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WWE’s Uneven Attempts to Reach Black Fans – Andscape

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Pro wrestling has all the time had an advanced relationship with race, largely due to its history of using stereotypes and derogatory portrayals of athletes. For a long time, World Wrestling Entertainment, America’s largest pro wrestling company, has exploited offensive themes of black wrestlers in its programming while stifling the recognition of a few of its most talented black stars. In recent years, the corporate has showcased talents comparable to Kofi Kingston, Bobby Lashley, Bianca Belair and more, awarding them championships and mainstream attention for his or her efforts. However, there remains to be unrest amongst fans who proceed to demand more representation higher up on WWE cards. Last week, the corporate openly responded to these concerns by incorporating Black culture into its shows and tipping its hat to WWE’s most loyal Black fans. The results show how far WWE has are available Black representation and what obstacles lie ahead.

The first sound you hear while watching WWE’s October 5 premium live event in Atlanta is Future rapping the lyrics “my b— with it too” from the album “GTA” from his album with Metro Boomin. As the song plays over the State Farm Arena speakers, WWE announcer Michael Cole recaps the show’s matches and cuts to a video skit featuring WWE Champion Cody Rhodes and WWE Hall of Famer and the corporate’s Chief Content Officer Paul “Triple H” Levesque having Metro Boomin as an envoy series. The live event was hosted by Jade Cargill, Bianca Belair and Naomi, a triumvirate of Black female wrestlers who’ve develop into a number of the sport’s biggest stars, often gaining popularity with their Black Girl Magic brand of wrestling.

The event felt like a celebration of the Black fans who were there the idea of WWE’s popularity and current viewership and revenue growth – just take a look at all of the hashtags and comments on social media for a given episode , or . However, Bad Blood was not without justified criticism from Black fans. The show didn’t feature any black wrestlers in any matches. Cargill, Belair and Naomi are the one Black wrestlers to perform at top-quality live events in months, and there was no Black singles champion on WWE’s major roster throughout 2024. Black wrestlers have also been absent from major feuds within the WWE company.

The juxtaposition of a live event that brought together black fans in a black city with black entertainers from that city while there have been no black wrestlers within the ring was too obvious to ignore. At the post-WWE press conference, Levesque, WWE’s chief creative officer, was asked in regards to the lack of black characters within the series. His answer it was disappointing.

“I don’t see a difference in anyone. I don’t see color, I don’t see nationality, I don’t see any of that. I just see talent. I don’t see any difference between men and women. I see talent,” Levesque said. “We tell stories about these talents, how they handle them, how they can represent them and how we can develop them. I don’t follow all this. I do what’s important and what’s best, what’s best in storytelling and what’s best delivered, and that’s what happens. It is no different than the men and women who are the main events. Whatever the biggest stories are, that’s where we’re going to go.”

Next up athlete Jacob Henry (left) with Paul “Triple H” Levesque (right) backstage during an event on the Paycom Center on September 27 in Oklahoma City.

WWE/Getty Images

The response was immediate and justified. Levesque’s use of the “I don’t see color” trope was as lazy and dismissive a response as possible. Not seeing colours is just not seeing the experiences that make us who we’re. And not seeing color in an industry that relies heavily on degrading characters due to color of their skin is an insult.

If you squint, you may see the problem in highlighting Black talent from a WWE perspective. Some of this was down to bad luck: the corporate’s next big black star, Big E, in 2022, he suffered a profession-threatening broken neckderailing his profession and leading to the demise of his group The New Day. So much of the corporate’s television time is taken up by The Bloodline storyline, led by Roman Reigns and his Samoan brothers, leaving a live broadcast that does not engage them or the wrestlers of their ecosystem at a premium. At the identical time, there was an exodus of black talent from WWE, with wrestlers comparable to Ricochet, Lashley and MVP leaving the corporate and moving to rival AEW. However, it’s also a mirrored image of their dissatisfaction with being a component of WWE and the way they were treated by the corporate.

Still, Levesque’s comments stunned the corporate into realizing they needed to send a greater message. So on October 8, WWE opened the printed at showcasing every black champion in the corporate — Women’s Tag Team Champions Cargill and Belair, Champion Trick Williams and NXT North American Women’s Champion Kelani Jordan — stand within the ring at the identical time. Friday featured a women’s tag team championship match between Cargill and Belair and the tag team of Lash Legend and Jakara Jackson. This can be the primary time 4 black women competed for the tag team championships in WWE history, which was confirmed on-air by the announce team.

Bad Blood and Levesque’s follow-up to the disastrous press conference was an excellent-faith gesture from an organization that understands it must do right by its black fans, even when it has stumbled to this point. At the very least, the willingness to truly embrace black viewers is a step in the best direction for an organization that has long insulted black fans without even fascinated by trying to fix it. Still, WWE has a great distance to go to get to a spot where more black faces are more visible in major events with championships at stake. With a flood of black talent and an organization that could be very aware of the necessity to highlight that talent, it looks like it’s only a matter of time before black wrestlers return to the highest of the cardboard, however it needs to be an urgent goal that WWE needs to prioritize to ensure that potential stars to develop into mainstream players.

DavidDennis Jr. is a senior author at Andscape and the writer of the award-winning book “The Movement Made Us: A Father, a Son, and the Legacy of a Freedom Ride.” David is a graduate of Davidson College.

This article was originally published on : andscape.com
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Chrissy Teigen and John Legend Forced to Block Comments After Backlash to JD Vance’s Criticism

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Television personality Chrissy Teigen, 38, and R&B singer John Legend, 45, have apparently backed down after publicly endorsing Democratic nominee and Vice President Kamala Harris within the 2024 presidential race against former President Donald Trump.

The celebrity couple played a game of “Vote or Veto” in a video posted to their Instagram pages.

In the clip, Chrissy and John showed support for Democratic policies on abortion rights, free school meals and the $6,000 child tax credit.

“Ok, today we had some fun voting or vetoing @KamalaHarris and Trump’s policies – because let’s be real, some things are just not negotiable,” the 2 wrote in a joint Instagram post.

Celebrity couple Chrissy Teigen and John Legend’s support of Democratic Vice President Kamala Harris’s 2024 presidential campaign is sparking polarizing reactions online. (Photos: @johnlegend/Instagram, @kamalaharris/Instagram)

The caption continued: “But we also talked about what really matters – like voting to protect the child tax credits that support so many families, and vetoing dangerous ideas like a nationwide abortion ban. This is a personal matter for us and it should be for you too.”

Although Teigen and Legend shared their political beliefs with their combined 58 million followers, people were unable to respond to the “Vote or Veto” post because comments were disabled.

The couple’s decision to prevent other Instagram users from commenting on their support of Harris got here after Legend faced backlash recent meeting with Zeteo media organization.

On October 9, Zeteo published an interview with the EGOT winner by which he spoke with progressive political commentator Mehdi Hasan about politics, including controversial remarks made by Trump’s running mate, Ohio senator J.D. Vance.

“In 2021, a clip surfaced of Vance criticizing Kamala Harris for not having children of her own. Many people were outraged by this,” Hasan said.

Hasan then mentioned that John and Chrissy had a toddler via surrogate and lost the kid due to pregnancy complications, and then asked, “What was your loved ones’s response while you heard a person running for vp speak about people without children like that? “

Legend replied, “I just don’t understand the disdain he has for people without children. It just doesn’t make sense. … We don’t want the government dictating when we have children and how many children we can have.”

Parts of the interview were posted on Instagram, including Legend’s response to Vance’s criticism of Americans Without Children, which drew each positive and negative responses.

“John, hang on to your piano and your super-intelligent supermodel wife,” one person commented. Someone else wrote: “John, you can’t be serious about this.”

Another comment read: “Why are we interested in your opinion about the presidential candidates? NO. We like your music… and obviously I still like your music, but I don’t like your views.”

A fourth person stated: “We don’t care what HOLLYWOOD THINKS. PERIOD!”

In turn, a supporter of Legend commented: “It’s amazing to me how a man standing up for women affects so many people.”

Legend and his wife have long been supporters of Harris, including after winning the 2016 Senate election because the second Black woman and first South Asian American senator.

The “All of Me” singer’s support also included a performance on the 2024 festival Democratic National Convention August 21. He was joined by legendary drummer Sheila E. on the United Center stage in Chicago to perform a rendition of Prince’s “Let’s Go Crazy.”

During the DNC, “CBS Mornings” host Tony Dokoupil spoke The 12-time Grammy winner about his support for Harris and why he’s speaking out on political issues as a star.

“Politics affects all our lives and we are all citizens. We all have a stake in what is happening in this country. We pay taxes here. Our children grow up here and go to schools,” Legend explained.

Regarding supporting Harris’ White House bid, he added: “She’s qualified to be president soon, and she also has the right character traits that I think make a great president, which means she cares about people’s lives, she wants The government worked for the people and improved their lives.”

Teigen has also been heavily involved in promoting Kamala Harris’ political agenda. The former Sports Illustrated model moderated, amongst others, conversation about reproductive rights with the vp in June 2024, before Harris announced her presidential campaign.

Legend and Teigen celebrated their eleventh wedding anniversary last month after years of dating and met in 2006 while filming “Stereo” music video.

Teigen gave birth to their first daughter, Luna Simone, in April 2016, followed by their first son, Miles Theodore, in May 2018. Their second daughter, Esti Maxine, was born in January 2023. Their second son, named Wren Alexander, arrived in June 2023 via surrogate mother.

In September 2020, Teigen revealed that she lost her baby across the twentieth week of her pregnancy. She he wrote on Instagram“For some reason we began calling this little guy in my belly Jack. That’s why he’ll at all times be Jack to us.”

It’s value noting that despite reports of Teigen’s miscarriage, she stated to The Hollywood Reporter interview“Let’s just call it what it’s: it was an abortion. An abortion that was supposed to save the lifetime of a toddler who had absolutely no probability.


This article was originally published on : atlantablackstar.com
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Hulk Hogan Refuses to Name Kamala Harris in Interview After Confusion Over ‘Body Slam’ Threat

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Hulk Hogan is giving Democrats no peace as he continues to support his buddy Donald Trump’s victory in the upcoming presidential election.

However, it appears the previous WWE star is being careful about what she says about presidential candidate Vice President Kamala Harris after she faced backlash for threatening her.

Hulk Hogan has a change of heart during his Fox Interview interview in recent weeks following backlash to Kamala Harris threatening to body slam. (Photo: Julio Aguilar/Getty Images; Michael M. Santiago/Getty Images)

During a Wednesday interview on Fox News’ “Primetime with Jesse Watters,” Hogan recounted his early days with Trump, discussing “what American men are made of,” but later in the interview he was asked if he believed Harris’ theory of going out for drinks with the host in public ” “The Late Show” by Stephen Colbert and eating a steak would change votes.

Hogan replied, “Well, once I hear the word ‘salad’ over and once more and she or he won’t even answer Bret Baier’s query, she won’t even say how many individuals have crossed the road, , during her administration.

“Everything is like that with them,” he continued. “They won’t answer questions, they won’t get specific, and they won’t even let the American people know what their plan is, so ultimately, if you want more of the same, you’ll go that route, but if you want America to be what it should be, vote no.” Donald Trump.”

Fans criticized Hogan on Fox’s YouTube channel for his supportive stance towards Trump, saying: “Anyone like Trump tells you how smart he is, he never listens to others because they don’t care about anyone but themselves. Trump is unfit to be president, but he is also unfit to be a human being. How can people forget all the chaos during his 4 years.”

Someone else wrote: “LOL! “Real men” are “truly single” today. Teaching men how to live alone in a cave is just not superb advice. And electing Trump will do them little good.”

“Kamala had the courage to go on Fox and call out Trump’s threats of violence. Trump didn’t have the guts to do 60 Minutes,” a 3rd person wrote.

They referred to viral moment this week, when Harris checked Fox reporter Bret Baier for showing a real-life example of Trump calling Democrats the “enemy from within” and suggesting they may need to be handled using military force.

Instead, they showed a clip in which the start of the quote was removed to make it appear that Trump was clarifying the interpreted “threatening” comments.

“Just an old man with old-fashioned ideas, completely outdated for today’s society.” he wrote one other person on X.

Like his friend Trump, Hogan has put his foot in his own mouth several times, which has gotten him into trouble.

More recently, in August, Hogan was speaking to an enthusiastic audience to promote his Real American Beer brand when he called them and responded, leading to his threats against Harris. Every time he said something, the group would say “What” and he would ask something else.

He he said“Do you would like to go crazy? Do you would like me to throw out more beers? You want me to hit someone. You want me to punch Kamala Harris. I said, do you would like me to punch Kamala Harris? You want me to throw my leg at Kamala. Is Kamala a chameleon?

He ended the call-and-response chant with a racist remark about Native Americans. He asked, “Is she Indian,” and among the crowd shouted “yes,” to which he replied, “OK, I like it.”

Harris is the daughter of an Indian mother and Jamaican father who immigrated to the United States.

It’s unclear if he’s doing this on purpose, but Hogan noticeably mispronounces Harris’ name throughout the video as *Ka-ma-la* as an alternative of *Comma-la* appropriately. This is a tactic utilized by many Republicans and critics to contemptuously attack Harris’ name and identity.

Hogan’s attack on Harris in Ohio may even cost him future opportunities. On the identical day because the promotional event, it was announced that his biopic starring Chris Hemsworth was not in the works.

“Joker” director Todd Phillips was considered one of the people working on the project and said, “I like what we were trying to do, but it’s not going to work for me.”


This article was originally published on : atlantablackstar.com
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Kathy Griffin’s unrecognizable appearance attracts attention before a comedy show

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Kathy Griffin

https://www.cbsnews.com/news/kathy-griffin-on-death-threats-cancellations-investigations-over-trump-severed-head-photo

https://www.usatoday.com/story/entertainment/celebrities/2023/04/16/kathy-griffin-diagnosed-complex-ptsd-after-2017-controversy/11674099002

Kathy Griffin is giving her fans PTSD through the use of filters.

The 63-year-old posted a video of herself on her Instagram page and announced her comedy tour, “Kathy Griffin: My Life On The PTSD-List.”

She wore her signature red hair in a short and wavy hairstyle while wearing a two-piece swimsuit.

Kathy Griffin's new look
Comedian Kathy Griffin shocks fans after sharing a recent bikini video. (Photo: Tara Ziemba/Getty Images)

“Hi guys, I’m Kathy Griffin, comedian and beach vixen,” she said within the video, with a view of Honolulu, Hawaii, where the show will happen on Friday, October 18, within the background. “That’s a lot of Hawaii. Right behind me, there he’s.

She then went back to commenting on her figure, saying, “Look at my body. Can you handle it?” Referring to her swimsuit, Griffin continued: “I could wear it on stage. I’m not afraid.

Griffin said fans coming to her show can expect her to “heat things up” by telling comedic stories about affected by post-traumatic stress disorder (PTSD), in addition to “funny celebrity stories that are light and fluffy.”

“And I’m pretty sure I’ll be wearing a bikini on stage,” she added, before ending by throwing her middle fingers within the air and shouting “yes!”

Instagram users apparently were too distracted by Griffin’s facial appearance to give attention to what she was saying. After “Hollywood Unlocked” reposted under her video, many individuals within the comments asked: “What the hell did she do to her face?” and “What happened to her face??

Concluding that she had done something to her face, one person said, “It looks different on her face.”

Another person said: “I was a little scared,” while one other joked: “What mask was she wearing? Tf.”

Several fans have confused Griffin with a variety of celebrities, including country singer Reba McEntire, Richard Simmons and Britney Spears, the latter of whom incessantly dances in bikinis in online videos.

On her current page, fans continued to post comments and questions on Griffin’s appearance. “Why are you using these filters, Kathy? We love the actual you,” wrote one.

The other said: “Girl, you haven’t got to make use of a filter. You are beautiful just the best way you might be. The filter is definitely very distracting.

Griffin’s set title was inspired by a real-life experience Griffin told her fans about in 2023.

On TikTok she is he said“You may laugh or whatever, but I’ve been diagnosed with Complex Post Traumatic Stress Disorder (PTSD) and it’s called an extreme case. I’d love to listen to from you about depression, anxiety and the like and the way you are coping.

“If any of my story, you’ll understand that it actually began for me about five and a half years ago. Wink. Obviously, cancer didn’t help,” she said, referring to her 2021 lung cancer diagnosis.

About five and a half years before the video, Griffin faced widespread criticism for sharing a photo of herself holding a fake, bloody head of decapitated then-President Donald Trump. As a results of this incident, she not only received death threats and lost sponsorship deals, but was also investigated for conspiracy to assassinate the president.


This article was originally published on : atlantablackstar.com
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