RHONY star Countess LuAnn de Lesseps works for free to prove worth to BravoTV

Countess LuAnn de Lesseps and her beau Jacques Azoulay

(photo credit:  Countess LuAnn de Lesseps via Facebook)

All of the employment and finance blogs advise that if you are out of work, one of the best things to do is to volunteer in the industry you would like to work in.  Apparently that goes for show business veterans also.  According to a story in Radar Online today, Real Housewives of New York City (RHONY) star Countess LuAnn de Lesseps is not getting paid for being on the show this season.

The height of de Lesseps’ popularity on the show peaked around 2010.  She was the toast of the town with her book on etiquette “Class with the Countess”.  And at almost every high society party she attended the guests would beg her to sing her hit single “Money Can’t Buy You Class”.  But over the last few years things began to change.  (Continue reading full story here.)

Bruno Mars makes recovering fan feel like a true 'Treasure'

Bruno Mars sings to cheer up young girl recovering from a horrific tragedy

(YouTube)

Not many people know Peter Gene Hernandez.  But almost everyone knows Bruno Mars.  Even the stage name is almost other worldly.  Bruno Mars is a star.  His singing has been compared with the likes of Marvin Gaye; and his dance-filled, high-energy live performances have been compared with those of the late great Michael Jackson.  Well onstage theatrics aside, Bruno Mars proved he is one of the nicest guys in show business Saturday when he singled out and performed for a very special fan.

The Plain Dealer is reporting today that the show was in Cleveland, OH, and was a part of Mars’ Moonshine Jungle Tour.  This is Mars’ second tour and he is getting rave reviews and sold out shows all over the country. Mars was already a hot up and coming artist, but his name recognition, bankability and star power shot through the roof after he gave what many called the best half-time show in years at the 2014 Super Bowl.

Mars made one young lady in Cleveland super happy with some up close and personal attention.  The brave Zumyah Thorpe, 11, is another victim of the horrible epidemic of drunk driving that is plaguing the nation.  These drunk drivers seldom realize how drastically a split-second foolish decision can alter someone else’s whole existence.  (Continue reading full story here.)

Toni Braxton: God punished me with autistic son because of my past abortion

Toni Braxton makes some startling confessions

in her memoir "Unbreak My Heart"

(Photo Credit:  Slaven Vlasic/Getty Images)

The Huffington Post reported today that six-time Grammy winning singer Toni Braxton was weighed down for years under a load of guilt.  Braxton revealed that she felt so guilty about a 2001 abortion of ex-husband Keri Lewis’ child, that she believed God had punished her by giving her son Diezel Ky Braxton-Lewis, 11, autism.

Braxton shared her struggles in her new book, a memoir called “Unbreak My Heart”.  Braxton said that she was raised in a very religious household.  Viewers of her reality show “Braxton Family Values” are familiar with her parents Michael and Evelyn Braxton, now divorced.  Even though their children are adults, Mom and Pop Braxton often appear on the show and do not bite their tongues about what they feel is right and wrong in their children’s lives.

Both Michael and Evelyn are pastors and Toni said that bible study was more important than school homework when she was growing up.  (Continue reading full story here.)

Channeling Elvis; Chris Brown and James DeBarge making jailhouse pop

Chris Brown (left) and James DeBarge (right) are locking down the beats while in jail.

(Photo Credit:  Chris Brown via his Facebook page/ 

James DeBarge via his Twitter Page)

The old saying goes that politics makes strange bedfellows.  Well now it can also be said that prison makes strange bedfellows.  The Los Angeles County jail is currently playing host to two of the smoothest voices in R&B music.  Chris Brown and James DeBarge are prisoners in adjacent cells and making the most of their time.

Brown was on probation stemming from his altercation with pop star Rhianna.  He allegedly assaulted someone who was trying to photobomb his picture with a fan and was thrown in jail for violating parole. He was originally scheduled to be released July 6^th, but may be set free as soon as sometime in June.  Brown has been charting since the early 2000’s and is known for such songs as ‘Kiss, Kiss’, ‘Run It’, ‘Fine China’, and ‘Wall To Wall’.

DeBarge, once married to Janet Jackson, (Continue reading full story here.)

"Scandal" recap: Mellie said knock you out!

Mellie and Fitz come to blows

(photo credit:  abc.go.com)

Aired Thursday, April 3^rd, on ABC, Episode - “The Fluffer”

Well to get the medical miracle out of the way, Harrison seems to have recovered rather quickly from his sleep-inducing injection last week and is back in tip-top Gladiator suit form.

Liv, still hurt from President Fitz’s harsh “I’m talking to my wife,” rebuttal last week, tries to play the icy dead-eyed stare game and calmly asks Fitz “what service am I billing you for today?’’  Wow!

Fitz shows his hypocritical side with a fierceness when he orders Liv to “make it stop!”  He brazenly asks his own mistress to make sure the vice presidential candidate stops sleeping with Fitz’s wife, Mellie.  The nerve.

Of course Liv, the strongest woman in D.C., but weak for Fitz, goes straight to Andrew and tells him he has 24 hours to decide whether he wants to be vice president for the next four years, or does he want to pleasure Mellie for the next three months which, according to Liv, is about how long it will be before Mellie gets bored with him.

Andrew protests that this is about love, not politics.  However as he watches Liv and Fitz interact for the cameras and how smoothly she lays on the role of the loving, touchy-feely wife, he begins to doubt if what Mellie feels for him is any realer than the act she puts on for the press.

Later that evening, Mellie sidles up to Andrew and gives him the come hither smile.  Andrew says he doesn’t think it’s a good idea for them to continue sleeping with each other.  Without another word Mellie spins on her heel, marches into Fitz’s office and reaches back from Louisiana to the Gulf of Mexico with a roundhouse slap heard around the world!

Fitz almost goes down, the people he was meeting with are speechless, and the secret service agents (Fitz’s supposed protectors) don’t make a move.  She accuses Fitz of not letting her have anything.  Taking Andrew was apparently the last straw.

Then there was the Hallmark family dinner moment…not.  For the first time ever viewers were treated to Momma and Daddy Pope at dinner with their beloved Livvie.  Momma Pope wasn’t invited, but that’s never stopped her before.  Where most families reach for each other’s hands to grace the food, these folk were grabbing for knives and making threats.  Momma Pope stayed just long enough for Liv to get the phone call that Claire (one of Momma Pope’s operatives that was sneaking info to Liv) was dead, and then sashayed off.   Notice how everyone ends up dead in the streets on this show?  Poor Claire sprawled in the street with her throat sliced open.  Always outside.

Just when we thought Liv was going to give in once again, she grew a backbone and stood up to Jake’s begging, refusing to let him into her apartment.  Then she showed up at his apartment and went way above and beyond the call of duty.  Let’s just say she worked him out, put him to sleep and snuck the data off of his phone.  What that woman won’t do for her country.

Super Quinn and Charlie and Team Gladiators all find out around the same time that Momma Pope has a bomb.  Liv tells Huck to shut down the communication system, and he does, but in the process Momma Pope gets away and no one knows where she is going.

Out of the blue Jake bursts into the office and (horror of horrors) grabs Liv around the throat and slams her against the glass-paned door…hard!  Before crazy Huck and the other Gladiators can make a move, Jake whips a gun in their faces and waves it back and forth, keeping them at bay.  Believe it or not, that’s the kind of stress Shonda Rhimes (creator of Scandal) left us under.  She’s a great writer, but her episodes are not at all blood-pressure friendly.  But we love it.

Oh and the previews next week left us with a glimpse of President Fitz speaking and a bomb underneath the stage.  Not necessarily saying that the bomb was ticking under the same stage Fitz was on, but that’s all we were given.

Be sure to catch the next episode, Thursday, April 10^th at 10:00pm on ABC.

Grieving hip-hop star shot multiple times; nephew charged with attempted murder

Benzino, 48, is recovering after being shot multiple times by his own nephew.

(photo credit:  TMZ.com)

So much for naysayers who believe all reality TV drama is scripted phoniness.  Too much of the madness is real.  Sadly, the unbelievable happened Saturday in Plymouth, Massachusetts.  “Love and Hip Hop Atlanta” star Benzino (real name Raymond Scott) was shot multiple times as he was on the way to his mother’s funeral.

Benzino, 48, is one of the former owners of Source Magazine, a colorful hip-hop monthly that prides itself on dishing the latest rap, music, celebrity and political news.  Since 2012 he has been, and is currently, one of the stars of Mona Scott’s breakout southern reality show Love and Hip Hop Atlanta, which chronicles the lives, loves, ups and downs of a group of newcomers (as well as trying-to-make-a-comeback rap stars) whose lives heavily revolve around the rap/hip-hop music industry.

The grieving Benzino, who had recently posted a message on Instagram saying he didn’t know how he would go on after losing his mom, was driving in his mother’s funeral procession when his very own nephew, 36-year-old Gai Scott, pulled up alongside the vehicle  Benzino was in and brutally fired shots, hitting his uncle Benzino.  Benzino managed to get out of the car and a passerby rushed him to the hospital where he is recovering.

The rest of the family proceeded to the church and laid Mary Scott to rest without further incident.  Benzino later said that he had a bad feeling about going to the funeral due to growing family tensions.  He paid his respects to his mother at a wake the night before and believes that she stepped in and saved him, and he is just glad to be alive.

Gai Scott has been taken into custody and charged with attempted murder.

Robin Roberts admits to being in a 10-year lesbian relationship

Photo Credit:  Robin Roberts via Twitter;  Robert's girlfriend is standing to her left.

Robin Roberts, one of the co-hosts on Good Morning America (GMA), has had quite the tumultuous few years. First she was diagnosed with breast cancer in 2007. She discussed her battle and feelings of depression in this Ladies Home Journal article. For a while things seemed to be going well, and then she was stunned by the news that she was suffering from the rare blood disorder myelodysplastic syndrome (MDS) in 2012 which caused her to leave her post. Even scarier was learning that it might have been the treatment used for her first bout with cancer that caused the new cancer. After successful treatment and a bone marrow transplant from her sister, Roberts bravely returned to her position on GMA.

Now she’s facing a battle of a different kind, one that has nothing to do with her health; the battle of public opinion. Your audience can be your biggest supporter one moment, and then cut you like a knife the next. It was reported that Roberts came out and admitted she was gay on her Facebook page in December 2013. But Roberts took it a step further. She openly discussed her relationship with a woman on GMA, to include showing a photo. Is this going too far?

Whatever one’s stance is on gay or lesbian relationships is it necessary for the involved parties to discuss it in public settings? It seems to be crossing the line. It would be rather off-putting for every heterosexual news anchor or celebrity to make a point of saying they are straight. While everyone is very happy to see Roberts regain her health and back in her anchor spot at GMA, sexual orientations and other delicacies should be kept behind closed doors. What say you?

Lyrical Love

Hi everyone.  Well here we are four days after the one and only Mrs. Carter has shattered all ITunes records ever with the secret release of her latest album "Beyonce".  While I too am thrilled with her latest success, I am not at all surprised.  Jay-Z is still in the videos with her and she is still smiling from ear to ear.  So I can't help it.  I want to re-share a post I first published on February 8, 2012. Just because.  :)  

This post is pure indulgent romantica.  I am just so digging Beyonce's evolution of love right now.  Let's take a stroll "back down memory lane" (another great song, but we'll talk about that another time).  Now I'll be the first to admit that I wasn't really a fan of Jay Z and Beyonce as a couple in the beginning.  I thought he was too gangster and she was too elegant.  But as time went on, they kind of grew on me.  And now I'm totally rooting for their love to last.  Let me explain why I get such a rush out of this couple.

Kanye Takes A Chance On Love

Photo Credit:  Courtesy of Clyde Haygood

What a difference eight years can make. In 2005 rapper Kanye West soared to the number one spot on the Billboard chart with an infectious little ditty called "Gold Digger". Kanye rapped about a woman who was always wearing the most fashionable clothes, being seen at all the "in" places and ruthlessly leaving one man for the next spurred by the size of their bank accounts. During the song Kanye urgently warns his listeners "If you ain't no punk holla we want prenup. WE WANT PRENUP! Yeah".

Fast forward to Monday, October 21, 2013. Kanye West rented out the San Francisco Giants' stadium and proposed to Kim Kardashian in grand fashion, complete with a 15 carat sparkler to seal the deal. The proposal was especially touching because that was Kim's birthday. Now many late night comedians back in the day joked that young party women of the Kim type (although not her specifically) were the basis of Kanye's song.

Kim was catapulted into the limelight when a sex tape of her with R&B singer Ray J was leaked to the public. She had a media-spotlighted relationship with NFL star Reggie Bush, and a 72-day marriage to NBA player Kris Humphries. Like the song says she doesn't mess with broke or struggling. In light of her track record, there was a flurry of fan disbelief and backlash when Kanye West announced that there would be no prenup.

Let's give love a chance. This is Kanye's first marriage and Kim's third. He is stepping up to the plate and doing the right thing by putting a ring on the mother of their child. This might even be an example to the ever fruitful and multiplying Kourtney and Scott.

Kim and Kanye have named their baby North West, but that's a story for another day. Suffice it to say she probably won't have to fill out too many 9-5 job applications where human resources personnel might question her name. Kanye said he loves Kim and she has enough money so that she doesn't have to ask him for anything; and because of that he wants to give her everything. You can't argue with that. Congratulations to the happy couple.