BET Reality Star Toya Wright recently hit up the glam squad at Atlanta’s Taylor Ector Studios for another banging photo shoot. In the photos, she rocked a black polka dot and mesh dress from Stella McCartney’s Winter 2011 line, paired with a pair of Sergio Rossi ‘Miladys’ Platform pumps.
Last week, George Lucas announced he was retiring from blockbuster films but he may want to rethink his decision seeing as though ‘Red Tails’ pulled in a hefty $19.1 million at the box office its opening weekend, The action movie based on the Tuskegee Airmen of World War II, snagged the #2 spot behind ‘Underworld 4′, after George Lucas was very vocal about the various struggles of getting support and financing in Hollywood for the film. According to Lucas, even though he’s had success with films like Star Wars and Indian Jones, he had a hard time convincing Hollywood that their was a market for the film that features a majority black cast. After repeatedly being snubbed despite his track record, he finally decided to invest $60 million of his own money to get the film made and released. The prequel and the sequel are already in the works, and Lucas had already said the only way that those will get off the ground would be if ‘Red Tails’ could have a $20 million opening weekend. The movie was just shy of what he hoped for, but better than the flop that most people expected, so he is now hoping to snag Spike Lee as the director of the prequel and possibly Lee Daniels for the sequel.
“If we can get over $20 million in our first weekend, we’re kind of in the game. We’re in The Help category. If it gets $30 (million) in the first weekend,” he continued, “then those guys [Spike Lee, Lee Daniels etc] get to make their movies without even thinking about it.”
After all the grief that Lucas went through to get this movie made, FOX, who marketed ‘Red Tails’ in America but outright refused to invest any cash into the film, now admits that Lucas taking a gamble on his “passion project” that no one else wanted to touch was the right thing to do.
“I couldn’t tell you how right he was,” Fox’s Chris Aronson said. “…This is why he’s George Lucas. He was right.”
Sidenote: According to reports, George Lucas decision to retire was provoked by the many complaints he received from Star War fans who were disappointed in the prequels as well as studio execs who wouldn’t even show up to the ‘Redtail’ screenings. He was quoted as telling the New York Times:
Why would I make any more when everybody yells at you all the time and says what a terrible person you are? “I’m retiring. I’m moving away from the business, from the company, from all this kind of stuff.
Drizzy held a huge housewarming party at his new $9 milli bachelor pad in Hollywood Hills. He reportedly moved into the $45,000/month mansion after putting two condos up for sale in Miami. The new residence includes six bedrooms, 10 bathrooms, a wine cellar, tennis court, volleyball court, 24-seat theater, and pool complete with a waterfall oasis that has its very own wet bar where Drake and his crew can drink to his accomplishments. And did I fail to mention the on-site, five-stall horse facility with a riding area for any chicks who come over and want to ride. There’s even an ATM machine if you are short on cash. Ballin’
Amber Rose has spent the last year being blasted by former friends and frenemies and now she can add a disgruntled publicist/friend to the list. (Ironically Kim Kardashian was recently blasted by a former publicist as well). Janero Marchand, most known for repping video vixen Dollicia Bryant (who he helped reveal to the world that she was dating Drake), took to his twitter earlier today claiming that Amber’s story about Kim Kardashian breaking up she and Kanye’s relationship is a lie. He says Amber was stealing money from Kanye and when he found out, he told Kanye and she got dumped. Janero added that when he booked Amber for Kanye’s unreleased “Robocop” video (where she met Kanye), Amber never cut him his 20 percent from her $100,000 paycheck.
“Set the record straight. Yes, I introduced Amber Rose to Kanye West for the “Robocop” video. She stole my 20% of her $100,000 for the video.
Amber & her brother Antonio were going to Hawaii plotting & stealing money from Kanye. I didn’t want anything to do with it so YES I told Ye. That is the real reason they broke up. I will speak more on it in my [documentary], The Michael Jordan of Models: This Is Janero drops in Feb. 2012.
I’ve silenced myself long enough and I’m just tired of Amber’s lies. If she tries to refute what I say. I have emails to back up everything. Kanye is a good person & it’s not right what Amber is doing to him.”
Now, why didn’t he make these claims a few weeks ago when Amber made the initial Kardashian comment, you may ask. It probably wasn’t close enough to his Feb 2012 documentary release date. The funniest part is, he was just tweeting about how great church was 11 hours before all of this.
He also tweeted an image of an email from Amber going off on him, calling him a snitch and saying he didn’t even introduce her to Kanye: The email read:
I will make sure everyone I know will not work with you b*tch! How dear (sic) you be in the studio with Kanye and talk mad sh*t about me! Are you f*cking crazy? I cried days for you Janero!!!!! I will make sure your blacklisted b*tch! I trusted you and you backstabbed me you aint sh*t but a fake Phony ass b*tch ass fa**ot ass Sn*tch! I trusted you and you back stabbed my worst then anyone ever! Then you talk about trusting a stripper? F*ck you Janero! You gossip like a fa**ot. Stay the f*ck away from me b*tch and please don’t bother to apologize cause it’s a wrap!
Fashionista and new model in the making, Solange Knowles graces the pages of the February issue of In Style Magazine. Besides showing off her dope style in a 6 page spread, she also dishes on how she plans to pay back Beyonce for spoiling her son rotten. This may sound awful, but I’m excited to let the baby do whatever it wants, in the same way my sister’s done with my son. I’m going to get her back for all those late-night popcorn sessions and just spoiling my child to no end.
Showing off their collection of body art, Chad Ochocinco and on-again-off-again….then back-on-again fiancee Evelyn Lozada grace the cover of Urban Ink magazine. Even though there have been rumors that the couple have been having relationship drama due to Chad’s cheating ways, the couple talked to Urban Ink about possibly having their own reality show and if they’re going to act differently than how they were on ‘Basketball Wives’ and ‘The Ultimate Catch’: Evelyn on if she would do things differently in a show with Chad
Evelyn: I always go into it thinking I’m going to do things different. You know, you can never really predict what’s going to happen and there’s always drama. I always go into it thinking I’m going to be less in your face and maybe control my temper a little bit more, but you never know what’s going to happen. A lot of times you go into it thinking you’re going to try to not be seen as a monster, but you can’t really prepare yourself for what’s going to happen. So you hope and pray that, when you watch the show, it’s not that bad.Urban Ink: Do you see the new show as a chance to let people view a side of you that is less controversial than the side we so often see and read about?
Chad: I’m just going to be me. If people don’t know who I am by now, based on what I’ve shown after all this time, then there’s no hope.
Pick up Urban Ink on news stands to read the entire issue!
Keyshia Cole and her hubby Daniel Gibson are in this month’s Ebony as one of their hottest couples, almost four years after Daniel revealed in a television interview that Keyshia was his celebrity crush. The two just happened to share the same stylist, who made the introduction, and the rest is history. What most people don’t know is that they both had ‘trust issues’ and had almost given up on love before they met each other. In the issue, Keyshia reveals that it wasn’t Boobie’s baller bucks, flashy bling and nba profile that drew her attention, it was his spirituality and faith in God that helped him snag his dream girl.
“I was kind of through with relationships. I didn’t feel like guys were mature enough. What made me gravitate toward Gib was his faith in God, more than anything. He seemed like a loving person. He talked a lot about his grandmother who had passed away, and the things she instilled in him. It’s important to be in the same place. I needed someone I could trust. He felt the same way.
Daniel adds:
We were kind of losing faith in love. We wanted to be sure about each other. So we talked about it and had deep conversations about our goals, what we wanted out of life, and from a family standpoint, that’s what made our bond strong.
The crazy thing about me and Key is that we talked on the phone for three or four months before ever meeting in person. We did the high school thing—we talked on the phone until the morning. Once we met, things happened fast. I felt like she was perfect for me. I proposed to her on New Year’s Eve, right when the ball dropped. I got down on one knee at the same time.
So how does a couple with relationship issues, actually make it work?
From a male standpoint, I just think you’ve got to actually commit. She has to be the right one, if not, you won’t feel enough inside of you to give her everything you’ve got. If she’s the one and you hear it and feel it [From God], commit your mind, body and soul to make it work so that you can be the man God wants you to be. That’s the only way you’ll make it work. People go through things.
Chanel Iman gets tropical for the February cover of France’s L’Officiel Paris. The Victoria Secret model posed in some vibrant, summer styles inspired by Cape Town, South Africa. She also rocked some items from the Dolce & Gabbana’s Spring 2012 collection.
