(AllHipHop News) Popular tea and skin marketer Teami is under fire for not disclosing payments to well-known influencers and celebrities who promote their products.
Also, their products have been promoted with misleading, deceptive health claims.
Products such as their Teami 30 Day Detox Pack claim that it helps consumers “lose weight, and that its other teas fight cancer, clear clogged arteries, decrease migraines, treat and prevent flus, and treat colds.”
Cardi B, Jordin Sparks, Adrienne Bailon, Katya Elise Henry, Brittany Renner, Princess Mae, Alexa PenaVega, Leyla Milani-Khoshbin, Jenicka Lopez, and Darnell Nicole are among the celebrities and influencers who did not properly state that their Teami posts were paid promotions on their Instagram pages.
Teami has been fined $1 million by the Federal Trade Commission.
Andrew Smith, Director of the FTC’s Bureau of Consumer Protection, said in a statement, “Social media is full of people peddling so-called detox teas, promising weight loss.” He concluded, “Companies need to back up health claims with credible science and ensure influencers prominently disclose that they’re getting paid to promote a product.”
(AllHipHop News) Benny the Butcher recently announced the “Butcher Feature Challenge” on his Instagram page.
The Griselda rapper is on the search for the next big thing. But in this case, three winners.
He opened the video stating, “This for all the dudes who swear they nice, who swear they next, who tryna take their career to the next level, but they ain’t got the paper to do it.”
Rappers interested in participating in the “Butcher Feature Challenge” have to send a song with an open verse for Benny to hop on.
The open verse song has to be sent to a specific email, along with a $100 entry fee to a specific cash app account.
The second and third place winners will be flown out to Cleveland, Ohio to open up for Benny at his show on March 28th.
The grand prize winner will get to record a song with the rapper.
Not only will Benny the Butcher listen to entrants songs, but so will his boys Rasheed, Citi Boy, and Westside Gunn. The contest ends Wednesday, March 11th.
Then, in August of 2019, DaBaby and his crew beat up a guy at the Val Air Ballroom in Des Moines, Iowa. The following month, his team assaulted a woman during a show in New Orleans.
In January, DaBaby was charged with beating up a promoter in Florida to start 2020, in addition to roughing up a security guard at a Beverly Hills Hotel later on the same month.
(AllHipHop News) A new unscripted reality show premiered on Oprah Winfrey’s OWN network and it features two well-known hip-hop stars.
“Love Goals” is a series that features celebrity couples who work through their relationship issues with family and relationship therapist, Spirit.
Spirit has been seen on “Dr. Drew: On Call,” “‘The Bill Cunningham Show,” and “The Rickey Smiley Morning Show.” She also hosts “The Daily Helpline.”
According to Oprah.com, five couples will face challenges ranging from “fame and power, to overcoming infidelity, childhood trauma and communication issues.”
The celebrity couples will participate in an intense two-week therapy program intended to repair their relationships.
“Love Goals” stars Coolio and his fiancé Mimi Ivey, Dee Dee “Spinderella” Roper and Quenton “Q” Coleman, Benzino and Althea Heart, Dwayne “Money” Bowe and Theresa Bowe, and Sunday Carter and Breyon Williams.
The show is from Irwin Entertainment, which also produced reality shows such as “Celebrity Rehab” and “Couples Therapy.”
Tina Perry, the president of OWN, said in a statement, “Spirit’s healing approach to mending and strengthening relationships in this new weekly series will make for great television.”
Love Goals premiered on Saturday, March 7. Take a look at some of last night’s highlights.
(AllHipHop News) Post Malone has quashed rumors he’s battling drug addiction after a video of him stumbling and rolling on the floor during one of his live shows went viral online.
In the clip, the 24-year-old artist performs his hit song “I Fall Apart,” and seems to be giving an emotional performance, as he appears to lose his balance and fall to the ground.
As fans on social media speculated the star was under the influence of drugs during the show, the star took the stage in Memphis, Tennessee on Friday night, where he told fans: “I’m not on drugs and I feel the best I’ve ever f##king felt in my life.”
The “Circles” star went on to insist his fall was part of an attempt to put on dramatic and fun shows every night, telling the crowd: “That’s why I’ve been busting my a## for these shows and can f##king fall on the floor and do all that fun s##t.”
Post, real name Austin Richard Post, thanked fans for their concern, but added he felt amazing without being under the influence, saying: “But for anybody that’s concerned here, I appreciate the love and the support, but I feel f##king fantastic and I’m not doing drugs.”
Smitty, who DJs for Post, also responded to the speculation in an Instagram Story post, writing: “Posty is fine. This is his stage presence. Had no doubts.”
(AllHipHop Rumors) Word is, Lamar and his health and life coach fiancé, Sabrina, might not be together anymore.
Lamar has deleted all their pictures off of social media-leaving just 4 pictures in total-on his page.
The internet isn’t too fond of Parr, calling her controlling and abusive. The ex NBA player’s daughter has claimed she (Parr) punched her father in his mouth.
Lamar’s son also expressed his concern for his father’s choice in a partner. He claims his dad did not call and discuss his engagement to Parr, and they (his children) had to find out about it on social media.
He also said Parr had his father in a “sunken place.” He later apologized for his comments saying he was hurt he found out about his father’s engagement on social media and that he was caught off guard, but takes accountability for his actions.
(AllHipHop News) As previously Nicki Minaj’s husband Kenneth Petty was arrested on March 4 for failing to register as a sex offender in the state of California.
Charges against the 41-year old for not registering in the state have since been dismissed.
But now the whole mess is causing some major problems for Nicki in her hometown of Trinidad and Tobago.
According to Loop T&T, Trinidad and Tobago authorities were shocked to learn about Nicki’s husband’s sex offender status.
The rapper and her husband recently made a visit to Trinidad and Tobago in February, for the nation’s annual Carnival celebration.
Not only did the pair join in on the festivities, but they also surprised students of the St. Jude’s Home for Girls. Nicki donated $25,000 and also revealed other plans she has for her hometown.
New York State Division of Criminal Justice Services, Director of Public Information, Janine Kava reportedly told Loop T&T that Petty failed to notify U.S. authorities about traveling outside of the country.
“Federal law requires registered sex offenders to notify the state in which they are registered of any international travel 21 days prior to traveling,” Kava said.
According to the law in Trinidad and Tobago, “sex offenders convicted in other countries are required to report to a police station in Trinidad within 48 hours of their entry into the country if they intend to stay beyond two days.”
It is unclear if Petty reported his presence to authorities in the country, but he is not expected to face any charges in Trinidad and Tobago.
(AllHipHop Rumors) With R. Kelly, you have to wonder how low can this go? This man has lead not only a double life but a triple and quadruple life! That man seems to continually reveal parts of him that sicken us more and more. AND MORE.
Dude, I am not eating poop for anything. You are going to have to kill me, bruh!!!! This is apparently what Robert Kelly was doing with at least one of his women – allegedly. In a video clip, R. Kelly’s former girlfriend Azriel Clary says the singer made her eat her own feces and taped the act. WHAT?
“He has a video of me…he made me do this video, actually—doing a number two in a cup and then eating it out of a cup,” Clary said on camera. This is apparently part of a documentary that is on the way.
Another part of the vid clip, she is arguing with Kellz is compelling data too, because it is of her breaking up with the singer.
“It’s done, it’s done, it’s over, you may not even make it to trial. I’m so sorry for you,” Clary informs the now 53-year-old as he repeatedly tells her that he loves her through sobs.
“I’m sorry, I really did love you and you lied to me, you used me and you played me,” Clary continued, remaining firm in her stance.
This has been a rough couple of years for Kellz and it’s all based on his own damn doing! All he had to do was stop abusing people! He looks like a major monster in my opinion!!!
This dude is crazy. I have to always remind myself that Azriel Clary is a victim and abused…she ate poop.
(AllHipHop Rumors) The young eats itself. And this seems to be the case right now. The homie Offset was once one of the most feared dudes in the rap game. Remember when he was the “thug” of The Migos? The one that was in jail and whatever? Well, things have changed a lot.
On Friday, a couple of Quality Control artists got into it with Lil Baby’s crew and it seemed like Offset caught a bad one. “The Innanets” said that the Migo was beaten and stripped down to his boxers, but there are no “receipts” of this. Offset has ceased following Lil Baby on IG and that is a big deal for both men.
Lil Baby has denied involvement in the assault of big homie.
Nothing formal about that, but I think he had to double down on the rumor denial.
Meanwhile, Offset it out here living his best life…as an actor!
I am wondering exactly what happened, because it is radio silence on the nature of the assault. If it wasn’t Lil Baby and crew, who was it? Why would somebody beat on the homie Offset? Looming questions!
(AllHipHop News) Someone needs to grab up these new school rappers and teach them the game.
What is the first rule? STOP YAPPING ON SOCIAL MEDIA.
What is the second? STOP IGNORING THE FIRST RULE.
That is what someone should have told Bay Area rapper, Kafani, 39, who went on IG and outed his girlfriend as a “snake” because he believes that she was “sending tips to the FBI,” according to the Mercury News.
Kafani, whose real name is Amir Rashad, is currently under federal investigation and was taken into custody last week for being the top gunner in what is being called a “large-scale fraud ring.”
The tipster that got him knocked is allegedly his lady turned informant for the FBI.
Kafani became an inspiration to many with his survival story because of his come back after getting shot and paralyzed back in 2013. His recovery went so well that he started marathon training.
Fast forward seven years and now the rapper is accused of stealing people’s identity in a wide-spreading fraudulent loan scam for about two years.
It is believed that he ran a multi-tiered, multi-million dollar enterprise leaving victims all up and down the Golden state.
Of course, Kafani was not happy about this and like so many other new-school rappers, went to social media to express himself. AND THAT WAS DUMB DUMB MOVE NUMBER 2 (the first of course is getting involved with anything illegal in the first place).
The Mercury News reports that Kafani used his IG to publicly call out his ex and now federal prosecutors believe he put the tipster’s life at risk.
In a video, Kafani had a real talk with his over 134K followers:
“All that s##t is lies, you feel me? All that s##t is lies. All that s##t is lies,” Kafani says.
“A snake can be laying right next to you, that’s all I can tell you.” Kafani continued clearly referring to the girlfriend. “Females ain’t cool nowadays, that’s all I can really tell you.”
His attorney argues that he posted the video to defend himself, not understanding the implications of his actions and that such actions are forbidden during an open case.
The Feds convinced U.S. Magistrate Judge Joseph C. Spero on Friday to lock him up for posting the video, stating that the cyberbullying was equivalent to witness intimidation.
The judge agreed and snatched his $250,000 bail and demanded that the rapper turn himself in.
The FBI and U.S. Attorney’s Office now has instituted a victim protection protocol for the woman because she currently “living in fear.”
“She sat in our conference room sobbing, your honor. She’s terrified,” the assistant U.S. Attorney David Ward told the judge. “This defendant is a career criminal, he’s got former gang affiliations and the label of a snitch in that community is incredibly dangerous.”
(AllHipHop News) R. Kelly’s ex-girlfriend Azriel Clary revealed a disturbing claim in a video clip for an upcoming tell-all documentary produced by Asis Entertainment Network.
Entitled “Precedence,” Clary recalled in the clip a time when R. Kelly allegedly forced her to eat her feces in a cup.
Clary can be seen in the clip talking to an alleged federal agent on speakerphone about the incident. “He has a video of me—he made me do this video, actually—doing a number two in a cup and then eating it out of a cup.”
She also can be heard talking to R. Kelly about the end of their relationship. The singer appears to be heavily crying and tells her he loves her.
“It’s done, it’s done, it’s over, you may not even make it to trial. I’m so sorry for you,” Clary said. “I’m sorry, I really did love you and you lied to me, you used me and you played me.”
No other details have been revealed about the upcoming documentary.
On Thursday, the R&B singer pleaded not guilty to federal charges for child pornography allegations involving a new accuser. R. Kelly’s trial has been rescheduled for October.
(AllHipHop News) Nicki Minaj’s husband Kenneth Petty was arrested on March 4 for failing to register as a sex offender in the state of California.
Petty moved from New York to California in 2019. A rep for the District Attorney’s office told the publication, “The case was dismissed today because he is facing a similar charge in federal court.”
He was previously arrested back in November in Beverly Hills, and records revealed that he was registered in New York, but not yet in California.
According to the law, offenders must notify the Division of Criminal Justice Services of their move within a specified amount of time. Petty was convicted of first-degree attempted rape of a 16-year-old girl in 1995.
He served four years in prison.
According to the Los Angeles District Attorney’s office in a report by The Blast, charges against Petty for not registering as a sex offender have been dismissed.
The 41-year-old will be required to wear an ankle monitor and will have a curfew. He was required to hand over his passport and is not allowed to travel outside of Southern California.
He is also not allowed to do any drugs, including marijuana, which is legal in the state. A hearing is scheduled for March 23.
(AllHipHop News) Nelly don’t be upset. We all got one of those types of cousins… been trying to shake Dey Dey for about a year now…
Nelly’s cousin and one-time partner in his Vokal and Apple Bottoms clothing lines, Abayomi Jamil “Yomi” Martin, has just admitted to defrauding Baltimore Ravens cornerback Brandon Carr out of $250,000, thusly committing one felony count of wire fraud.
Martin misrepresented himself as one of the owners of Famous Nobodys, a fashion design and retail company really owned by Gary Gonzalez and Christian Vazquez.
The brand, according to theundefeated.com, became most noted for dressing famous ballers like Carmelo Anthony (as Christian Vazquez is his brother-n-love) and staple sports brands like Starter producing customized major league apparel.
In this case, the St. Louie entrepreneur claimed his ownership in the clothing line was through a holding company called NUCO Group Holdings.
According to STLToday.com, Carr brought his scam hook, line and sinker and invested $250K with a promise of 17.5% interest on his ROI.
It was revealed in court on Tuesday by the Assistant U.S. Attorney Hal Goldsmith, Carr wired $250,000 into a bank account controlled by Martin on Sept. 12, 2016.
Martin thought he was flourishing from the Famous Nobodys come up, since Martin was pumping him with fake updates on his investments via text messages.
In reality, Carr’s quarter mil was being spent on lavish trips, personal expenses, professional boxers in Las Vegas and everything else other than what it was supposed to be going to.
Martin admitted to all of this.
When U.S. District Judge Catherine Perry asked him it was at all true, according to STLToday.com, homie co-signed and replied “Yes, your honor.”
In the words of his cousin Nelly, “It’s getting hot in here!”
So hot… Nelly’s lawyer, Scott Rosenblum has noted that the two no longer had a business relationship
At the end of last year, the Assistant U.S. Attorney wanted to postpone the January 13th trial as not to conflict with Carr’s Ravens playoff games. But… as luck would have it the Ravens lost to Tennessee Titans two days prior during an AFC divisions game.
A little over a month later, Martin announced he pleaded guilty via a court filing.
(AllHipHop News) Run-DMC star Joseph “Rev Run” Simmons was “scared” about messing up the group’s live reunion with Aerosmith at the Grammy Awards because he had no control over the performance.
However, Simmons reveals he was panicking about the prime time gig right up until the moment they stepped onstage, because he feared he would be out of practice – but McDaniels brushed off his concerns and insisted they just “wing it.”
“I was shook to my core…!” Simmons confessed on U.S. daytime show Strahan, Sara and Keke.
“When I first got the phone call, I was like, ‘Oh my God, I haven’t worked with them in years.’ I was like, ‘D, what are we gonna do?’ He was like, ‘Ah, don’t worry, we’ll just go and wing it.’ I was like, ‘Wing it? I got two weeks!'”
Simmons, 55, ended up having to try and calm himself down over the special performance, but he only really felt at ease once RUN-DMC were back in action onstage with Aerosmith.
“I had to go to bed saying to myself over and over, ‘You’re not the only one gonna be on the stage…! You have one little part, you’re gonna be Run.’ But I couldn’t get that in my head that I couldn’t control everything, because I’m a control freak and a perfectionist.
“So I was scared up to the moment that I was out there with the mic and singing the song and I was like, ‘OK, you can relax now.’ But up to that moment, it was bad!”
(AllHipHop News) SXSW’s organizers have canceled the annual conference due of concerns associated with the coronavirus and released a statement about the Austin, TX-based event.
“Based on the recommendation of our public health official and director of public health and after consultation with our city manager I’ve gone ahead and declared a local disaster. And along with that issued an order that cancels SXSW this year,” said Austin Mayor Steve Adler said, later calling the cancelation “unfortunate.”
This is the first time in the 34 years of SXSW that the annual festival has been canceled. “This is not a panic-based decision,” said Travis County Judge Sarah Eckhardt.
The primary issue is the closeness of the attendees and the potential of affected individuals from other areas coming into Austin. Over 100 different countries convene at SXSW. In 2019, SXSW attendance swelled to over 417,400 people covering topics like music, movies, tech, and other forms of progressive entertainment.
The organizers of SXSW were pleased at the governmental mandate.
“We are devastated to share this news with you. ‘The show must go on’ is in our DNA, and this is the first time in 34 years that the March event will not take place. We are now working through the ramifications of this unprecedented situation,” the statement said.
There is the potential for some of the SXSW experience to translate into online transmissions for those 2020 badge owners.
(AllHipHop News) For the third time this week, Three 6 Mafia is in the news for copyright infringement.
This time, rapper Juicy J and No Limit rapper G-Eazy are being called to the mat, for ganking someone else’s song.
No professional courtesy seems to have been given to the Memphis Hip-Hop legends DJ Squeeky and Gaylon Love who say that they are the sole owners of their 1993 “Looking 4 Da Chewin,” the song that was sampled for G-Eazy’s “No Limit” record, the joint that really popped his career off.
Squeek and Love want in. With the copyright infringement case, they want to swerve also with the millions of dollars he copped when the song hit the airways in 2017.
But this is where the games begin.
TMZ also reports that Squeek and Love seem to be cherry-picking who they are going after. While they are hitting up Juicy J and G-Eazy (who right now are looking like easy food), they are letting ASAP Rocky, Belly and French Montana and Cardi B who are also on the song.
Oh… something smells awful… on a whole bunch of levels.
(AllHipHop News) The Roots star Black Thought is heading to the Off-Broadway stage to make his theater debut in a new musical he co-created with Oscar winner John Ridley.
The rapper, real name Tarik Trotter, worked with “12 Years a Slave” writer Ridley to develop “Black No More,” a satire based on George Schuyler’s 1931 novel of the same name, and now he is preparing to join “Hamilton’s” Brandon Victor Dixon and “Next to Norma”l actress Jennifer Damiano to feature in the production.
“Black No More,” which follows Dr. Junius Crookman as he devises a way to solve America’s race problem, will be directed by New Group artistic director Scott Elliott.
The project, which is set to receive its world premiere at the Pershing Square Signature Center in October, has been in the works since 2016.
The hip-hop star’s bandmate, Questlove, celebrated the news in a post on social media sharing a screenshot of a press article and captioning it, “Y’all know how MAJOR this is !!????”
Black Thought has previously tested his acting talents in TV series “The Deuce” and “Unbreakable Kimmy Schmidt,” while he also appeared in Spike Lee satire “Bamboozled” in 2000 and 2002 romantic comedy “Brown Sugar.”
(AllHipHop News) A few things we know about Drake: He is an artist’s artist and businessman, who is creative on a lot of different levels and consistently wanting to join others to push boundaries.
But what you don’t know is that in both cases, he is a fighter ready to “put up those dukes” to spar with anyone that dares to violate.
And an Australian-based company called Bellroy and an L.A. based company called Clae have dared to violate.
OVO, Drake’s brand, is claiming that these companies joined forces to put out apparel to be sold as merch featuring an owl that looks very similar to the one the Toronto rap star has made famous.
In docs, obtained by TMZ, Drake’s company states that Bellroy “changed the design of the owl by altering its posture, width, wings, and feet in order to blatantly mimic the OVO owl.”
However, looking at the two images many believe that OVO might be reaching. The owls are just side sketches that are surely commonplace. Right?
Well, that would be the thought until you google simple owl sketch or art. There are very few images of owls as stylized as these two images.
This, in Drake’s opinion, is a clear example of trademark infringement and asking the courts to give them an injunction to stop the brands Bellroy and Clae from profiting.
(AllHipHop News) Hip-Hop star Lizzo has had all of her swimwear videos restored on social media site TikTok after suggesting her posts had been removed due to her size.
She captioned the footage, “TikTok keeps taking down my videos with me in my bathing suits but allows other videos with girls in bathing suits. I wonder why?”
She then addressed site officials directly, adding, “TikTok… we need to talk,” concluding her post with a single angry-looking emoji.
It appears Lizzo’s pointed complaint caught the attention of TikTok bosses, who have since reviewed her content and restored the footage.
A spokesperson for the company said they have been in touch with Lizzo’s representatives, insisting her body type had nothing to do with her video removals.
Instead, they had flagged her clips for what they believed was the flashing of underwear, a violation of TikTok’s community guidelines, but after revisiting the footage, officials realized Lizzo had actually been wearing a bathing suit, and allowed all of her previous body confidence posts to be restored.
(AllHipHop News) Rap newcomer Megan Thee Stallion dropped new music today (March 6th) as promised, after a Texas judge shut down her label bosses’ emergency motion to halt its release.
The “Hot Girl Summer” star has been locked in a legal battle with 1501 Certified Entertainment chiefs over the past week, accusing them of trying to block the launch of any new material because she wants to renegotiate an unfair contract she signed five years ago.
However, Crawford’s motion to dissolve the temporary protection order was dismissed, paving the way for Megan to share her latest work, a nine-track project called Suga.
In addition to the new batch of music, Megan dropped a new video for her song “B.I.T.C.H.”
