by Nahlah Abdur-Rahman

October 2, 2023

Usher In Paris: The Internet Reacts To Usher Wearing A Kilt

Usher is taking some high fashion risks during Paris Fashion Week this year. The musician rocked a skirt/kilt suit as part of Pharrell‘s new designs for Louis Vuitton while attending the Business of Fashion 500 Gala.

Ahead of his highly anticipated Super Bowl halftime show performance, the artist is having a moment in couture by rocking the controversial look. While the 44-year-old has yet to share the outfit on his own social media, tabloid blogs have already documented it, to commenters’ delight and dismay.

TheNeighborhoodTalk posted a video of Usher’s head-to-toe set, complete with a matching hat and “LV” patch on the jacket signifying the designer touch.

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Commenters were leaving mixed reviews on the beloved artist’s costume.

“Usually this man does no wrong but this is all wrong,” expressed one Instagram user.

Another one went on to say “its giving catholic school girl” as the two-piece set was reminiscent of a traditional uniform.

While many deemed the skirt emasculating to Usher, not all were unimpressed by his latest fashion.

“He looks very rich, very expensive, its giving ‘don’t touch me peasants,'” shared a positive commenter.

Usher’s style choice was fitting for the occasion. The Business of Fashion 500 event celebrates innovators and creatives in the design industry, and Usher was among attendees such as Pharrell and Naomi Campbell. The premier fashion resource shared a detailed video of Usher’s entire look, and its comments section was filled with more acclaim for the entertainer.

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“I love seeing men feeling freer to explore and express themselves stylistically,” commented an enthusiastic user.

Despite the internet haters, Usher is in a new prime of his career, performing star-studded Las Vegas and Paris residencies as he prepares for his greatest height yet: headlining the Super Bowl, with a world tour commencing shortly after.

Elizabeth Polanco De Los Santos.Courtesy of Detained in Dubai

by Sharelle B. McNair

October 2, 2023

New York College Student Being Held In Dubai For ‘Touching’ Female Security Guard

A college student from New York is being held in Dubai after being accused of assaulting an airport security guard, Newsweek reports.

Elizabeth Polanco De Los Santos, a business arts student at Lehman College, and a friend were returning to New York from Turkey with a 10-hour layover in the Middle Eastern city on July 14. While there, she said she suffered a “painful and degrading search” from security.

Polanco De Los Santos was asked to remove a medically needed compressor she’d received after a surgery, which goes around her upper chest and waist. She obeyed but was extremely afraid and uncomfortable throughout the search, according to Detained in Dubai.

“She is under the most incredible stress which is impacting her physical and mental health, disrupting her entire life and scarring her long term,” the organization’s CEO, Radha Stirling, said.

“This is simply no way to treat visitors. It’s outrageous.”

After the search, Polanco De Los Santos claims, she gently touched a female security guard to help guide her back to meet her friend. Shortly afterward, she was told she was being detained for “touching the female customs officer” during the search, which Polanco De Los Santos says did not happen.

“I gently touched her arm to guide her out of the way, then desperately started crying to my friend for help,” she said, according to Africa Business Insider. She was held in the room for several hours while the guard filed a complaint against her.

She has been there since, with a travel ban issued against her.

Polanco De Los Santos is yet another young woman of color being held in Dubai for questionable reasons. Tierra Allen, a popular TikTok trucking influencer, was released in August 2023 after being held for “screaming” in public.

Judges have ordered Polanco De Los Santos to pay a fine of more than $2,700, but customs officials appealed her sentence. The victim’s mother told Detained in Dubai how stressful her daughter’s situation is for her.

“As a family, we are really struggling, and my daughter needs to be home to continue seeing her doctor,” said her mother. “I’ve been in tears, I don’t understand why she could be held in the country this long. She really regrets going to Dubai and is desperate to come home.”

Stirling has called on New York Congressman Ritchie Torres and Senators Charles Schumer and Kirsten Gillibrand in the hopes that they can help.

Charlemagne Tha God, DJ Envy, Funk Flex, Funkmaster Flex, sexual assault, allegations

by Jeroslyn JoVonn

October 2, 2023

Funk Flex Resurfaces Charlamagne Tha God’s Sexual Assault Allegations Again

Funkmaster Flex has reignited his age-old feud with Charlamagne Tha God and DJ Envy by making a mockery of allegations both radio personalities are facing.

Famed radio DJ Envy has been under fire amid fraud allegations against his former real estate investment partner Cesar Pina. In August, the Power 105 host denied claims of being involved in Pina’s $1.5 million fraud case and said he was a victim himself.

With the fraud case coming on the heels of Envy’s petty feud with rapper Rick Ross over their competing car shows, Rozay decided to make fun of Envy while appearing on Funkmaster Flex’s competing NYC radio show on Hot 97.

In audio captured during the show and shared online, Ross and Flex can be heard going back and forth with jabs against Envy.

https://twitter.com/HipHopDX/status/1707756443481342154

“You not doing fraud. You not stealing cars. Not you. Not Flex,” Ross jokingly says to Flex.

“We not stealing houses,” Flex adds.

Rick Ross then decided to add Charlamagne’s name to the mix and petition the radio personality to join Funk Flex on Hot 97 and leave DJ Envy on Power 105.

“Hey Charlamagne come with Flex,” Ross said.

That’s when Flex took things further by calling Charlamagne a name that appeared to address his past allegations of sexual assault.

“Most importantly, we not doing fraud,” Ross said. “It’s called thievery.”

Once the clip made its rounds across the web, Flex took to Instagram to double down on his shady jabs at Charlamagne by sharing an article from April 2023 about Charlamagne’s attempts to have his 2001 sexual assault case dismissed due to lack of evidence.

“UMMMMM? YOU CAUGHT ANOTHER (NEW) LAWSUIT APRIL 21, 2023? I DONT THINK U SETTLED THAT?
@cthagod (AND YOU CALLING PEOPLE PATHETIC?),” Flex captioned his post.

“LET YOUR LAWYER KNOW I CAN TALK ABOUT THIS CAUSE VIBE MAG ALREADY DID?”

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Flex then took aim at Envy and shared documents from Pina’s fraud case that include Envy’s name.

“BIG DOG? @DJENVY I THINK THEY NAMED U IN THIS $1,400,000 REAL ESTATE LAWSUIT?
YOU LAWYER IS OK WITH ME MENTIONING SINCE THIS IS PUBLIC RECORD?,” Flex wrote.

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Charlamagne and Envy have yet to respond to Flex’s antics or the ongoing chatter about Envy’s fraud case.

by Jeroslyn JoVonn

October 2, 2023

Magic Johnson Is Unfazed By Canceled Lakers Series

Magic Johnson is not surprised the unauthorized television series on the 1980s Los Angeles Lakers dynasty was canceled since he and other franchise alums never supported it.

The season two finale of HBO’s Winning Time: The Rise of the Lakers Dynasty was the last fans will get. Its end was no shocker to one Laker great who believes the show was based more on fiction than fact.

“Well, I never watched it because nobody in this world can tell the Lakers story [like it needed to be told]. The Showtime story? Nobody! Dr. Buss was way ahead of his time as an owner. Our team? Unbelievable! The Laker girls with Paula Abdul? Unbelievable! Nobody can tell that story,” Johnson told The Hollywood Reporter at the Elizabeth Taylor Ball to End AIDS on Thursday, September 28.

“So, none of us watched it because it was fictional. You just can’t tell that story. But, hey, that’s on them.”

Johnson was a key player of the Lakers’ five championship teams in the 1980s. Actor Quincy Isaiah portrayed Johnson in the series based on Jeff Pearlman’s book, Showtime: Magic, Kareem, Riley, and the Los Angeles Lakers Dynasty of the 1980s.

Chronicling the professional and personal lives of the 1980s Lakers, the series highlighted one of sports’ most revered and dominant dynasties in history. While Johnson didn’t support the show, he still has a story to tell that he’ll be ready to share one day.

“If I do, I got two of the biggest friends in the business, [Denzel Washington and Samuel L. Jackson],” Johnson said alongside Jackson. “So, if I ever do it, it would be with one of my friends because they already know me. We’ll see.”

Some of Johnson’s story was already the subject of a four-part Apple TV+ documentary series, They Call Me Magic.

by Jeroslyn JoVonn

October 2, 2023

Erica Mena Can’t Seem To Leave The Colorist Convo Alone

Erica Mena appears to be playing up being “canceled” in the wake of her firing from Love & Hip Hop Atlanta for calling Spice a “monkey.”

The axed reality star was on Instagram over the weekend posting videos from her sunny vacation. While floating in a pool in a thong bikini, Mena expressed her desire to tan her body to have a skin color more like Drake‘s ex, Bernice Burgos.

“I better leave here the same color as Bernice,” she said in a clip captured by The Neighborhood Talk.

“If I’m not Bernice’s color, I’m not getting on that plane.”

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Mena then took to The Shade Room’s comments section to defend herself after catching backlash for her remarks. Mena believes that since she is of Latina descent, like Burgos, she shouldn’t be accused of “blackfacing” since Latinas come in all shades.

“Who wouldn’t want to have Bernice’s beautiful color? Especially on vacation,” she wrote.

“The fact that I actually do get color naturally in the sun ALL my life and it’s now being considered as me blackfacing is pathetic.”

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Mena’s social media antics come in response to her removal from the Love & Hip Hop franchise. The show held a roundtable on race and colorism during the season finale in response to Mena’s remarks to Spice.

Cast members sounded off expressing their disappointment in Mena who shares children with Safaree Samuels, who is also Jamaican like Spice. Mena apologized in a confessional but appeared to have no remorse when confronted by Yandy Smith about the situation.

In addition to being fired from LHHH, Mena was also removed from the AllBlk series Hush.

Krystal Ends Four-Day Workweek, Admits Mistakes Were Made

by Daniel Johnson

October 2, 2023

Krystal Ends Four-Day Workweek, Admits Mistakes Were Made

A British technology company is shifting gears on its four-day workweek allowance for its employees.

On June 1, Krystal announced that it would embark on a six-month trial of a four-day workweek. At the time, they cited data from Microsoft Japan’s similar practice; the company instituted a four-day workweek, and productivity increased by 40%. Krystal founder Simon Blackler wrote on the company blog, “After careful consideration and months of discussion and planning, we settled on our best guess at an approach that we hope will work. But part of the idea behind running a trial is that we will gather precious information as we go along, and we can make adjustments if needed.”

A significant difference between the policy practiced at Microsoft Japan and the policy practiced at Krystal was the workforce size. Microsoft Japan had a nearly 3,000-person crew, while Krystal rolled out the new schedule to a team of 18. In addition, the company’s specialty was technical support, arguably one of the most labor-intensive pockets of the technology industry. Krystal had a small team responsible for quick turnaround for technical issues its customers faced.

According to Intercom, workload management is vital to creating an efficient workforce, and an overwhelmed force can lead to burnout. Tech support’s position is critical to keeping many technology companies afloat. Unlike the video game industry’s version of crunch, where work hours are extended well beyond regular operating hours to meet a studio deadline, the crunch that workers experience in these situations comes from pushing seven days of work into a four-day work structure.

As a result, Krystal’s six-month trial ended on Sept. 28, and Blackler admitted that it did not consider the unique demands placed on his team.

Blackler wrote on the company blog, “In retrospect, this was an obvious mistake as it meant we only had 50% of our helpdesk available on Mondays, our busiest day. Our week starts busy, and it often took until Thursday to be truly back on top of things, then the pattern would repeat. This put staff in an impossible position; either stay late to clear the backlog or feel guilty about leaving with the helpdesk busy. Either way, a stress-inducing position to be in.”

He also announced on the post that his company would be hiring additional staff to assist with productivity and adjusting the end of the workday, per worker feedback about the trial.

The technology industry has become the newest ground zero for labor organizing. Though Blackler had good intentions for trying to help his workers, this indicates why labor unions are gaining traction in technology spaces. Traditionally, labor unions have not been considered necessary in technology spaces because of their high earning potential. Still, recent developments at companies like Google, Facebook, and Twitter/X have forced some employees to begin discussing unionizing. Video game workers are anomalies in the tech space, sharing many concerns that led to the Hollywood writers’ strike over the summer and into the fall.

According to Polygon, studios like Activision Blizzard, Microsoft, and Sega of America have either voted to unionize or declared their positions on labor unionizing positively. The company did receive some positive gains, but Blackler ultimately admitted that if he had listened to his workers, things would have run more smoothly, a lesson that the technology industry is collectively learning.

Aziza Shuler, CBS, alopecia, Philly, news anchor

by Stacy Jackson

October 2, 2023

Emmy-winning Philly News Anchor Opens Up About Battle With Alopecia

CBS Philadelphia news anchor Aziza Shuler kept her battle with alopecia a secret for most of her life.

The Emmy-winning journalist recently discussed her journey with the autoimmune disease during an interview with Inside Edition. According to Shuler, she has been dealing with hair loss since she was 12 years old. “I still get emotional talking about it,” Shuler said.

The Philly anchor, born while her mother was incarcerated, was placed into foster care with her six siblings. Her journey as a foster child came with experiences of being physically and sexually abused.

“I woke up one day with a bald spot about the size of a lemon slice, and within a year, all of my hair had fallen out,” she shared. Shuler said it was embarrassing to lose her hair in middle school.

“I felt ashamed, and frankly, I felt ugly.”

The anchor’s CBS colleagues have welcomed Shuler’s recent transformation to remove her wig styles and embrace her natural bald look. “How I look is an important part of my job,” the weekend anchor said in a video on her Instagram. In the CBS Philadelphia segment dedicated to her story, she added that the makeup and wardrobe under the studio lights is “an effort to look perfect” when she appears on viewers’ TV screens to deliver the news.

“I’ve given myself permission to REINVENT myself,” she wrote in the caption.

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Last month, as the St. John’s University alum celebrated her 30th birthday and Alopecia Awareness Month, she announced her plans to debut her new look on-air.

“For my 30th, I chose to be Free!” she wrote on Instagram, flaunting her new look. “This month, and really for the past few months, I decided to free myself — fully. I’m not on air like this just yet, but I do walk in real life with my naked head and free spirit.”

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Inside Edition reported that viewers have also been supportive of her natural beauty.

“When I think about how far I have come, it makes me emotional because I never thought that I would get to this point. I believed I would wear a wig my whole life. I believed I would hide my whole life,” Shuler said.

The bald beauty added that she is proud of her breakout moment.

by Iman Milner

October 2, 2023

‘Queen & Slim’ Actress Jodie Turner-Smith Calls It Quits With Husband Joshua Jackson After Three Years

Actress Jodie Turner-Smith has reportedly filed for divorce from Joshua Jackson after more than three years of marriage, TMZ reports.

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According to the outlet, Turner-Smith submitted documents citing “irreconcilable differences” on September 13 by way of her attorney, Laura Wassar, and is not seeking spousal support from Jackson. The Queen & Slim star is asking for joint custody of their 3-year-old daughter, Janie Jackson, whom the pair calls Juno. The news comes as a surprise to many, as the couple appeared on the red carpet at the 40th anniversary of clothing brand J. Crew on September 6, with their usual PDA. The talented pair also attended the Oscars together in complementary head-to-toe Gucci ensembles earlier this year.

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Turner-Smith and Jackson have spent the last few years publicly doting on one another and sharing the details of their relationship.

“I think it’s really beautiful to be with someone who is so supportive and so loving,” the UK-born actress told People in 2021. “We’re so similar in so many ways. We’re like mirrors for each other. And I just really love that human being.”

Jackson was often applauded for speaking up about the racism Turner-Smith faced from his fans and supporters and the world at large.

“That has been a real education for me as a white man, truly. The way people get in her comments and the ignorance and ugliness that comes her way is truly shocking,” the “Dawson’s Creek” actor told Refinery 29 in 2021. “And it has been a necessary, but an unpleasant education in just the way people relate to Black bodies in general, but Black female bodies in specific. It is not okay. We have a long way to go.”

Fenty Beauty Arrives In Target Stores, Includes Bestsellers As Gift Sets

by Iman Milner

October 2, 2023

Fenty Beauty Arrives In Target Stores, Includes Bestsellers As Gift Sets

Rihanna‘s Fenty Beauty is valued at over $1 billion, and now fans of the inclusive cosmetics brand will have even more access to its products through its official launch in Target stores.

On October 1, a unique line of Fenty Beauty products made its way to Ulta Beauty at Target, including some of the brand’s top-selling must-haves, and gift sets — aptly titled Fenty Snackz — that were custom-curated for the store’s shoppers.

“The goal has always been to bring Fenty Beauty to as many people as possible,” said Rihanna. “I’m excited to introduce the Fenty Snackz and give Ulta Beauty at Target guests a new way to experience our brand.”

Customers can take home favorites like the Hella Thicc Volumizing Mascara and Invisimatte Instant Setting + Blotting Powder in full size, or opt to try out some of the brand’s marquee items in mini size before making the leap.

Fenty joins other celebrity brands, such as PATTERN by Tracee Ellis Ross and Ariana Grande perfume, in Ulta’s partnership with the retailer.

“For two years, Ulta Beauty at Target has offered the makeup, skincare and hair care brands our guests love, and we are thrilled to add the beloved Fenty Beauty brand,” said Jill Sando, executive vice president and chief merchandising officer for Target.

“Our curated assortment — including Fenty’s best-selling products, as well as new mini sizes and sets, will spark discovery and deliver affordable joy to our guests.”

In recent years, Target has been one of the industry’s leaders in providing Black-owned brands with the exposure and shelf space they need for truly sustained growth in the marketplace.

In 2021, the company pledged to spend $2 billion with Black-owned businesses by 2025. Today, more than 100 Black-owned brands are represented across multiple categories on Target’s shelves. In 2022, the company reported a 65% increase in Black-owned beauty brands, making it an industry leader in beauty.

Valera, father, renaissance, tour, Beyonce

by Stacy Jackson

October 2, 2023

‘Renaissance: A Film By Beyoncé’ Movie Trailer Is Out!

A film following Beyoncé’s Renaissance World Tour is coming to theaters this year.

On October 2, Queen Bey released a trailer for the Parkwood Entertainment film. “RENAISSANCE: A FILM BY BEYONCÉ accentuates the journey of RENAISSANCE WORLD TOUR, from its inception to the opening in Stockholm, Sweden, to the finale in Kansas City, Missouri,” the concert film’s description read on the website for AMC Theatres, the movie chain that is releasing the film.

In the trailer posted to Beyoncé’s YouTube channel, coverage of the production is revealed, from behind- the-scenes moments to the fans who filled the seats to witness the concert live.

“It is about Beyoncé’s intention, hard work, involvement in every aspect of the production, her creative mind and purpose to create her legacy, and master her craft. Received with extraordinary acclaim, Beyoncé’s RENAISSANCE WORLD TOUR created a sanctuary for freedom and shared joy for more than 2.7 million fans,” the description continued.

As the clips flash, Bey’s voiceover speaks about the mission behind the production.

“When I am performing, I am nothing but free,” the “Break My Soul” singer says. Knowles says the goal for her Renaissance World Tour was “to create a place where everyone is free” and “no one is judged,” and that the production is about starting fresh and creating something new.

“I feel liberated,” she says in a clip. “I transitioned into a new animal.”

The Grammy winner posted the trailer that features her hubby, Jay-Z, and their three children, Blue Ivy, Rumi and Sir, to her Instagram and told her followers, “Be careful what you ask for, ’cause I just might comply.”

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The 2 hour, 40 minute showing of Renaissance: A Film by Beyoncé premieres in theaters on December 1, 2023. According to the Associated Press, the film will run for at least four weeks, and tickets start at $22 plus tax.