We’ve all heard the expression one monkey don’t stop no show, well in the case of “American Idol” winner, Fantasia Barrino, it looks like not even being named in a divorce proceeding and a suicide attempt will stop her record company from releasing her latest album on the appointed date (today). So the crisis management experts and publicists have gotten the machine in motion just in the nick of time. Yesterday, Fantasia sat down with the Associated Press and confirmed that she did try to take her own life—mixing aspirin and sleeping pills. She also opened up about her relationship with the man in question, Antwaun Cook. Read the full story

For those of us who fell in love with Idris Elba’s star-making turn as Stringer Bell in “The Wire” he should already be Hollywood gold. But the fact that articles use the regrettably hilarious “Obsessed” when they list his credits shows that they don’t have a clue. Well, it looks like so decision-makers are wising up. Entertainment Weekly reported yesterday that Elba will take over the role of Alex Cross in a new adaptation of one of James Patterson’s series on the Black forensic psychologist. In truth you’ve got to call this a reboot, hell a total overhaul, because the role was originated on the big screen by Morgan Freeman in both “Kiss the Girls” in 1997 and “Along Came A Spider” in 2001. I never thought I’d mention the two actors in the same role. How about you? Read the full story

Okay folks there are so many things I just don’t want to write about these day. Fantasia and Montana Fishburne for example, just don’t interest me. These chicks need help not my opinion (athough I am kind of annoyed that Tasia had cameras filming her ‘meeting’ with Antwaun last week). However, I am more interested in a less sexy subject—why young black men are not graduating from high school. An article published on Education Week’s website yesterday cited a study from the Schott Foundation that states that only 47% of American black males graduate school on time. The data was gathered from federal, state and local records for the years 2007-2008. So we may not be surprised by this stat but I for one wonder why it seems to be a forgone conclusion. Read the full story

Taraji P. Henson has been doing an awesome job of standing out in movies in which she’s not the star. But I was wondering when she’d get a big budget film that would let her shine. (I missed “I Could Do Bad By Myself”, I suspect that many other people did aswell). After the awesome Academy Award nomination, however, I was hoping that she’d get a larger role sooner. Yesterday The Hollywood Reporter announced that Henson has been tapped to headline “In the Rough”, a fictionalized account of the first Black women to coach a Division 1 men’s team. Exciting, no? Read the full story

My heart broke when the impact the devastating earthquake had on Haiti, especially the children. I wanted to scoop a bunch a children up and take them home with me. But when I heard that only children who had already been in the process of adoption would actually get to leave the country I reluctantly put that plan on the back burner. (Of course those missionaries who tried to smuggle children out didn’t help matters either.) Now The New York Times is reporting what’s really going on with orphans in Haiti—and it’s not what most of believed was happening. Calling it a quagmire would be putting it mildly. Read the full story

As I’ve mentioned before these are perilous political times and everybody, I mean everybody needs to be on their p’s and q’s. As Representative Charles Rangel can attest even a long-standing record in Congress can shield you from an investigation and 13 ethics charges. But he is not alone. Now the venerable leader Maxine Waters finds herself in the cross-hairs of the ethics committee as well. According to the Los Angeles Times a congressional panel wants to go ahead with an ethics trial this fall against the California Congresswoman. The charges themselves haven’t been released but the panel believes that there was some questionable activity surrounding the bailout of a black bank, OneUnited, on which Waters’ husband, Sidney, once held a seat on the board. During the crazy economic meltdown of 2008 the bank received $12 million in bailout funds. Read the full story

It’s a rare thing these days for a pitchman to become an overnight sensation. (Remember the Dr. Pepper Man?) Most companies have taken the easy way out and hired established stars to shill for them. But Isaiah Mustafa, aka The Old Spice Guy, is bucking that trend and making us realize how refreshing it is to see someone take a gig and run with it. Of course it doesn’t hurt that the commercials (the first making its debut on Super Bowl Sunday) are hilarious. And that Mustafa is very smart about marketing his personal brand. My favorite: the video marriage proposal he posted for one of his You Tube fans. But besides being totally entertaining, Mustafa has managed to boost his serious acting prospects too. Read the full story

I don’t know if it was last night’s full moon but there are some strange happenings in the air. And I count this as one of them: USA Today reports that Rihanna has signed on for her very first movie. But it’s not the remake of “The Bodyguard” that I mentioned a few months back, instead the Bajan beauty will co-star in a big screen adaptation of the beloved game “Battleship”. Yes the guesses you used to make like B4 and C7 will become some blown-out action feature co-starring Taylor Kitsch (he plays Tim Riggins on ‘Friday Night Lights”) and Alexander Skarsgard (Eric Northman on “True Blood”). Since I only watch “True Blood” once in a while and have never seen “Friday Night Lights” I can’t say whether that this pairing is a good or bad thing. But this is really about Rihanna isn’t it? So back to the subject at hand… Read the full story

I love television shows like “Leverage” where Timothy Hutton and his band of Robin Hood thieves, hackers and grifters invent and alter evidence to get the job done. But now it looks like the same thing is happening with frequency to people in real life too. Such is the case with Shirley Sherrod who was forced to resign from her position earlier this week amid charges that during a NAACP speech in March when it appeared that she admitted to not helping a white farmer save his farm. But further investigation has revealed that Sherrod was a casualty of what would have been called “The Edit Job” on “Leverage”. Except the fallout has been catastrophic for the former USDA director. Read the full story

I just read a review of Lil’ Kim’s recent set in San Francisco’s Rrazz Room and it was clear how much the San Francisco Chronicle writer and the few hundred folks in the audience miss the Queen Bee. Since she got out of the clink a few years back we’ve all been posed for a Lil’ Kim comeback. But beyond her crowd pleasing sting on “Dancing With the Stars” her return to the spotlight has been more talk than reality. Meanwhile, the female rap game (what’s left of it) has changed and after reading that review I wondered just how successful Lil’ Kim could be now. Read the full story