Sanaa Lathan Wants You To Know
…. that she never flirted with soon-to-be-divorced NBA star Kobe Bryant, and not only that, she’s not his type.
The rumors kicked into high gear when the NY Daily News published this story today.
Kobe Bryant’s impending divorce may come as good news to Sanaa Lathan. A source who attended Jay-Z and Kanye West ’s Watch the Throne concert at the Staples Center in Los Angeles on Tuesday tells us that the luscious-lipped “Love & Basketball” actress was flirting seductively with the Lakers guard during the show.
“She touched his face, and she was shaking her a– in front of him to the music,” says the insider.
Bryant’s spokesman, Michael Sitrick, says Bryant and Lathan were “both at the concert,” but he adds: “There was no flirting. There’s nothing there.”
Over the years the 40-year-old actress has been linked with numerous single (and married) men and women in Hollywood. She is quickly earning a reputation as the neighborhood bicycle.
The Real Story behind Justin Bieber, a school, and that $100,000 check
Last week, Justin Bieber made headlines everywhere for donating $100,000 to a high-poverty school in Las Vegas. But the real story is not Justin’s benevolence (although it’s noteworthy), the real story is the woman behind the school — and how that check might not have found it’s way into the school’s coffers were it not for her.
In a segment of The Ellen DeGeneres Show, scheduled to air on Jan. 4, 2012, Bieber is shown handing a $100,000 check to Whitney Elementary School Principal Sherrie Gahn. In addition to donating the money, Bieber also performed for the kids and handed out Christmas presents.
Reporter Valerie Strauss of the Washington Post notes that 85% of the students attending Whitney Elementary live at or below the poverty level. “Many live in houses without heat, electricity and running water,” she writes. But the students’ standardized test scores have gone up significantly since Sherrie Gahn has been the principal there.
She arrived at Whitney about eight years ago and promised Whitney parents that she would help them with their bills — and even help pay college tuition for any students who went — if they would work with her to raise children “of character.”
Here’s what she told Ellen DeGeneres that she told parents: “I’ll pay your electrical bill, your utilities, I’ll give you food or clothes, whatever you need, as long as you give me your child and then help raise that child as a person of character.”
Rumor Control: Tiny’s Dad is Alive and Well
This morning I received an urgent call from former Xscape singer Tameka “Tiny” Harris’ mom, Dianne Pope, asking me to inform my readers that Tiny’s father, Charles Pope, is alive and well. Tiny’s fans were introduced to Mr. and Mrs. Pope on Tiny’s reality show, Tiny & Toya on BET in 2009.
It seems that some idiot created a fake Facebook page imitating Tiny and claiming her father was deceased. “Tiny wants people to know that her daddy is fine,” said Mrs. Pope. “That’s not her Facebook page at all.
As you know, Mr. Pope (pictured at right with Tiny’s daughter, Zonnique) was diagnosed with Alzheimer’s disease. T.I. and Tiny founded the For The Love of Our Fathers Foundation, which raises money for Alzheimer’s research.
Mrs. Pope says her husband’s condition has improved and he’s getting stronger. “He’s more alert. We’re getting him up now doing exercises,” she said.
Mrs. Pope theorized that Tiny’s fans may have confused Tiny’s father with a member of his legendary R&B group The Tams, who was murdered by his roommate. Tiny’s father founded The Tams, and Tiny has performed with the group.
According to Channel 2 Action News, longtime Tams band director Versi Sain, 59, was found shot to death in his Clayton County home earlier this month. Police arrested his roommate, Sam Morgan, and charged him with murder. He is being held in the Clayton County jail. The two men were childhood friends who grew up together in Muskegon, Michigan. Sources say the motive may have been money.
The Tams, now headed by Tiny’s brother Red, are known for their 60s hits “Be Young, Be Foolish, Be Happy,” and “Hey Girl Don’t Bother Me.”
Brooklyn Suspect Said He Burned Woman Alive Over Debt
The man suspected of burning a Brooklyn woman alive in an elevator said he committed the heinous attack because the woman owed him $2,000.
Jerome Isaac, 47, of 315 Lincoln Place in Brooklyn turned himself in to police Saturday night. He was reeking of gasoline and he made statements implicating himself in the horrific murder of his former lover, Dorothy Gillespie, 73, of 203 Underhill Ave in Brooklyn.
Police say Isaac stalked Gillespie and waited for her outside an elevator as she returned home from grocery shopping. Isaac, who was dressed as an exterminator, used a gasoline filled insecticide canister to spray Gillespie before setting her on fire with a barbecue lighter.
“He opens the door and sprayed her methodically over her head, over her body,” NYPD spokesman Paul Browne said.
“She’s cowering, trying to protect her face with her hands.”
A resident of the Prospect Heights building said he heard sounds of an intense struggle. “She was screaming at the top of her lungs,” said the resident.
“It sounded like a person being attacked, rather than someone stuck in an elevator,” said the neighbor. “It sounded like she was in trouble.”
Residents of the building where Gillespie lived say the older woman moved Isaac into her 5th floor apartment earlier this year. The former postal worker hired Isaac to do odd jobs but fired him after she caught him stealing, her nephew told the NY Post.
Isaac told cops he had left a note on Gillespie’s door with a list of chores he was demanding payment for. But Gillespie refused to pay him after she caught him stealing and kicked him out.
Police today charged Isaac with first-degree murder and arson in Gillespie’s death. He was also charged with arson for setting fire to his own apartment in a nearby building after killing Gillespie.
Kobe Bryant and Deieon Sanders are Losing Their Trophy Women
It’s not easy to feel sorry for women who chase rappers and professional athletes. These types of women consistently fall into the category of gold diggers with no moral compass or self-esteem. They tend to pursue feebleminded rappers and athletes (or rapletes) who lace them with expensive gifts to boost their male egos, but who have no intentions of ever being faithful to their trophies. In other words, these couples deserve each other.
Not surprisingly, LA Lakers star Kobe Bean Bryant has been served with divorce papers by Vanessa Bryant, his wife of 10½ years. According to celebrity gossip blog TMZ.com, Vanessa caught Kobe cheating with “multiple women” over the years … but his latest affair was the straw that broke the camel’s back.
Kobe, 33, was charged with sexually assaulting a Colorado resort hotel clerk in 2003. But that case was settled out of court after Kobe admitted that he could see how she might have thought he was raping her.
Coroner: FAMU band member was beaten to death
The Florida medical examiner’s office has ruled that the death of a Florida A&M University drum major last month was a homicide, the AJC.com reports.
The coroner concluding that the student was severely beaten in a hazing incident which took place within an hour before he died. 26-year-old Robert Champion was found unresponsive on board a chartered bus parked outside an Orlando hotel after the school’s football team lost to rival Bethune-Cookman on Nov. 19.
Investigators believe Champion was punched and pummeled repeatedly on board the bus by other band members in a hazing incident gone horribly wrong.
Witnesses told emergency dispatchers that Champion vomited and struggled to breathe before he collapsed. Champion had bruises to his chest, arms, shoulder and back and internal bleeding that caused him to go into shock, which killed him.
Immediately after the hazing, Champion complained of thirst (due to loss of blood internally) and fatigue, then loss of vision and signs of shock, the report said.
Champion’s death is the latest in a history of injurious hazing incidents at the historically black college. In 2001, FAMU band member Marcus Parker suffered kidney damage after being beaten with a paddle “around 300 times,” the AJC reports.
And three weeks before Champion’s death on Nov. 19, a female band member’s thigh bone was broken when she was severely beaten. Three male band members were arrested in that incident.
Police Arrest Man Suspected of Setting Woman On Fire in Elevator
The man suspected of dousing a 64-year-old Brooklyn woman with a flammable liquid and setting her on fire inside an elevator is in police custody this morning.
Police say the 32-year-old man — who is believe to be the dead woman’s former lover — walked into a police precinct to turn himself in. The NY Post reports the man reeked of gasoline, and he made statements implicating himself in the horrific murder.
According to police, the lunatic was waiting for Dolores Gillespie outside the elevator on the 5th floor at 203 Underhill Ave when she returned home from grocery shopping.
Surveillance images from two cameras show the man wearing a pest control style mask on top of his head and white gloves. He opened the elevator door and sprayed Ms. Gillespie about the face, head and upper body with accelerant from an exterminator style container. In his left hand he held a small bottle with a strip of material. He used a barbecue style lighter to light the Molotov cocktail bottle and toss it into the elevator.
