Posts Categorized: Controversy

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Family of Astroworld victim criticizes ‘idiotic’ Kanye West’s demand for Billie Eilish to apologize to Travis Scott

ShotbyNYP / BACKGRID

Kanye West is drawing criticism from Astroworld victims for demanding pop singer Billie Eilish apologize to his pal Travis Scott.

Kanye, also known as Ye, threatened to withdraw as co-headliner at Coachella if the pop superstar didn't apologize to Travis.

10 people tragically died after a stampede/crowd surge at Travis' Astroworld music festival on Nov. 5.

CPR/D.SANCHEZ / BACKGRID

Billie recently paused mid-concert in Atlanta when a fan in the crowd showed signs of distress. "Give her some time. Don't crowd," the singer said. "I wait for people to be OK until I keep going."

Media outlets, including TMZ, interpreted Billie's words as a diss to Scott who continued performing while his fans were dying around him.

Kanye also took offense to Billie's words, and he demanded that she apologize to his friend.

According to Complex.com, the grandparents of Astroworld's youngest victim Ezra Blount, 9, criticized Kanye for his "hurtful" and "ridiculous" demand.

"To hear Kanye's words, that's hurtful to us. What an idiotic thing to say," Bernon Blount, Ezra's grandfather, told Rolling Stone.

Grandmother Tericia Blount stopped short of calling Kanye a raving lunatic.

"I think it's just crazy, and I hate to use that word, but I think it's ridiculous. She's making sure that she is caring for the patrons at her concert, and I just think that’s crazy of Kanye to even let that demand come out of his mouth."

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City scraps affordable housing project after Dave Chappelle threatens to pull $65M investment

Jacopo Raule/Getty Images

Dave Chappelle, and others, forced a City Council to scrap plans for affordable housing by threatening to pull his $65 million investment.

The A-list comedian showed up at a City Council meeting in Yellow Springs, a village in Ohio, and threatened to pull his $65 million investment if they went forward with the plans.

According to reports, the City Council members proposed a plan to build "affordable" housing. However, Chappelle objected to the plan because it would attract undesirables and interfere with his investments in the area.

Chappelle, who has an office in the village, planned to open a restaurant and a comedy club in the new development south of the village.

The council held a meeting on Monday to vote on the proposed project.

Best Image / BACKGRID

So, Chappelle showed up at the meeting and threatened to pull his $65 million off the table if they approved the housing project plans.

The City Council expressed concern about legal action if they didn't go forward with the plans to build affordable housing.

"I don't know why the village council would be afraid of litigation from a $24 million a year company, while it kicks out a $65 million a year company," Chappelle said. "I cannot believe you would make me audition for you. You look like clowns. I am not bluffing, I will take it all off the table. That's all, thank you."

According to VladTV, the Yellow Springs City Council voted 2-2 on the proposed affordable housing development that would have included 64 houses, 52 duplexes, and 24 townhomes.

Now that the housing project has been scrapped, the new plan is to build 143 single-family homes with prices starting at $300,000. Hardly considered "affordable" housing for some families.

Watch the video below.

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Stacey Abrams apologizes for requiring school children to mask up so she could remove her mask for photo op

Slaven Vlasic/Getty Images

Stacey Abrams has apologized for requiring school children to wear face masks so she could remove hers for a photo op.

The controversy began when Abrams tweeted a photo that showed her sitting on a floor in a classroom surrounded by schoolchildren who were all masked up while she was bare faced.

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Georgia is one of the red states where face masks are not mandated indoors or outdoors.

Abrams' campaign team allegedly required children and staff members to mask up so she could remove her mask during her visit to Glennwood Elementary School to celebrate Black History Month.

Abrams deleted the image from her Twitter page as outrage and condemnation erupted on Twitter.com.

ERIC BARADAT/AFP via Getty Images

Abrams' camp initially blamed "racism" for the public backlash across social media.

"It is shameful that our opponents are using a Black History Month reading event for Georgia children as the impetus for a false political attack," her campaign team wrote in a statement.

But by Tuesday, the 48-year-old Democrat had backtracked and apologized.

"Protocols matter. Protecting our kids is the most important thing, and anything that can be perceived as undermining that is a mistake, and I apologize," she tweeted on Tuesday.

Abrams again admitted she made a "mistake" in an interview with CNN on Tuesday. She said she took her mask off to read to the children at Glennwood Elementary School.

Political pundits and even the liberal co-hosts of "The View" accused the Georgia gubernatorial candidate of violating her own political party's mandate.
 

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India.Arie Accepts Joe Rogan’s Apology: ‘I don’t think Joe Rogan is racist’

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YouTube

India.Arie told CNN anchor Don Lemon that she accepted Joe Rogan's apology after she helped to cancel him on social media.

Arie was among social media users who reposted a compilation video of Rogan uttering "ni**er" on his popular podcasts from years ago.

The campaign to cancel Rogan began when he hosted anti-vaxxers on his podcast, including health experts who were against vaccinating children.
 
RELATED: Joe Rogan Regrets Using Racial Slurs
 
Spotify stood by Rogan and didn't blink an eye when musicians Neil Young, Joni Mitchell, and then Arie removed their music from the platform.

However, Arie has had a change of heart.

On CNN Monday night, Arie said she accepted Rogan's apology. She said she was aware of Rogan's "insensitive comments around race before because I'm a podcast listener. I've heard many episodes of his podcast. When I learned about his language, I just tuned out on my own."

Arie said she got upset when Spotify paid Rogan $100 million to bring his popular podcast to the streaming service.

"Many people find it offensive," she said, noting that Rogan is well-compensated while "the vast majority of working artists are paid [peanuts]" by streaming services.

Watch the interview below.
 

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Joe Rogan Regrets Using Racial Slurs, Spotify Deletes 100 of Rogan’s Podcasts

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YouTube

Spotify quietly deleted over 100 of Joe Rogan's podcasts in which he is heard causally uttering a racist slur.

The campaign to cancel Rogan began when he hosted anti-vaxxers on his podcast, including health experts who were against vaccinating children.
 
RELATED: Thousands of Spotify users delete their accounts in protest of anti-vaxxer Joe Rogan
 
Someone compiled a video of Rogan uttering "ni**er" on his popular podcasts from years ago.

As the compilation video went viral, songstress India.Arie re-posted it on her Instagram Stories and asked Spotify to remove her content from its music streaming platform after legendary rocker Neil Young exited Spotify first.
 
RELATED: India.Arie explains why she pulled her music from Spotify
 

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Instagram

Arie said her decision based on Rogan's "language" and the fact Spotify paid him $100 million while artists like her earn peanuts for their music streams.

Rogan responded to the growing controversy on his YouTube and Instagram page.

"I know that to most people, there is no context where a white person is ever allowed to say that word, never mind publicly on a podcast, and I agree with that now. I haven't said it in years."

Rogan pointed out that the viral compilation video took his words out of context. He noted that he was simply discussing Red Foxx, Richard Pryor and Quentin Tarantino using the word liberally in their work.

"I was also talking about how there's not another word like it in the entire English language," he said.

"Because it's a word where only one group of people is allowed to say it... Like, if a white person uses that word, it's racist and toxic. But, a Black person can use it and it can be a punchline, it can be a term of endearment, it can be lyrics to a rap song, it can be a positive affirmation. It's a very unusual word, but it's not my word to use."

 

 
Former pro wrestler-turned-A-list actor Dwayne "The Rock" Johnson rushed to his former colleague's defense initially — until the video went viral. Then Johnson pulled his support.

"I was not aware of his N word use prior to my comments, but now I've become educated to his complete narrative," Johnson told a Twitter follower on Saturday.

But Johnson has problems of his own.

After pulling his support of Rogan, Johnson quietly deleted old tweets that contained transphobic slurs.

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Chris Brown Responds to Accusation He Skipped Out On Atlanta Gay Pride Concert

Stars attend Chris Brown concert

Prince Williams/ATLpics.net

The city was buzzing with excitement this weekend. Singer Chris Brown was set to perform live during an Atlanta gay pride event.

But then the news broke that Brown was a no-show for his scheduled performance at the Georgia Freight Depot nightclub.

Lesbian party promoter Melissa Scott told the GA Voice she was "baffled" that the guest of honor was a no-show.

"I think it's unfortunate for mainstream artists to take people's money with the complete prior knowledge of knowing what the event is and being very clear about what the event is about," said Scott. "I'm completely baffled. You know it's gay pride. You knew you agreed when you sent the contract in and took the money.”

Scott, founder of Traxx Girls, said she exchanged a flurry of text messages with Brown's people who kept demanding assurances that there were no gay men in the nightclub.

"I was being told to take [Brown's] image down because he looks a little feminine in that image -- an image that he took," Scott told the GA Voice.

She added: "I had to send text messages of pictures of my crowd to say, 'there's nothing but girls in here man.'"

As 4,000 lesbians stood waiting patiently for Brown to hit the stage, he refused to enter the building because a "handful of gay men" were inside the club.

As the criticism mounted on social media, Brown tweeted a pathetic attempt at damage control.

"I honestly wasn't booked for the show," he tweeted. "Hopefully in the future we can do it right. Much love LGBT."

He added: "I have nothing but love and respect for the LGBT COMMUNITY."

Chris Brown

Scott was able to salvage what was left of the night. Luckily for Traxx Girls a slew of celebrities were in town.

"We called Fetty Wap who is the hottest artist in the country right now and he was 5 minutes away (from the venue) and asked him if he could come," says Scott. "He said 'hell yeah!' I said it's a gay party. It's tons of people here. He said he didn't care and was on his way."

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Damon Wayans: ‘Stop twisting my words about Cosby rape allegations’ (Video)

Damon Wayans

YouTube

Comedian and actor Damon Wayans is hitting back at criticism over comments he made about the Bill Cosby rape allegations.

During an interview with Power 105.1's the Breakfast Club on Friday, Wayans defended Cosby.

"I don't believe he was raping." Wayans said, "I think he was in relationships with all of them."

Wayans 55, joked that the women turned on Cosby when he was done with them; "They're like, 'Oh, really? RAPE.'"

Wayans shared the thoughts of many who are skeptical about the women's claims: "If you listen to them talk, they go, 'Well, the first time.' The first time?! Bitch, how many times did it happen? Just listen to what they're saying."

Wayans apologized for saying some of the women were too ugly to rape.

"Some of them, really, is un-rape-able. I look at them and go, 'No, he don't want that. Get outta here!'"

He later said, "For anybody who was raped by Bill Cosby, I'm sorry, and I hope you get justice."

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Acne Studios Confirms its ‘Ideal Woman’ is a 12-Year-Old Boy

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Acne Studios has confirmed rumors that the model who embodies the "ideal woman" is in fact a 12-year-old boy.

Frasse Johansson is the petite model seen teetering on high heels while wearing a $1,200 coat and $400 shades in Acne's forthcoming campaign.

Yahoo Style's senior editor Leeann Duggar thinks Acne went too far:

Sometimes, you know in your heart of hearts that something terrible is true. And yet, you still reserve the right to be annoyed when it's actually confirmed before your eyes.

Today, we see proof of the old saw that, for fashion designers, the ideal woman's body is, in fact, that of a pre-pubescent boy. WWD announced that the forthcoming fall campaign by fashion-forward Swedish brand Acne Studios will star Frasse Johansson, who is a 12-year-old boy.

Who is modeling very expensive clothes meant for adult women.

"Walking in high heels is so hard," Johansson told WWD. "I don't understand how anyone can walk in them." Welcome to the patriarchy, kiddo, enjoy your blissfully brief stay.

READ MORE

Thanks to loyal reader Mshan Yisrael for the tip.

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Black Lives Matter Fraud Shaun King: “I Have No Idea Who My Father is”

Shaun King

Caucasian Black Lives Matter agitator Shaun King continues to lie about his race.

In a post on the Daily Kos blog on Thursday, King threw his own mother under the bus, portraying her as a promiscuous slut who slept around on her husband.

King wrote he knows he's black because he "feels" black. Where have we heard that line before?

Read more »

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Twitter DRAGS Bruce Jenner for accepting ESPY award that should’ve gone to 5-year-old cancer patient, Leah Still

Bruce Jenner

Bruce Jenner was a very unpopular man during the live telecast of ABC's ESPY Awards on Wednesday night. Outraged Twitter users slammed the 65-year-old former Olympian for accepting the Arthur Ashe courage award for being a cross-dresser.

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Brucilla Jenner’s four Children Refuse to Participate in His 3-Ring Circus

Bruce Jenner

Bruce Jenner, who is calling himself Caitlyn now, shamelessly posed on the heavily Photoshopped cover of Vanity Fair magazine wearing a corset.

And while the 65-year-old former Olympian has the support of his ex-wife, Kris Jenner, and her Kardashian brood, he is "terribly hurt" and disappointed in his four oldest kids.

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