It must be hard to have people upset just because you exist.

Lizzo caught stray bullets on social media from Candace Owens. The conservative analyst took to Twitter to randomly give her opinion on people who call the Grammy-award winning singer “beautiful.”

Health trainer Gina Bontempo tweeted a picture of Lizzo in her birthday suit to talk about celebrities “glorifying” obesity. “Obesity is on the rise and yet women are told by celebrities and the media that being obese is normal and “healthy,” Bontempo said. “You never see them try this with men. Only women are insecure enough to fall for it.”

Owens stepped in to give her take, claiming “only women could be fooled into supporting a death cult of “fat acceptance” and attacking members of the trans community.

Only women could be emotionally manipulated into supporting their own eradication via support for “trans men”.

Only women could be fooled into supporting a death cult of “fat acceptance”.

Today’s cultural battles prove that women are more irrational and emotional than men. https://t.co/1hi8RZZJbC

— Candace Owens (@RealCandaceO) April 12, 2023

The attack didn’t stop there. The talk show host doubled down on her comments and called women who uplift the “Truth Hurts” singer “bats*** insane.” “Men do not lie to other men in this way. They do not pretend that clinical obesity is beauty.”

If you peep comments on any of Lizzo’s “fat acceptance” photos, you will undoubtedly find a score of batshit insane women telling her that she looks beautiful.

Men do not lie to other men in this way. They do not pretend that clinical obesity is beauty. https://t.co/4b10SBVbDc

— Candace Owens (@RealCandaceO) April 12, 2023

Owens should have known better as Lizzo fans don’t take too kindly to disrespect. They immediately jumped to her defense on Twitter and Instagram, as Hollywood Unlocked posted screenshots of the engagement. One Twitter user thought Owens speaking on this case was ironic in itself.

Not Candace Owens calling Lizzo insecure???!!!!!

— Unlearn16 (@unlearn16tweet) April 12, 2023

We get it: you’re a woman who only feels pretty if other women are called ugly. Everyone can see exactly who you are.

— Michelle Cohen, MD (@DocMCohen) April 12, 2023

On IG, fans commented the fact that “size has nothing to do with beauty.” “Lizzo is beautiful,” the comment said.

💖I DONT NEED SOCIAL MEDIA💖

💖SOCIAL MEDIA NEEDS ME💖

Today I wore my #dovepartner hat with pride. Thank you to The @dove Self-Esteem Project for helping young people find safe spaces on social media and protecting their mental health. pic.twitter.com/PwHan3J8IC

— FOLLOW @YITTY (@lizzo) April 12, 2023

The rhetoric continues on social media. The Yitty co-founder is unbothered and continues to promote body positivity. This week, she announced her Self-Esteem Project with Dove, that will help young people find safe spaces on social media and protect their mental health.

• News

by Sharelle B. McNair

April 13, 2023

Louisiana Police Officers Plead Not Guilty For Involvement In Deadly Arrest of Black Motorist

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After more than three years, five Louisiana police officers pleaded not guilty for their involvement in the deadly arrest that led to the death of Ronald Greene.

CNN reports that one of the Louisiana law enforcement officers, Kory York, faces negligent homicide charges while three other troopers and a Union Parish deputy face charges that range from malfeasance in office to obstruction of justice. All officers have denied wrongdoing.

“Plea bargaining in this case, is very unlikely,” York’s attorney, J. Michael Small, said.

Greene, 49, died on May 10, 2019 after police officers arrested him during a traffic stop. Officers originally told Greene’s family that he died in a car crash but body came footage tells a completely different story.

While the white officers assaulted him by beating, kicking, using a taser and dragging the victim, Greene can be heard screaming, “I’m scared,”, according to NOLA. York was seen dragging Greene by his ankle shackles, putting his foot on his back to force him down, leaving him face down in the dirt for over nine minutes.

The Union Parish sheriff’s deputy can be heard telling Greene, “S—- hurts, doesn’t it?”

Another officer involved described the incident with Greene as “torture and murder.”

Greene’s family was present during the arraignment. Greene’s mother, Mona Hardin, was disappointed in the outcome but prays justice happens. “Justice delayed is not justice denied. Louisiana, right your wrongs!,” she said. “Bring it!” The family filed a wrongful-death civil lawsuit against the troopers involved in the incident and their superiors and also seek damages for all medical and funeral expenses.

According to CNN, Dakota DeMoss was fired in 2021 over an excessive force incident. York received a 50-hour suspension for his role, but after suspension, he was able to return to active duty. Trooper Chris Hollingsworth died in 2020 in a car crash.

The next court hearing is May 12.

Early last year, rapper Lil Yachty filed a lawsuit against the NFT platform Opulous, claiming the company infringed on his trademark. The artist claimed the company “did not have authorization” to use his name and likeness to make a profit.

Earlier this week, Rolling Stone reported, the lawsuit was settled.

The paperwork filed against Opulous alleged that while using the business name of Ditto Music, the company used the rapper’s name, image, and likeness to mislead people into thinking it had a partnership with Lil Yachty. In doing so, it raised more than $6.5 million in venture capital funds.

Financial terms of the settlement weren’t disclosed.

According to the court documents the settlement agreement was submitted April 11 by the founder of the Singapore-based company, Lee James Parsons. The parties involved in the litigation have requested to be given 45 days “to confirm the settlement in writing and file a dismissal of the action.”

When the lawsuit was filed in a Los Angeles federal court in January 2022, attorneys for the rapper, whose real name is Miles Parks McCollum, stated Opulous launched an advertising blitz the previous summer to promote a “Lil Yachty NFT Collection.” The company claimed it would give consumers access to new music from Lil Yachty, using pictures of him and press interviews to promote the project.

Lawyers for the recording artist said, “Defendants knew that they did not have authorization to utilize plaintiff’s name, trademark or image… yet did so anyways because [it] was beneficial to Defendants’ commercial enterprise, in blatant and conscious disregard for plaintiff’s exclusive legal rights.”

Lil Yachty said Opulous pitched the project to his management team, and he joined in on a second call to do “a general introductory meeting,” but no agreement was signed between the two parties.

In the lawsuit, the company had been sued for trademark infringement, unfair competition, and a violation of Lil Yachty’s right of publicity—the right to control how your name and likeness are commercially exploited.

The life of civil rights activist and writer James Baldwin will be brought to life in a biopic that will feature Billy Porter as the celebrated gay intellectual.

According to The Hollywood Reporter, The Kinky Boots Broadway performer will portray the Harlem-born author on the big screen. The movie script will be written by Porter and Dan McCabe and will be based on the 1994 book by David Leeming, James Baldwin: A Biography.

“As a Black queer man on this planet with relative consciousness, I find myself, like James Baldwin said, ‘in a rage all the time.’ I am because James was. I stand on James Baldwin’s shoulders, and I intend to expand his legacy for generations to come,” Porter said in a written statement.

Porter, who has already won an Emmy-, Tony- and Grammy Award can add that coveted EGOT status if his performance merits it. The entertainer won a Tony Award in 2013 for his role in Kinky Boots; that same year, he received a Grammy for the production’s album. Six years later, Porter won Emmy as Pray Tell in FX’s Pose.

People reported the longtime Baldwin admirer quoted the author in his Emmy acceptance speech: “James Baldwin said, ‘[it] took many years of vomiting up all the filth that I had been taught about myself and halfway believed before I could walk around this earth like I had the right to be here.’

“I have the right, you have the right, we all have the right.”

Porter’s company, Incognegro Productions, will co-produce the biopic with Byron Allen’s Allen Media Group. “Billy Porter and Dan McCabe’s talent and commitment to amplifying James Baldwin’s legacy and contributions are invaluable and unmatched for this unique and epic story,” said Allen.

Baldwin, a gay Black writer and civil rights activist, was born in Harlem in 1924. His more popular books, Go Tell It on the Mountain, Notes of a Native Son, Another Country, and The Fire Next Time, were either turned into or inspired movies, including Barry Jenkins’ If Beale Street Could Talk and Raoul Peck’s I Am Not Your Negro documentary.

Not only is LeBron James the NBA’s all-time leading scorer, he leads the NBA in most jersey sales. 

NBAstore.com shared a tweet about NBA’s top-jersey sellers. Following ‘Bron, Golden State Warriors piercing shooter, Steph Curry sits at No. 2. and the ever-evolving and MVP-caliber Jayson Tatum holds down the No. 3 spot.

Absent from the list is the number of jerseys sold, but with spring here, and summer approaching, it’s more than likely the jerseys of ‘Bron, Curry, and Tatum will garner more sales. 

Curry’s teammate Jordan Poole appeared on the list at No.15. During the first half of the season, Jaylen Brown made his way into the top 15, sitting at No.14. Trae Young, who has been surrounded with talk of a trade after the Atlanta Hawks were given the thumbs up to trade Young, fell out of the top 15. Also out of the top 15 is injury-plagued Zion Williamson of the New Orleans Pelicans. 

The NBA’s top-selling jerseys list… based on https://t.co/I0ypSvyq5i sales from the second half of the 2022-23 season! pic.twitter.com/9qL06ubqX0

— NBA (@NBA) April 12, 2023

Giannis Antetokounmpo, Luka Dončić, Kevin Durant, Devin Booker, Ja Morant, Damian Lillard, and Kyrie Irving, occupy the No. d-No. 10 spots, respectively. LeMelo Ball, Nikola Jokic, and Joel Embiid lock down the No.11-No.14 spots. 

As far as merchandise goes, the Lakers sit at No.1 followed by the Golden State Warriors, Boston Celtics, Phoenix Suns, Milwaukee Bucks, Chicago Bulls, New York Knicks, Philadelphia 76ers, Dallas Mavericks, and Brooklyn Nets.

The NBA’s top-selling team merchandise list… based on https://t.co/I0ypSvyq5i sales from the second half of the 2022-23 season! pic.twitter.com/OT17dxXxuK

— NBA (@NBA) April 12, 2023

Earlier this season, James broke Kareem Abdul-Jabbar’s record as the NBA’s all-time scoring leader.  Obviously, with “King James” breaking Jabbar’s 39-year record, his jersey sales went up. Not that James needed help selling his brand, but becoming the league’s all-time walking bucket didn’t hurt. 

Dallas Mavericks player Reggie Bullock has done something many people fantasize about. He went out and bought his own island.

According to Andscape, the former University of North Carolina player spent $2 million on an island located in Belize. If it isn’t evident he owns it, the name of it is Bullock Caye. How appropriate.

The island stretches across five acres and he intends to build a resort on the body of land for his family and friends to vacation. Andscape reported the purchase last May when the media outlet featured him for his charity work and his winning last year’s Kareem Abdul-Jabbar Social Justice Champion Award

He spoke about looking for different things to invest in and that’s how he happened upon Bullock Caye.

“I’ve been looking for different things to invest my money in,” Bullock told the media outlet. “I found an opportunity down in Belize where I purchased an island that was about 5 acres that I am going to put resort villas on. It’s a vacation spot for me and my family where other people will be able to attend and enjoy different vacation activities.”

Bullock credits former New York Knicks teammate Dennis Smith Jr. for giving him the idea. After having a discussion with him during the 2019-20 season about the ability to purchase islands, he did some research and ended up sending his mother, girlfriend, and two siblings to look at the island first. It had an asking price of $2 million and now it’s Bullock Caye.

“The water is beautiful,” Bullock said. “That was one of the first things that I noticed. A lot of people are from Cali [California] and Texas. A lot of doctors and a lot of people going into retirement purchase homes for about $300,000 to $400,000 around the water. The people are dope. The food is dope. If you’re down to fish, they have really good grouper.”

In addition to his plan of building a 4,000-square-foot home, eight villas that can be rented to vacationers Bullock also wants to build a restaurant/bar, spa, basketball court, and infinity pool.

Comedian Mo’Nique keeps them lawyers busy!

According to The Associated Press, the Precious actress sued Paramount and CBS on Wednesday in a lawsuit stating she hasn’t been paid royalties from the UPN series she starred in, The Parkers.

The paperwork for the suit was filed in Los Angeles Superior Court.

In the breach-of-contract lawsuit obtained by the AP, the comedian alleges Paramount and CBS artificially depressed the show’s profitability to “retain millions that would otherwise be contractually due” to Mo’Nique and her production company.

“While the Series has proven to be a major financial success for its producers and distributors, the series’ talent have not been permitted to share in the fruits of that success,” according to the lawsuit. The papers named CBS Studios, Paramount Pictures, and the show’s production company, Big Ticket Productions, as the defendants. The suit was filed by the production company owned by Mo’Nique and her husband, Sidney Hicks. It is seeking monetary damages that would be determined at trial.

They are also accusing the defendants of shortchanging the series’ creators and writers and that Mo’Nique found out about the discrepancy of the alleged breach of contract when they recently filed a similar lawsuit.

“I just want the contractual compensation that I’ve earned,” Mo’Nique said in a written statement.

Last week, Mo’Nique starred in her own stand-up set on Netflix that received mixed reviews. But, what got people talking about the special was her speaking candidly about her sexuality.

She expressed regret for withholding her own truth from her grandmother.

“Cause I didn’t want to be loved privately. I adored how she adored me…So I couldn’t tell my grandmother my secret thoughts. And my fantasies. ‘Cause I didn’t want her to love me privately, and I did not want her to leave this earth thinking she was a failure. ‘Cause had I told her my secret thoughts, she would’ve left thinking that she failed.”

• Food

by BLACK ENTERPRISE Editors

April 13, 2023

Free From Market Raises $2.1M Seed Round for its Food is Medicine Platform to Treat Chronic Health Conditions

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Free From Market (FFM), the first patient-driven digital platform that empowers lower income Americans living with chronic health conditions to order the diet-specific foods and support they need, announces today that it has closed a $2.1 million seed investment. The funding allows the company to enhance its proprietary technology platform and expand its service delivery model to provide affordable, inclusive access to the personalized foods, telenutrition and data necessary to improve health outcomes.

The funding round was led by Bluestein Ventures, and joined by Acumen America, Beta Boom, KCRise Fund, 1st Course Capital and AssetBlue Ventures. In addition, the company was a 2022 recipient of Google for Startups Black Founders Fund.

This capital investment and support will also help FFM broaden its reach with managed care plans, providers, and community-based organizations to quantify the efficacy of “food is medicine” interventions for treating key health conditions. FFM provides bulk ordering for organizations and direct-to-door access to individuals who can shop meals, produce, or shelf-stable, brand-name grocery items, as well as complementary telenutrition support. 

“Our new investors and partners, who bring expertise in food, supply chain, and digital health, provide us the opportunity to reach and impact more people. Every household, regardless of income or zip code, deserves access to high quality food and ongoing support that meet their specific healthcare needs,” said FFM Co-Founder and CEO Emily Brown.

“Food has a powerful ability to heal our bodies, and we’re thrilled to support FFM as they build the future in the ‘food is medicine’ space,” said Andrew Bluestein, managing partner of Bluestein Ventures. “We continue to be impressed by the team’s deep expertise and passion, both through lived experience and decades in the industry. FFM is the much-needed connective tissue, bringing together key stakeholders within food and healthcare industries to improve the health and wellness of our communities.”  

“We agree with FFM’s thesis that payors and providers must have private industry partners to grow food benefits to scale. This is an innovative model, and this is the type of disruptive tech company that will create real change in public health,” said Ed Frindt, partner at KCRise. 

Brown is a recognized thought leader in the “food is medicine” space as a board and council member of national organizations including the NIAID National Advisory Council and the Children’s Hospital Association’s Next Generation of Quality Steering Committee. In addition, she participated in the White House Conference on Hunger, Nutrition, and Health last September.

“Emily’s lived experience on federal nutrition programs and inability to provide her family with the safe and healthy foods needed to treat their chronic conditions, drives our patient-focused company,” said Elise Bates, who co-founded FFM with Brown in 2021. “Together, we created a social impact-driven entity that can scale and attract the talent and resources needed to profitably improve health outcomes for millions while reducing the overall cost of care.”

Brown leads a passionate team that has deep backgrounds across community health, food distribution, healthcare, technology, and nutrition. An early addition to the leadership team, Chief Operating Officer Mark Jaffe previously the Vice President of Strategic Operations at Everytable, a mission-driven food service company, and worked in technology investment banking and venture capital. 

“One in three Americans has a condition where food is part of the standard of care, yet many Americans do not have access to food and resources needed to treat it,” said Brown. “Our curated food is free from ingredients an individual does not want, and full of all the nutrients they need to manage a healthy life. This funding round is merely one milestone towards our goal to make a lasting impact to improve healthcare in this country and center health equity.” 

• News

by Sidnee Michelle Douyon

April 13, 2023

Juul to Pay $462 Million to Six US states, D.C. Over Youth Addiction Claim

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E-cigarette maker Juul Labs Inc agreed on Wednesday to pay $462 million over eight years to settle claims by six U.S. states including New York and California, along with the District of Columbia, that it unlawfully marketed its addictive products to minors.

The deal, which also included Colorado, Illinois, Massachusetts and New Mexico, means that San Francisco-based Juul has now settled with 45 states for more than $1 billion, putting most of the long-running litigation over its business practices to rest. The company did not admit wrongdoing in the settlement.

The various states had accused Juul of falsely marketing its e-cigarettes as less addictive than cigarettes and targeted minors with glamorous advertising campaigns.

“Juul’s lies led to a nationwide public health crisis and put addictive products in the hands of minors who thought they were doing something harmless,” New York Attorney General Letitia James said at a news conference.

“Today is another step forward in our fight to protect our kids from getting hooked on vaping and nicotine,” California Attorney General Rob Bonta added.

Juul said in a statement that use of its products by people under age 18 has fallen by 95% since the fall of 2019, when it changed its marketing practices as part of a “company-wide reset.”

“With this settlement, we are nearing total resolution of the company’s historical legal challenges and securing certainty for our future,” the company said.

While Juul continues to sell its e-cigarettes in tobacco and menthol flavors, with limited advertising, its market share has fallen from a once-commanding 75% in 2018 to less than 30%.

Wednesday’s settlement was negotiated by the states and District of Columbia as a group but stems from separate lawsuits they filed against the company.

Juul is still facing a lawsuit by Minnesota, where a trial is currently underway, as well as lawsuits or open investigations by Florida, Michigan, Maine and Alaska. It previously reached a $439 million settlement with 34 states and territories, as well as settlements with several individual states.

In addition to the state settlements, the company last year agreed to pay $1.7 billion to settle thousands of lawsuits by local government entities and individual consumers.

Under pressure from regulators, Juul in 2019 pulled most of its flavors from the market and halted much of its advertising. The U.S. Food and Drug Administration last June briefly banned the products, though the agency put the ban on hold and agreed to reconsider the action after the company appealed.

Juul’s former largest investor, Marlboro cigarette maker Altria Group Inc, is also facing claims over its alleged role in marketing Juul’s e-cigarettes, and has not settled.

Altria last month announced that it had given up its investment in Juul in exchange for some of Juul’s intellectual property. As of December, its share of Juul was valued at $250 million, down from $12.8 billion in 2018.

The head of the FDA’s center for tobacco products said last year that adolescent e-cigarette use in the United States remained at “concerning levels” and posed a serious public health risk. Federal health officials said last October that an estimated 2.55 million U.S. middle and high school students reported using e-cigarettes during a four-month span earlier in 2022.

Most e-cigarettes contain nicotine, the addictive substance present in regular cigarettes, cigars and other tobacco products, and nicotine in adolescence can harm the parts of the brain that control attention, learning, mood and impulse control, according to the U.S. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention. The CDC also has said using nicotine in adolescence may raise the risk for future addiction to other drugs.