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Authorities searched Diddy’s property as part of the Andscape sex trafficking investigation

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LOS ANGELES — In the first nine months of 2023. Sean “Diddy” Combs he performed triumphantly at the MTV VMAs, released an R&B album that received a Grammy nomination and courted the BET network.

However, several lawsuits filed late last 12 months raised allegations of sexual assault and rape against Combs – one of hip-hop’s most recognizable names as a performer and producer.

Houses of the music tycoon in Los Angeles and Miami were searched Monday by federal agents together with homeland security investigators and other law enforcement agencies. Officials say the searches are related to an investigation by federal authorities in New York.

The officials spoke to The Associated Press on condition of anonymity because they weren’t authorized to publicly discuss details of the investigation. Combs’ attorney and other representatives didn’t immediately reply to a request for comment, and his whereabouts are unknown.

Although Combs was embroiled in a single high-profile business dispute for part of 2023, it was a case brought by his ex-girlfriend and R&B singer Cassie this opened the door to other allegations of sexual violence. Combs denies the allegations.

It is unclear whether the search is said to any of the allegations raised in the lawsuit, including the woman’s allegation that Combs he raped her when she was 17.

Here are some things to find out about Combs and the investigation.

Who is Combs?

Combs is one of the most influential hip-hop producers and executives of the last three many years. He built one of the largest musical empires, leading the way with several entities associated together with his famous name. He is the founder of Bad Boy Records and a three-time Grammy Award winner who has worked with many top artists, including Notorious B.I.G., Mary J. Blige, Usher, Lil’ Kim, Faith Evans and 112.

The music mogul created the Sean John fashion clothing line, was related to a famous vodka brand and launched the Revolt TV network, which focuses on music and social justice issues aimed toward African Americans. He also produced a reality show for MTV.

In 2022, BET honored Combs with a Lifetime Achievement Award for his ability to shape culture throughout his profession.

Combs won a Grammy for his 1997 platinum album and single “I’ll Be Missing You,” a song dedicated to Notorious B.I.G., who died earlier this 12 months. He won one other Grammy for “Shake Ya Tailfeather” with Nelly and Murphy Lee.

Last 12 months, Combs released his fifth studio album, which was nominated for a Grammy in the Best Progressive R&B Album category in February, which he was not featured on. The album was his first solo project since topping the charts in 2006, which produced two top-ten singles: “Last Night” with Keyshia Cole and “Come to Me” with Nicole Scherzinger.

In 2004, Combs played Walter Lee Younger in a Broadway revival of the play, which was broadcast in a television adaptation 4 years later. He has also appeared in movies including and .

What caused the lawsuits?

In November, Combs’ protégé and singer Cassie sued him for years of sexual abuse, including rape. The lawsuit alleged that he forced her to have sex with male prostitutes while he filmed them.

Combs and Ventura began dating in 2007, and their relationship lasted on and off for over a decade.

The lawsuit was settled the day after it was filed, but lawsuits continued to be filed against Combs.

In a December statement, Combs said: “I did not do any of the terrible things I am accused of.”

Law enforcement officers stand at the entrance to Sean Combs’ estate on March 25 in Miami Beach.

Rebecca Blackwell

In February, the music producer filed a lawsuit alleging that Combs forced him to solicit prostitutes and pressured him to have sex with them. Combs’ attorney, Shawn Holley, said of the allegations that “we have overwhelming, irrefutable evidence that his claims are complete lies.”

Combs’ other accuser was a girl who claimed the rap producer raped her 20 years ago when she was 17. The files detailed acts of sexual assault, battery and compelled drug use allegedly committed in the early Nineties by Combs, then a talent director for the promoter’s party and a rising figure in New York’s hip-hop community.

Any consequences of the lawsuits?

Last 12 months, Combs stepped down as president of his Revolt cable network amid allegations of sexual abuse.

Revolt announced Combs’ decision via social media. It is unclear whether he’ll return to the media company, which Combs said “has not previously had any operational or day-to-day role” at the network.

“This decision helps ensure that Revolt remains unwaveringly focused on our mission of creating meaningful cultural content and amplifying the voices of all Black people across the country and the African diaspora,” the network said.

The network was preparing to rejoice its tenth anniversary.

Combs also created a web based marketplace called Strengthen your global position featuring Black-owned brands. The curated marketplace site remains to be energetic but doesn’t display any products on the market.

What happened to Diageo?

Earlier this 12 months, Combs dropped a lawsuit filed last 12 months against Diageo as part of a settlement with the London spirits giant.

Combs said the company did not make promised investments in Ciroc vodka and DeLeon tequila, two brands Combs had promoted in the past, and treated them as inferior “urban” products. He too accused Diageo of racism.

In a lawsuit, Combs said Diageo executives told him that race was one of the reasons for limiting distribution to “urban” neighborhoods. Combs said he was also told that some Diageo leaders resented him for making an excessive amount of money.

In Diageo legal documents accused Combs resorting to “false and reckless” allegations “in order to extract additional billions” from the company.

After the lawsuit was filed, Combs’ fame suffered significant damage. After the lawsuit was withdrawn, Diageo became the sole owner of Ciroc and DeLeon.

This article was originally published on : andscape.com
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Jamie Foxx’s Daughter Corinne Makes Controversial Marriage Decision, Leaves Fans Confused About Family ‘Bloodline’

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Oscar winner Jamie Foxx celebrated his eldest daughter’s nuptials by walking her down the aisle. His firstborn, 30-year-old Corinne Foxx, tied the knot with television executive Joe Hooten over the weekend.

Photos and videos taken by guests at the marriage, similar to “The Jamie Foxx Show” co-star Garcelle Beauvais, have surfaced online. Corinne is similar daughter who informed the general public about her father’s medical complications in April 2023.

Jamie Foxx’s daughter Corinne Foxx has tied the knot months after announcing her engagement to Joe Hotten. (Photo: @corinnefoxx/Instagram)
Jamie Foxx’s daughter Corinne Foxx has tied the knot months after announcing her engagement to Joe Hotten. (Photo: @corinnefoxx/Instagram)

More than a 12 months after recovering from a health scare that left him unconscious for days, Foxx managed to walk Corinne down the aisle while holding his chest and crying uncontrollably.

According to reports, Corinne and Joe began dating in 2018 and announced their engagement in December 2023 via Instagram.

“Imagine going through a health/death scare like that and living until your daughter walks down the aisle” he wrote one person within the comments section of The Neighborhood Talk post.

Social media users reacted to clips from the ceremony, including other clips of the “Beat Shazam” co-hosts doing a father-daughter dance. Foxx’s girlfriend, Alyce Huckstepp, can be seen in photos with him and Beauvais.

While some fans celebrated the brand new union, other commenters focused on the groom’s race.

“Like father, like daughter, they both have something white,” one person said, while one other added: “And similar to that… the black is diluted. In 100 years his bloodline won’t seem like him.

People also referenced Jamie Foxx’s history of dating white women. For example, one comment read, “She has the same taste as him.” Another commented, “She must be marrying a white man if all she grew up seeing was her daddy dating.”

One observer focused on those attending the marriage, writing: “You go to your own family’s wedding and you barely see anyone who looks like you, so you go crazy.”

Foxx has been in relationships with several white women over the past three a long time. He began dating U.S. Air Force veteran Connie Kline, who’s white, in 1993. Kline gave birth to Corinne on February 15, 1994.

The “Django Unchained” actor also dated white therapist Kristin Grannis, with whom he has a 15-year-old daughter named Anelise Bishop.

He also dated actress Katie Holmes following her divorce from “Collateral” star Tom Cruise. Foxx and Holmes reportedly dated from 2013 to 2019, but he has never publicly commented on their relationship and has avoided bringing it up when asked about it in interviews.

Foxx also had romantic relationships with other women, including Italian-Jewish model Leila Arcieri and actress Kate Beckinsale.

Although he publicly expressed interest in his former co-star Beauvais, they never dated.

But rumors and discussions about his latest relationship with Huckstepp began months after his medical trauma. She was also seen with him several times during his recovery.

Things were uncertain for months as Foxx was missing in motion and needed to have a stunt double to finish scenes for his film Back In Action. Fans were vehemently disbelieving about his condition and whereabouts after he was spotted playing Topgolf and riding a streetcar in Chicago, where he was recovering at a treatment center.

However, unlike his daughter Corinne, it’s unclear whether the 56-year-old R&B singer plans to ever get married.

“I never believed that marriage was a good idea for me,” Foxx wrote in his 2021 memoir, Act Like You Got Some Sense. “I had friends who had successful marriages, others not so much. And I never felt like marriage was necessary to raise my children in a safe and loving environment.”

The text continues: “I just don’t think I’m the type of person who wants to get married. At least not now—maybe in a few decades, when I’m in a wheelchair and need someone to push me and change my diapers.”

However, last November, The National Enquirer reported that Foxx planned to propose soon and that a baby was “definitely in the cards!”

If the reports are true, this might be Foxx’s first marriage and third child. However, it remains to be unknown if he plans to do each.


This article was originally published on : atlantablackstar.com
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How Noir Horror Films Changed the Genre Forever

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Jordan Peele

Noir horror has come a good distance since the first noir horror, “The Goose’s Son,” in 1940. While this early film and others prefer it hold a crucial place in the history of the genre, there is no such thing as a denying that black horror evolved from offering low cost thrills and cutscene scares to becoming a strong medium for social commentary and alter.

The New Wave of Black Horror Films

Black horror movies have experienced a resurgence lately. And it’s not nearly thrills and kills. These movies are used as vehicles for racial and social commentary, often in complex or nuanced ways.

One of the most prolific black horror directors is Jordan Peele. While he’s widely known for his comedic work on Key & Peele, Peele has carved out a brand new, vital space for himself — and plenty of others — in a genre that has historically lacked black representation. His visionary work in Get Out and This Is Us has solidified his place as a number one auteur in the field. While Peele could also be the biggest name, he’s not the just one. There are loads of black horror movies that deserve your attention.

“Get Out!” (2017)

Jordan Peele’s 2017 hit Get Out is a milestone in the black horror genre. The symbolism is rife as black Chris Washington and his white girlfriend, Rose Armitage, navigate a journey to her family’s secluded estate. Unlike other works that cope with overt racism and prejudice, Get Out explores a more insidious kind that is commonly wrapped in white good intentions.

On the other hand, the auction scene, by which Rose’s father wages a disturbingly quiet bidding war for Chris, is an unabashed depiction of the commodification and exploitation of black bodies. Chris is effectively sold to the highest bidder in a game of bingo that originally seems benign but then, like systemic oppression, seems to be much more sinister.

LOS ANGELES, CALIFORNIA – AUGUST 22: (L-R) Daniel Kaluuya and Jordan Peele attend the Los Angeles premiere of Focus Features’ “Honk For Jesus. Save Your Soul” at Regal LA Live on August 22, 2022 in Los Angeles, California. (Photo by Matt Winkelmeyer/Getty Images)

“We” (2019)

Peele’s follow-up to Get Out was 2019’s Us , which uses horror to dissect a myriad of issues, including class, identity, and social injustice. When a young girl is confronted by her doppelgangers at a carnival, it begins a lifetime of haunting that culminates when she returns to the location along with her family as an adult. The family is confronted by a gaggle of doppelgangers who claim to be called the Tethered.

The imprisoned function a metaphor for the underprivileged and forgotten amongst us. They are similar in every way, yet treated as a lower class of residents deserving of shame and fear. They are unable to dictate their very own lives, and chaos unfolds as they stand up against their oppressors.

AUSTIN, TX – MARCH 9: Buzzfeed talks with Jordan Peele, Lupita Nyong’o and Winston Duke about the upcoming Universal Pictures film “US” at the Comcast NBCUniversal House for SXSW on March 9, 2019 in Austin, Texas. (Photo by Daniel Boczarski/Getty Images for Comcast NBCUniversal)

“No” (2022)

“Nope” is a horror film with exploitation themes in the entertainment industry. Spectacle and consumption are at the heart of this gripping horror film that follows a pair of siblings attempting to capture UFO footage. They know that capturing and monetizing their discovery may very well be the financial lifeline their ranch needs, however it opens up questions on what it means to commodify something extraordinary for private gain.

Gordy the chimpanzee is one other tragic example of exploitation and what happens when creatures in captivity are pushed to their limits. His massacre at the party is a brutal reminder that everybody – even nature – has a breaking point, and it’s best for everybody not to seek out out what that time is the hard way.

LONDON, ENGLAND – JULY 28: Daniel Kaluuya and Keke Palmer attend the UK premiere of “NOPE” at the Odeon Luxe Leicester Square on July 28, 2022 in London, England. (Photo by Jeff Spicer/Getty Images for Universal)

“The Nanny” (2022)

“The Nanny” is a story about how the American dream can often change into a nightmare for black immigrants, written and directed by Nikyat YusuSierra Leonean-American filmmaker. The film weaves together West African mythology and the story of Aisha, a Senegalese immigrant who leaves all the pieces—including her young son—back home to hunt a greater life in New York City.

One of the central themes of “The Nanny” is Aisha’s experience as an immigrant, and watching her struggle as an underpaid and overworked domestic employee reinforces the each day horrors that many immigrants face. Mother Moon is a water deity in West African tradition and effectively serves as one other character in the film. In West African folklore, Mami Wata symbolizes the dual nature of water – its power to lift or drown its inhabitants.

SANTA MONICA, CALIFORNIA – MARCH 4: Nikyatu Jusu receives the Someone to Watch Award onstage during the 2023 Film Independent Spirit Awards on March 4, 2023 in Santa Monica, California. (Photo by Amy Sussman/Getty Images)

“Angry Black Girl and Her Monster” (2023)

This SXSW Darling debuted in 2023 and was picked up for streaming later that yr. The story reimagines Mary Shelley’s Frankenstein with a young, vivid girl named Vicaria, played by actress Laya DeLeon Hayes. Systemic violence is embedded in the film, as her mother and brother are killed by gun violence.

Vicaria is an incredibly intelligent, hopeful girl who believes she will bring her brother back to life, which might be interpreted as a rejection of the trauma and loss that usually shape young black lives. When her brother is resurrected, his own violent tendencies force viewers to think about how trauma affects survivors and perpetuates the cycle of violence that so many attempt to escape.

NEW YORK, NEW YORK – SEPTEMBER 5: Laya DeLeon Hayes attends the New York special screening of Netflix series His Three Daughters on September 5, 2024 in New York City. (Photo by Jason Mendez/Getty Images for Netflix)

The Future of Black Horror

The success of so many dark horror movies proves that it’s not only a genre that’s viable, but one which audiences are desirous to support and explore. Thankfully, audiences don’t must wait too long for an additional dark horror film, as director Jordan Peele has revealed that he has one other project in the works, set to premiere in 2026.

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This article was originally published on : thegrio.com
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With Keia Clarke at the helm, New York Liberty takes bold steps in playoff run – Essence

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In the world of skilled sports, representation matters.

For New York Freedom — a WNBA team with a front office comprised primarily of Black women — this team is greater than just a visible statement, it’s a testament to the power and influence of Black women in leadership positions, especially in a league dominated by Black female athletes. As the Liberty soars to latest heights each on and off the court, their success is fueled by a vision that embraces inclusivity, diversity and empowerment of ladies, especially Black women.

This is ClarkeCEO of the New York Liberty, has played a key role in this transformation. Her journey, from her beginnings in the sports industry to becoming one among the few Black women to carry a CEO position in skilled sports, has been nothing in need of inspiring.

In an interview with ESSENCE, Clarke shares how her experiences have shaped her leadership style and impacted Liberty’s success. “From being a former athlete to entering the sports space, first through a sports museum, then a sports magazine, and ultimately the league office, gave me a vantage point where I really had a chance to understand multiple levels and multiple verticals of the industry.”

With Keia Clarke at the helm, New York Liberty make bold playoff push

As a result, her philosophy is predicated on making a work environment that celebrates diversity and encourages people to grow as their authentic selves. She continues: “I always want to be authentic and really intentional with people who come to work as themselves,” Clarke explains.

The Liberty’s rise to fame, especially this season, shouldn’t be only a result of outstanding results on the field, but additionally deliberate strategies implemented behind the scenes. Clarke attributes that success to the exertions and dedication of many individuals, each past and present, who’ve nurtured the league over the years. “It’s been a work in progress,” he says. “There are a lot of people who have put in a lot of time and effort, really nurturing and working to cultivate and grow this league, putting the players first.”

A concentrate on elevating female athletes has been a cornerstone of the WNBA’s growth, and Clarke is particularly happy with the ways Black women have led the way in shaping the league’s identity. “Black women are cultural contributors,” she said, noting that the WNBA’s 80 percent Black athletes reflect a league that thrives on the influence of Black women each on and off the court. “What we wear, what music we listen to, what’s beautiful, what’s cool, is often led by Black women,” Clarke added. In this fashion, the Liberty, under Clarke’s leadership, reflects the influence and leadership of Black women in the broader culture.

The Liberty have grow to be not only a basketball team but a cultural force in New York City, and their home at Barclays Center has solidified their presence in one among the most diverse cities in the world. That move to Brooklyn was pivotal, transforming the fan experience and aligning the Liberty brand with the city’s wealthy cultural landscape. Clarke summed up the change by saying, “The atmosphere in the arena has just changed in such a way… We represent something that actually goes beyond basketball.”

As the Liberty chases its first WNBA championship, Clarke is concentrated on sustainability — ensuring the momentum the team has built isn’t only a moment, but a long-lasting legacy. “My focus right now is just sustainability and making sure this isn’t just a moment — that this momentum becomes the norm,” Clarke explained. Part of that strategy includes progressive partnerships like the recent deals with Barclays and Bumble, in addition to the direct-to-consumer streaming service, Liberty Live, which lets fans connect with the team in latest ways.

But perhaps the most vital aspect of Liberty’s success is the impact they’re having on the next generation of athletes and fans. Clarke believes Liberty’s presence and leadership, especially in New York, has a ripple effect that extends far beyond the court. “Our community efforts are very, very focused on encouraging young women and girls to play basketball and empowering women and girls through a variety of self-esteem and character-building initiatives,” Clarke said.

The opportunity to steer New York Liberty as a Black woman hasn’t escaped Clarke. She recognizes the challenges of breaking down barriers, but she also feels it’s her responsibility to create space for others. “Leadership development and diverse hiring are two-way streets,” Clarke says. “While it’s an organizational responsibility … I would encourage young women, especially Black women, to be prepared. To be ready for the moment … and not wait until you have all the credentials.” Her advice is to be self-employed and never be afraid to take risks in industries where representation stays limited.

As the Liberty proceed their quest for WNBA dominance, the importance of Black women leading each on and off the court can’t be overstated. From Clarke’s progressive leadership to the undeniable talent of their players, the New York Liberty are a primary example of what happens when diversity is a priority at every level of the organization. And in a league where Black women players make up the majority of the roster, it’s imperative that their voices are usually not only heard, but given the opportunity to steer.

In a world where sports often set the tone for culture, the New York Liberty are proving that representation matters just as much at the top because it does on the field. Clarke’s leadership is a model for what the way forward for skilled sports can seem like—one where Black women aren’t just a part of the conversation, they’re leading it.


This article was originally published on : www.essence.com
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