A quick refresher in case you forgot: in 2020, Cooper went viral in a video where a white woman, Amy Cooper (no relation), called the police on him after he simply asked her to leash her dog (in an area where leashing is required). Amy Cooper said, “an African-American man threatening my life,” on the call, which Christian, thankfully, caught entirely on camera, proving his innocence in the viral video footage.

While the unfortunate incident led to serious consequences for Amy (she was terminated from her job and received charges of false reporting), thankfully Cooper was able to take some pretty sour lemons and make lemonade, landing his own television series with National Geographic and Disney+.

Cooper won in the “Outstanding Daytime Personality – Non-Daily” category, taking to the Daytime Emmys stage to share his gratitude with his peers and those watching at home. The openly gay host said, “This is an unexpected journey from being a closeted queer kid in the 1970s and a Black kid in the almost totally then all-white field of birding, which makes this all the more thrilling.”

He continued to say in his speech that the “world has changed” and that, “no matter what anybody says or does we are not going back. We will only move forward together.”

To read this article in its entirety, visit The Root

The company’s current employees are set to become the biggest shareholder group of Revolt.

CEO Detavio Samuels explained the change in a statement. “We are stepping into the most revolutionary chapter yet for Revolt. When I joined in 2020, I quickly realized two things: Our mission is bigger than any individual, and we are the largest engine for transformative change that just so happens to be a media company,” Samuels said.

He continued:

“Over the past four years, this engine has created countless opportunities to build wealth for our community and empower creators and entrepreneurs globally, which includes our reinvestment of $50 million annually into the Black community, funding Black entrepreneurs with no exchange of equity, and ensuring creators have upside participation in the content IP we co-create…We are most proud of the transformation that our teams will experience as they shift from being employees to owners of the business they are helping to build. Black culture is global culture, and REVOLT’s superpower is being the home for creators that move culture globally, allowing us to build the most powerful storytelling engine for Black voices.”

Under the new structure, Revolt will stay Black-owned (around 80% of the staff are people of color). Combs left the company in November 2023 following a damning lawsuit from his former girlfriend Casandra “Cassie” Ventura. Ventura stated that Combs sexually and physically abused her throughout the course of their relationship.

CHICAGO (AP) — Dorothy Jean Tillman II’s participation in Arizona State University’s May 6 commencement was the latest step on a higher-education journey the Chicago teen started when she took her first college course at age 10.

In between came associate’s, bachelor’s and master’s degrees.

When Tillman successfully defended her dissertation in December, she became the youngest person — at age 17 — to earn a doctoral degree in integrated behavioral health at Arizona State, associate professor Leslie Manson told ABC’s “Good Morning America” for a story Monday.

“It’s a wonderful celebration, and we hope … that Dorothy Jean inspires more students,” Manson said. “But this is still something so rare and unique.”

Tillman, called “Dorothy Jeanius” by family and friends, is the granddaughter of former Chicago Alderwoman Dorothy Tillman.

When most students are just learning to navigate middle school, her mother enrolled Tillman in classes through the College of Lake County in northern Illinois, where she majored in psychology and completed her associate’s degree in 2016, according to her biography.

Tillman earned a bachelor’s in humanities from New York’s Excelsior College in 2018. About two years later, she earned her master’s of science from Unity College in Maine before being accepted in 2021 into Arizona State’s Behavioral Health Management Program.

Most of her classwork was done remotely and online. Tillman did attend her Arizona State commencement in person and addressed the graduating class during the ceremony.

Tillman told The Associated Press on Tuesday that she credits her grandmother and trusting in her mother’s guidance for her educational pursuits and successes.

“Everything that we were doing didn’t seem abnormal to me or out of the ordinary until it started getting all of the attention,” said Tillman, now 18.

There have been sacrifices, though.

“I didn’t have the everyday school things like homecoming dances or spirit weeks or just school pictures and things like that … that kind of create unity with my peers,” she said.

She has found time to dance and do choreography. Tillman also is founder and chief executive of the Dorothyjeanius STEAM Leadership Institute. The program includes summer camps designed to help young people in the arts and STEM subjects.

She said her plans include public speaking engagements and fundraising for the camp, which Tillman said she hopes to franchise one day.

Tillman is motivated and has innovative ideas, said Manson, adding, “And truly, I think what is inspiring is that she embodies that meaning of being a true leader.”

Jimalita Tillman said she is most impressed with her daughter’s ability to show herself and her successes with grace, but to also understand when to “put her foot down” when choosing between social outings and her education.

Trolls left all kinds of racist, homophobic and sexist comments under a tribute Michelle posted on X, formerly Twitter. And while we know Trump’s MAGA fan base is known to be morally depraved, this was low even for them.

“I really don’t care. Remember, when you guys tried to stop Trump from going to his own mother-in-law’s funeral and his son’s graduation.?” wrote @marinasmigielsk

To read the article in its entirety, visit TheRoot

Before your imagination runs too wild, pump your brakes. In a new interview with The Guardian in promotion of his new album Blue Electric Light, Kravitz revealed that he hasn’t been in a relationship—nor had sex—in nine years. And while the idea of a man as fine as Kravitz going home alone might seem incredulous and baffling to some, the “Honey” singer told the outlet that it’s for a good reason, explaining that “it’s a spiritual thing.” It also seems to be a decision stemming from his father’s alleged infidelity and player ways he witnessed growing up.

Though that reasoning may suffice for some, for like rapper Ice-T and a handful of folks on the internet, Kravitz revelation was met with skepticism and disdain.

In a since-deleted tweet, Ice T wrote: “9yrs without Sex? F that BS. Weirdo shit.”

When fans online pushed back, Ice doubled down: “Hey….. If you’re a Guy and you can voluntarily go 9yrs without sex… You’re following the wrong page…Shit’s Weird to me….. I love to Fuck. A lot.”

Others came to his defense:

“Not sure why Ice T has a problem with Lenny Kravitz being celibate for nine years? I thought God gave everyone separate sexual organs and the free will to use it however? How’s someone’s decision on how to use theirs your problem? Weirdo,” wrote one user.

“Lenny speaking on his celibacy is beautiful, which I can relate to, and I just posted that pic where you can literally see my aura glowing. Abstaining from sex and sexual orgasam is extremely powerful. It’s like fasting, which detoxifies and rids the body of anything unhealthy,” said another.

But it seems like his public reputation is finished.

This isn’t always the case with Black celebrities. There are plenty of examples of celebrities who have been able to maintain their success. Chris Brown may have a certain ceiling, but he’s continued to satisfy a loyal fan base despite assaulting Rihanna and having other, less visible cases that followed.

Basketball star Derrick Rose escaped a rape case in 2015 and had fans lauding him three years later when he had a 50-point game. Dr. Dre allegedly violently assaulted women in the 1990s, and he’s weathered the storm enough to even have a new Grammy Award named after him.

Many who have been found guilty of crimes such as sexual assault or domestic violence — whether legally or in the public eye — have been able to redeem themselves through a combination of silence, contrition, and continued quality of whatever product made fans fall in love with them in the first place. It’s all about the veneer of honesty and repentance, followed by art that’s so powerful that people can’t deprive themselves of it. Or, if there’s no proof of the crimes being committed, simply staying out of the public eye before returning with some of their best work.

But Combs’ journey toward public forgiveness is uniquely difficult for two reasons: because of damning video footage and because that footage surfaced after he had already begun the sort of rebranding campaign that allows so many to build themselves back up: In recent years he had taken on several strategic steps toward helping his image: adopting the moniker “Love,” releasing an R&B album loaded with guest appearances by other stars and returning masters ownership to artists who were previously signed to his label Bad Boy. There was still skepticism, but they were still steps in the right direction.

Shortly after Cassie and three others issued explosive lawsuits accusing him of crimes such as rape, sex trafficking, sexual misconduct with minors and more, he released a statement that denied all wrongdoing, with no concessions.

“Enough is enough,” he wrote in a December post. “I have sat silently and watched people try to assassinate my character, destroy my reputation and legacy… Let me be absolutely clear: I did not do any of the awful things being alleged.”

By spring 2024, Combs had already begun to lose all that he’d worked for, with his many corporate partners cutting ties. But he still may have had a chance at redemption. Some supporters may have chosen not to believe the allegations at all, adopting one or more of many methods of plausible deniability. They may have claimed that these were simply people going after a payday, that they “knew what they were getting into” by dealing with him, or that this was another example of powers that be corralling in an attempt to take down a Black man who had made it.

Even if people hadn’t believed his denials, they could have convinced themselves that he had changed. Had he stayed out of the public eye and continued his safe, sporadic posts about his family, there would have still been a substantial amount of people who refused to support him, but there also could have been people who came back around.

But the footage from the hotel changed things, because it put his duplicity in such clear and undeniable terms. The video directly corroborated one of the stories that Ventura said in her filing…stories that Combs had denied. Had this video been released upon the time of the lawsuits, he could have apologized, retreated, and returned after extended time away.

But a dismal attempt at accountability after he’s already so clearly lied won’t be enough. It’ll be difficult to forget such damning footage of him assaulting a woman who we so clearly recognize, and even more difficult to reconcile such adamant denials with the truth that we saw. Add that to the repeated memes and catchphrases against him, and the damage could be permanent.

Written By William Ketchum III

While fielding questions from journalists on Wednesday, Jean-Pierre was asked why the president has yet to take unilateral action to resolve the immigration issue at the border. Clearly exasperated, Jean-Pierre insisted that the solution shouldn’t just be set solely on the shoulders of the Commander-In-Chief.

“Why should he have to do unilaterally? Why should we have to do it in a legislative way?” she responded, before further adding: “You’re right, he took many executive actions before. But in order to deal with what’s happening at the border, in order to deal with a broken integration system—you need law.”

However, in a statement released from the White House on Thursday, it seems as if Biden’s attempt to solidify some sort of resolution was blocked by congressional Republicans.

“Congressional Republicans do not care about securing the border or fixing America’s broken immigration system. If they did, they would have voted for the toughest border enforcement in history. Instead, today, they put partisan politics ahead of our country’s national security,” the statement began.

It continued:

By blocking the bipartisan border agreement, Republicans in Congress said no to legislation that would hire more Border Patrol Agents, add more immigration judges and asylum officers to process cases in months and not years. They said no to new technology to detect and stop fentanyl from entering the United States, and no to resources to go after drug traffickers. They rejected an agreement that would give me, as President, a new emergency authority to temporarily shut down the border when the system is overwhelmed.

This agreement would have also expanded access to lawful immigration pathways proven to reduce irregular migration, expedited access to work authorization for those who are eligible, and ensured that unaccompanied children who arrive at the border have access to legal counsel. While it did not include everything I wanted, such as finally delivering a pathway to citizenship for Dreamers, it would have been the largest reform of our immigration laws in decades.

“So I want to be absolutely clear: while Congressional Republicans are choosing to stand in the way of border enforcement, I will not stop fighting to deliver the resources that border and immigration personnel need,” Biden concluded.