• Entertainment

by Wendy Medina

May 8, 2022

Wendy Williams Says To Expect Her Back on Her Show, Won’t Tune In to Sherri Shepherd’s

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During an interview with Fat Joe yesterday, Wendy Williams has proclaimed she will “absolutely” be making her return on The Wendy Williams Show.

In the 20-minute Instagram interview, Williams shares that she misses the daytime talk show and tells fans to expect her back on.

“I wish I was there. I wish I was there right now to talk about it,” she said.

Although she didn’t exactly answer Fat Joe’s question regarding the rumors around her having a failing mind, she did emphasize she wouldn’t be tuning in to Sherri Shepherd’s show, Sherri, when it replaces hers this upcoming fall.

“I won’t be watching her [Sherri Shepherd] because I know what she’ll be doing and that’s not really my thing… you know what I’m saying? But I love, I love being on my own show. And I love that people love to watch it, you know, all the time,” Williams said.

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The daytime talk show host also repeatedly brought up the financial issues she faces with Wells Fargo, seemingly attributing her frozen accounts to her departure from television.

“Somebody stopped giving me my money, somebody stopped giving me my American Express. I have no money!” Williams exclaimed.

She has publicly spoken about her restraining order against Wells Fargo and the financial advisor who deemed her an “incapacitated person” after she demanded her accounts be unfrozen.  

The former advisor, Lori Schiller, was terminated because of alleged misconduct involving her accounts and claimed that Williams was “of unsound mind.”

Williams has not hosted her daytime talk show for almost a year, since July 2021, after a widely-celebrated 13-year run.

“My thing is that I’ve been asking questions about my money and when I began asking questions about my money, suddenly Lori Schiller has got no response regarding my money. I want my money. This is not fair,” Williams remarked in a video posted to her Instagram account at the end of March.

The television personality remains positive for her return to television, giving fans hope for a major comeback.

• News

by Wendy Medina

May 8, 2022

Florida Woman Charged With Child Abuse After Whooping Someone Else’s Child With Belt

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A woman allegedly beat someone else’s child at a Florida City school and according to police, is now being charged with child abuse without causing great bodily harm, educational interference, and trespassing a school safety zone. 

Kady Ann Sewell, 33, attacked a student with a belt at Bethel Seventh Day Adventist private school due to the victim retaliating towards Sewell’s bully son, reports WTVJ.

The mother of the 13-year-old child lashed with the belt, Zendre Pollard, said her son was being bullied by Sewell’s son and was only to blame for defending himself.

“He called and said someone was bullying him, fat-shaming him, and he picked up the child and dropped the child back down on his feet,” Pollard said.

Sewell was taken into custody Saturday morning after not being found at home or work since the assault, which was caught on video. 

“The mom comes in fussing and cussing at my child, and just beating him in his face! His head, his face, his arms,” said Pollard. 

She says she is pressing charges against Sewell, whom she personally knew, as her son suffers from seizures and the assault could have potentially been life-threatening. 

“My son could have went into a seizure and died. Anything. You’re just hitting him across the head,” she said.

Pollard says her son got a busted lip after the incident.

Per the outlet, Pollard was granted a restraining order against the belt-weidling mom since the Thursday report. She is also demanding answers from school officials as to how Sewell was able to come on campus during school hours, beat her son, and walk out.

“How did this lady get this far, was able to hit my child multiple times, and you saw it wasn’t broken up, she walked out calmly,” Pollard said. “My child wasn’t safe. My son was bullied by her son, and then bullied by the mom.” 

According to booking records, Sewell faces a $6,000 bond for the charges.

• News

by Yolanda Baruch

May 8, 2022

A Black Newspaper Carrier Files $5 Million Lawsuit Against Pierce County For False Claims Made By Sheriff Ed Troyer

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A Washington sheriff made false claims against a Black man newspaper carrier, alleging that the man threatened his life and was attempting to break into his home, according to KING 5 News.  

Sedrick Altheimer filed a federal lawsuit in King County Superior Court that transferred to U.S. District Court against Pierce County for violating his constitutional rights by Sheriff Ed Troyer Jr. on the night of January 27, 2021. Troyer called for reinforcement, and over 40 officers appeared at the scene based on the claims the sheriff’s life was in jeopardy, The Seattle Times reports. 

The 26-year-old is seeking $5 million for emotional distress, trauma, punitive damages, and attorney’s fees. The tort claim reads that Troyer’s actions amounted to “false reporting, unreasonable search and seizure, false arrest and malicious prosecution.”

Although Altheimer was not arrested, police subjected him to questioning and frisking. The lawsuit accuses Troyer of alleged aggression due to “racial animus” and “reckless disregard for Mr. Altheimer’s civil rights.”

“Mr. Altheimer has had to make life changing alterations to both his work and his personal life because of the trauma he faced as a result of the stalking and the police detention caused by Sheriff Troyer’s false accusations,” says the lawsuit, The Seattle Times reports.

“It’s just not the same,” Altheimer says in an interview with KING 5 why he remains in his car when he delivers newspapers, especially near Troyer’s home where he usually takes a detour. “Every time you drive in that neighborhood you look at that one spot and you’re like, man, I almost lost my life.” 

Altheimer alleges on that night, he saw headlights in his rearview mirror and observed a white SUV trailing him on Vista View Drive. Altheimer stopped his car and approached the vehicle around 2:00 a.m., according to police reports.

“I asked him three questions that night: Are you a cop? Are you following me? And is it because I’m Black?” 

Altheimer claims that Troyer never identified himself as a police officer. However, Troyer called for reinforcement and told the 911 dispatcher that Altheimer threatened his life four times.  

When Troyer retracted his accusations about Altheimer’s threats, the state attorney general’s office charged him with a misdemeanor for false reporting and making a false statement to a civil servant, according to The Seattle Times.

Altheimer’s attorney, Vonda Sargent, says the whole situation reeks of racial and biased based profiling. 

“It’s racism,” said Sargent to the news station. “I mean, it’s just a system of racism. That this man, the sheriff, the head of one of the largest organizations of police officers in our state could call and say no less than three times that his life had been threatened is unfathomable.” 

Many are demanding Troyer resign from his position as sheriff, and the state Attorney General’s Officer started a criminal investigation to look into false-reporting charges.

Troyer denies any wrongdoing and is willing to cooperate with impending investigations. 

Altheimer has been an employee of Steiner Distribution since 2015 “and is considered a reliable and hard worker,” reads the tort claim that also states he is the primary provider for his five children “and works hard to fulfill his obligations.”

Vice President Kamala Harris spoke at the Tennessee State University’s class of 2022 commencement ceremony on Saturday, leaving the newly-degreed graduates with a somber message.

According to the Tennessean, while speaking at TSU’s Hale Stadium in Nashville, Harris touched on the eternal racial disparities intensified by the pandemic, the climate crisis, the war in Ukraine, and more recently, the threat of women’s reproductive rights as the future of Roe v. Wade looms in uncertainty. 

“It is a world where long-established principles now rest on shaky ground,” Harris said during her first speech at an HBCU. “You graduate into an unsettled world both abroad and here at home.”

The sea of 500 blue-gowned undergrads listened to the bleak details the vice president reminded them that await in their futures just days after a leaked Roe v. Wade Supreme Court opinion that would overturn the landmark 1973 decision and ban abortion in the country. 

“Here in the United States, we are once again forced to defend fundamental principles that we hoped were long settled; principles like the freedom to vote, the rights of women to make decisions about their own body, what constitutes the truth,” she said.

“Graduates, I look at this unsettled world and yes, I can see the challenges, but I’m here to tell you that I see the opportunities. The opportunities for your leadership. The future of our country and our world will be shaped by you.”

However, the nearly 19-minute speech from the vice president failed to mention perhaps the most relevant topic for the graduating class – student loans. 

The Biden administration extended the student loans moratorium until Aug. 31, yet student loan relief has been on the docket since Biden’s presidential campaign. 

Following Harris’ keynote speech, she was awarded an honorary doctorate degree in humane letters by the school’s President Glenda Glover. 

“I’m now a Tiger!” she exclaimed. 

• Legal

by Wendy Medina

May 8, 2022

State of Indiana Settles at $7.5M for Wrongful 7-Year Imprisonment of Keith Cooper, Highest in State History

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Chicago native Keith Cooper, 46, spent seven years behind bars in an Indiana maximum security prison for a 1996 crime he did not commit. Now, the city of Elkhart is writing a hefty check of $7.5 million – the largest the state has ever seen – to settle his wrongful conviction lawsuit after serving time for armed robbery and attempted murder. 

According to Indiana Public Radio, the lawsuit alleged fabricated testimony, manipulation of witnesses, and dismissal of integral DNA evidence that proved his innocence.

“Mr. Cooper’s wrongful conviction did not happen by accident nor was it an aberration,” said Cooper’s attorney, Elliot Slosar, in a press release. “Through this case, he has paved the way for other wrongfully convicted people from Elkhart to get a fair chance at justice.”

Cooper was pardoned by the governor in 2017, the first to do so for actually being innocent. Per the outlet, he will receive about $1.1 million for each year he was wrongfully imprisoned.

“Keith Cooper not only has his name back, but he has exposed Elkhart’s epidemic of wrongful convictions over the past five years of civil litigation,” said Slosar.

Cooper spoke about the historic settlement during a press conference in Chicago on Wednesday, sharing that although he would never get back the time he spent in prison, the money can help others wrongfully detained to prove their innocence.

“It helps me to build a better tomorrow with my family, and for that I am grateful,” he said. “And for all those other Keith Coopers out there — keep your hopes and faith, because we’re here to help.”

After Cooper’s attorneys called for a special prosecutor review for investigators involved in his sentencing, including former Detective Steve Rezutko and former Police Chief Ed Windbigler, Rezutko left the force and committed suicide a day before responding to sanctions filed on Cooper’s behalf. 

It was discovered the ex-detective paid informants for sexual acts.

Due to advancements in DNA testing, it was revealed in 2002 that Johlanis Cortez Ervin was responsible for the crime, clearing Cooper, although it took 15 years to exonerate him. 

“This litigation exposed the systemic pattern of police and prosecutorial misconduct that exists in Elkhart, Indiana,” said Slosar.

• Celebrity News

by Yolanda Baruch

May 8, 2022

Tyler Perry’s New Docuseries Sheds Light On The Story Of Black Man Who Disappeared After Entering Cop Car

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Tyler Perry serves as an executive producer of the first two episodes of the Paramount+ docuseries Never Seen Again. The poignant series interviews multiple family members to discuss the disappearance of their loved ones, according to Vibe. 

According to a press release, Perry highlights the story of “a 27-year-old Black man named Terrance Williams disappeared in Naples, Fla. in 2004 after he was last seen getting into a Collier County sheriff’s patrol car. At first, the officer said he never met Williams, but under questioning from police investigators, he changed his story, saying the young man had car troubles and he simply gave him a ride to a gas station. When it comes to light that a second man, a young Mexican immigrant named Felipe Santos, disappeared after getting into the same officer’s car, both Williams’ desperate mother and Perry fear something far more sinister occurred. Some have even speculated that the sheriff went rogue and abandoned each man in the alligator-infested Everglades nearby.”

“I was shocked and outraged,” said Perry in a statement. “I had to get involved. I immediately thought, ‘What can I do to help? What can I do to bring attention to this?” 

“They’re both disappearing with the same deputy after being put in the same deputy’s car,” Perry added. “If this is a coincidence, then he is the most unlucky man in the world, that this could actually be something that happened to him twice. I just don’t see how that is possible. And I think that anybody in law enforcement can look at this and go, ‘What happened to them?'”

The series encourages audiences to become active in helping the families of the missing to search for their vanished loved ones by contacting police departments and Crime Stoppers, according to Variety.

“I just wish people would take a moment and just imagine somebody you love disappears,” he persuades. “Just ripped away from you with no answers.”

Efran Films Canada produced the series for See It Now Studios, Variety reports.

The first episode of Never Seen Again will be available to viewers for free from Saturday, May 7 to Monday, May 10, on the CBS News app. The entire first season will be available for streaming Tuesday, May 10, on Paramount+, according to Vibe. 

The Hot Girl coach is inspiring hotties all over to register for school at her alma mater, Texas Southern University, after seeing a spike in enrollment figures. 

TSU reported a surge of applications this year to which the new president credits to her focus on enrollment, freshman scholarships, but most importantly “the Megan effect.” 

Megan Thee Stallion graduated from the HBCU with a bachelors of science in health administration in December 2021, motivating students to want to attend and thus yielded a “44 percent increase in transfer and first-time student applications from late April 2021 to late April 2022,” per the Houston Chronicle.

While the university saw a 22% decline in enrollment because of the pandemic, they are now back on target with student enrollment up to 8,000 and two months remaining until the admissions deadline. 

Additionally, the amount of students majoring in health administration increased significantly, according to reports.

“Texas Southern is really on the cusp from a branding and marketing standpoint,” said TSU’s vice president for enrollment and student success, DeNeia Thomas, in a press release. “Everyone knows that Texas Southern University is the place to be.”

Because of the H-Town Hottie’s exposure, the 95-year institution is reaching pre-pandemic numbers.

“Her appeal, in terms of her success through Texas Southern University, is helpful,” Thomas said. “I remember reading one thing… ‘If she can accomplish this, I can too.’”

Megan Thee Stallion’s educational pursuit was inspired by her mother, Holly Thomas, and her grandmother, who both passed away in March 2019. When Thomas discovered her daughter’s talent, she made it a requirement that she could pursue a music career only after  turning 21 and promising not to abandon her education to pursue a rap career.

The Tina Snow rapper kept her promise to her late mother and even set up a scholarship to help other students achieve their goal of attaining a college education. She hopes to put her degree to use by opening assisted-living homes.

Recently, Megan Thee Stallion was awarded the key to the city of Houston and May 2 was declared “Megan Thee Stallion Day.”

• News

by Yolanda Baruch

May 8, 2022

Investigators Coerced Anthony Harris When He Was 12 To Admit To The Murder Of His 5-Year-Old Neighbor

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In the summer of 1998, a 5-year-old girl vanished from her apartment, and Anthony Harris, then 12 years old, was charged and convicted of murdering Devan Duniver, according to ABC News. 

Over 20 years later, Harris’ conviction was overturned, but he still deals with the trauma in the aftermath of the heinous crime. 

On June 27, Duniver disappeared from her New Philadelphia, Ohio, apartment, and a day later, her body was found in a nearby wooded area. She was stabbed seven times in the neck, People reports. 

“She was so young and she had passed away,” said an emotional Harris to ABC News’ 20/20 in an exclusive interview two years ago.

Harris, a former Marine, is frustrated that the actual killer of Duniver has not been brought to justice.

“The girl’s dead, my life has been destroyed, and this guy, this individual’s still free right now,” he said to ABC News anchor John Quiñones in an interview aired Friday, May 6, at 9 p.m. ET. “We’re going to figure this out [and] give her some kind of closure.”

Police had other viable leads to consider but instead focused their attention on Harris, according to a lawsuit, People reports.

During a hostile interrogation, investigators pressured Harris to admit to her murder which eventually placed him behind bars — despite lacking evidence to verify him at the scene of the murder.

“The investigator, he had basically told me that, ‘If you confess to this murder you can go home,'” said Harris. “It’s like, ‘Okay. Well, I’m over here scared, so I want to go home.'”

Harris won an appeal, and his conviction was overturned after spending two years in juvenile detention.

“There’s no sense to be bitter,” Harris said to 20/20. “Even though it hurt a lot, it didn’t destroy my core as a person, the things I believe in, the things I grew up to become. That’s why I don’t hold resentment in my voice when I speak.”

• News

by Yolanda Baruch

May 8, 2022

Court Documents Show One Of Ahmaud Arbery’s Killers Placed 16 Phone Calls With Former District Attorney Jackie Johnson

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Court documents filed in Superior Court of Glynn County last Wednesday show that Greg McMichael, the retired investigator charged with the murder of Ahmaud Arbery, spoke to the local district attorney several times via phone weeks after the killing of Arbery, according to NPR.

Arbery was jogging in the Satilla Shores neighborhood of Brunswick in Glynn County, Georgia, when McMichael, Travis, and their neighbor William “Roddie” Bryan pursued and shot him on February 23, 2020, CNN reports.

Last November, all three White men were convicted of murdering Arbery because he was Black. A jury in February found them guilty of interference of rights, a federal hate crime, and attempted kidnapping, according to CNN.

Prosecutors presented evidence for the misconduct case against former Brunswick Judicial Circuit District Attorney Jackie Johnson, accused of using her position to prevent the arrest of the three men now convicted of murdering Arbery. Documents show she spoke to McMichael for nine minutes a day after the shooting of the 25-year-old Black man, NPR reports. 

Based on the court affidavit, within an hour of the killing of Arbery, McMichael reportedly made two calls: one to his wife and the other to Johnson, “Jackie, this is Greg. Could you call me as soon as you possibly can? Um…we’re um…my son and I have been involved in a shooting and I need some advice right away. Could you please call me as soon as you possibly can? Thank you. Bye,” NPR reports.

A court document also shows that McMichael and Johnson had 16 calls that started on February 23, 2020 — the date of the shooting — and concluded on May 5, 2020. Most of the calls lasted less than a minute, but a call from Johnson to McMichael spoke for over 21 minutes on April 30, 2020, according to NPR.

“The evidence shows that Johnson showed favor and affection for McMichael throughout the pendency of the case – including when she was making decisions as the DA over his case,” read the filing.

The state’s case against Johnson accuses the former district attorney of obstructing law enforcement “by directing that Travis McMichael should not be placed under arrest, contrary to the laws of said State,” CNN reports. 

Prosecutors say that Johnson contacted George E. Barnhill, district attorney for the Waycross Judicial Circuit spoke with him for 22 minutes over the phone based on the court filing. She asked Barnhill to review the shooting and direct Glynn County’s police department. A day after their phone meeting, Barnhill resolved that “the shooting was justified.” On February 27, Johnson allegedly called the attorney general’s office and said to a paralegal that Barnhill accepted the case, according to NPR. 

“Johnson failed to disclose, however, that Barnhill had already reviewed the case and declared the case to be self-defense,” said the court documents. “Thus, Johnson effectively chose the outcome of the case despite having a conflict.”

The final court documents identify a call made on May 5, 2020, where McMichael expressed gratitude to Johnson for Barnhill’s involvement after the video of Arbery’s murder was available online. 

“He’s gonna run interference for me right now, and that’s damn good advice, and I appreciate that very much,” said McMichael in a voicemail. 

The McMichaels were arrested on May 7, 2020 — two days after the release of the video showing Abery’s shooting — and subsequently, police authorities took Bryan into custody two weeks later.

• Celebrity News

by Yolanda Baruch

May 8, 2022

Keyshia Cole Admitted To Emergency Room For A Severe Anxiety Attack

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On Wednesday, Keyshia Cole posted on her Instagram telling her 7 million fans that she has not been resting and suffering from an anxiety attack, according to The Jasmine Brand.  

The forty-year-old singer said she went to the emergency room in her Instagram stories.

“I’m so proud of getting a few hours sleep, literally have been getting none! So not ok. SMH. And, have been having the worst anxiety attacks. When I can literally feel my heart hurting. Had to take my a** to the emergency room. They gave me d*mn medicine for anxiety. I didn’t KNOW wtf was happening to me..”

Undoubtedly, the “Heaven Sent” vocalist is under vast pressure keeping up with a hectic schedule as a performer and dealing with the loss of loved ones in the past year. Cole lost her mother, adoptive father, and beloved miniature schnauzer Lola, in 2021. 

Cole opened up about her issues with mental health in 2019 when a fan asked her on Twitter if she deals with depression; Cole replied, “Of course,” Essence reports.

In an interview with Essence in March, Cole disclosed that she was trying to manage the amount of loss she went through to be present for her children. 

“I’m a mother and I have two children. Coping? I don’t even know about that right now. Processes of loss—when you have children you just keep going,” said Cole. “I haven’t seen anybody or anything about the loss, a psychiatrist or anything like that. I’m just holding my kids tighter a little bit, you know? It definitely is difficult to juggle both, but it’s something that you just do–you just keep going. No stopping, no pause button for this.”

Cole announced last year on Twitter that her eighth studio album would be her last and that she was retiring from her music career, citing the main reason she was walking away from the limelight was for her children, Complex reports.