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The star-studded 2021 BET Awards took place on Sunday (June 27). Of the many iconic moments throughout the night, a few highlights include Cardi B’s surprise pregnancy reveal, the colossal DMX tribute performance, and Lil’ Kim revealing she’s down to do a Verzuz battle with Nicki Minaj. 

Elsewhere, different celeb guests debuted intriguing looks. One person earning buzz across social media for her look is Zendaya, who opted to pay homage to a similar look Beyoncé wear in 2003 at the 3rd annual BET Awards. The Emmy-winning actress rocked a purple Versace gown that’s a more red-carpet-appropriate version of Bey’s performance outfit. 

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Zendaya’s show-stopping look came courtesy of her stylist, Law Roach, who proudly took to Instagram to share a slow-mo video of the actress’ look as she strutted to Beyoncé’s “Crazy In Love.” He wrote, “Paying homage to the Queen Beyoncé wearing @versace SS2003 ….. get you a stylist with an ARCHIVE!!!!”

The look was completed by a pair of Stuart Weitzman shoes and Bulgari yellow diamonds. The post was filled with praise from the look, and she also received large amounts of acclaim across social media. 

Comparatively, the look in question that inspired Zendaya came from Bey’s 2003 BET Awards performance where she donned a short, pleated version of the dress. She performed “Crazy In Love” with then-boyfriend Jay-Z, the first single off her chart-topping debut album Dangeorusly In Love. 

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On Sunday night, one of the biggest annual televised Hip-Hop and R&B events returned, as several of the most notable Black musicians hit Los Angeles for the 21st BET Awards. As usual, the awards ceremony sparked hilarious discourse about the wild red carpet looks, and there was the massive mid-show reveal that Cardi B is pregnant and expecting her second child with Migos rapper Offset. 

The night was absolutely full of surprises, but one of the biggest ones came after the BET Awards had concluded. Apparently, Yung Miami and Megan Thee Stallion linked up after the awards show, and things surprisingly got pretty steamy.

Yung Miami/Instagram

Yung Miami and JT were commemorating their recent accomplishments at the “City Girls Celebration Dinner,” which was hosted by QC and Cîroc, and stars like Megan Thee Stallion and Chloe from Chloe x Halle were in attendance. As seen above in the screenshot from Yung Miami’s Instagram story, the City Girls rapper and Meg seemed to just be hanging out together at the afterparty, but shocking footage reveals that the two rappers actually shared a kiss at one point during the night.

Yung Miami can be seen leaning into Megan with her head back and mouth open when the Good News artist pulls her in suddenly and gives her a quick, passionate kiss. As they kiss, you can hear the people at the party start to cheer, and when they pull apart from each other, both of them start laughing. Check out the footage of Megan Thee Stallion and Yung Miami kissing each other below.

Are you surprised to see the two femcees kissing each other? 

Chris Paul is one of the greatest point guards ever although there is one thing that has been missing from his resume for many years. Of course, we are talking about an NBA championship. Surprisingly, Paul has never even made it to the NBA Finals, although this year he is just one game away from doing so. The Phoenix Suns are up 3-1 on the Los Angeles Clippers and if they win tonight, they will be the first team set for a Finals appearance.

As for superstar Devin Booker, he recently told reporters that Paul has been a phenomenal leader for the team and that he wants this title more than anyone. Paul knows he doesn’t have too many years left, and at this point, the Larry O’Brien trophy is all he wants. In fact, Paul told the Suns that very sentiment prior to the Western Conference Finals.

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“I have a lot of respect for him as a man, not even as a basketball player. Just understanding how bad he wants this, and how much time he’s put into it. Sixteen years, that’s a long time,” Booker said. “When we made the Western Conference Finals, he’s like ‘I’ve only been here one time.’ So we know how bad he wants it. Same with coach Monty, I get that same feeling from him. Me and Deandre are sitting here, and Mikal, this is our first time in (the playoffs). It’s a little spoiled but it came with a lot of work. But we definitely have his back.”

The Suns look like the strongest team left in the playoffs and if they were to face a team like the Milwaukee Bucks in the Finals, it would prove to be a phenomenal series. While they still have to go get the job done, it seems like this might be a year of destiny for CP3.

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The 2021 BET Awards Ceremony took place on Sunday (June 27). The most memorable moments of the night include Megan thee Stallion’s extravagant performance of her latest single “Thot Sh*t,” Cardi B’s surprise pregnancy reveal during her performance with Migos for their hit “Type Sh*t,” and the star-studded DMX tribute featuring Method Man, Griselda, Swizz Beatz, and more. 

However, the most captivating moment of the night came from the pre-show’s red carpet when Lil’ Kim revealed she was down to do a Verzuz battle. A sure surprise to many, Kim added that she would be willing to go up against her–perhaps former, archnemesis Nicki Minaj. 

“Not going to say who against, but would you do a Verzuz?” asked red carpet host DJ Envy to Kim while interviewing her. “Yes,” answered The Queen Bee with enthusiasm.  “Is there anybody that you’d do it against? Or are you just ready for anybody?,” he later inquired. 

In response, Kim confidently said, “Nicki,” to which Envy responded he would love to see. “Yeah, me too,” she added. 

The two notably have a complicated history with each other. Back in 2010, Kim took direct shots at Nicki by dropping her Black Friday mixtape, named after her song with the same name where she dubbed Nicki Minaj a “wannabe” and “Lil’ Kim clone.” In response, fans suspect Nicki’s hits “Stupid Hoe,” “Roman’s Revenge,” and “Tragedy” were aimed at the Bedstuy rapper. 

So far, Nicki has yet to respond to Kim’s request. Check out what others are saying about the possible Verzuz battle between the two ladies of rap.

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Damian Lillard has been extremely loyal to the Portland Trail Blazers over the years, even if the franchise hasn’t given him the proper players to be successful. Lillard has always been about the grind, although over the last few days, it appears he has been contemplating whether or not the grind is really worth it. In fact, this contemplation comes after the hiring of Chauncey Billups, who is being scrutinized due to a past rape allegation.

Since Billups’ hiring, fans have been going after Lillard and his alleged involvement in the hire. According to Chris Haynes of Yahoo! Sports, Lillard isn’t happy with the way the fans are treating him right now and it is making him reconsider whether or not he actually wants to stay with a team like the Blazers.

Ever since the news broke, Twitter has been in a state of calamity as various NBA fans have been waiting for the day that Lillard would leave Portland. Of course, there is no guarantee that he forces a trade, although fans are already fantasizing about where he could land over the coming months. Lakers fans are convinced Lillard will join the team, while various other fans believe Philadelphia or the Knicks have the best chance at landing the superstar point guard.

Either way, the coming months will be very interesting, and if Lillard does get dealt, it will shake up the league for years to come. You can check out some of the reactions to the news, below.

Just last week, Kanye West and his Yeezy brand filed a complaint against Walmart as they found bootleg Adidas Yeezy Foam Runners being sold on Walmart’s platform. Kanye’s Yeezys have been faked in the past and he has always made sure to protect his intellectual property, especially since it is his designs that have turned him into a billionaire. The Foam Runner is a shoe that is easy to fake and while the Walmart listing wasn’t surprising, it was still troubling.

In the end, Walmart apologized for the error, noting that the shoes were sold by third-party listers. According to TMZ, since that time, Walmart has taken the shoe down and they have even cracked down on those who are selling bootlegs. Unfortunately for Kanye, it isn’t just Walmart sellers who are the culprit.

Image via Walmart

TMZ has found that there are dozens of fakes being sold on websites like Etsy, where the shoes go for much cheaper than the usual $75 USD price point. The bootlegs seems pretty convincing and if you didn’t know anything about sneakers, there is a good chance that you could wind up getting duped into copping some inauthentic shoes.

Kanye has yet to take action against the Etsy sellers although if history is any indication, then we’re sure he’s thinking up his legal strategy, as we speak.

Brad Barket/Getty Images for Fast Company

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