• Celebrity News

by Derek Major

April 8, 2022

Actor Will Smith Banned From Oscars Award Show For Next 10 Years Over Slapping Chris Rock

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The Academy of Motion Pictures Arts & Sciences has banned Actor Will Smith from the Oscars award show for the next ten years for slapping Comedian Chris Rock.

In a statement obtained by CNN, Academy President David Rubin and CEO Dawn Hudson announced Smith will be banned from all Academy events.

“The Board has decided, for a period of 10 years from April 8, 2022, Mr. Smith shall not be permitted to attend any Academy events or programs, in person or virtually, including but not limited to the Academy Awards,” Rubin and Hudson said in a statement.

The decision was made during an Academy board of governors meeting that was originally scheduled for April 18, but was moved up to Friday.

 “The 94th Oscars were meant to be a celebration of the many individuals in our community who did incredible work this past year; however, those moments were overshadowed by the unacceptable and harmful behavior we saw Mr. Smith exhibit on stage.

“During our telecast, we did not adequately address the situation in the room,” the letter went on to state. “For this, we are sorry. This was an opportunity for us to set an example for our guests, viewers and our Academy family around the world, and we fell short — unprepared for the unprecedented.”

During the Oscars on March 27, Rock, who was telling jokes before presenting an award made a joke referencing Jada Smith’s bald head. Jada suffers from alopecia.

Will Smith laughed at the comment but when he looked at the expression on his wife’s face immediately reversed course walking up to the stage and slapping Rock before screaming twice “keep my wife’s name out you f-ing mouth.”

Rock, surprised by what happened, continued with the presentation of the award.

The moment has been damaging for the entire Smith family, as they’ve drawn the ire and jokes of comedians across the country as well as millions of Rock supporters.

According to Yahoo News, a Smith insider  told US Weekly the backlash to the incident has “been a nightmare for everyone.”

Stackwell Capital is a Black-owned and operated digital investment platform aimed at advancing Black generational wealth.

Stackwell is centered around delivering automated tools and education to help Black Americans stack and build wealth. Now the platform will develop a new app that will target Black millennials and Generation Z Americans.

Lawyer and business executive Trevor Rozier-Byrd created Stackwell to provide the Black community with information, tools, and resources that will position them for greater success in the marketplace.

“Before founding this company, we fundamentally believed that the racial wealth gap is a social justice issue of our time that directly impacts many of the other gaps that have left people in the Black community feeling like they’re not set up for success in this country,” Rozier-Byrd told AfroTech.

The site highlights how the racial wealth gap is steadily increasing, with white Americans currently making 17x that of the average Black household. Stackwell is on a mission to help Black Americans accumulate more wealth.

“Ultimately, I founded Stackwell to help more people in the Black community leverage the power of the market so that they could grow their wealth and have greater agency control to direct outcomes that better their lives, particularly those in the millennial and Gen Z population where the problem is most acute,” Rozier-Byrd added.

The new app will provide three key components that will make it easier for Black people to start investing. Automated model portfolios will help ease the concerns many first-time investors face when deciding how to invest.

The app will recommend stock portfolios based on user goals and risk tolerance that best fit the user’s needs to avoid overwhelming first-time investors with an array of companies to invest in. Educational content tailored to the Black community will be integrated into the application to help customers comfortably gain financial literacy.

Accessibility and behavioral nudges will help guide users toward financial freedom without making customers feel overwhelmed or stressed.

“We know from experience, that folks have a heightened sense of risk aversion,” VP of Product Omosefe Aiyevbomwan told AfroTech.

“People don’t wanna lose money, so what’s important to us — delivering an affordable product. We want to help more folks start their investment journeys and increase long-term commitment toward wealth building.”

Stackwell users will only need to commit $10 and a one-dollar subscription fee upon launch. Those who are interested can sign up on their website and follow them on social media.

• News

by Jeroslyn JoVonn

April 8, 2022

After 8 Seasons, ‘The Real’ Daytime Talk Show Has Been Canceled

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After eight seasons in daytime syndication, The Real has been canceled at Fox stations.

On Friday, Fox Stations Group announced the show’s cancellation after weeks of speculation, Variety reports. The show’s end comes nearly 10 years after it first premiered in 2013.

By 2014, The Real was picked up with its original lineup of hosts, including actor Tamera Mowry-Housley, fashion stylist Jeannie Mai, singer and TV personality Tamar Braxton, and comedian Loni Love. The show went through several changes over the years, including a few host shakeups and intense onscreen moments.

Braxton was the first to shake up the hosting panel after she exited the show in 2016 to focus on her singing career. Actor and comedian Amanda Seales joined the series for Season 6 in 2020 but announced her departure a few months later. The Insecure star would later admit to leaving the show after feeling stifled from freely tackling conversations the way she would prefer to.

That same year, Mowry-Housley left the show on good terms while noting that “all good things must come to an end.” She was replaced by actress Garcelle Beauvais, a part of the show’s final lineup of hosts as the talk show nears its end.

The Real’s cancellation is not tied to Fox Stations’ recent pickup of Jennifer Hudson’s new daytime syndicated talk show, The Jennifer Hudson Show, Deadline reports. Hudson’s new show hasn’t been given a timeslot yet as it’s set to premiere this fall, along with Sherri Shepherd’s new show that will replace The Wendy Williams Show.

The Real is the third longest-running daytime syndicated panel talk show ever in Warners/Telepictures’ history. It follows behind The Ellen Show, and the popular ’90s talk show Jenny Jones as one of the longest-running daytime talk shows in the last 10 years.

The show also broke ground as one of the first syndicated talk shows to premiere with a panel of hosts consisting of all women of color who were well-known and established in their own fields. The Real won three Daytime Emmys and two NAACP Image Awards.

• Entrepreneurship

by BLACK ENTERPRISE Editors

April 8, 2022

Siblings Who Launched Black-Owned Delivery Service in Philly Are Now in 4 Other Cities

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It has only been just 3 years since twin brothers David and Aaron Cabello launched Black and Mobile, the first Black-owned delivery service, and they have already expanded to 4 more cities and they plan to add more.

Black and Mobile was founded in 2019, initially offering services only in Philadelphia. Since then, they exclusively partnered with Black-owned restaurants in the community to provide them with advanced technology and connect them with more customers.

In 2020, the company expanded its services to Atlanta and Baltimore. Most recently, they also brought the business to Los Angeles and New York City, having five cities in total so far. Now, customers in those cities can support Black-owned restaurants by ordering food through Black and Mobile and having it delivered to them.

“We are thrilled to bring Black and Mobile to the two most populous cities in the country,” David said in a press release, according to Travel Noire.

“We started Black and Mobile to give exposure to Black-Owned restaurants by supporting black food entrepreneurs and connecting their culture to the surrounding community, and these two new cities will allow us to continue doing so at scale.”

Moving forward, the company, which helped 50 to 75 Black-owned restaurants generate $1 million in sales in three years, aims to partner with 250 Black-owned restaurants across the country and help them generate over $1 million in sales each year.

This article first appeared on Blackbusiness.com. 

• Celebrity News

by Wendy Medina

April 8, 2022

Magic Johnson Loves Son EJ Out Loud, Says He ‘Changed’ Him For the Better After Coming Out

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As NBA legend Magic Johnson gears up for the April 22 release of his new Apple TV+ docuseries, They Call Me Magic, he opened up about his relationship and acceptance of his gay son, Earvin “EJ” Johnson III.

In a recent interview with Variety, Magic praises his son’s courage for coming out and living his life unapologetically, sharing that EJ changed him for the better.

However, things weren’t always rainbows and butterflies for the basketball Hall of Famer and his second-born when initially coming to terms with his sexuality. 

“I was out to all my friends,” says EJ, 29. “[My parents] were the last people that I really had to talk to about it. It wasn’t new for me, but they had to really take that in and digest it. Especially my dad, because he was really the last person to talk to. I think it was just a lot for him to swallow in that conversation. A lot of just going back and forth.”

Magic revealed that his wife Cookie convinced him to listen and see their son for who he truly was, following tension in their home before EJ went off for college at NYU. 

“I had to accept who he was and who he wanted to be. He actually helped me get there. Because he was so proud. Cookie said, ‘Look in the mirror.’ I said, ‘You’re right.’ Because I’m proud of who I am. And he got it from me,” said the five-time NBA champion.

“He changed me,” Magic continued. “He was so proud. This dude here is just so proud of who he is.”

Although there was support, there was also backlash. 

“You get the other side, too,” Magic said. “A lot of people don’t love that I love my son.”

The couple recalled their son being outed by TMZ in 2013 after publicizing pictures of EJ holding hands with his partner at the time, forcing him to come out publicly. Since then, Magic and Cookie have been advocates for the LGBTQ+ community and those struggling with HIV/AIDS. 

Cookie shared, “I remember a young man came up and said to me one day, ‘I really want to thank you and your husband for what you’re doing. I’m gay, but I didn’t want to tell my parents. When I went away to college, I got [HIV]. But with you guys talking about this, bringing it to everyone’s attention, it’s made me feel I’m gonna be okay, and I’m going to fight harder.’”

Two more football coaches have joined former Miami Dolphins head coach Brian Flores racial discrimination lawsuit against the National Football League.

According to NFL.com, former Arizona Cardinals head coach Steve Wilks, now a defensive assistant coach with the Carolina Panthers, and Ray Horton, a former defensive coordinator, who was a head coach candidate for the Tennessee Titans, were added as plaintiffs in Flores’ class-action lawsuit.

The amended complaint, filed Thursday in the Southern District of New York, has added new allegations of discrimination against three NFL teams. The Cardinals, Tennessee Titans, and the Houston Texans

• Education

by Derek Major

April 8, 2022

Lawsuit Claims Walden University, A For-Profit School, Preyed On Black And Female Students

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A class-action lawsuit has been filed against for-profit school Walden University claiming it participated in a scheme to lure and trap students, specifically Black and female students, in a cycle of debt and despair.

The New York Times reports the National Student Legal Defense Network filed the class-action suit in January on behalf of numerous former students who say that Walden violated not only consumer protection laws but also Title VI of the Civil Rights Act by targeting minorities and women and misrepresenting the costs and credits needed to get an advanced degree.

Aljanal Carroll, who enrolled at Walden University in 2017 to earn a doctorate in business administration, was told she could complete her doctoral degree in 18 months. Carroll easily made it through the coursework; however, she ran into numerous issues when it came to her “capstone project,” essentially her dissertation.

Carroll said the review committee assigned to her project took weeks to deliver feedback, which typically amounted to simple grammatical errors, yet required her to make revisions starting the process over again.

By the time Carroll’s project was approved, she had invested three years and more than $10,000 in tuition costs.

“It started to make me feel like I couldn’t write or speak, which didn’t make sense because I’d just earned a 4.0 for my master’s,” Carroll, 49, told the Times. “I knew it didn’t seem right, but I was so far in it, I couldn’t turn back.”

The class-action suit, filed in federal court in Maryland, alleges Walden intentionally stretched out the dissertation process, which required students to re-enroll for multiple years and spend thousands more on tuition than they had anticipated. The suit estimates students were charged more than $28.5 million in additional tuition costs. Former students also claim Walden participated in “reverse redlining” by targeting minority communities and women with its advertising.

“Walden lured in students with the promise of an affordable degree, then strung them along to increase profits,” said Aaron Ament, the president of the National Student Legal Defense Network. “As if that’s not bad enough, Walden specifically targeted Black students and women for this predatory program, masking its discrimination as a focus on diversity.”

Walden, which has faced similar lawsuits and claims, denied the claims, saying its mission is to serve a diverse community. The school has filed a motion to dismiss the suit, calling the lawsuit “baseless and an inflammatory attempt to repackage Walden’s school mission into calculated discrimination.”

Walden also added that in 2020, it awarded doctorate degrees to a higher number of Black and female students than any other U.S. university.

Black students in the U.S.are often victims when it comes to college tuition and student loan debt. For many, taking out expensive loans is the only way to pay for college, but doing so lands many in a financial nightmare as it can take years to decades to pay off the loans after finishing school.

• Entrepreneurship

by Wendy Medina

April 8, 2022

Timbaland Named TIME’s Web3 Community Initiative’s Second NFT Artist in Residence

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TIME’s web3 community initiative, TIMEPieces, has announced its partnership with Grammy Award-winning tech CEO Timbaland as their second Artist in Residence for NFTs.

The project, titled TIMEPieces x Timbaland: The Beatclub Collection, will feature TIME’s first NFT music collection through visual video art created by 14 different artists, inspired by an original beat by Timbaland.

The innovative beats will be created by the hit-making producer in collaboration with his tech music startup Beatclub, an online beat-selling marketplace that connects musicians, music publishers, producers, songwriters, and record labels.

The diverse roster of artists carefully selected to create the visual works for this exclusive collection include ArinaBB, Carlos Luna James, Danny Casale, Daria Klepikova, Ed Balloon, Gavin Meeler, Jasti, Jeremy Cowart, Jesus Martinez, Joanne Hollings, Mike Szpot, Parin Heidari, REO, and Yvette Hammond.

“I am excited to collaborate with TIMEPieces and so many distinct visual artists to bring more exposure to the power of creativity with music in NFTs, and to include Beatclub in the process. The timing couldn’t be better with our Beatclub NFT portal going live in the coming weeks for creators globally to collaborate,” said Timbaland.

TIMEPieces x Timbaland: The Beatclub Collection will debut 252 original pieces at the end of April at nft.time.com for 0.2ETH plus gas. According to TIME’s press release, each minted NFT will contain a surprise selection of 10 beats from Beatclub.

Excited to announce my collaboration with @timepieces and 14 visual artists to bring more exposure to the power of creativity with music in #NFTs, and to include @Beatclub in the process. Let's go! pic.twitter.com/M1Ai4cbnkK

— Timbaland (@Timbaland) April 7, 2022

“Timbaland is widely recognized for pushing music and culture forward. As we embark on our first true music NFT experience at TIMEPieces, his leadership as a creator and the great work he is doing with Beatclub made him the perfect partner to pair with artists who could provide their diverse interpretations of his exclusive beat,” said TIME President Keith A. Grossman. 

The Verzuz co-creator also gives NFT holders the chance to enter a contest where they re-create the sounds of the Beatclub custom selection to produce a new beat of their own. The winner not only takes home a membership and merch pack from Beatclub but special access to work opportunities with the world’s leading artists and brands.

Billionaire media mogul Oprah Winfrey is applauding the “grace” Ketanji Brown Jackson displayed while on her grueling journey to serve as the next Justice on the Supreme Court.

On Thursday, history was made after a bipartisan group of Senators confirmed Judge Brown Jackson’s nomination, making her the first Black woman to serve on the Supreme Court. Following Brown Jackson’s historic bipartisan confirmation, Winfrey took to her website to share her response.

Revisiting the trying hearing process where Jackson was grilled by Republican Senators who seemingly tried to force narratives on the Joe Biden nominee, she noted how the “condescension and disrespect” that Brown Jackson endured “only made me respect her more.”

“You can tell a lot about a person by the way they conduct themselves under fire,” Oprah said.

“Her conduct showed us strength and confidence and calm—all qualities that will serve her well as she takes her place.”

The OWN Network CEO shared a few respected Black women Brown Jackson will now join as having helped pave lanes as “the first.”

“Shirley Chisholm, Barbara Jordan, Carol Moseley Braun, the Rices—Condoleezza and Susan—Michelle Obama, Loretta Lynch, Kamala Harris, and the many, many not as famous but just as courageous and capable Black women who were, in their own fields and in their own times, the first.”

With several “firsts” under her belt, Oprah spoke to the challenges leaders face when crowned as a trailblazer and the “weight” they carry from critics waiting to see them “fail.”

“But I have no doubt that Ketanji Brown Jackson will carry that weight lightly,” Oprah said. “That she’ll rise to every challenge. Just as she has already shown she can rise above.”

Touching on the parents of Black children who saw Jackson’s confirmation as a “reason to celebrate,” Oprah took a nod to the new example the Supreme Court Justice has provided.

“A thrilling new example—new living proof—of what is possible,” she said. “A new chance to turn to their child and say, “You are possible.”

• Lifestyle

by Atiya Jordan

April 8, 2022

Photojournalist Sarabeth Maney: Viral Photo Represents Joy Between Black Mothers and Daughters

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Little did Sarabeth Maney know her position at future Supreme Court Judge Ketanji Brown Jackson‘s hearing would capture the timeless shot of the judge’s daughter, encapsulating the representation of Black joy between mothers and daughters.

Maney, a photographer for The New York Times, recounted the details from her historic vantage point in a guest story for Oprah Daily. Throughout  the history of congressional hearings, the Oakland photojournalist mentioned that notable photos have been taken from a “prime center position on the floor in front of the judge’s table” while she stood on the “less desirable” side of the room that overlooks the Senate committee and guests.

“I had a unique vantage point to something the photographers on the floor couldn’t see–Leila Jackson,” Maney wrote.

During the hearing, the photojournalist scanned the room for facial expressions as she carefully listened to testimonies. Maney took notice of Judge Jackson’s “full smile,” but it was her daughter, Leila, whose proud expression she couldn’t let slip away because it personally resonated.

“I thought about how I might feel if it were my own mother sitting in that historic seat,” Maney, 26, said.

“I was raised by a single mother who juggled three jobs, so I knew what it felt like to be deeply loved and inspired, but also to understand the reward of hard work—even if that meant accepting the sacrifices that came with it.”

As a mixed woman with Mexican and Creole roots, Maney shared her experience growing up in Martinez, California, a predominantly white community in the Bay Area. She recalled struggling with her own identity especially while peers often “dismissed me for being different.”

“Perhaps that’s part of why I noticed Leila’s smile when many others in the room did not,” she said.

“Beyond the feeling of pride and admiration, Leila’s expression translated into, for me, affirmation for Black and brown women. Her gaze told me that we did indeed belong in that room, even though that room was not historically designed for us,” Maney continued.

As a Black woman, whose demographic is least represented in photojournalism, Maney found “pride” and “purpose” to witness the first Black woman nominated to the Supreme Court.

The representation is real, and according to Maney, the emotions ran deep. As a photojournalist, she has to work without emotions. As the photo blazed across social media, her joy overflowed.

“Of course, as photojournalists, we want our pictures to resonate in such a widespread way, but what was most important to me was why this photo meant so much to so many,” she said. “Tens of thousands of mothers and daughters could see themselves reflected in that photo.”

“And for Black women, Leila’s gaze toward her mom represented an endless portal of opportunities they and their daughters can achieve for themselves,” Maney concluded.

On Thursday, the U.S. Senate  confirmed Ketanji Brown Jackson as the first Black female Supreme Court Justice.