TRACEE ELLIS ROSS, AVA DUVERNAY, NICK CANNON, ISSA RAE, PUSHA T, ANGELA RYE, NEW EDITION & BROOKE PAYNE AND MORE JOIN THE 2017 BET EXPERIENCE @ L.A. LIVE PRESENTED BY COCA-COLA® FOR GENIUS TALKS SERIES SPONSORED BY AT&T

CHARLAMAGNE THA GOD TO HOST SATURDAY, JUNE 24

Today, BET NETWORKS and AEG announced the panelists and host for the 2017 Genius Talks series sponsored by AT&T taking place at the BET Experience @ L.A. LIVE presented by Coca-Cola®.  Top powerhouse women in the T.V. and film industries including Tracee Ellis Ross, Ava DuVernay, Issa Rae, as well as music and entertainment moguls Pusha T, Nick Cannon, New Edition and more, will take part in a series of intimate conversations and panels hosted by New York Times bestseller and media personality Charlamagne Tha God on Saturday, June 24.

Genius Talks kicks off Saturday afternoon with actress and writer Issa Rae on her creative process and strategy behind building an empire. The thought provoking talks continue with rapper Pusha T in conversation with Angela Rye, an attorney and political strategist, and Marilyn Mosby, State’s Attorney for Baltimore, Maryland about incarceration in the black and brown community.

The Saturday lineup also include actress Tracee Ellis Ross discussing her hit series “Black-ish” and self-love; New Edition & choreographer Brooke Payne sharing their insights from their days in the legendary group; Oscar nominated filmmaker Ava DuVernay on her successful career in film; actor, comedian and recording artist Nick Cannon, talking about building a brand, fatherhood and more. Sunday’s Genius Talks lineup will be announced soon.

The Genius Talks series sponsored by AT&T will take place at the Los Angeles Convention Center, adjacent to L.A. Live, on Saturday, June 24, from 1:00 p.m. PST – 7:00 p.m. PST and Sunday, June 25 from 1:30 p.m. PST – 2:15 p.m. PST. All Genius Talks are first-come, first-served for all attendees – including credentialed media – as space is extremely limited. Get your free BET Fan Fest wristband, which all attendees will be required to wear upon arrival, on the BETX ’17 App or at BETExperience.com. Saturday’s Genius Talks sponsored by AT&T will also be streamed LIVE on BET.com and the BETX ’17 app.

London Fans Slam TLC For Lip-Syncing

There’s a scene near the end of Get Out when the jig is all the way up and Rose is trying to convince Rod that she’s innocent and looking for Chris. She’s on the phone, stone-faced and not even trying to feign concern with her face. Yet, as if on cue, she raises her voice and projects a fearful white woman shriek pretending that she’s concerned for Chris’ well-being. Close your eyes and listen to her shriek. It’s the exact same rehearsed octave Colin Cowherd’s FS1 Herd co-host Kristine Leahy uses when she asks Lavar Ball are you threatening me? It’s gaslighting, coded racism. And nobody should fall for it.

Let me back up.

Lavar Ball, father to prospective 2017 Lottery pick Lonzo Ball has become a divisive figure. His brazen support for his sons has been seen as overbearing by some and inspirational by others. Defenders see his unwavering support and confidence in his son as an example of a black father having the utmost belief in his kid’s abilities. Detractors say that Ball is too loud. Too cocky. Too disrespectful. The true read on Ball is somewhere in the middle. The man knows how to market, as his Big Baller Brand shoes and clothing have been the talk of the internet for the past month. Yet he’s ruffled feathers, namely when he cast doubt on how well LeBron James’ kids were going to play in the NBA or the time he said Lonzo was better than Stephen Curry already. Or when he championed the fact his shoes were unaffordable for so many kids.

But the fact that Ball is unafraid to speak his mind in a field where so many are hesitant with their honesty. He’s also an absolute ham. He milks the attention and the hot take shows. He loves it. While I’m sure Lavar is fully entrenched in his son’s success, I can’t help but wonder if he’s secretly enjoying the attention.

So when Ball found himself on Fox Sports 1, sitting across from Colin Cowherd — same Cowherd who has spent the last few years demeaning John Wall for doing the Dougie his rookie year, while insisting that players with absent fathers don’t make good leaders — he was in the crosshairs of a struggling network looking for any ratings help. In the months leading up to Ball’s appearance on Cowherd’s show, co-host Kristine Leahy had this to say about Lonzo Ball:

“He looks terrified whenever he’s talking…he looks genuinely afraid,” Leahy said on a March 29th episode of FS1’s Speak For Yourself when talking about Lavar’s impact on his son’s outspokenness.

Again, coded language. Leahy was calling Ball an abusive father. It’s been the undertone in many of the criticisms about him. It’s the same way people treated Serena and Venus Williams’ father, Richard. And they’re all channeling images of Joe Jackson’s abusive fathering. Leahy and Cowherd can pretend they’re being objective, but they’re not. They’re transposing racism and white supremacist imagery onto Lavar Ball and his parenting.

So when Ball hopped on Cowherd’s show, he treated Leahy with utter disrespect. Disrespect that she absolutely deserved.

I don’t know Lavar Ball. And I don’t know where he is on the scale of misogyny and disrespect to women, but in this particular instance, he was well within his right to tell Leahy to stay in her lane and mind her damn business. Despite what anyone says, Ball is smart and he can see through coded language any time it’s presented. Ball even alluded to Leahy’s comments about his parenting by echoing her sentiment that he was afraid to look at her. He flipped her comments back on her. Ball was playing into white female racism towards black men and a history of punishing black men for looking at white women.

Here’s where the conversation became about Ball being threatening:

Ball: I never disrespect women. But I’ll tell you what. If you act like that, guess what? Something’s coming to you.

Leahy: Wait, are you threatening me?

Ball: See how she tried to turn the words? I would never threaten you.

Leahy: You said something’s coming to me.

Ball: I don’t know what it is. I’m not a psychic.

This is classic racism at play. A black man telling a white woman that Karma is coming her way is now seen as a physical threat. Why? Because the white woman interpreted it as such. Especially a white woman who has already insinuated that Ball is violent towards his own children. Maybe you feel like Ball’s comments are coded misogyny and intimidation. But if you’re going to see Ball as using coded language then you have to look at the coded and outright racism that has thrived at FS1 and with Leahy’s comments. Leahy honed in on Ball’s comments and immediately played the white woman victim.

Later that afternoon Leahy took to her Speak For Yourself and absolutely lied about the reason Ball was upset with her. Leahy says Ball is upset because she insisted that he sell clothes to women (for the record: Big Baller Brand has a women’s clothing section). That’s untrue. Ball even said in the interview with Cowherd that Leahy’s comments about his parenting that caused his consternation (“She scares me to death. She scares Lonzo. Lonzo is scared of me. She scares me, that’s why I don’t look that way”).

What we saw was a man who was a guest on a show that was looking for a way to feed into their preconceived notions and stereotypes about him. The whole scene was a Get Out microcosm of a black man surrounded by white people who saw him as nothing but violent, belligerent and threatening. Was Ball always hitting on all cylinders? Not at all. He was baited into stupidity — namely saying he doesn’t market to women when he clearly does. He has a lot to learn about dealing with the media, but he shouldn’t have had to deal with the coded racism he faced yesterday. So yes, I’m team Lavar. And fully confident he won’t end up in FS1’s sunken place.

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Old Heads: Hip-Hop Elder Statesman Eric B. Is Heated Eric Bellinger “Stole” His And Rakim’s Album Title

This seems like a big miscommunication gone all the way left. If you haven’t already heard Eric Bellinger’s newest project “Eric B. For President: Term 2” you’re definitely missing out — but apparently the quality of the project was entirely lost on Eric B., one-half of pioneering hip-hop act Eric B and Rakim, who is mad as hell that Bellinger used the same title as their classic project without payment or permission. Just check out the angry tweets from the last few weeks:

Bellingers fans did their best to state his case to Eric B. but to no avail.

It’s worth mentioning that Eric Bellinger made it clear he was paying tribute to the group when he released his first “Eric B For President: Term 1” project.

The fact is, from the beginning, Bellinger gave credit to the duo for being pioneers in the industry and publicly thanked them when he released his project Eric B for President saying – “This is my way of saying thank you and providing physical proof that they made a difference.”

You can BUY Eric B For President: Term 1 HERE and Buy Eric B For President: Term 2 HERE.

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In sweet black love news…

Ronnie And Shamari Devoe Announce That They’re Expecting Twins

An iconic New Edition singer and his wife are expounding on their baby news. After already announcing that they’re expecting Ronnie and Shamari DeVoe are announcing that they’ve got TWO new editions on the way.

The sweetly coupled up singers took to Instagram with a photo of Shamari’s bulging belly with a caption about the DeVoe twins.

“The DeVoe Twins are coming!! @ShamariDeVoe and I couldn’t be happier… We’ve been blessed with not 1, but 2 amazingly, incredible bundles of joy. GOD is so good!”

Congrats to the happy couple!

Getty Images, Instagram

Mother’s Boyfriend Reportedly Impregnates 10-Year-Old Girl

An Indiana police department has been frantically searching for a man accused for raping and impregnating a 10-year-old, yesterday that search came to an end.

The Marion, Indiana Police Department were relieved this week, when they found the perv according to CBS4 Indy. 34-year-old Nicholas Thrash was arrested on Wednesday on 10 counts of felony child molestation. Thrash allegedly molested a 10-year-old girl, who’s mother he was dating. Her mother was arrested for felony neglect back on May 16th.

The Marion Police thanks citizens for their tips on the whereabouts of the pervy 34-year-old.

Thanks to your tips this man was Arrested moments ago here in Marion. Thank you Marion Citizens for working with your local police department!

New Patti Cake$ Trailer

Lawsuit Claims NYC Shoe Store Made Racist Statements About Serena Williams

For whatever reason, people love hating Serena Williams. Not “hating on”, just hating. Every time she breaks another record or puts another parmesan crusted Becky in her place on the tennis court, scores of miserable douchebags flood social media to heave their hate onto Compton’s finest.

According to a PageSix story, that hate extends beyond 140-character thumb thugs into retail businesses as well. An NYC women’s shoe store called Gianvito Rossi is accused of labeling the Black queen “disgusting” and refused to offer her the same courtesies they offer white celebs.

The store’s former manager, Whitney Wilburn (the only Black employee for nearly 2 years), said that when Serena’s camp reached out about their celeb discount on large purchases, boss Grace Mazzilli shut it down in the most obvious of ways:

“For instance, when the world famous athlete Serena Williams, via her staff, asked for a discount on her extensive purchases, Gianvito managers responded with racially disparaging comments about Ms. Williams which made it clear that the company did not want African American women to wear its shoes,” the suit says.

The managers “referred to Ms. Williams as ‘disgusting’ and refused to offer any discount,” according to court papers.

It took ANOTHER person (likely white) to convince the store to treat Serena like the royalty that she is:

“When later pressured to do so by a contact at Vogue magazine, they offered only a fraction of the discount that white celebrities typically receive,” the suit says.

We hope Whitney extracts every red cent from these racist muthaf**kas.

Image via Getty

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Steve Harvey Sued For $60 Million Be Ex-Wife

Steve Harvey is having a rough couple of weeks, it seems.

After his snotty e-mail telling all the peasants who work for him not to even breathe in his direction without an appointment leaked to the world, now his second ex-wife is coming for his head.

According to TMZ, Mary Harvey’s rep has filed documents accusing Steve of inflicting irreparable damage on her soul, among other charges. She claims their rocky 2005 breakup pushed her to the brink of suicide and into harmful self-medicating. She says Steve took her son, her businesses, and basically her will to live.

She also claims that Steve is responsible for “child endangerment, torture, conspiracy against rights, kidnapping, murder, breach of contract and intentional infliction of emotional distress.” Seems like quite a bit for a divorce.

We’re not sure how far this one will fly, to be honest. The papers weren’t even filed by a proper lawyer, but someone who refers to herself as Mary’s “civil rights activist.” So…do with that what you will.

We wonder what Steve has to say about all of this…

WENN

Amandla is holding some notes for the soundtrack of her new movie, “Everything, Everything,” isn’t she? Are you feeling this track from the teen phenom?

YouTube

Interesting choreography, huh? Are you feeling Chance’s verse on this one??

YouTube

Times Square Attacker Was High On Hallucinogens

The man who ran down pedestrians enjoying Times Square earlier today has been revealed as a Bronx man in his mid-twenties, high on K2.

According to Daily Mail, 26-year-old Richard Rojas was taken in by police after instantly killing one 18-year-old girl and seriously injuring 22 others. He immediately tried to run from police in hopes of being gunned down.

Police reported that Rojas fistfought an officer as they struggled to arrest him.

Rojas reportedly told police that he intentionally ran into the crowd and hoped that police would kill him immediately after.

“You were supposed to shoot me. I wanted to kill them,” he told police.

Rojas was reportedly under the influence of both K2 “Synthetic Marijuana” and PCP, each of which cause intense hallucinations and mania. He reportedly told police that once in custody that he carried out the attack on God’s orders.

SMH! You really never know WHAT type of wild isht can happen to you at any time. We seriously doubt that any one of the injured or deceased banked on something so random occurring when they woke up this morning…

WENN/Splash

14-Year-Old May Have to Register As Sex Offender

First of all…why are these kids having sex SO YOUNG??

A Texas seventh grader has been charged with aggravated sexual assault of a minor after engaging in intercourse with his 12-year-old girlfriend. In Texas, this is a first-degree felony that could easily land him on the sex offender registry for the rest of his life.

According to NYDN, whereas the age of consent in the state of Texas is 17. This means that while a high school junior can legally sex with a seventh grader…once a 7th grader and a 6th grader get it on, charges come into play.

The provision has left the child in position to face the consequences well into adulthood, with essentially a stigma as a child molester following him well into adulthood.

Granted, kids these ages need to keep their pants ON to begin with. But that aside, and children being inclined to explore…is this punishment really fair??

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Katy Perry Drops New Single “Swish Swish” Featuring Nicki Minaj

Katy Perry is back and she’s riding hip-hop wave right where Miley Cyrus put it down.

The mayonnaise-based Becky has released her new single “Swish Swish” featuring Onika Tanya Maraj and it is very appropriation-y

Check it out below:

Hmmmm…”don’t come for me”…”keeps receipts”…”bish”…who the hell does this broad think she is??

That “Offset/Migos” line wasn’t a Cardi B diss, was it?

What do you think of all this? Sounds like a more pop version of “Truffle Butter” if you ask us.

Image via Instagram/WENN

Swimsuits For All Launches Baywatch Inspired Campaign Starring Teyana Taylor, Ashley Graham And Niki Taylor

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People Are Trying To Guess Who L.A. Reid’s Accuser Is, But Not So Fast…

An Epic records employee intends to clear her name. The woman who goes by Zoe Alicia claims someone created a fake story about her. She may be referring to this post on Hip Hop Overload that names her as L.A. Reid’s sexual harassment accuser.

Zoe Alicia denies her involvement with this IG message.

Interesting.

While she is clearing her name, it doesn’t dissolve the person who actually filed the suit. According to the original report from the New York Post, they say the woman who accused Reid is no longer working at the company. This information eliminates Alicia from a list of “potential” accusers, because she’s still working. People spreading the story are probably anxious to find out who the assistant really is, but nowhere in the original report do they call the woman by name.

L.A Reid left Epic abruptly last week with no explanation. Days later, reports of alleged sexual harassment towards his assistant during a work trip surfaced.

Here’s a special message from our friend and favorite Atlanta trainer Rahman Grayson! His Total Fit Challenge is kicking off on Sunday and we promise he’ll make you sweat in the best way possible.

Tell a friend to tell a friend that @mrshutupandtrain has your back!!! The #TotalFit Challenge starts soon … 7.21.17 Who is READY??

Signup today at totalfitgroup.com/challenge and then tag your whole Da$& friend list!! Reserve your spot and then begin to get your mind right!!!

The plan is to get 1⃣Million people worldwide signed up for the Free Total Fit Challenge! The challenge is % free we just ask that you help us get the World Healthy by Reposting and sharing the videos and links w/ fam and friends on Facebook, instagram, twitter, pinterest etc…

1⃣ follow @mrshutupandtrain & Sign Up(link in his bio)

2⃣ #Repost this Graphic on your social media & let people know you are participating in the #TotalFit Challenge (more people = more prizes)

3⃣ #tag friends, family and coworkers…