Brittney Griner Closing Statement: “Had No Intent” To Break Russian Law

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Brittney Griner gave a key statement in her trial just ahead of the verdict in her drug case being handed down later today. The Phoenix Mercury star pleaded for leniency in her closing statement. “I want to say again that I had no intent on breaking any Russian laws. I had no intent. I did not conspire or plan to commit this crime,” Griner shared in the courtroom. 

Griner apologized to both her WNBA and Russian teams along with her fans. Griner, 31, expressed her desire for any political discussions surrounding her case not to play a factor. She said she hopes any talk about politics and her being used as a “political pawn” is kept far from the courtroom. She said she made “an honest mistake,” adding “I hope in your ruling it does not end my life.”

 READ MORE: LeBron James Say Brittney Griner Should Question Whether She Wants To Come Home

The American Basketball star faces up to 10 years in prison on the charge of large-scale transportation of drugs. Griner plead guilty in July in an effort to gain leniency after having under a gram of cannabis oil in her luggage when she was arrested at the airport in Moscow back in February.

Russian prosecutors are asking for Griner to be sentenced to nine-and-a-half years in prison.

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[WATCH] Ma$e Announces That He’s Joining Death Row Records

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During an ultimately fatal feud between two coasts back in the mid to late 90s, Death Row Records and Bad Boy Records were the most powerful labels in Hip Hop music. Now, after a week of being in the forefront of Hip Hop gossip, former Bad Boy Ma$e is looking to be the first rapper signed to have signed to both of the monumental imprints.

Ma$e, whose given name is Mason Betha, took to Instagram yesterday(August 3) to announce that he’s in the process of signing a deal with Death Row Records, which is now owned by Snoop Dogg.

“I’m on Crenshaw — just passed Pico, just passed Slauson — and I’m out here to meet with Snoop so I can do another joint venture with Death Row Records,” Ma$e said while riding through L.A. I’ll be officially the first one signed to Bad Boy and Death Row. And we gon’ get the 2Pac thing rekindled. Let’s see where we go with that.”

Ma$e was one of Diddy’s flagship artists for Bad Boy, dropping thre albums on the label; Harlem WorldDouble Up and Welcome Back before departing in 2012. Their relationship soured soon after and earlier this year, Ma$e dropped a diss track aimed at Diddy called “Oracle 2: The Liberation Of Mason Betha”.

However, before Ma$e decided to make this move, Snoop alluded that he and Diddy were trying to bridge the gap between the two powerhouses. “We can show growth and progression that we can move forward,” he said. “We can take this Bad Boy, Death Row, what it used to be, and make it a collaboration on peace and love. ’Cause that’s who I am. I’m Suge and Puffy.”

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Demi Lovato Reveals Why She Changed Pronouns

Demi Lovato's Alleged Dealer was Arrested for Guns and Drugs Months Before her OD

Demi Lovato says she’s back to using “she” and “her” pronouns again. The 29-year-old Pop singer made the announcement in an interview on the Spout Podcast.

Lovato says she started using “they” and “them” pronouns last year because at the time she was “balanced” in “masculine and feminine energy,” but now she’s adopted she/her again because she feels more feminine.

“So, for me, I’m such a fluid person that I don’t really, I don’t find that I am.. I felt like, especially last year, my energy was balanced in my masculine and feminine energy so that when I was faced with the choice of walking into a bathroom and it said ‘women’ and ‘men,’ I didn’t feel like there was a bathroom for me because I didn’t feel necessarily like a woman. I didn’t feel like a man. I just felt like a human,” she explained.

READ MORE: Demi Lovato Reposts Message Calling Out DaBaby Over Homophobic Comments at Rolling Loud

The former Disney star continued, “And that’s what they/them is about. For me, it’s just about like feeling human at your core.”

The “Cool For The Summer” singer didn’t mention that she’s completely jumping ship from ever using “they” and “them” as pronouns, she seemingly implied that she is adding “she” and “her.”

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Legendary Producer Rodney “Darkchild” Jerkins Launches Kids Music Writing Camp

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Rodney “Darkchild” Jerkins, a multi-Grammy Award winning record producer, rapper, and songwriter, is looking to take on 10 music production protégés and spend 2 days in the studio with them. Darkchild is looking to give back and help find and develop amazing, undiscovered, youth talent. 

He is committed to finding and selecting 10 proteges through his campaign and with the output of their work, they will potentially be pitched to top A-list artists to consider for their own recordings. Jerkins’ camp will be covering a $500 subsidy for travel and hotel and participants must be responsible for their own travel and accommodations. Applicants can submit a 60-second audition video through his Protégé page.  Every submission will receive a personalized feedback video from Darkchild.

This will be the first camp he’s hosted with previously undiscovered talent, which he sees as an important access opportunity for young producers and artists.

Darkchild is an award winning producer, having collaborated with a broad range of popular artists including Whitney Houston, Beyoncé, Justin Bieber, Mary J. Blige, Jennifer Lopez, Lady Gaga, Destiny’s Child, Brandy, Michael Jackson, and more.

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NY Senator Wants Defense Production Act Invoked To Boost Monkeypox Vaccine

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Senator Kirstin Gillibrand says the Defense Production Act should be invoked to produce more monkeypox vaccine. With the CDC now confirming more than 6,300 monkeypox cases across 48 states, the New York Democrat is calling on the Biden administration to use the Defense Production Act to ramp up production. 

On Tuesday, the Biden Administration named Robert Fenton, a top FEMA official to head the government’s response to monkeypox as the White House National Monkeypox Response Coordinator. 

The first confirmed case of monkeypox in the U.S. came on May 18. Monkeypox is a viral disease that occurs mostly in central and western Africa.  It has its name because it was first identified in laboratory monkeys.The monkeypox virus is now considered a public health emergency in Illinois, California, and New York. 

New York is the epicenter of America’s monkeypox outbreak with the CDC saying New York has more than 1600 cases or nearly one in four of all U.S. cases.  Gillibrand added we can build on the lessons of COVID and use the knowledge to act more decisively as we fight this disease.

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Nicki Minaj Responds To Tax Fraud Allegations Made By Alleged Ex-Assistant

Nicki Minaj to Premiere Two New Songs From Album on 'SNL'

Nicki Minaj is responding to the outrageous allegations made by a person claiming to be her ex-assistant.  On Monday, “Kate Miller ” who claimed to be the GRAMMY nominee’s ex-assistant posted dozens of Instagram stories making wild claims about Nicki Minaj and her relationship with industry folks like Remy Ma, Drake, Cardi B, Quavo, Lil Wayne and multiple others.  

The fake account from @katemiller_7,  has since been removed, also made other claims about Nicki’s husband and how she owed the IRS several hundred million dollars.  When called out by the Barbz, Miller refused to post evidence to back up her claims citing an NDA she signed.  

Nicki dismissed the claims as dumb and thinks for anyone to belive it, they would have to be dumb too. 

“Y’all, every day I learn that y’all getting dumber and dumber,” Nicki said on her IG while getting her makeup done.

READ MORE: Nicki Minaj Drops Trailer For Upcoming 6-Part Documentary Series

“I am mind-blown that people are this f***ing dumb, that people are believing that I got somebody that worked for me and now they spilling tea. … It’s not even that, it’s that the tea sounds so f***ing dumb,” Nicki mocked. “And for a person to believe it, you would have to be dumb. It’s clearly a kid.”

Watch the full clip below. 

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Monica Lewinsky Suggests Beyoncé Remove 2013 “Partition” Lyric Referencing Her Affair with Clinton

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Monica Lewinsky is asking Beyoncé to remove a lyric referencing her 1998 affair with former President Bill Clinton from the song “Partition,” released in 2013 . 

He bucked all my buttons, he ripped my blouse

He Monica Lewinski’d all on my gown

Oh there daddy, daddy didn’t bring the towel

Oh baby, baby we slow it down

At the time of her scandal, Lewinsky, 24 years old, made headlines from her infamous blue dress that she kept with semen stains that resulted from administering oral sex to the sitting President Bill Clinton. Which was later used in Kenneth Starr’s federal investigation and the impeachment trial of Clinton. 

The former White House intern took to Twitter after Queen Bey was said to replace the ableist slur ‘spaz’ from her new track “Heated.”  

READ MORE: Beyoncé Removes Interpolation of “Milkshake” From Song “Energy” And Kelis’ Name From The Credits

Lewinsky tweeted the link to a Variety article reporting on the backlash and added the caption, “uhmm, while we’re at it… #Partition.”

Some say Lewinsky is being humorously sarcastic about Beyoncé making a blow job reference. While others have shared she needs to give it up after all these years.

One commenter made a point to ask Lewinski, why would she call out the one Black female artist instead of the long list of men who have used her name in songs?

The 49-year-old Pentagon employee responded to her followers that she was the most disappointed in Bey, as she was such a huge fan. 

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[WATCH] Chaka Khan: “I Don’t Need To Hear From Kanye” About Unauthorized “Through The Wire” Sample

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According to soul songstress Chaka Khan, her and Kanye West won’t be hugging it out anytime soon as the “AIn’t Nobody” singer reveals that she’s still upset about West using her voice on his 2003 hit “Through The Wire” from his 2004 College Dropout album.

During an interview with FOX5 New in D.C., correspondent Marissa Mitchell asked Khan about the “Through The Wire” sample, which was taken from her 1984 smash ht “Through The Fire”.

Mitchell asked the singer if she’s heard from Ye after her public criticisms of him and says that she hasn’t heard from Yeezy and furthermore, doesn’t need or want to hear from him.

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[WATCH] Ma$e Admits He Regrets Feud With Cam’ron

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On a recent episode of Gillie and Wallo’s Million Dollaz Worth of Game, former Bad Boy artist delved into how buying his first iced-out Rolex is when his relationships began to turn sour.

“When I got the money it just changed everything, but at first my problem with I think Cam was just that they thought I had money I didn’t have,” Ma$e said. “Like I just told you I was flexing crazy, so n-ggas was like, ‘Yo, Murda ain’t sharing the bag.’ I never got the bag. Now that we looking back you can see he never got that bag, and then by the time I got the bag we was enemies already. So I didn’t get to break ’em off.”

He added, “That’s one of the relationships I regret. I think I got two that I regret, and going at Killa, I wanted to do that but that was like my n-gga, you know what I’m saying? So that really hurt me.”

Ma$e and Cam’s issues began in 1999 when the former Children of the Corn member left Harlem and went to Atlanta to become a pastor after a street beef with the late Baby Maine.

Ma$e returned to the rap game five years later with a new album called Welcome Back, which he promoted on Flunk Flex’s Hot 97 radio program. During the show, Cam and Jim Jones called in to interrogate Ma$e over his abrupt departure from Harlem. The trio argued live on Hot 97, with Cam calling him a “fraud.”

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Berner Becomes the First Cannabis Executive To Make The Forbes Cover

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Gilbert MIlan Jr. aka Berner, has been one of the main faces of canna-business, which is why the San Francisco native become the very first exec in the cannabis industry to make the cover of the coveted Forbes magazine.

The Cookies CEO and Taylor Gang Entertainment signee has been at the forefront of the billion dollar marijuana industry for the past two decades and the finance tracking mag honored the canna-mogul by letting him grace the cover.

“It’s every entrepreneur’s dream to make the cover of Forbes, but the reality is very few founders and CEOs of the largest companies in the world will actually get a chance to achieve that goal,” said Berner. “I’ve been in the legal cannabis industry for 20 years and have dedicated most of my life to this fight. To be selected as one of the faces for federal legalization in our country is a huge compliment to my work. I’m extremely humbled, excited and motivated to keep pushing the cannabis industry forward and to continue representing minorities in the space. This is just the beginning for Cookies and I want to thank Forbes for helping us share our story.”

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