Month: June 2021

Beyoncé and Jay-Z are one of Hollywood’s most elite power couples. While they have been less secretive about the details of their romance in recent years, it’s rare that the duo is spotted in conditions outside of their own terms. The pair recently hit up the Nets vs Bucks game in Brooklyn, posing for photos courtside. 

The low-key couple recently attended the birthday celebrations of their dear friend June Ambrose. The celebrity costume designer turned 50 years old this week, and celebrated the milestone with a luxurious birthday bash in Los Angeles attended by her famous pals like Destiny Child’s group mates and childhood friends Beyoncé and Kelly Rowland, plus Jay-Z and others. 

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Lenny “Kodaklens” Santiago shot the photos of the affair for Vogue, sharing the best of the shots to his Instagram feed. “I had the pleasure of shooting my dear friend June Ambrose’s 50th Born Day Dinner for Vogue,” he explained in the caption.

He added, “Yes, I know, I know.. she looks 35. She’s hands down one of the most brilliant, beautiful, incredible, stylish, amazing, enthusiastic, positive and consistent human beings in and out the business. Love her to death! Happy Belated My sister and thanks for trusting me behind the lens for your special day.”

One photo depicts Ambrose alongside Beyoncé and Jay-Z, who rocked matching all-black outfits. Jay wore a black suit with accented pockets and white sneakers, while Beyoncé wore a form-fitting black dress that cheekily exposed just one of her toned legs. She completed the look with a long braided ponytail and diamond snake earrings. 

Elsewhere, Ambrose posed for solo shots with Kelly Rowland, who wore her hair in a curly style and a matching light green set, and another one with Bey. Kelly and Hov also posed for a friendship shot together. 

Check out the photos for yourself above and below. 

Former United States President Donald Trump attempted to pressure members of the Justice Department into supporting his baseless claims of election fraud, per newly released emails from the House Committee on Oversight and Reform.

The House Committee shared a press release Tuesday from Rep. Carolyn B. Maloney, the Chairwoman of the Oversight and Reform Committee, releasing the appropriate documents that reveal the former President’s efforts to overturn the 2020 election results through the Department of Justice. The documents show that Trump and his allies pressured DOJ officials around last December and early January through email communication in a thinly-veiled attempt at keeping him in power.

“These documents show that President Trump tried to corrupt our nation’s chief law enforcement agency in a brazen attempt to overturn an election that he lost,” Chairwoman Maloney said. “Those who aided or witnessed President Trump’s unlawful actions must answer the Committee’s questions about this attempted subversion of democracy.“

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Minutes before announcing that former Attorney General William Barr would step down from his position, Trump’s assistant sent phony election fraud “proof” documents to Deputy Attorney Jeffrey Rosen. The documents alleged that there was a cover-up regarding voting machines in Michigan and that the state couldn’t certify Biden’s win, and there were set talking points included to reflect those false claims. Trump then tweeted that Rosen would serve as Acting Attorney General, supplanting Barr – who firmly did not believe there was any kind of election fraud going on – for someone who could regurgitate his falsified talking points.

Later in December, Trump used official White House channels, along with a private attorney, to pressure the DOJ to file a Supreme Court lawsuit to nullify the election results, alleging that Electoral College votes cast in six states – which he lost – couldn’t be counted and requesting that the Court order a “special election” for him in those states. Trump’s private attorney, Kurt Olsen, contacted these senior DOJ officials on his behalf to nudge them into filing the complaint in an urgent manner.

These attempts at nullifying the election ultimately built up to the Capitol insurrection that took place on January 6. The House Committee on Oversight and Reform is currently working toward highlighting the Trump Administration’s failure to adequately anticipate and prevent the events of the insurrection.

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Pop Smoke became one of the biggest artists in the world posthumously following the success of his Meet The Woo mixtape series, as well as his debut studio album Shoot For The Stars, Aim For The Moon. His drill tendencies and versatility as an artist shined brightly during his lifetime and the young Canarsie native was poised to enjoy a long and successful career in the music industry. The artist passed away at 20-years-old after a home invasion robbery in Los Angeles, tragically marking the end of his physical journey on this planet.

In the year following his death, Pop Smoke’s name has only continued to grow as he made his official film debut in Boogie, contributed vocals to some of the biggest hip-hop albums, and more. Previously, it was confirmed that a second posthumous album was in the works— this time, likely without 50 Cent’s involvement— and we’ve finally got a recent update on the status of the project. According to Rico Beats, Pop’s manager, the project is near completion.

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“Pop Album 95% loading the f$&k up!!!!” wrote Rico Beats on Instagram, updating fans on where they’re at right now. As it stands, we can likely expect to hear new music from Pop Smoke in the coming months. What are you expecting to hear on his second posthumous album?

Last week, Pop was featured on Polo G and the Migos’ new albums. Check those out here and here.

A member of the Crips has been sentenced to over three decades in prison for nearly killing an FBI agent in 2018, according to the New York Post. A judge handed down a 31-year sentence to Ronell Watson in a Brooklyn federal court this month after Special Agent Christopher Harper told the court how his brush with death changed his life. “I survived, but I was harmed both physically and emotionally,” said Harper to Judge Williams Kuntz. “The emotional pain though … is in many ways worse than the physical pain.”

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The jury convicted Watson of attempted murder and assault in 2019 for the shooting Harper, who was on an undercover stakeout when he was shot. Harper was looking for another suspect from his vehicle when Ronell shot him in the shoulder. Prosecutors said Ronell drove down the wrong one-way street when he opened fire on Harper who returned fire.

Ahead of his sentencing, Watson said he was “truly, deeply remorseful and sorry” for the shooting. His attorney asked the judge for leniency in sentencing Watson because of his glaucoma and”extremely harsh conditions” in jail.

Today, justice has been served,” Acting US Attorney Mark Lesko said. “This Office is gratified by the lengthy prison sentence the court imposed on Watson for his senseless, cold-blooded and unprovoked shooting of Special Agent Harper, who came close to losing his life.”

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On Tuesday night, the Brooklyn Nets returned home for the fifth game in the Eastern Conference Semifinals playoff series against the Milwaukee Bucks, and the game turned out to be one of the most important matchups in the 2021 playoffs as well as one of the most historic NBA playoff games of all time. Kevin Durant played all 48 minutes of Game 5 against the Bucks and notched a record-setting playoff triple-double with 49 points, 17 rebounds, and 10 assists, which ultimately led the Brooklyn Nets to a six-point win. 

While KD’s playoff heroics can’t be ignored, it also can’t be ignored that given their one-time 17-point lead, the Milwaukee Bucks should have finished that game strong and sealed a series lead against their adversaries. Many NBA fans are chalking up Milwaukee’s loss as a testament of Kevin Durant’s greatness, but several NBA players — including Portland Trail Blazers shooting guard CJ McCollum — blame the loss on Giannis Antetokounmpo unwillingness to guard KD.

In a shady and indirect tweet, CJ McCollum writes, “Bruh first team all defense and ain’t go check easy$.” Only one of the five players named to the 2020-21 NBA All-Defensive First Team is currently playing a series against Kevin Durant (a.k.a. “Easy Money Sniper”), however, which makes McCollum’s tweet an obvious shot at Giannis Antetokounmpo.

CJ McCollum’s tweet even inspired responses and discourse from other prominent NBA players, including Bradley Beal, Jordan McRae, and Durant’s former teammate Draymond Green.

What do you think — should Giannis have taken up the responsibility of guarding Kevin Durant in order to have sealed a victory in Game 5?

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There’s been an undeniable uptick in violent crimes in the United States following the relaxation of many protective measures put in place to ease the spread of COVID-19. A recently published figure placed the number of mass shootings to occur in the country this year alone at a whopping 272. 

In another heinous act of senseless violence, authorities in Decatur, Georgia are reporting that a supermarket cashier is dead and 1 off-duty sheriff’s deputy is injured after gunfire erupted over a face mask dispute in a grocery store. Law enforcement officials say a male customer pulled out a gun after he “got into an argument with a cashier about his face mask.” 

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The incident is said to have occurred on Monday (June 14) around 1:10 pm at the Big Bear Supermarket in Decatur when a man identified by authorities as 30-year-old Victor Lee Tucker, Jr. was checking out items and got into an argument with a cashier who requested he put his mask on. 

Tucker then allegedly began firing at a DeKalb County Sheriff’s deputy “who was attempting to intervene while working off-duty at the supermarket,” officials said. The deputy then returned fire and both were injured in the shootout. 

Responding officers from the DeKalb County Police Department arrested Tucker while he was “attempting to crawl out the front door of the supermarket.” The unnamed cashier was transported to nearby Grady Memorial Hospital, where, according to local news sources, she was pronounced dead. Tucker was taken to the same hospital and remains in stable condition. 

According to the Georgia Bureau of Investigation, the police will issue arrest warrants for Tucker. The investigation is still ongoing at this time 

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Following the release of Culture III, the Migos have taken a moment to hit up The Breakfast Club for a conversation with Charlamagne Tha God, Angela Yee, and DJ Envy. Fans of the group are certainly in for a treat, as there are plenty of topics covered ranging from making the album to COVID vaccines to Pop Smoke to Takeoff’s love life.

Off the bat, it’s clear that the Migos are in a celebratory mood, as their energy throughout the interview is jovial and good-humored. Understandable, given that the trio recently delivered their brand new album Culture III, a project that served as a reminder of everything the Migos are all about. It’s no wonder Charlamagne confidently declared them to be the most “impactful group of the past decade.”

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“Last summer, we were getting ready,” explains Quavo, reflecting on the creation of Culture III. “We stayed in this house together for six months. We had six or seven records from that time that’s still in that album. We went to Miami together, just taking little trips together.” After Takeoff reveals they recorded the entire album together, Quavo explains that the chemistry never faltered. “We grew up together,” he says. “We already know what each other thinking, each other doing. It’s magic when we get together.”

There are certainly plenty of gems found throughout. For one, the Migos offer a glowing review to DJ Khaled’s hospitality, with Quavo going so far as to say the mogul has “the best chef in the world.” They also reveal that Khaled flew them all out to Jamaica to film the video to “We Goin Crazy,” and they ultimately ended up staying there to shoot their own clip for “Why Not.” When Charlamagne asks if Khaled footed the entire bill, Offset shrugs. “Yeah!”

Charlamagne also asks Quavo how he’s managed to stay so tapped in with New York artists. “Shout out New York, man,” replies Huncho. “My second spot. It’s all love. Them boys one thousand. Pop Smoke one thousand. RIP, rest his soul. Always ready to learn, lock in, just soak it up. Every time, he just reacted fast, he knew what he wanted to do. And Bobby, he been our dawg since 2013. We just stayed locked in ever since.” He also teases that the Shmigo collaborative album isn’t entirely off the table. 

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As the interview wraps up, the Migos tease that they’ll be back with another new album at “the top of next year” before Charlamagne shifts the conversation and asks if the group has been vaccinated against COVID-19. Offset confirms that he’s not, Takeoff claims he doesn’t trust it, and Quavo confirms that he got the shot. “This the thing with me,” begins Offset, taking off his glasses. “You want us to take the shot, cool. But it’s good for twelve months. Every year you gotta take the shot, at this point…We take the vaccine, but we still gotta take COVID tests right now.”

When Angela points out that vaccinated people can still get COVID, Quavo appears aghast. ‘What going on with that? I can still get COVID?” Yee explains that the symptoms are severely lessened, promoting Quavo to sigh. “Somebody tricked me into that,” he claims, visibly crestfallen. “They told me it was over with.” He later notes how Charlamagne could be sitting beside him while sick, prompting the host to laugh and declare “I was in Miami this weekend!” 

Check out the full conversation on The Breakfast Club below, and sound off if you’ve been keeping Culture III on steady rotation.