creating a brand new comedy, this one about the African experience. It's called African Booty-Scratcher!" Sonoiki, a Nigerian-American named it that after an insult he heard kids using to refer to African kids. I remember hearing it growing up too. He told the Grio:

"The biggest thing I've learned from 'Black-ish,' like the central premise...is that you're taught to give your kids more than you have but in giving them more, what do they lose? The immigrant story is that exact same situation."

New film, Loving is generating Oscar buzz at Cannes Film Festival

From the Cannes Film Festival comes word that Jeff Nichols' film Loving, generated tremendous Oscar buzz. The film is the real life story of the efforts of Richard Loving, a white man, and Mildred Loving, a black woman, to have their marriage deemed legal. In 1958, the couple was arrested in their bedroom for being married. At the time, Virginia law made interracial marriages illegal. The couple had to take their fight all the way to the Supreme Court which rendered a unanimous decision ruling the couple's arrest unlawful and all state prohibitions against interracial marriage.

Additionally, the hubbub is that actress Ruth Negga's performance as Mildred Loving makes her a favorite for Best Actress Oscar.

Upcoming Events

• Actress Niecy Nash is set to join the cast of the upcoming TNT's dramedy, Claws, a dark-comedy revolving around five diverse nail salon employees and organized crime. Claws is currently in production.

• Filmmaker Carl Franklin has signed on to do a film remake of the 1948 William Faulkner novel Intruder in the Dust. The original film was produced in 1949, and the new film is currently in production.

• If all the Fetty-Waps, Drakes, and Nicki Minaj's of the world have got you feening for some Mase, Puff Daddy, and Lil' Kim, your '90s prayers have been answered because The Bad Boy Family Reunion Tour is coming to a city near you! The Lox, 112, Total, Carl Thomas, Mario Winans, and French Montana will also perform on the tour. Brooklyn already got a taste recently when they performed at the Barclay's Center where our own Onika McClean got crunk! The official tour starts on August 25, 2016, in Columbus, Ohio.

• Comedian Wanda Sykes will join fellow comediennes Amy Schumer and Goldie Hawn in a new Fox comedy special, Mother/Daughter. The comedy will air October 21st on FOX television.

In Memoriam

Journalist, Morley Safer, one of the original correspondents of the CBS News Magazine, 60 Minutes, has passed away at age 84. Safer had just retired from CBS a week prior. May he rest in peace.

 

 

What's The 411 Episode 86: Rob Kardashian, Blac Chyna, Azealia Banks, Jussie Smollett, Shola K. Roberts, Lil Scrappy

Rob Kardashian moves into his new home; actor Jussie Smollett wants equal pay; rapper Azealia Banks gets booted off Twitter, and reality TV personalities Lil Scrappy and Bambi are engaged

 

In this episode of What's The 411, the panel featuring Kizzy Cox, Onika McLean, Courtney Rashon, and newcomer, Sydney Wayman, are talking about:

Quick Takes

After 34 years, singer Keyshia Cole found out that her biological father is boxing trainer Virgil Hunter.

Journalist and author Ta-Nehisi Coates doesn't plan to move into his 2.1 million dollar brownstone after all. Coates and his wife, according to the New York Times, used a limited-liability corporation to shield their identities. But the story leaked and was published in the New York Post. Coates wrote in the Atlantic:

"Within a day of seeing these articles, my wife and I knew that we could never live in Prospect-Lefferts Gardens, that we could never go back home. If anything happened to either of us, if anything happened to our son, we'd never forgive ourselves."

Empire star Kaitlin Doubleday recently tied the knot with fiancé, DJ Devin Lucien in California. Doubleday posted her new 'sparkle' on Instagram.

Congratulations to acclaimed actress and five-time Tony winner Audra McDonald. McDonald is pregnant with her second child at age 45.

Azealia Banks Banned From Twitter

Controversial rapper Azealia Banks (or should we say Azealia Stanks as 14-year-old Skai Jackson called her when Azealia came for her on twitter) is banned from Twitter because of her controversial racially-tinged and homophobic rants and the Twittersphere is relieved!

Jussie Smollett Wants More Money

Empire Star, actor Jussie Smollet, may be leaving the hit show due to contract negotiations. He wants more money. It's been reported that Smollett wants to make the same salary as actors Taraji P. Henson and Terrence Howard. Fox says Jussie is still working under his current contract. Does Jussie Smollet deserve to have a salary commensurate with Taraji and Terrence?

Caribbean Cook-up: Shola K. Roberts

Grenadian-American dancer, educator, and fitness instructor, Shola K. Roberts, is the winner of the Barnes and Noble My Favorite Teacher Award. Ms. Roberts gives us insight into the world of Soca; Caribbean dance artists; how dance helps young people in school; and her domestic and international tours.

Reality TV Recap

In Love and Hip-Hop Atlanta, Lil Scrappy and Bambi got engaged! The couple has been on again and off again and finally on! Wacka Flacka's wife, Tammy Riviera, posted a picture on Instagram of what looks to be an engagement ring on Bambi's finger and congratulated the couple by saying, "When you are super happy for your friends".

Rob Kardashian made his return to Keeping up with the Kardashians. Kris Jenner, Kourtney Kardashian and Kim Kardashian West, and an interior designer welcomed Rob into his new Calabasas home and the family is excited that he will be a father. His sister Kim stated, "It makes me happy that he's just feeling better about himself, and I know my mom is just really happy."

Upcoming Events in the Pipeline

Actor/comedian Arsenio Hall will return to network television this summer on the new ABC show, Greatest Hits.

The Coney Island Reggae on the Boardwalk will take place June 12, July 10, August 7 and September 4.

Showrunner Shonda Rhimes will produce her fifth television show for ABC entitled, Still Star-Crossed, which will be written as a sequel to Romeo and Juliet.

In Memoriam

In memoriam, we bid farewell to Brooklynite, Susannah Mushatt Jones, who was the world's oldest person. She was 116.

Subscribe to this RSS feed