NBA Legend Dennis Rodman To Be Inducted Into WWE Hall Of Fame
The 2026 WWE Hall of Fame Ceremony will take place Friday, April 17, in Las Vegas as part of WrestleMania 42 week.
Rebounder extraordinaire and hair dye enthusiast Dennis Rodman, who was inducted into the Naismith Memorial Basketball Hall of Fame in 2011, will soon be a member of another hall of fame.
The World Wrestling Entertainment (WWE) announced that the Detroit Pistons and Chicago Bulls legend will be inducted in April. ESPN’s NBA insider, Shams Charania, posted the news on social media March 20.
Rodman, who fit right in with the wrestling world due to his theatrical and dirty antics on the basketball court, made several appearances during the late 1990s.
Using the moniker Rodzilla, he teamed up with the New World Order collective in 1997 in the WCW (World Championship Wrestling). Vince McMahon, then-owner of the WWF (World Wrestling Federation, before it changed its name to WWE), purchased WCW in 2001.
Rodman wrestled the late Hulk Hogan in one of his most popular matches.
During the 1998 NBA Finals against the Utah Jazz, Rodman missed a Bulls practice to appear on WCW Monday Nitro in Detroit. While appearing on the show, he and Hogan attacked another popular wrestler, Diamond Dallas Page. The next year, Rodman teamed up once again with Hogan to face off against Rodman’s basketball foe, Utah Jazz star Karl Malone, and Page at WCW Bash at the Beach.
The next year, he faced off against Randy “Macho Man” Savage at WCW Road Wild in 1999.
The 2026 WWE Hall of Fame Ceremony will take place Friday, April 17, in Las Vegas as part of WrestleMania 42 week.
Rodman, who won five NBA championships during his 14-year career, also played for the San Antonio Spurs, the Los Angeles Lakers, and the Dallas Mavericks. He also won seven rebounding titles and was named the NBA’s Defensive Player of the Year twice.
Prominent Black Execs Take A Deep Dive On The ‘Mood of America’ Amid The Backlash Of DEI
“One of the most frustrating things is that we actually give validity to these small minds, that we have to defend the fact that we are doing a good job like everybody else who is afforded the fundamentals: good education, reasonable health care, reasonable food, safe places to live.”
It’s been a little over a year since President Donald Trump signed his executive order to dial back on diversity, equity and inclusion initiatives—known as DEI—on the federal level, ultimately affecting Black people and other minorities.
The rollbacks have made their way to the business and educational worlds. Corporations nationwide made vast moves seemingly in support of the narrative pushed by the administration that “DEI is evil” when those same initiatives gave Black people, women and others of disadvantaged communities a way to shine and contribute.
“Over my life, I benefited from programs that were trying to fix what they had denied me; I don’t apologize for that at all. We keep having the same discussion and arguing the same argument—which is, we’re talented individuals; we happen to have a skin color or a gender that’s different than the standard [in US leadership],” Ursula Burns, founding partner of Integrum and chairwoman of Teneo, said to Bloomberg.
“One of the most frustrating things is that we actually give validity to these small minds, that we have to defend the fact that we are doing a good job like everybody else who is afforded the fundamentals: good education, reasonable health care, reasonable food, safe places to live.”
Organizations have worked overtime to back Trump and MAGA loyalists to take those liberties away from Black people and beyond. Shortly after the order was signed on day one of his second term, lawsuits were pushed against nonprofits like the Fearless Fund, which curated grants and opportunities for Black women business owners to succeed.
Then there was Target, which scaled back its policies after once being labeled an advocate for diverse businesses. Moves like that are what make Jacob Walthour Jr., CEO of Blueprint Capital Advisors, feel that there has been a shift.
“They’ve stolen the narrative. Not only our contributions today, but the labor, the creativity that we put into making this country what it is. We make advancements, and then we hit one of these periods where we have to deal with the backlash and the retribution, whether it was post-slavery, whether it was Reconstruction, whether it was Jim Crow,” Walthour said.
But there is a reason for worry about advancement.
Walthour pointed out that despite the backlash of DEI, Black people continue to thrive on numerous levels.
“You’ve got more Black senators than ever before. You’ve got more Black legislators in the House of Representatives than ever before. In my industry, you’ve got more Black people running venture capital funds, private equity funds, private credit funds than ever before,” he said.
“Do we believe the narrative they’re telling, or should we figure out how to keep our narrative alive and well—and defend it and make sure it’s continually amplified so our children know what the possibilities are for their lives and their careers?”
Though their unemployment have increased higher and faster than those of men, white women, or Latina workers, Black women have taken matters into their own hands.
A recent report from Wells Fargo found that Black women are the fastest-growing group of entrepreneurs. Businesses owned by Black women grew by 13% between 2024 and 2025, with revenue streams increasing by roughly 6%.
“One of the benefits of the last few years is that we now have data. We know this is not a charitable endeavor to create diversity. We know 87% of teams make better choices if they’re diverse,” said Lisa Wardell, board director at American Express, Covista and Univar Solutions. “Our job is to remind people. This is a data-driven assignment now for corporate America and, frankly, for the federal government too.”
Nicki Minaj Sued For Failing To Pay $275K In Outstanding ‘Pink Friday 2’ Concert Bills
The company says it has not been paid for $275,000 in show production costs.
Nicki Minaj is facing a new lawsuit over unpaid bills from her Pink Friday 2 album rollout and accompanying concerts.
According to the legal filing obtained by TMZ, the “Red Ruby da Sleeze” rapper is accused by 24/7 Productions of failing to pay back production costs to 24/7 Productions, which helped her promote the album.
The production company has sued both Minaj and her Pink Friday Productions. It claims to have provided live entertainment production services for Minaj starting with her performance at the 2022 MTV Video Music Awards.
Minaj utilized their services again the next year, leading to the funding discrepancy. 24/7 Productions also says it helped with her concerts at the Jingle Ball amid her release of Pink Friday 2 that December. Although Minaj’s team approved logistical budgets for the shows, including audio, lighting, and on-site management, the company said it never received the back payment for the expenses.
24/7 Productions claims it fronted the costs to put the shows on, paying more than $275,000. It expected Minaj to pay following the event, especially as the Trump supporter reportedly made $650,000 from her Jingle Ball gigs.
Before taking the matter to court, 24/7 Productions reportedly tried to reason with Minaj’s team about settling the balance only to receive vague answers from her management.
This not the first time Minaj has dealt with legal drama surrounding her finances. In January, she settled a debt for over half a million dollars to keep her $20 million mansion in Los Angeles. She paid off the debt before a California judge ordered a forced sale of the property to cover the sum.
24/7 Productions is suing the rapper for breach of contract, and seeks to recover the money plus damages.
White House Plops Christopher Columbus Statue On Grounds In New Way To Honor Infamous Figure
The statue is another attempt for Trump to re-envision history that aligns with his version of America.
Outside an office building on White House grounds now lies a statue of one of America’s polarizing historical figures, Christopher Columbus.
While the celebration of Columbus has faded in the past decade due to the actual history surrounding his “exploration” of the Americas, which left indigenous populations brutalized and colonized, the Trump administration has propped up the explorer again as a national hero.
This statue honoring the infamous figure on federal grounds aligns with the President Donald Trump’s mission to reflect American history through his revisionist, incorrect perspective.
According to CNN, the statue is a direct replica of a torn down Columbus statue in Baltimore that was torn down by Black Lives Matter protestors in 2020. The new statute currently sits outside the Eisenhower Executive Office Building. It was placed there in the early hours of March 22.
In a public letter, Trump thanked the group that brought the replica to Washington, the Conference of Presidents of Major Italian American Organizations. Trump mentioned how “anti-American rioters” took down the original version.
Although most of the world has shunned praise of Columbus due the atrocities he helped commit during his expeditions around the Americas and Caribbean, a Trump spokesperson extolled him.
“President Trump has rightly hailed Christopher Columbus as ‘the original American hero, a giant of Western civilization, and one of the most gallant and visionary men to ever walk the face of the earth.’ In this White House, Christopher Columbus is a hero, and President Trump will ensure he’s honored as such for generations to come,” spokesman Davis Ingle said in a statement to CNN.
While the United States still recognizes Columbus with his own federal holiday, most states have scaled down direct celebration of the controversial figure in light of new information. Many have adopted “Indigenous People’s Day” on the October holiday, wanting to re-shape the focus to the first peoples of America.
Trump, on the other hand, has combatted this narrative.
The new Columbus statue includes pieces of the original version, dug out from the Baltimore Harbor. According to the Italian-American organization, Columbus serves as a symbol of “pride and cultural identity” for the demographic.
Trump has plans for other disgraced figures to reclaim their spot in American history, including some mementos to the Confederacy.
B2K’s ‘Boys 4 Life Tour’ Shows Millennial Nostalgia Is Big Business In Entertainment
B2K is back together, tapping into the lucrative millennial nostalgia wave with their “Boys 4 Life Tour.”
As millennials step into their “auntie” and “unc” era, their nostalgia for the early 2000s is opening up a lucrative lane for marketers. It’s one that reunited R&B group B2K for The Millennium Tour Presents: The Boys 4 Life Tour.
The platinum-selling boy band is packing out venues on their first tour in over 20 years, delivering sold-out shows alongside a lineup of performers that have fans reliving the moves and hits of their teenage years. On March 22, Omarion, J-Boog, Raz-B, and Lil Fizz—collectively known as B2K—took the stage at the Kia Forum in Los Angeles, joining longtime co-headliner Bow Wow for a nostalgia-filled night that had millennial fans eager to pay for a trip down memory lane.
The tour arrives at a prime moment for B2K to tap into the millennial nostalgia driving today’s entertainment industry. Data show millennials are leading the charge in nostalgia-driven spending, investing heavily in experiences, subscriptions, and throwback content.
Organized by the Black Promoters Collective, the ”Boys 4 Life” tour builds on the Millennium Tour, which Bow Wow and Omarion led in 2021 without the full B2K lineup due to a highly publicized fallout fueled by Omarion and Lil Fizz’s love triangle feud. At the time, Omarion performed solo, though his bandmates joined him during the Los Angeles stop, where Lil Fizz issued an onstage apology.
Now fully reunited, the group leans into their past drama onstage, with each member also getting a solo set to reconnect with longtime fans. They come together for their 2002 track “What a Girl Wants” from “Pandemonium!,” where Omarion and Lil Fizz playfully address their history, alongside fan favorites like “Uh Huh,” “Girlfriend,” and “Bump Bump Bump,” plus a “You Got Served”-inspired dance break led by J-Boog and his proud “Dad Bod.”
Adding to the nostalgia and highlighting how much they’ve all grown, Raz-B brings out his wife and baby boy, J-Boog celebrates fatherhood, and Omarion is joined onstage by his son and daughter, who rap and dance alongside him and Bow Wow during their 2005 hit “Let Me Hold You.”
As for Bow Wow, he brings his signature high-energy, Harlem-shaking stage presence, commanding the crowd alongside DJ Jus One with hits like “What’s My Name,” “Puppy Love,” “Fresh Azimiz,” and “Take You Home.” The tour also features surprise guests by city—Houston saw appearances from Bun B, Mike Jones, and Paul Wall, while the Los Angeles stop included Big Sean, Compton AV, and producer Steelz performing their new track “YAYA.”
Fans barely get a chance to sit as the stacked lineup—featuring Amerie, Crime Mob, Dem Franchize Boyz, Yung Joc, Waka Flocka, and Pretty Ricky—keeps the energy high all night. For millennials chasing those early 2000s vibes, or anyone just looking for a feel-good experience, the Boys 4 LifeTour delivers a nostalgic reminder of how fast time flies and how good it feels to relive the moment.
Stephen Curry Seen Wearing Nike Air More Uptempo 96 ‘Olympic’ In Atlanta
The future NBA Hall of Famer has sparked speculation on which sneaker brand he will sign with after leaving Under Armour.
Ever since the partnership between sneaker brand Under Armour (UA) and NBA superstar Stephen Curry came to an end after more than a decade, people have speculated which sneaker company he will sign with next.
In the latest development, Curry, the four-time NBA champ and future Hall of Famer, was seen in Atlanta’s State Farm Arena for the Golden State Warriors’ matchup against the Hawks sporting the Nike Air More Uptempo 96 “Olympic.”
Although he is currently injured, the cameras and eyes are still checking out what pair of sneakers the NBA’s 3-point king has on, as people try to figure out where he will land next. But Curry, 38, also seems to plan the sneaker “reveal” based on where the game is taking place.
The Nikes he had on were worn by Chicago Bulls legend Scottie Pippen during the 1996 Olympics. The Olympics were held in Atlanta that summer, so he may have been paying tribute to the NBA legend on that day.
Curry has been acknowledging and honoring several former NBA legends and cities since departing Under Armour. Right after the separation in November 2025, Bleacher Reportreported that Curry was seen entering the Kia Center in Orlando during the team’s matchup against the Magic wearing a pair of Reebok Shaqnosis (Shaquille O’Neal’s signature sneakers back in the day).
As he warmed up on the court , he had on a pair of Nike Air Penny 2s (Penny Hardaway’s signature sneakers). O’Neal, the bruising center, and Hardaway, the dazzling, silky smooth guard, were teammates on the Magic for three memorable seasons during the early 1990s.
All eyes will continue to be on Curry, now in his 17th NBA season, while his feet look for a new home.
Black Promoters Collective Now Ranks Among Top Promoters In Live Entertainment
The Black business coalition has gained major traction in the live entertainment industry.
Black Promoters Collective has made significant strides in its first years of business, already garnering recognition for its impact in live entertainment.
The company now ranks among the top promoters globally, listed at #14 in Pollstar‘s Top 50 Worldwide Promoters Grosses chart for 2026. Capitalizing on the success of multiple tours and live concert experiences, Black Promoters Collective has further proof of its momentum in the industry.
The group, a coalition of various Black concert promotion and production companies, is the only wholly Black-owned company on the list, according to a news release. Black Promoters Collective gained national recognition with the widespread rollout of “The Millennium Tour 2025” and Brandy & Monica’s “The Boy Is Mine Tour,” both of which received Pollstar Award nominations for Hip-Hop Tour of the Year and R&B Tour of the Year, respectively.
Additional BPC-powered events included The “Queens! 4 Legends. 1 Stage. Tour” as well as “The New Edition Way Tour,” the latter of which featured Boyz II Men and Toni Braxton for its multiple sold-out dates. The former tour’s success has sparked a third run for fans to hear soul titans such as Stephanie Mills, Chaka Khan, Gladys Knight, and Patti Labelle.
With just four years in operations, BPC has scaled its concert portfolio tremendously, bringing timeless artists back to the main stage for new and old fans alike. The company has already reached milestone profits for its slew of concerts, securing $100 million in revenue in 2025, previously covered on BE.
BPC will also host numerous festivals, including the Virginia-based Hampton Jazz & Music Festival in June and Rock The Bells Festival, taking place this August in New York. Up next, they will bring Floetry back to performing with their “Say Yes The Tour” in April. For modern R&B lovers, BPC is also producing several shows on Ella Mai’s “Do You Still Love Me Tour.”
As they continue to promote artists and themselves, BPC remains committed to serving diverse hip-hop and R&B fans as a Black-owned businesses. With its focus on securing new tours and opportunities for Black artists, this mutual trust to curate unforgettable concerts and festivals has left an undeniable mark on the industry.
Known as VIR-5500, the drug is a “masked T-cell engager,” an immunotherapy designed to activate the body’s immune system to fight cancer, Science Alert reports. Early trial results showed that 82% of patients receiving the highest doses experienced drops in PSA levels, a key marker used to track prostate cancer.
”We believe that such treatments may in the long term lead to cures,” said lead researcher professor Johann de Bono of the Institute of Cancer Research and the Royal Marsden NHS Foundation Trust.
In the ongoing, not yet peer-reviewed trial, patients with advanced prostate cancer who had not responded to other treatments were given VIR-5500. Nearly half showed tumor shrinkage, both at primary sites and in metastatic tumors that had spread beyond the prostate.
Cancer cells can evade the immune system, but immunotherapies work by strengthening the body’s ability to fight them. While these treatments have shown major success, cancers like prostate cancer remain difficult to treat, highlighting the need for better options. T-cell engagers are one approach that links immune cells directly to cancer cells to help destroy them.
The findings offer hope for treating other cancers as well. If further research confirms that masked T-cell engagers are safer and more effective, they could be combined with standard treatments such as chemotherapy or radiation to achieve stronger results. Similar therapies are already showing early promise in prostate cancer, with trials underway for pancreatic, colorectal, and lung cancers.
“We do need more data, but the results are stunning,” de Bono said.
Because these trials are still ongoing and involve small patient groups, it’s too early to determine full clinical success, and the data have not yet been peer-reviewed. Still, the early findings offer promising hope for treating cancers that have been difficult to target with existing immunotherapies.
”With over 12,000 men dying from prostate cancer each year in the UK, we urgently need new and innovative ways to treat the disease,” said Simon Grieveson, assistant director of research at Prostate Cancer UK. “These early results are extremely promising, with a number of men in the study responding positively to the treatment with minimal side effects. I look forward to seeing this now tested in larger trials, with the hope that this treatment will offer men more valuable time with their loved ones.”
Nigerian-American Entrepreneurs Forge Company To ‘Releaf’ Palm Waste Into Profits
Releaf not only helps the environment, it puts more profits back into the hands of small farmers in Nigeria.
Two Nigerian-American entrepreneurs returned to the motherland to lead their own impact in the oil palm market.
Ikenna Nzewi and Uzo Ayogu founded “Releaf” in 2017, which turns palm waste into environmentally-friendly profits. The duo brought technological advancements to the agricultural sector, discovering a new way to boost the value of the palm oil process.
According to Business Insider Africa, the business owners developed a palm nut processing system called Kraken to eliminate excessive waste for smaller farmers. Now, these palm nut growers can have higher yields of production, while reducing the release of harmful chemicals into the atmosphere.
Their game-changing invention came from a long line of ideas to help Releaf find its footing in the climate and agritech industry. They settled on the idea for waste reduction after voyaging across different states in Nigeria, connecting with local farmers to see where their impact was most needed.
They discovered why Nigeria regressed from the leading global palm oil producer to relying on imports for the popular vegetable oil. Advancement stalled due to the processing system: small farmers rely on manual processing methods, which require tedious work for little return.
With nearly a quarter of produce cast aside during production, Nzewi and Agoyu realized that their focus needed to be on sharpening these processes. The Kraken is more efficient and less costly than the de-shelling machines originally on the market, making it more viable for small farmers, which make up a bulk of Nigerian’s agricultural demographic.
“It took two years of intensive R&D,” Nzewi told the news outlet. “From the outset, we wanted to build West Africa’s most advanced palm nut processing technology.”
Releaf’s environmental impact stems from its recycling of the leftover palm kernel shells. Through their climate arm of Releaf Earth, the kernels are now used for industrial biochar production.
Biochar, a stable form of carbon made by heating organic material in a low-oxygen environment, can stay in soil for centuries, reducing the amount of carbon that could harm the environment. Furthermore, this biochar enriches the soil, making it a “win-win” for both the farmers and the business.
Nzewi added, “These are technologies that remove carbon and store it in a way that it can’t return to the atmosphere for up to 1,000 years.”
Despite its list of benefits, scaling Releaf has remained a challenge due to decreased funding efforts across Africa. However, its dual-ended profit potential has warmed investors to Releaf’s operations, especially as it transforms waste into its own valuable sector. The company recently shared a delivery of carbon removal credits to Salesforce, establishing itself with major corporations across industries.
With plans to reduce up to 700,000 metric tons of CO₂e and recycle 50,000 metric tons of waste biomass by the end of the decade, Releaf has ambitious goals to prove its innovative processes work. They also plan to scale their collaborations and other partnerships, bringing African visionaries into global discussions for agricultural tech.
Freer Records Releases First Album From A Woman Behind Bars
B. Alexis is making unofficial history as the first woman inmate to release an album from behind bars.
Meet B. Alexis, an inmate serving a 30-year sentence for murder who is making unofficial history as the first woman to release a full-length album from behind bars. She released her “9th and Gasoline” album and “Black Barbie” single on Freer Records.
Freer Records, a label that works with “prison-impacted” musicians, and Alexis have chosen to keep her real name and the location of her incarceration private to avoid potential retaliation from prison staff against inmates who make music.
Unlike others who have filmed videos on contraband cellphones and faced consequences, she has avoided that route, hoping her work can speak for itself without adding to the sentence she’s already serving.
“I think the pros are well worth any risks,” Alexis told The Marshall Project in a message relayed by her label. “Anything I endeavor to do concerning my music is out of integrity, so the risks or consequences don’t bother me.”
Alexis is one of a select group of artists involved in Freer Records’ bold initiative to amplify incarcerated voices through its “Die Jim Crow” movement, the label’s original name. Based in New York, Freer is currently the only label dedicated to working in prisons, collaborating with artists in Colorado, California, and an undisclosed third state.
BL Shirelle, the label’s co-executive director and producer of “9th and Gasoline,” said she had to learn how to navigate negotiations with correctional facilities to bring in recording equipment.
”They might put you in the gym or the janitors’ closet,” she said. “We build pretty impressive soundproof studios out of PVC pipe and old blankets.”
It was in 2019, when Freer—a nonprofit—was granted permission to hold auditions at Alexis’ facility, that the team was captivated by her undeniable talent and story. Alexis was only 17 when she shot and killed a woman four years after being forced into sex work at age 13, a lifestyle she raps about in her music.
”Women often glorify prostitution in music, but she wrote about genuinely trying to survive off her body, and it stuck with me for weeks,” Shirelle said. “She uses everything as a teachable moment and doesn’t feel sorry for herself.”
On the album, released in February 2026, Alexis confronts her past and personal trauma, from watching her son Ja’mir grow up behind prison walls to ultimately losing him to an unsolved homicide, while also offering messages of hope and healing.
On the lead single “Black Barbie,” she delivers a deeply introspective performance, seemingly speaking to a version of herself: “I see the hurt and pain you try to hide behind your eyes,” she raps.
To promote the track, the label used a Barbie doll from the year Alexis was born, creating a video where the doll breaks free from its packaging, sheds its clothes, and dances in liberation—only to be handcuffed and placed back inside.
”When I wrote ‘Black Barbie,’ I was in a place of feeling inadequate, like I could not measure up to the expectations of those around me,” Alexis shared. “I started thinking about the young women in my ‘hood who I thought had it all. I realized I really wasn’t too different from them. We all were trying to fake it ’til we made it.”
Despite Alexis’ face appearing on the album cover, she has not faced any retaliation from her facility, and both she and her label hope it remains that way.
