Jay-Z rumored to acquire ‘significant ownership interest’ in NFL team as part of new deal

Earlier this week, it was announced that Jay-Z’s company Roc Nation agency inked a deal with the NFL encompassing entertainment and social justice, and now rumors are swirling that the rapper might become part-owner of an NFL franchise.

TheGrio previously reported that Roc Nation will serve as co-producer of future Super Bowl Halftime shows, and also contribute to Inspire Change, a foundation the NFL started in response to public outrage over their mishandling of Colin Kaepernick’s peaceful #TakeTheKnee protest.

READ MORE: Op-Ed: Only an idiot would be shocked that Jay-Z’s NFL deal leaves out Colin Kaepernick

On Friday, more details of Jay’s NFL deal emerged, with TMZ reporting how the savvy businessman will soon acquire a “significant ownership interest” in an NFL team. Variety notes that details about which team he’s eyeing or exactly when the deal will be finalized have not yet been revealed, but news of the billionaire hip-hop star and entrepreneur becoming part owner has fueled the ongoing heated debate on Twitter about Jay’s “betrayal” to the cultural with his NFL partnership.

One of Kap’s biggest defenders, Eric Reid, as well as the former 49’s girlfriend, Nessa, both publicly criticized Jay’s major money moves with the NFL.

“JAY-Z claimed to be a supporter of Colin,” Reid said. “Wore his jersey. Told people not perform at the supper bowl because of the treatment that the NFL did to Colin and now he’s going to be a part owner. It’s kind of despicable.”

Nessa hit up Twitter and wrote, “Jay-Z knew better and did NOT do better. The NFL used him but that shouldn’t surprise anyone bc that’s how the nfl moves. That’s what the NFL always does – BUY PR LOOKS. Thankfully the people see through this even if it means calling out their idol.”

READ MORE: Beyoncé & Jay Z announce $1 million in college scholarships

In interviews with reporters for the The New York Times, Washington Post and Wall Street Journal, Jay was asked how he could comfortably be in cahoots with the league while Kaepernick remains unsigned, he responded, “I think that we forget that Colin’s whole thing was to bring attention to social injustice so in that case this is a success — this is the next thing. There’s two parts of protest: the protest, and then there’s a company or individual saying ‘I hear you, what do we do next?’ For me it’s about actionable items, what are we gonna do about it? We get stuck on Colin not having a job, you know what I’m saying? And this is more than that.”

“I support any protest that’s effective,” Jay continued. “I’m into action, I’m into real work— I’m not into how it looks from the outside. If protesting on the field is the most effective way, then protest on the field. But if you have a vehicle that can inspire change and speak to the masses at the same time, it’s hard to steal the narrative away.”

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New Jersey man’s ‘side chick’ burns his house down after he stood her up for sex

A New Jersey woman has been charged with attempted murder and aggravated arson for setting a man’s house ablaze after he stood her up for sex.

The victim, whose name has not yet been released, told police that Taija M. Russell, 29, of Blackwood, was his “side chick” — and he missed eight calls from her and a slew of text messages on the night of the incident, including, “You wasted my money to come out here,” “U smoked,” “I see you wanna die,” and “I swear to god I hope you die,” police said, according to New York Daily News.

Surveillance video captures Russell buying matches, a lighter and lighter fluid from a local gas station. From there, another camera shows her knocking on his door around 4 a.m.  A half an hour later, he wakes to the flames and escapes by removing a window frame and climbing through the opening, police said. The man fled the home wearing only a T-shirt and ran around two-tenths of a mile to Woodbury’s police station. Officials said he was “covered head to toe in soot and ash,” USA Today reports.

READ MORE: Police bodycam footage in death of De’Von Bailey released; sparks outrage

He was taken to a hospital and treated for smoke inhalation and first- and second-degree burns, according to police. His dog was also rescued and treated for smoke inhalation.

“The residence and its contents were completely destroyed,” according to the report.

The man told authorities that he asked Russell to come to his house for sex, but fell asleep before she arrived. Police arrested her Tuesday after speaking with witnesses and reviewing hours of surveillance video from the area.

Russell has been charged with attempted murder, aggravated arson, aggravated assault, endangering/creating substantial risk of death and criminal mischief.

READ MORE: Florida community terrorized by teen threatening to kill black people in ‘KKK’ video

The man and dog “are both recovering well,” police noted in announcing the arrest.

The incident marked the second time this year a scorned woman set fire to a man’s home in Woodbury.

33-year-old Tasia Young was charged with aggravated arson in April for setting fire to her boyfriend’s duplex after she became angry when he sent her home in an Uber following a threesome and the other woman got to stay after the sexual encounter.

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GOP memo reveals Republican strategy to downplay white nationalism and blame left for mass shootings

Amid the ongoing debate over whether there is an uprising of right-wing, white supremacy-related violence under President Trump, congressional Republicans have been directed to downplay reports about extremist-related murders by pushing anti-left propaganda.

A GOP memo obtained by The Tampa Bay Times falsely blames Democrats for the El Paso massacre and other notable mass shootings. The documents include talking points for congressional Republicans to recite when speaking with reporters or constituents about gun violence and domestic terrorism.

The memo serves as a script for how to respond to questions such as: “Do you believe white nationalism is driving more mass shootings recently?”

Republican lawmakers are advised to offer this response: “White nationalism and racism are pure evil and cannot be tolerated in any form. We also can’t excuse violence from the left such as the El Paso shooter, the recent Colorado shooters, the Congressional baseball shooter, Congresswoman Giffords’ shooter and Antifa.”

READ MORE: Don Lemon blasts Trump for making visits to mass shooting victims all about himself

The El Paso shooter, 21-year-old Patrick Crusius, killed 22 people and targeted Hispanics. He reportedly penned a manifesto documenting his far right beliefs and how they align with Trump’s divisive rhetoric. The language reportedly echoes Trump’s characterizations of illegal immigration.

Rep. Gabby Giffords shooter had mixed political views and was primarily motived by his  reported personal obsession with the Arizona Congresswoman. The May shooters at a Colorado high school — both bullied high schoolers — were also not known to be motivated by politics.

U.S. Rep. Gus Bilirakis, R-Palm Harbor, included the GOP talking points in a newsletter that he emailed this week to his Florida constituents.

“We have sadly seen violence from ideological extremists on both sides and that is completely unacceptable and must be condemned,” said his spokeswoman Summer Robertson. “Congressman Bilirakis has always been clear that he denounces bigotry and hate speech, regardless of its source, including from white nationalists.”

READ MORE: Oprah Winfrey weighs in on mass shootings

In wake of the recent back-to-back shootings in El Paso and Dayton, Ohio, Republicans have faced mounting pressure from Democrats and victims of gun violence who are demanding Congress take action.

The GOP’s response has been to encourage Republican members of congress to lie about the facts and instead highlight incidents of “violence on the left,” which contradicts reports about the rise in hate crimes and white nationalism on the far-right.

The Anti-Defamation League noted on Twitter that “73.3% of U.S. extremist-related murders in the past decade were committed by right-wing extremists, including white supremacists.”

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Nicki Minaj hints at marriage to felon bae by changing Twitter name to ‘Mrs. Petty’

Nicki Minaj and her felon bae Kenneth Petty have been dating since 2018, and if a new Twitter handle is any indication, it seems they are serious about to taking their relationship to the next level and tying the knot.

As TheGrio previously reported, the “Megatron” rapper and her beau obtained a marriage license in Beverly Hills late last month. On Friday, Nicki changed her Twitter display name from “Ms. Minaj” to ” Mrs. Petty,” to reflect the last name of the 41-year-old Queens native, PEOPLE reports.

READ MORE: Trina quickly addresses member of her team’s negative shot at Nicki Minaj on social media

Nicki previously told listeners of her QUEEN Radio podcast that she and her man had obtained a marriage license, and she had “about 80 days” to walk down the aisle. With the name change on social media, fans are convinced she’s already married.

“We still had to pick it up and I was traveling, by the time I came back, we had to renew it again,” she said on the Aug. 12 episode of her radio show. “From that time, you have 90 days to get married. That was about a week ago, so now I have about 80 days.”

Petty is a convicted sex offender for attempted rape of a 16-year-old in 1995, according to New York Division of Criminal Justice Services records, The Blast reports. He also was convicted in the shooting death of a man named Lamont Robinson in 2002, according to a criminal complaint obtained by website.

Fans have been giving Nicki hell over her relationship Petty since she announced their union on Instagram. It seems the Barbz believe she can do better and hate to see her boo’d up with a felon. But Nicki used her podcast platform recently to make clear that her love for Petty is deeper than folks realize.

“When a person is with a n—- that loved them before they had a dime in their pocket? How do you not understand that? How do you not understand happiness vs clout?” Minaj said, according to E! News.

“How f—ing dare you talk about lowering standards,” she added. She then scolded her critics telling them to “wake up” and expressed how deeply her love for Petty runs.

“It’s the truth, money cannot buy me happiness and good sex,” Minaj said.

READ MORE: Twitter goes crazy over Normani’s new ‘Motivation’ video

While the haters continue to hate, Minaj said she and Petty will celebrate their union with a  intimate ceremony and plan a big wedding after her schedule becomes less busy.

“I have to work on my album and I have a lot to focus on that I don’t want to do the big wedding now. We’ll do the big wedding later,” Minaj said. “I’ll be married before my album comes out, but will have my wedding after the album comes out. Before the 90 days is over, yes, I will be married.”

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R. Kelly’s attorney denies claims singer missed court because he refused to cooperate

R. Kelly is denying claims that he refused to show up in court for a pretrial hearing in Chicago on Thursday.

As TheGrio previously reported, Cook County Assistant State’s Attorney Jennifer Gonzalez stated to NBC News that the embattled singer “refused transport” from the Metropolitan Correctional Center in downtown, where he’s awaiting trial on a number of sexual abuse crimes. The hearing is a routine part of the evidentiary process, and was still held before Cook County Judge Lawrence Flood, despite Kelly not being present.

His lawyer, however, said the claim that R .Kelly refused transport is “not 100-percent true.” Attorney Steve Greenberg is putting the blame squarely on the State’s Attorney, noting that “nobody came to get” Kelly when it was time for his court appearance.

READ MORE: R. Kelly to move to New York to face racketeering charges

“He’s in federal custody and it’s incumbent on the state to get him to Cook County… I can’t drive over in my Maserati and pick him up and they didn’t do it,” Greenberg tells Billboard. “They claimed he refused to come when nobody came to get him. What they said was just not true. It was the State’s Attorney lying to cover up their own screw-up over the fact that they didn’t get him.”

Kelly has been behind bars for more than a month on racketeering and child pornography charges in New York and Illinois. He was also recently hit with two counts of underage prostitution in Minnesota.

Kellz has denied the allegations and pleaded not guilty to the sexual misconduct charges against him in Chicago, which include more than two dozen federal sex crime charges as well as charges of racketeering, kidnapping, forced labor and sexual exploitation in New York. The 40 counts he’s facing carry a combined maximum prison sentence of more than 500 years, according to the Associated Press.

“Saying he refused to transport is a lie,” says Greenberg. “I told them that he didn’t want to come… there was no reason to bring him and he didn’t want to come. He didn’t want to go through all that. I also told them that the Marshall’s service didn’t want to go through the hassle and everyone was fine with that.”

Greenberg says if an official from the Cook County Sheriff’s Office had shown up to get R. Kelly he would have appeared in court.

READ MORE: Sparkle calls out Erykah Badu and Taraji P. Henson over R. Kelly comments

“Because of who he is you have to put extra manpower on it,” he says of the additional precautions that are required for this high-profile case. “You can move a normal guy in a regular van, but with him you have to have a car in front and behind and extra guys to get him into the building because he’s not just some nameless, faceless guy who can just walk into the courtroom.”

When asked how his client is holding up in jail, Greenberg said: “he’s not happy… he’s in jail and he would like to get out of jail because he’s accused of all kinds of things that aren’t true.”

The next status hearing in the case is scheduled for Sept. 17.

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Facebook's Voice Transcripts Were More Invasive Than Amazon's

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Sheikh Zakzaky: Nigeria's Shia leader leaves Indian hospital

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Op-Ed: Only an idiot would be shocked that Jay-Z’s NFL deal leaves out Colin Kaepernick

A couple years ago, I compiled all of the Jay-Z bars and verses from his entire two-decade-plus career in which he addresses his own business acumen – in ventures legal and illegal – for a project that never got off the ground. I opened the document today – it’s eight pages long.

He’s gone much deeper and wittier than the “I’m not a businessman, I’m a business, man!” bar that’s currently doing rounds on social media. Making your head bop as he raps about how much money he makes while actually making loads of money is the essence of Jay-Z’s entire career; throw a stone at his verses and you’ll likely hit one in which he’s gleefully explaining how much better off he is than your broke ass.

READ MORE: Eric Reid blasts Jay-Z for partnering with NFL

He’s a living legend for a reason: people listen to his music. That’s why I’m so surprised by how many are crestfallen by the recently-announced partnership between his Roc Nation company and the National Football League. Among the several NFL entertainment ventures Jay will oversee is the (once?) vaunted Super Bowl halftime show. Roc Nation also plans to amplify the NFL’s “Inspire Change” initiative announced in January to promote education and criminal justice reform, which…yeah, right.

Of course, the NFL continues to blackball quarterback Colin Kaepernick, the progenitor of a movement to kneel for the National Anthem before sports games that has been co-opted by athletes in several other sports. There appears to be a widespread cognitive dissonance at the idea that Jay-Z would “betray” Kaepernick to make a buck with the putative people’s enemy; it’s perhaps especially upsetting to Jay fans considering his vocal support of Kaepernick, most notably in the lyrics for “Apeshit” in which he calls out the NFL by name.

What did everyone truly expect from an avowed capitalist like Jay? The last time he was trending was in early June, when he hit Forbes’ list for becoming the first billionaire rapper. A lot of the same people who championed him for that are castigating his decision now, but I think those people don’t understand what “billionaire” means or entails.

READ MORE: Jay-Z defends NFL deal with Roc Nation, talks Kaepernick

Typically, one doesn’t usually make it to the Three-Comma Club without stepping on a few toes or testing the limits of morality in the interest of profit margins. There’s a decent chance someone had to visit an unemployment office or fret over how they’d feed their family on the road to Jay-Z clocking those nine zeroes.

Jay Z is billionaire, not a community organizer. He is going to protect his interests at all costs. I’m not putting stock in anything his team is doing because it won’t be to dismantle systems, it’ll be to reform a system he makes money off of.

— Clarissa Brooks (@ClarissaMBrooks) August 15, 2019

Delusional Hov supporters have suggested that Jay was being entirely altruistic in its intentions and that he is simply positioning himself within the league to engender greater social change. Indeed, Jay’s cultural influence – especially when combined with that of his wife Beyoncé – is nonpareil. But even if that was Jay’s intention, he can’t alone turn around a century-old, multi-billion-dollar league mired in institutional racism, which has made it known in no uncertain terms that it doesn’t give a hammered shit about the protestations of Black folks – even at the sacrifice of a decent halftime show.

Some folks grasping for straws expect Jay will infect the white supremacist structure from within the league, but dude will simply not possess that level of juice. Don’t expect Beyoncé to lead a bunch of kneeling backup dancers draped in Kente cloth as she tears up a mock Declaration of Independence on-stage for next year’s Super Bowl halftime show. The check-cutting good ol’ boys aren’t going to let that happen.

I’ve even seen people suggest he’s not doing the deal for money because he already has plenty. Come now…how many billionaires have you seen say “f– it” and stop trying to accumulate even more wealth? None, because that internal engine that drives billionaires only shuts off when they’re rocking highly-ornate caskets.  Warren Buffett is 88 whole-ass years old and he’s still out here making paper because it gets the blood flowing to those ancient veins of his.

Wait a minute you’re telling me Jay did some backroom dealings that are gonna make him richer and leave an associate of his out in the cold? Nuh uh no way man not Jay Z

— Beyonce has an uncle named Larry Beyince. Bruh…. (@DragonflyJonez) August 15, 2019

 

As for the “Apeshit” lyrics that suggest he’d never get in bed with the NFL, well…that’s no different than a husband who made a vow to his wife and screwed around on her. It just so happens there’s a whole album dedicated to Jay doing just that, but I digress.

During a conference on Thursday with the Pale Rider, NFL Commissioner Roger Goodell, a reporter asked Jay pointedly if he’d stand or kneel for the anthem, to which he responded “we’ve moved past kneeling” before devolving into a diatribe in which he looked more uncomfortable and uncertain than I’ve ever seen him.

If you need any proof of how he really feels about the protests, watch that video on a loop.

Hov is one of my favorite emcees, and I respect his ability to build an empire that runs deeper than rap. But there are aren’t too many billionaire heroes out there, regardless of how many foundations they set up or tuitions they pay off – the financial bottom line remains the imperative.

He was never meant to be the heroic voice to fight the NFL instead of joining it, and he shouldn’t have been expected to don that cape. Just listen to his bars.

 

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Dustin J. Seibert is a native Detroiter living in Chicago. Miraculously, people have paid him to be aggressively light-skinned via a computer keyboard for nearly two decades. He loves his own mama slightly more than he loves music and exercises every day only so his French fry intake doesn’t catch up to him. Find him at his own site, wafflecolored.com. 

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The Smart Prison Initiative Pairing Inmates With Rescue Dogs

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Is a Nicki Minaj and Cardi B dust-up brewing again?

Are they at it again?

It seems as if Nicki Minaj is stirring the pot and stewing in pettiness after appearing on the Joe Budden podcast to talk about numbers – not record sales – but who did or didn’t make a list of the top 50 rappers of all time.

—Charlamagne Tha God denies being conductor of Nicki Minaj ‘Hate Train’; says he loves her—

While Minaj didn’t make mention of her rap nemesis Cardi B, many assumed she was throwing not-so-subtle shade at the rapper for not making the list despite the accolades she’s racked up and the hits that dominated the charts this past year, E News reports.

“This is what I want to say, I would feel so f–king crazy if I had numbers ones and Grammys and ain’t on nobody top 50 list,” Nicki said. “I’m not talking about myself.”

“We just sat here and spoke for an hour and all I’ve seen, stuff on the Internet about this top 50 thing, have not once seen anyone say, ‘Well does he have a Grammy?'” Minaj continued. “Yet, the Grammys have brainwashed us into thinking for years that the Grammys are about what? Talent.”

Cardi’s career has exploded this year, and she won Best Rap Album at the 2019 Grammys and has made history in places Minaj never has, like becoming the first female music artist to have all her album tracks certified gold or platinum by RIAA.

—Trina quickly addresses member of her team’s negative shot at Nicki Minaj on social media—

Surely that’s the only list Cardi cares about and she posted a world album sales chart to seemingly stick it to Minaj.

“One year and some change later and my album is still SELLING,” Cardi wrote about Invasion of Privacy. “Only list I give a f–k about. Have a beautiful day everybody.”

“Welp Cardi Heard the podcast,” one commenter wrote on the rapper’s Instagram post.

It seems like Minaj started this one and Cardi finished it.

The two will probably never be fast friends, especially after the nasty altercation last September at New York Fashion Week. This year marks the first anniversary of the fight at the Harper’s Bazaar Icon party at The Plaza Hotel.

Back then, Cardi raised the white flag and vowed for them both to “keep it positive and keep it pushing.”

But for whatever reason Minaj seems to be still taking jabs.

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