page contents data-tablet-width="1100" data-tablet-small-width="840" data-mobile-width="640">
Log in

What's The 411 Episode 110: Beyonce, Khloe Kardashian, Rachel Lindsay, and more

VIDEO: Jay-Z makes move to safeguard Beyonce's pregnancy; Khloe Kardashian reportedly desperate to get married; Bachelorette Rachel Lindsay makes history

What's Poppin' Quick Takes

Judge Kevin Eide has finally named the heirs to Prince’s estate.

A spinoff of ABC’s hit show, Black-ish, will soon be coming to a television near you. The tentatively titled, College-ish, featuring Yara Shahidi, will debut on Freeform (formerly known as ABC Family) sometime next year.

Katherine Johnson, an engineer, better known as the human computer and subject of the movie, Hidden Figures, delivered the commencement speech at Hampton University.

Anthony Weiner, a former congressman from New York repping Brooklyn, pleaded guilty to exchanging sexually explicit online messages.

According to Radar Online, Jay-Z has hired an around-the-clock, live-in nurse and a team of doctors to care for Beyonce until the babies are born.

Actress and singer, Keke Palmer, cut her hair and social media has gone crazy.

What's Poppin' Relationships

Aisha Tyler’s husband, Jeff Tietjens, filed for divorce and the judge ordered Tyler to pay Tietjens $31,250 a month in spousal support for the next four years plus a lump sum of $500k. The total is $2 million.

ABC-TV released the list of bachelor contenders on The Bachelorette that will be vying for new bachelorette, Rachel Lindsay’s heart. Lindsay, a Texas-bred lawyer, is The Bachelorette’s first Black woman to be a decision-maker.

Radar Online is reporting that Khloe Kardashian wants to get married to Cleveland Cavaliers player, Tristan Thompson, so badly that she is willing to buy the rings.

Rumor has it that Khloe is afraid that Tristan will go back to his former girlfriend and mother of his child, Jordan Craig.

What's Poppin' Politics

We mentioned Anthony Weiner earlier, he pleaded guilty to exchanging sexually explicit online messages, including violent rape fantasies, last year with a teen girl he knew to be underage. Is jail enough for Anthony Weiner?

Our Photo of the week is model Winnie Harlow who slayed in a Zuhair Murad gown on the red carpet at the 2017 Cannes Film Festival.

The411onBooks

What do Patti LaBelle, Kareem Abdul-Jabbar, and Brandon Harris, all have in common? We're talking about them and their books in The4110nBooks segment.

QUICK TAKES: Prince, Yara Shahidi, Anthony Weiner, Beyonce, Keke Palmer [VIDEO]

WATCH VIDEO: WHAT'S THE 411 QUICK TAKES

It’s taken a little over a year, but Minnesota Judge Kevin Eide has finally named the heirs to Prince’s estate. They are his sister and five half-siblings.

A spinoff of ABC’s hit show, Black-ish, will soon be coming to a television near you. The tentatively titled, College-ish, will debut on Freeform (formerly known as ABC Family) sometime next year. The series, starring Yara Shahidi, will kick off with 13, 30-minute episodes.

Katherine Johnson, an engineer, better known as the human computer and subject of the movie, Hidden Figures, delivered the commencement speech at Hampton University.

Anthony Weiner, a former congressman from New York repping Brooklyn, pleaded guilty to exchanging sexually explicit online messages, including violent rape fantasies, last year with a teen girl he knew to be underage. He is likely to get 21 to 27 months behind bars at sentencing in September and he must register as a sex offender.

According to Radar Online, Jay-Z has hired an around-the-clock, live-in nurse and a team of doctors to care for Beyonce until the babies are born. It seems that Bey’s pregnancy is high-risk and the family wants to take precautions to ensure a smooth birth.

Actress/singer Keke Palmer cut her hair and social media has gone crazy.

 

What’s The 411 Episode 107: Hillary Clinton, Bernie Sanders, Tupac

Freddie Jackson gives an extended interview, Ridley Scott hopes Idris Elba will be James Bond, stars come out for Dress for Success and more

On this episode of What’s The 411, we are talking about former US First Lady and Secretary of State, Hillary Clinton, and US Senator Bernie Sanders are coming to Brooklyn to give separate commencement addresses. Hillary Clinton will give a commencement address at Medgar Evers College, while Senator Bernie Sanders, who was born in Brooklyn, will speak at Brooklyn College’s graduation ceremony.

Minnesota courts have whittled down the number of heirs to the estate of the deceased pop star, Prince.

Film director, Ridley Scott, told BBC Radio One that he hopes that actor Idris Elba would be the next James Bond.

Ifeoma White-Thorpe, a senior at Rockaway High School in Morris Hills, New Jersey. Ms. White-Thorpe received acceptances to all eight Ivy League colleges and Stanford University.

Dress for Success, an international not-for-profit organization that empowers women to achieve economic independence by providing a network of support, professional attire and the development tools to help women thrive in work and in life, held its annual fundraising gala at Cipriani Wall Street.

Popular rapper, Snoop Dogg, gave a heartfelt tribute to deceased rapper Tupac Shakur who was inducted into the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame.

We also have an extended interview with R&B singer Freddie Jackson, who has a new album, LOVE SIGNALS, with an expected release date in June. The album’s first single, One Night, will be released on May 1st.

What's The 411 Episode 87: Prince, Donald Trump, Kerry Washington, and more

Cosmetics entrepreneur Vera Moore will speak at the Essence Festival; actor Jussie Smollet will return to Empire; Tamar Braxton fired from The Real; actress Blake Lively finds out she's Becky and a whole lot more

What's Poppin' Quick Takes

The Minneapolis Star Tribune is reporting that the iconic pop artist, Prince, may have been dead for hours before he was found unresponsive in an elevator in his Paisley Park home.

Tamar Braxton has been fired from The Real.

The world of media has gained two new Black superstars. Elaine Welteroth has been named Editor-in-Chief of Teen Vogue; Aaliyah Williams is now the Vice President of Digital Content and Production of MACRO, a company started by African-American talent rep Charles King.

Actress Blake Lively stirred some controversy, when she posted a picture of herself on Instagram, posing at a recent gala in a gold gown with the caption "LA face with an Oakland booty."

Actor Jussie Smollett will return to Empire. Smollet posted on Instagram: "Listen 2 my words, I'll see ya'll season 3.

The television network, ABC, announced that Scandal will return for its sixth season in 2017, due to Kerry Washington's pregnancy.

What's Poppin'

Donald Trump is having difficulty raising money

Campaign contributions from some of the Republican Party's major benefactors may be hard to come by for the party's nominee, Donald Trump. Most notable is Stanley Druckenmiller, a New York-based investor who gave big bucks to John Kasich's campaign. Druckenmiller told Reuters that he won't donate saying, "Not sure why anyone would give money to Mr. Trump since he asserts that he is worth $10 billion."

The continuing saga that has become Bill Cosby's life

Bill Cosby's lawyers are again asking the state supreme court to have his criminal sexual-assault case thrown out. The issue is whether a current prosecutor has to live up to the promise made by a former prosecutor to not charge actor/comedian/philanthropist Bill Cosby for the alleged assault. Apparently Bill Cosby used that promise to provide certain testimony in another case and now his words are being used against him. We'll know shortly whether the case will be thrown out.

In-Studio Interview

Cosmetics entrepreneur Vera Moore will speak at Essence Music Festival

Vera Moore, President and CEO, Vera Moore Cosmetics; will be a panelist on the beauty panel at the upcoming Essence Music Festival in July. As we listen in on an impromptu conversation between Vera Moore and What's The 411TV CEO Ruth J. Morrison, we are pulled into Ms. Moore's journey from integrating the Green Acres Mall in Valley Stream, NY, in the early 1980s with a kiosk to selling her brand of cosmetics in 53 stores through Walgreens, the largest drug retailing chain in the United States. The Vera Moore Cosmetics brand can be found nationally at Walgreens in New York City, New Orleans, Las Vegas, and Puerto Rico among others, as well as internationally in Shanghai independently.

Under the Radar

Black-ish Writer Damilare Sonoiki initiates a new comedy based on African immigrant experience

Black-ish writer, Damilare Sonoiki, is creating a brand new comedy, this one about the African experience. It's called African Booty-Scratcher!" Sonoiki, a Nigerian-American named it that after an insult he heard kids using to refer to African kids. I remember hearing it growing up too. He told the Grio:

"The biggest thing I've learned from 'Black-ish,' like the central premise...is that you're taught to give your kids more than you have but in giving them more, what do they lose? The immigrant story is that exact same situation."

New film, Loving is generating Oscar buzz at Cannes Film Festival

From the Cannes Film Festival comes word that Jeff Nichols' film Loving, generated tremendous Oscar buzz. The film is the real life story of the efforts of Richard Loving, a white man, and Mildred Loving, a black woman, to have their marriage deemed legal. In 1958, the couple was arrested in their bedroom for being married. At the time, Virginia law made interracial marriages illegal. The couple had to take their fight all the way to the Supreme Court which rendered a unanimous decision ruling the couple's arrest unlawful and all state prohibitions against interracial marriage.

Additionally, the hubbub is that actress Ruth Negga's performance as Mildred Loving makes her a favorite for Best Actress Oscar.

Upcoming Events

• Actress Niecy Nash is set to join the cast of the upcoming TNT's dramedy, Claws, a dark-comedy revolving around five diverse nail salon employees and organized crime. Claws is currently in production.

• Filmmaker Carl Franklin has signed on to do a film remake of the 1948 William Faulkner novel Intruder in the Dust. The original film was produced in 1949, and the new film is currently in production.

• If all the Fetty-Waps, Drakes, and Nicki Minaj's of the world have got you feening for some Mase, Puff Daddy, and Lil' Kim, your '90s prayers have been answered because The Bad Boy Family Reunion Tour is coming to a city near you! The Lox, 112, Total, Carl Thomas, Mario Winans, and French Montana will also perform on the tour. Brooklyn already got a taste recently when they performed at the Barclay's Center where our own Onika McClean got crunk! The official tour starts on August 25, 2016, in Columbus, Ohio.

• Comedian Wanda Sykes will join fellow comediennes Amy Schumer and Goldie Hawn in a new Fox comedy special, Mother/Daughter. The comedy will air October 21st on FOX television.

In Memoriam

Journalist, Morley Safer, one of the original correspondents of the CBS News Magazine, 60 Minutes, has passed away at age 84. Safer had just retired from CBS a week prior. May he rest in peace.

 

 

Prolific Musician, Prince, is Dead at 57

TMZ is reporting that the artist that we all know and love, Prince, died today. Prince Rogers Nelson's body was discovered at his Paisley Park compound in Minnesota early Thursday morning.

The sheriff's office says they are conducting a death investigation currently and are notifying next of kin before releasing the name of the individual who died. An update is that his publicist has now confirmed the 57-year-old star's death.

Prince was renowned as an innovator and was widely known for his eclectic work, flamboyant stage presence, and wide vocal range. He was widely regarded as the pioneer of Minneapolis sound. His music combines rock, R&B, soul, funk, hip-hop, disco, psychedelia, jazz, and pop.

Prince's debut album, For You, was released in 1978, and his first platinum album, Prince featured the singles Why You Wanna Treat Me So Bad? and I Wanna Be Your Lover. His next three records—Dirty Mind (1980), Controversy (1981), and 1999 (1982)—continued his success, showcasing Prince's trademark of prominently sexual lyrics and incorporation of elements of funk, dance, and rock music. In 1984, he began referring to his backup band as The Revolution and released Purple Rain, which served as the soundtrack to his film debut of the same name. A prolific songwriter, Prince in the 1980s wrote songs for and produced work by many other acts, often under pseudonyms.

Last week, reports surfaced that the Rock and Roll Hall of Famer was suffering from flu-like symptoms and had canceled two concerts on April 7, but he made it a point to perform a concert in Atlanta, Georgia, on April 14, even though he wasn't feeling well. On the way home, early on April 15, Prince started to feel worse so his plane made an emergency landing at Quad City International Airport in Moline, Illinois and he was rushed to a hospital by ambulance. Prince was treated and released three hours later, got back on his plane and went home.

Later on April 15, probably to calm down his fans, Prince tweeted: "#NowPlaying "Controversy (Single Version)" by @Prince in @TIDALHiFi : ) : )."

Prince Tweet About his illness on 04152016 cropped

Of course, there is speculation that Prince's death is connected to his previous illness; however, it has not been confirmed.

Ironically, Prince protégé and former lover, Denise Matthews, aka Vanity, of Vanity 6, also died earlier this year on February 15, 2016, at age 57.

Prince Rogers Nelson was born on June 7, 1958, in Minneapolis, Minnesota; he was 57. RIP

Subscribe to this RSS feed