Its the end of an era for Shaquille O’Neal and his wife Shaunie. What could Shaunie have done for Shaq to be the one to instigate divorce proceedings, considering her status as a long-suffering (if infidelity rumors are true) NBA wife? Not to say that I am completely shocked to hear she could be involved in shadiness — of the financial variety, it seems — but they are probably both guilty.
The petition reveals that the couple has a prenuptial agreement, according to the Herald, which also reports that should the court agree, a copy of the agreement “will be filed … under seal.”
The agreement “contains extensive provisions providing for confidentiality and non-disclosure.”
O’Neal also says in the petition that Shaunie has been “secretive about her assets … particularly with respect to certain properties owned or titled in either [her] name alone or in other entities” and requests that the court require Shaunie to give a “correct accounting of all money, funds, stocks, bonds, and other securities (including bearer securities)” acquired during the marriage.
I don’t get it. Unless Shaunie had some secret stake in the Vitamin Water deal, what the hell does he care about her assets? Anyway, although the marriage, according to his lawyer, is “irretrievably broken,” he was nice enough to give her the kids.
[People]
• On a list of the world’s dumbest studies, the one that helped scientists conclude that men want attractive women gets a place at the top. [CNN]
• The EPA is considering strengthening its clean air standards, which would positively affect people in high risk urban areas. And you know what urban means. [OEN]
• To Miko Marks, black music means country music. I’ve gotta tell you, that’s not what black music means to me. [NPR]
• Something possibly racist happened in Michigan recently. And in every other state in the in the country. [DFP]
I think that even when I first saw this video in 1991, my first reaction to watching a sepia-toned Michael Jackson writhe around with Naomi Campbell was, “Ew. Gross.” Sixteen years later, the reaction stands.
And seriously, who in Michael Jackson’s camp thought it was a good idea for him of all people to name a song “In the Closet.” They always say good help is hard to find.
• Celebrities are just like us! Beyonce** and Jay-Z get stuck in traffic, too, in their Porsche…as, uh, security trails them in a black Range Rover. Oh. Well, maybe they’re not just like us. []
• A little something for you baby sister/niece/cousin/daughter. [SOHH]
• January 6th can’t come quickly enough, but, once it does, I will want the final season of The Wire to last forever. [WP]
• Secret gay Republican/bathroom perv/Idaho senator Larry Craig hired Michael Vick’s lawyer, Billy Martin, to defend him. The man is well acquainted with guilty pleas. [QT]
• R. Kelly’s trial has been pushed back. And all is right with the world. [MTV]
Before Beverly, Iman, Veronica, Naomi and Tyra, there was Dorothea. Okay, so the name doesn’t conjure up images of beauty and glamour the way the ones I just listed do. But those fashion icons all walked through the doors Dorothea opened.
In the 1950s, Dorothea Towles Church was the first black model to sweep the Paris couture scene. A favorite of Christian Dior, for whom she dyed her hair platinum blond to create “contrast,” Church has said that in Paris, they saw her only as a beautiful woman. Of course, the Texas native did not have the same mainstream success in the United States, but magazines like Jet and Ebony would often publish articles detailing her Paris adventures.
But her growing fame did not eliminate prejudice on the part of some designers. At Schiaparelli, she once overheard someone describe her as Tahitian. While she worked for Pierre Balmain, she recalled, he would not allow her to borrow dresses for a photograph for Ebony magazine, fearing that would offend his white clientele. She took the clothes later on the pretext that she would wear them to a party, and the magazine then photographed them.
Church returned to the states in 1954 armed with trunk-loads of couture she had amassed through her work with different designers. She toured HBCUs, staging fashion shows with the never-before-seen designer clothes and throwing fundraisers for various branches of the Alpha Kappa Alpha sorority.
Read more about the little-known Dorothea Church in Skin Deep: Inside the World of Black Fashion Models.
Two hundred and seven years and a hangman’s noose later, Gabriel Prosser, who did that Virginia slave revolt thing about 31 years before Nat Turner, is getting a gubernatorial pardon. It probably helps that the revolt was halted before it even began, but I’m still kind of surprised that a governor would do such a thing.
Oh, I see now. The NAACP asked him to. Still, had it not been for the aforementioned hangman’s noose and the passage of two centuries, Prosser would thank him kindly, I’m sure. Either that or shoot him. Something tells me the NAACP knew better than to ask for a pardon for ol’ Nat. They know how to pick their battles.
[]
Today was Whoopi Goldberg’s first day as moderator on The View, and she’s already stirring the pot, Rosie-style.
Almost as soon as the cameras started to roll, Whoopi spoke out in semi-defense of Michael Vick, blaming his actions on his cultural upbringing and not, well, sheer stupidity and cruelty.
“You know from his background this is not an unusual thing for where he comes from,” said Goldberg.
“There are certain things that are indicative to certain parts of our country.”
Co-host Joy Behar seemed shocked at Goldberg’s statements.
“How about dog torture and dog murdering,” Behar asked.
“Unfortunately it’s part of the thing,” Goldberg replied.
“You’re a dog lover. For a lot of people dogs are sport,” she added.
Behar continued to shake her head in disgust.
All of the excuses in the world can be made for this man, but dog fighting was illegal when he started doing it and illegal when he finished. I am (sort of) from the South and actually lived and worked in Michael Vick’s hometown for about a year. Funny, although dog fighting was obviously happening — literally in Michael Vicks backyard and elsewhere — while I was there I didn’t know anyone who did it. It’s not a Southern thing. It’s an idiotic, illegal thing. Understand the distinction.
[WSBTV]
What happens when an Essence interviewer finds herself stuck in a discussion with singer KeKe Wyatt, who was accused of stabbing her husband at age 18, about her racial identity and how her white mother used to call her and her brothers “nigga?”
Nothing good.
If you don’t believe me, read the evidence after the jump.
CONTINUED »
Usher was on honored guest on today’s season 5 premiere of Ellen, where he proudly proclaimed Tameka Foster Raymond, who he married again this weekend at a posh resort outside of Atlanta, to be the girl he can take from the Waffle House to the White House, which has always been such a sweet sentiment.
Then Ellen sprayed a whole bunch of his new fragrance on her tongue. This is the stuff Emmy nominations are made of.
Disregarding the fact that a dating show called Interracial Love seems to be of highly questionable taste to begin with, an anonymous employee of VH1 said that execs nixed the reality show idea because it wasn’t “ghetto” enough. This is VH1, home of Flavor of Love and all its spin-offs we’re talking about, here? Sounds about right.
An employee of the network leaked information about a production meeting regarding a potential new show titled “Interracial Love.” According to the employee, network execs passed on the idea because it would feature professional black women who choose to look beyond race to find true love. The images would be in direct contrast to those shown on such shows as “Flavor of Love” and its spawns “I Love New York” and “Flavor of Love: Charm School.”
In a letter written to Black Press Radio, the employee shared what she was told went down behind closed doors in a meeting about the show. According to the employee, the exec said: “It is our thoughts that the viewers are more interested in seeing black people in a ghetto role. This show will not sell.”
According to EURweb, Black Media News has launched a boycott of VH1 due to the negative portrayal of black people, in particular black women, on the channel.
These shows make me cringe, yes. But people of all races watch them, and there is no shortage of women dying at a chance to make it on a show and embarrass themselves, their gender, and their race. A part of me hates VH1 for putting these programs on the air, but it’s us (as in the viewers), not them, that made the formula a success.
[EUR]
