Dave Chappelle's Odd Behavior: How it's Destroying His Brand

by Dr. Boyce Watkins, AOL Black Voices

What's the deal with Dave Chappelle? According to TMZ, Chapelle was reportingly acting strange on a private jet, so much so that the jet had to make an emergency landing in Pittsburgh. Their source is stating that the flight was headed from New Jersey to Ohio and that Chappelle "freaked out" refusing to put on his seatbelt.

The source also says that Chappelle repeatedly walked into the cockpit, asking the pilot how much longer the flight would be, and even grabbed the pilot's arms. That is when it was allegedly determined that Chappelle was a safety risk, and the flight was grounded.
TMZ then claims that after landing, Chappelle checked into a hotel. However, sources at the hotel are claiming that Dave told the employees that he wanted to rent a car to go back to Ohio, but that he didn't remember where he lived.

I'm not sure what the deal is with Dave Chappelle, one of the most talented and privileged comedians in America. He had the world at his feet, with a hit show and a $50 million contract to do what he does best. It does appear, however, that there is something inside Chappelle that simply can't handle fame.

 

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Darius McCrary and Karrine Steffans

Darius McCrary & Karrine Steffans have filed for a divorce.  The couple married last April.  Word has it that they have been on-again/off-again for a while now. 

Check out the article here

Dr Boyce Watkins: Spike Lee vs. Tyler Perry - What Gives?

by Dr. Boyce Watkins

I woke up this morning to see that Tyler Perry is being forced to defend himself against nasty allegations coming from Spike Lee.  Spike has made it clear that he doesn’t appreciate what he perceives to be “coonery” in Tyler Perry films and TV shows. When I saw Perry flat out say that the accusations “pissed him off,” I thought, “Wow, now that’s an honest brother!”

RELATED: Tyler Perry Responds To Spike Lee’s “Coonery” Criticism

I grew up on Spike Lee and I’ll always love him.  I am also certain that images of black people singing, dancing and eating chicken certainly won Perry instant favor with the not-so-in-touch executives in Hollywood.  But here are three reasons that Spike Lee might be wrong about Tyler Perry:

1)    Tyler Perry is not all about Madea: I went onto BET a few times to talk about Hip Hop.  My hoity-toity friends in academia (many of whom pride themselves on writing research papers for journals that nobody ever reads) criticized me for being “unscholarly” by talking to rappers.  But my response was that hip hop culture has a dramatic influence on the young minds that I am trying to reach with education.  You don’t get a baby to eat healthy by only forcing vegetables down his throat; you sprinkle sugar on the food to get the child’s attention.  It’s not always a matter of forcing people to consume what they NEED – you should also be willing to let them have some of what they WANT.  Every positive black movie doesn’t have to be a PBS special.

 

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Black News: Taylor Swift Says Kanye Lied on Leno – He never Reached out to apologize

Kanye went onto Leno last night apologizing for what he did to Taylor Swift during the VMAs.  He said that he wanted to apologize to her face to face, but Taylor says he hasn’t reached out.

 

Kanye, you gotta fix your image.  Click to watch the video

They’re married, but no Prenup? Are you kidding?

Story is that The Dream and Chrissie tied the knot with no prenup.  Maybe he shoulda spent some time with Nas to see where that quarter mill is headed this month.  Some negroes never learn.

Celeb News: Is She a Man or a Woman? Track Star Does a Photoshoot

 

 

Remember the girl who got the gender test?  She just did a photo shoot to prove she is a woman.  Not bad…kinda

Black News: BET Gets Slammed by Former Employee

So Andreas Hale, former Executive Editor of Music at BET.com, has been let go.
But instead of simply gathering up his pencils, Rolodex and the favorite coffee mug, Hale took to the web to lay out many of his trials and tribulations during his time at BET.
Hale then hit 'send' on an explosive email that landed in our in-boxes Tuesday. The dysfunction that Hale describes is startling, but if we're honest, I think Hale verifies what many of us have long suspected:
As someone who has been critical of BET for many years, it surprised many that I would leave my post at HipHopDX last year to take a position at BET. But it was an opportunity I absolutely had to take. I could no longer be critical of this company without accepting the opportunity to change it when given. ...
Although I was hired to bring about change, I was systematically shut down. I wasn't hired to make noise, I was hired to be silenced. The truth of the matter is that everything that you thought was wrong with BET is true.

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Young Buck: Payback is a Bitch huh?

Apparently, Young Buck has realized not to f*ck with the wrong dudes.  After seeing Buck beg for forgiveness after their beef put him under the rug,  Tony Yayo had this to say,”"You being disgruntled towards 50, now what do you have? You could have been with us in Peru. We went to Switzerland, Istanbul, we went everywhere man. I'm too real for the industry. Even if I was disgruntled about anything, I wouldn't care, because I'm still getting money. Still got houses, still got cars, sprinklers still come out the ground."

Damn, coming back on your knees is a bitch.

Black News: Michael’s Doctor Had Major Financial Problems

AP Photo/Houston Chronicle, Pool Photographer

Hmmm...maybe that's why Dr. Conrad Murray is being so cooperative with the Los Angeles Police Department. And the Las Vegas Police Department. And the Clark County Sheriff's Department. And the Drug Enforcement Administration.

It seems it's not the good doctor's first time at the rodeo.

A check of Michael Jackson's physician's legal past has revealed everything from domestic violence charges (of which he was acquitted) to financial woes (which at one point included a bankruptcy filing) to his latest headache (you know, other than that whole target-of-a-manslaughter-investigation thing), the possibility that his Las Vegas home could soon be foreclosed upon.

Let's hope the feds treaded lightly during yesterday's search. Depreciation can be a real bitch.

Documents filed July 23 with the Clark County Recorder reveal that Murray could face foreclosure on his gated country club estate as soon as November. Though the timing on the filing may seem a bit like kicking Murray when he's down, Jackson's doctor reportedly fell more than $100,000 into debt on the home, with his last payment, of $15,000, being made in January of this year. (Which may be why Murray was so keen to stay in Jackson's good graces and keep the $150,000-a-month salary that came with it.)

As for Murray's less current troubles, here's a rundown of his legal lowlights:

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Shocker: Autopsy Says Michael Jackson’s Doctor Killed Him

Singer Michael Jackson had lethal levels of the drug propofol in his blood when he died, according to court documents.

A search warrant filed in court showed toxicology reports found propofol in Michael Jackson's body.

Los Angeles' coroner Dr. Lakshmanan Sathyavagiswaran reached that preliminary conclusion after reviewing toxicology results carried out on Jackson's blood, according to an affidavit.

The drug Diprivan, known by its generic name propofol, is administered intravenously in operating rooms as a general anesthetic, the manufacturer AstraZeneca told CNN.

A source close to the investigation told CNN that Dr. Conrad Murray is believed to have administered the drug to Jackson within 24 hours of his death on June 25.

Investigators have searched Murray's home and clinics for evidence related to the anesthetic propofol, according to documents filed in court.

The drug works as a depressant on the central nervous system.

"It works on your brain," said Dr. Zeev Kain, the chair of the anesthesiology department at the University of California --Irvine. "It basically puts the entire brain to sleep."

 

 

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50 Cent's "The Streets Of Blood" Interview

 

 

 

Curtis James Jackson, III, aka 50 Cent was born on July 6, 1975 in South Jamaica, Queens, where he was raised by his single-mom until she was murdered when he was only 8. He was taken in by his grandparents, but began hanging out with the wrong kids and began selling crack by the age of 12. While still a teenager, he was arrested and convicted for drug dealing, and turned his life around while serving out a six-month sentence.

After being paroled, he parlayed his street cred into an enviable career in gangsta’ rap with the help of the late Jam Master Jay of Run-DMC, and the rest, as they say, is musical history. Here, he talks about his latest film, Streets of Blood, a crime thriller set in New Orleans and co-starring Val Kilmer.

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Football Star Plaxico Burress Indicted On Weapons Charges

 

 

Former New York Giants wide receiver Plaxico Burress was indicted by a Manhattan grand jury on weapons charges stemming from an incident last November in which Burress accidentally shot himself in the thigh at a New York nightclub, prosecutors announced Monday.

Burress, 31, was indicted on two felony counts of criminal possession of a weapon and one count of reckless endangerment, according to the announcement by the Manhattan District Attorney Robert Morgenthau.

New York Giants linebacker Antonio Pierce, Burress' former teammate who was with him at the club and drove him to the hospital, was not indicted for his role in the incident, according to the prosecutor's announcement.

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Drake’s Message for His Fans

Yesterday Drake blogged to his fans about his injury during a concert on Friday that will cause him to get surgery and take a few months off from rapping.

Angels and Demons

This bottle of Opus One is low but my spirits are high my friends. I am about 2 hours away from Toronto, CA where I will be spending the next chunk of time recovering from a surgery that I now must have. I embarked on this tour with a torn ACL, MCL, and LCL and due to the events that happened the other night lord only knows what other damage I have done. On the bright side I will begin the reflecting and soul searching that its going to take to make this album and my outfit on the night I fell was crack. I will forever push myself beyond the limits despite advice and recommendations given because even with this new found success I am still the kid who wanted this more than anything in the world. Its funny when I read comments from previous fans who have lost interest because of the radio play and exposure I have. I just want to assure anyone reading that nothing has changed on my end. I refuse to get comfortable, I refuse to fall in line and follow anyone else’s formulas. I still work as if So Far Gone had never dropped and I’m still trying to figure out how I’m going to gain entry to this game.

“Missing someone gets easier everyday. Because, even though it is one day further from the last time you saw each other, it is one day closer to the next time you will”

See you soon.

Drizzy

Good to see that he is keeping his head up.