Rapper Tyga Dragged Out Of Floyd Mayweather Birthday Bash By Security

(Hollywood, CA) – Rapper Tyga is making amends with a guy he got into an altercation with at a party over the weekend. He and an unidentified man got into a disagreement at a birthday bash for Floyd Mayweather in Hollywood on Saturday night.

Video of the incident shows things getting physical and Tyga being held back by one of his security guards, before reaching for the guard’s gun. He did not get ahold of the weapon and no one was hurt, and no police reports were filed.

Tyga then shared a photo on his Instagram Story on Sunday of himself, the other man and his security, and said they all spoke to each other face-to-face and worked things out.

Trump Not Reversing Course In Syria

(Washington, DC-AP) — President Trump is insisting that he is not reversing course in Syria. Talking with reporters at the White House today, Trump defended his decision to leave a couple of hundred U.S. troops in the war-torn country.

“At the same time, we  can leave a small force along with others in the force whether it’s NATO troops or whoever it might be so that it won’t start up again. And I’m okay.  It’s a very small tiny fraction of people that we have.”

He still plans to remove most of the more than two-thousand American forces from Syria. Trump again argued that ISIS is being destroyed in Syria. He said nobody else has been able to do that.

Smollet To Be Written Out Of Empire

(Chicago, IL-AP) — Producers of “Empire” say Jussie Smollett’s  character will be written out of the final episodes of the current season. In a statement, the producers said while Jussie has been an important part of the show, they are also aware of the effects of the legal process can have on the cast and crew members. They add, to avoid further disruption on set, they have decided to remove Jussie’s role from the final two episodes of the season. Smollett is accused of staging a racist and homophobic attack against himself last month in Chicago in hopes of getting a bigger paycheck.

The announcement comes after Smollett was released on bail yesterday and went to the set of the hit FOX television show to apologize to the cast crew, but maintained his innocence. TMZ is reporting that some of the Empire actors said if TV executives didn’t fire him, he needs to quit on his own before he damages the show’s reputation any further.

R. Kelly Charged

(Chicago, IL-AP) – Reports say R. Kelly is being charged with ten counts of aggravated criminal sexual abuse. The Cook County, Illinois State’s Attorney charged the R&B superstar after they received a videotape allegedly showing Kelly having sex with an underage girl.

Michael Avenatti, lawyer to porn star Stormy Daniels, said he provided the tape to prosecutors. Kelly has recently been accused by several women of sexual abuse. The Cook County office is also overseeing the prosecution of Empire actor Jussie Smollett.

Patriots Owner Robert Kraft Accused Of Soliciting Prostitute

(Jupiter, FL-AP) – Robert Kraft, the billionaire owner of the New England Patriots, faces charges of soliciting a prostitute after he was twice videotaped in a sex act at a shopping-center massage parlor in Florida, police said Friday. The 77-year-old Kraft denied any wrongdoing. The charge comes amid a crackdown on sex trafficking from Palm Beach to Orlando in which police planted cameras in massage parlors.

Kraft was not immediately arrested. Jupiter police said a warrant will be issued and his attorneys will be notified. They said details about the charges against the owner of the Super Bowl champion team will not be released until next week.

Hundreds of arrest warrants have been issued in recent days as a result of the six-month investigation, and more are expected. Ten spas have been closed, and several people have been taken into custody on sex trafficking charges. Jupiter police Chief Daniel Kerr said he was shocked to learn that Kraft, who is worth $6 billion, was paying for sex inside a shopping-center massage parlor, the Orchids of Asia Day Spa. ”We are as equally stunned as everyone else,” Kerr said.

Most people charged for the first time with soliciting a prostitute in Florida are allowed to enter a diversion program, said attorney David Weinstein, a former prosecutor. Kraft would probably have to perform 100 hours of community service and attend a course on the harmful effects of prostitution and sex trafficking, he said.

The arrest could also get Kraft in trouble with the NFL, which in a statement said only that it is ”aware of the ongoing law enforcement matter and will continue to monitor developments.”Under league policy, players, owners, coaches and other employee scan be punished for ”conduct detrimental to the integrity of and public confidence in” the NFL.”Ownership and club or league management have traditionally been held to a higher standard and will be subject to more significant discipline,” the policy says.The Patriots won the Super Bowl this month over the Los Angeles Rams for their sixth NFL championship in the past 18 seasons,making them the most successful team in pro sports during that span.

Before the Super Bowl, several retired NFL players appeared in a public service announcement decrying sexual exploitation and human trafficking in Atlanta, the host city.Kraft lives in Massachusetts and has a home in the Palm Beach area.Though he is a Democrat, he is friendly with President Donald Trump and a frequent guest at Trump’s Mar-a-Lago club. Kraft’s wife, Myra Hiatt Kraft, died in 2011.

He has been dating 39-year-old actress Ricki Noel Lander since 2012.”Well it’s very sad. I was very surprised to see it. He’s proclaimed his innocence, totally,” Trump said at the White House on Friday.In a statement, Kraft’s representatives said they ”categorically deny that Mr. Kraft engaged in any illegal activity.”The spa Kraft allegedly visited is in a busy, upper-middle-class shopping center with neighbors that include a dentist, a real estate office, surf and bike shops and a Publix supermarket. After hearing about the arrest, Brian Rubino, a Patriot fan who lives nearby, went by the spa wearing a team jersey. He said Kraft made a mistake, but he could see how it might happen.”A 77-year-old man, lost his wife, who knows? I see how you can end up in a place like this,” Rubino said.

Vero Beach police Chief David Currey, whose agency has been involved in the sex-trafficking investigation, told reporters earlier this week that the prostitutes are victims who have been trapped into the trade.”These girls are there all day long, into the evening. They can’t leave and they are performing sex acts,” Currey said, according to TC Palm. ”Some of them may tell us they’re OK, but they’re not.”The owner of Orchids of Asia Day Spa, 58-year-old Hua Zhang, was arrested Tuesday on 29 prostitution and related charges.

Her attorney, Gennaro Cariglio Jr., had no comment.Kraft, who made his initial fortune through a packaging company,bought the Patriots in 1994 for $172 million to keep the team from moving to St. Louis. He hired Bill Belichick as coach in 2000, and the team later drafted quarterback Tom Brady, launching its nearly two decades of success.In 2007, the Patriots got in trouble for filming other teams’signals. The NFL fined the team $250,000 and Belichick $500,000. In 2014, Brady was accused of deflating game footballs to gain a better grip. He served a four-game suspension, and the Patriots were fined$1 million.Kraft was not implicated in either scandal.

 

Coast Guard Officer Accused Of Being A Domestic Terrorist

(Washington, DC-AP) — A U.S. Coast Guard officer and alleged white supremacist is being accused of planning to carry out a large scale domestic terror attack. FBI agents arrested Lieutenant Christopher Paul Hasson and seized a stockpile of weapons and ammunition from his Silver Spring, Maryland home on Friday. Prosecutors say he planned to attack Democratic politicians and journalists.

Hasson’s hit list included Democratic politicians including New York Congresswoman Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez, New York Senator Chuck Schumer, Connecticut Senator Richard Blumenthal, New Jersey Senator Cory Booker, California Senator Kamala Hrris and former Texas Representative Beto O’Rourke. The journalists mentioned included CNN’s Don Lemon, Van Jones and Chris Cuomo in addition to MSNBC’s Ari Melber, Joe Scarborough and Chris Hayes. Prosecutors describe Hasson as someone who “intends to murder innocent civilians on a scale rarely seen in this country.” Hasson is due in federal court today for a detention hearing.

Police Scold Jussie Smollett For Fake Hate Crime Attack

(Chicago, IL-AP) — Police are attempting to unravel the alleged attack on Empire actor Jussie Smollett. The saga began in January, when Smollet told police he received a racist and threatening letter that obtained a white powder. That “substance” was later determined to be aspirin. Then about a week later, the actor, who is black and gay, claimed he was assaulted by two white men in masks, wearing pro-President Trump hats who hurled racist and homophobic slurs. Smollett also claimed his attackers attached a small noose around his neck. The alleged attack became an international news event, with plenty of high-profile celebrities, politicians, and even President Trump expressing outrage. Chicago Police, the FBI, and other agencies launched a massive investigation.

About 48 hours later, police said they reviewed hundreds of hours of video footage, but were unable to find any direct evidence dealing with the attack. They also said Smollett turned over some, but not all, of the phone records detectives requested as part of their investigation. Smollett continued to say the attack was real, telling ABC’s Good Morning America that people would believe him if he was “attacked by black or Muslim guys.” On February 13th, Chicago police picked up two men at Chicago’s O’Hare Airport they identify as Nigerian brothers who are persons of interest. The next day, there were news reports that police are investigating whether Smollett and the two men staged the attack. Police denied those reports.

On February 15th, things took a major turn. Police said the “trajectory of the investigation” has “shifted” after cops released the two brothers without charges. Police wanted to re-interview Smollet, but the actor refused. Police seemed to ramp-up their investigation and unconfirmed reports starting swirling that Smollett would soon be arrested. Then this morning, Smollett was charged with filing a false police report. A very somber Chicago Police Superintendent Eddie Johnson, who is also black, said Smollett staged the attack only to increase his salary. Johnson added Chicago didn’t deserve this “publicity stunt” and he was upset Smollett used the dark symbol of a noose. He said Smollett paid the brothers 35-hundred bucks to stage the attack and added that he believes Smollett mailed the original letter to himself.

Jussie Smollett Charged With Filing False Report

(Chicago, IL) – The attack on Jussie Smollett has finally come full circle and not in a good way as he is now being charged with filing a false report that registers as a class 4 felony.

It was a freezing cold late January night in Chicago, when Jussie Smollett said that he went to a local store close to his apartment to get something to eat at around 2 in the morning.   What happened next was honestly random, but in this world that we live in now, no-one is surprised by anything that happens.

Jussie, sitting on top rated show Good Morning America, shedded tears as he told Robin Roberts about an attack he suffered in which two masked men hurled racist and homophobic slurs at him, beat him, threw some type of chemical liquid on him, and looped a rope around his neck in Chicago’s Streeterville neighborhood while yelling this is MAGA country.

Jussie, defiantly told Robin, “He punched me in the face and I punched his ass back.”  Encouraging other members of the LGBTQ community to not be afraid when confronted with adversity.  It was a good story.  One of bravery in the face of racism and hatred towards gays and black people in a tense political time for the United States.

But there were still a lot of holes …questions? Who in their right mind was out in Chicago going to get something to eat in the middle of a storm that hit Chicago with below freezing temperatures. Who??…..again who….has that much hatred for someone that they stand outside of his apartment in freezing cold temperatures hoping that their target will surface on the outside.  Armed with bleach and rope, would he come out or nah? And how was it that Jussie could say for certain that the men captured on surveillance video were in fact the men who attacked him? How was he so sure? Oh…because he was there.

One thing that was odd to me, Jussie said, as he was having this candid discourse with Robin, if I tell the truth……stop right there.  IF you are telling the truth, whether they believe you or not should never enter your mind.  Forget his reluctance to give up his phone records, we can all understand his reasoning behind that.  But at the point in which the portion you do give… produces nothing…red flags. How hard is it to show that your manager, friend or whoever was on the phone with you at a certain time of the night/day.  A screenshot would suffice.

By the time authorities identified the two people of interest on the surveillance video who turned out to be minorities and not white.  The …”This is MAGA country” verbiage became questionable.  But at the point in which they flat out told authorities Smollett planned the whole thing….all consideration stopped.

Now, to be fair, before they cooperated, the brothers told the cops they were friends of Jussie’s and were shocked to hear about what happened to him. LIES?  When they realized their falsities weren’t working they seemingly spilled all the details.  From how Jussie had sent hate mail to himself and was upset that it didn’t get a lot of attention. They  went on to detail the course of events for the night of the attack and at the end of the gab fest it was concluded that Jussie had possibly orchestrated the whole attack.

After word spread that he allegedly set the whole thing up, video surfaced of the two brothers purchasing ski masks, gloves and a red hat in a store the day before the attack. and police wanted another word with the Empire star. Are they telling the truth? Did Jussie really stage a class 4 felony attack for attention? Time will tell……

In the meantime, he’s officially being charged with filing a false report and is due in court tomorrow at 1:30pm.

 

 

Actor Nicolas Cage’s Former SF Mansion Asking $10.9 Million

(San Francisco, CA-AP) — Actor Nicolas Cage’s former San Francisco mansion is now on the market for ten-point-nine-million-dollars. Cage’s four-story Tudor Revival home in Russian Hill features unobstructed views of Alcatraz and the Golden Gate Bridge.

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Highlights also include a powder room, a gym, and a wine cellar. It’s next to a lot that’s available for three-million-dollars if purchased with the house. A longtime resident of the Bay Area, the actor owns a few properties in Northern and Southern California.

West Virginia Teachers Strike Gets Quick Victory

(Charleston, WV-AP) — Teachers in West Virginia are celebrating a quick victory after legislators backed down on a bill to support private and charter schools. The teachers walked off their jobs today for the second time in less than a year. The State House of Delegates responded by voting to table a bill that would have allowed public tax dollars to pay for private school tuition and establish charter schools in the state for the first time.

The teachers union said the strike will continue Wednesday because they don’t trust legislators. Teachers in this state were the first to walk off their jobs in a recent national trend to improve salaries and conditions in public schools. Most of the walkouts have been in Republican-controlled states that have seen a shift from funding public education to private schools.

Teachers in Oakland, California could be the next to walk off their jobs, threatening to do so on Thursday unless there is a last-minute deal.