BET might bring back “The Game” sitcom
Fans of the CW sitcom “The Game” were disappointed when the network canceled the television show after three seasons.
Now, the BET network is considering picking up “The Game” and running a new season.
“The Game” was a sitcom about the behind-the-scenes lives of fictional NFL players, their wives and their agents.
“The Game” starred Tia Mowry, Wendy Raquel Robinson, Pooch Hall, Brittany Daniel and Hosea Sanchez.
Jay-Z to perform Sept. 11 benefit concert
Rapper and entrepreneur Jay-Z hosted a press conference to announce a Sept. 11 benefit concert at Madison Square Garden. (AP photo by Evan Agostini)
Rapper Jay-Z hosted a news conference today (Aug. 31) to announce plans for a Sept. 11 benefit concert.
The rapper will perform a charity concert at Madison Square Garden to raise money for the New York Police and Fire Widows’ and Children’s Benefit Fund.
Tickets are $50, and all proceeds from merchandise and ticket sales will go toward the charity fund. Jay-Z also release his new CD “Blueprint 3″ on that day.
For more information about the fund, go to www.answerthecall.org
Bad Boys 3 film in the works
Will Smith, left and Martin Lawrence on the set of the 2003 film "Bad Boys 2." (AP photo)
Movie executives are creating a script for “Bad Boys 3.”
According to the Hollywood Reporter, executives from Columbia Pictures hope to have Jerry Bruckheimer direct the film and have Will Smith and Martin Lawrence reprise their roles as detectives Mike Lowry and Marcus Burnett.
Bruckheimer, Smith and Lawrence have not yet signed a contract. The first two installments were a cash cow for the movie studio.
“Bad Boys” was released in 1995 and collected $141 million worldwide. “Bad Boys 2″ was released in 2003, and earned $273 worldwide at the box office.
Margaret Cho to perform at Rose State College
Comedian and actress Margaret Cho will perform her stand-up comedy at 8 p.m. Oct. 1 at Rose State College as part of the Rose State Live! series.
Cho appeared in the films “One Missed Call,” “17 Again” and “The Snake.” She currently stars on the reality show “Drop Dead Diva,” which airs on Lifetime.
Cho is known for her raunchy, socially relevant and politically charged stand-up comedy.
The performance is for mature audiences only. To purchase tickets, call 297-2264 or go to www.tickets.com.
Chris Brown interview clip with Larry King
R&B singer Chris Brown taped an interview with Larry King on CNN. The full interview will air Sept. 2 on the network.
Brown appeared on the show with his attorney Mark Geragos and his mother Joyce Hawkins.
A brief exerpt video from the interview is posted below.
Top 10 box office movies (Aug. 31)
Top 10 movies at the box office (weekend ending Aug. 31)
1. The Final Destination – $28.3 million
2. Inglourious Basterds – $20 million
3. Halloween 2 – $17.4 million
4. District 9 – $10.7 million
5. G.I. Joe: The Rise of Cobra – $8 million
6. Julie and Julia – $7.4 million
7. The Time Traveler’s Wife – $6.7 million
8. Shorts – $4.8 million
9. Taking Woodstock – $3.7 million
10. G-Force – $2.8 million
Celebrity Birthdays (Aug. 31)
Celebrity Birthdays (Aug. 31)
Chris Tucker – 37 (actor/comedian)
Debbie Gibson – 39 (singer)
Richard Gere – 60 (actor)
Van Morrison – 64 (singer)
Shania Twain writes letter to fans
Country star Shania Twain has been away from the spotlight during the past few years. But the singer posted a letter on her Web site on her birthday (Aug. 28) to let her fans know what she’s been up to.
Since her divorce from music producer Robert “Mutt” Lange, she has a new male companion in her life, Frederic Thiebaud, and she mentions him in the letter as well.
It’s been speculated that Shania’s husband cheated on her with Frederic’s wife. The full letter is posted below. It’s lengthy.
“Thought I would drop a line to catch you up on things in my life and what better time than on my birthday.
I feel very much alive and well, ready to take on the gift of another year. I’ve been on a few interesting trips, reading some helpful and motivating books, meeting fascinating people and getting the most out of life that I possibly can. Living, loving, laughing and dreaming have become highest on my list of priorities. I’m looking for places to be and things to do that inspire me to write and be creative, concentrating on moving on and forward.
When I wake up each day I remind myself how lucky I am to have all the beautiful things I do in my life and allow that gratitude to fuel me for the day, taking one day at a time. I try not to worry about tomorrow since I realize I can’t control what it will bring or whether tomorrow will even come. So, I focus on today and treat every minute with the respect it deserves and not take it for granted. I steer my energies toward being productive and finding motivation from every person, place and thing I encounter.
Traveling has helped a great deal. I consider myself on a journey of discovery and recovery. I don’t accept to be held down by the past, nor do I expect too much of the future. This allows me to dream freely with no strings attached.
I recently read something very encouraging to someone like myself, who lives and loves to dream: “PLANS HAVE TO BE REALISTIC, DREAMS DON’T.” Of course, I love this notion and allow myself to dream positive things and plan to live them out.
I make a point of surrounding myself with fun, positive, compassionate, loving people. Loved ones I can trust. After all, good company brings good feelings and feeling good just makes life more pleasant. The love and understanding of my friends and family have pulled me through the recent difficult time. It’s as if several hands grabbed me by the scruff of the neck during my lowest moment and promised not to let go till I was safe. They kept their promise, and I want to thank them, my lifesavers.
So, thank you my dear friends and family. Thank you to the fans as well for your words of comfort and encouragement.All this has given me enormous strength.
A dear friend and true gentleman by the name of Fred, has been the most constant companion of support for both Eja and me, and having gone through the suffering of his family splitting apart at the same time under the same extreme circumstances, he understood me better than anyone. We leaned on one another through the ups and downs, taking turns holding each other up. We’ve become stronger and closer through it all, as have our children Eja and Johanna (Fred’s 8 year old daughter).
“The kids” came along on several of the trips you’ll see in the montage. My mother often called me her little Gypsy so it’s no surprise that travel is working for me in finding inspiration through seeing new and fascinating things. I’m putting that inspiration in to writing and more dreaming.
The best part about my dreams lately, is that not only am I allowing myself to dream, I set those dreams into action and live them out.
Fred filmed and snapped away during the travel adventures of the last six months, capturing the dreams becoming reality. The home footage is full of happy faces, beautiful, interesting places and lots of horses. Yeah!
When I reflect on it all, it’s clear how remarkably active my life has been since last December – a time in the life of someone working hard to “move on” and succeeding. Life has been gracious to me and the images show that very clearly.
Why I decided to share this personal side of my life with you at this point is to answer the questions I get asked so often lately: “how are you, where have you been and what have you been doing?”
A big part of the answer is in the montage. I’m “okay” – yes, I hit a very big bump in the road, but Eja and I are doing well and with all the concern you, my fans, have shown over this difficult period, I want you to see for yourself that we are doing fine, by sharing these personal images with you.
Sorry about the poor quality of the footage but almost all of what you will see, both photos and video, were shot on Fred’s cell phone with the exception of the skydive filmed from a tiny, wrist camera worn by the guide.
Although the images weren’t originally filmed with the intention of sharing them publicly, in the end I decided it was more fun to share them. We weren’t paying attention to quality, all of it being done on the fly, so I’ve included text in various places to help explain and make things easier to follow. Once again, it’s all very candid footage so be ready to see a lot of me without makeup, no touch ups, some bad hair and looking pretty goofy. There is no glamour but plenty of genuine smiles.
Fred and I have certainly had a lot of laughs through the months and while sharing these images with a good friend of mine after each trip, she now affectionately refers to us as, “Lucy and Ricky Ricardo.”
Click here to watch the home video of Shania traveling around the world on vacation.
Celebrity Birthdays (Aug. 30)
Celebrity Birthdays (Aug. 30)
Andy Roddick – 27 (tennis player)(in photo above)
Rich Cronin – 34 (LFO singer)
Lisa Ling – 36 (journalist)
Cameron Diaz – 37 (actress)
Michael Michele – 43 (ER actress)
Robert Parrish – 56 (former NBA player)
Warren Buffett – 79 (richest person in the world)
Carrie Underwood visits hometown, donates instruments
Carrie Underwood sings with fifth-grade Checotah student Kenedee Rittenhouse. (photo by Mike Simons, of Tulsa World)
Country star Carrie Underwood visited her hometown school in Checotah, OK, to visit students and donate $117,000 worth of musical instruments for the school’s music program.
The full story is posted below from Jennifer Chancellor, of the Tulsa World. All photos were taken by Tulsa World’sMike Simons.
BY JENNIFER CHANCELLOR, TULSA WORLD STAFF WRITER
CHECOTAH — Carrie Underwood’s hometown sang the country music superstar’s praises Friday morning.
More accurately, they screeched them.
Hundreds of young Checotah Public Schools music students screamed with glee as Underwood shocked them with $117,000 worth of instruments for the band and vocal music programs.
“I love my job,” said intermediate music teacher Kathy Cooper from the auditorium stage in the small high school from which the singer graduated. Underwood’s fifth-grade music teacher joined her and the youngsters to make a surprise announcement.
“I’ve had most of you sitting out there. … You never know, we might have some more stars out here,” Cooper teased with a smile. The jam-packed arena hushed. “It’s my greatest pleasure to introduce …”
A collective gasp swept across the assembly. From those gasps erupted deafening howls of joy as the kids realized who had joined Cooper onstage.
“To the teachers, I’m sorry I completely disrupted your classes,” Underwood said. “To the students, you’re welcome!” she finished, then laughed.
The 26-year-old singer and Academy of Country Music’s Entertainer of the Year, along with ACM Lifting Lives director Erin Spahn, pulled back the blue velvet curtain behind them, revealing 31 shiny new band instruments.
“Mrs. Cooper gave me my first chance to perform on stage,” said Underwood. “The music program is so important. … My career has given me this opportunity to give back.”
Underwood and her recently founded nonprofit —Checotah Animal, Town and Schools, or CATS — joined ACM’s Lifting Lives program to make the donation possible. Underwood’s charity name is a spinoff of her school mascot, the Wildcats, she said.
Fifth-grader Kenedee Rittenhouse, 11, captivated students before the assembly when, on a whim, she stood on a chair to the side of the auditorium and sang Underwood’s hit “So Small.” Underwood, backstage at the time, took note.
The superstar called Rittenhouse to the stage for an impromptu duet while Underwood’s keyboardist “broke in” the new electric piano.
As they sang, Rittenhouse shook. Then Underwood shook.
Rittenhouse cried. Underwood’s eyes brimmed with tears as she placed her hand over her heart. Applause filled the auditorium.
“Take this stuff. Do what you love and love what you do,” Underwood later said. A group of girls in the back yelled, “We love you Carrie!”
Rittenhouse returned to her seat and wept with joy. “Oh. My. Gosh,” she said. “All I knew this morning was that we were having an assembly. We didn’t know she would be here.”
She wiped her eyes and smiled. “Singing with her was a one in a million opportunity and it was so awesome. … She hugged me after and said ‘Great job.’
“Yeah, I was a little bit nervous,” the girl admitted.
She wasn’t the only one.
“Carrie told me backstage that she’s never been so nervous,” said Brian Terry, Checotah High School principal, after the presentation. “She said that she can perform in front of thousands of people, but this program is very important to her.
“Our band program is both very good and very competitive. This gift has been in the works for months,” said Terry.
All instruments were purchased through Yamaha Corporate Artist Affairs at a special philanthropic rate, said Brook Primero, senior director of publicity and marketing for the Academy of Country Music.
Instruments included tubas, saxophones, woodwinds, horns, a guitar and more.
Afterward, Underwood said hello to her former teachers and stood for pictures — lots of pictures.
“I think it’s great for kids to see that they can do anything,” said Underwood. “I want to help teach them to be responsible for their futures, to be great and to follow their dreams.”
She reminisced about her favorite music teacher.
“Last night I was looking at old videos of me singing on stage. I was yay high, 6 or 7 years old,” she said, then smiled. “Mrs. Cooper thought it was a good idea to sing all by myself.
“Mrs. Cooper’s always been such a positive influence,” said Underwood.
Nearly a decade after Underwood last performed on that very stage, the busy singer also talked about her upcoming album release, due this fall. “It’ll be my third album — that’s hard to believe,” said the multiplatinum-selling musician.
“Then next year comes another big tour. I’ll be back home for that. I love coming home.
“Every show stop gets louder the closer I get to home. After, I can sit on my porch with my dog and cat and just be home.
Underwood will be inducted into the Oklahoma Music Hall of Fame on Sept. 17, along with Oklahoma artists and performers Rocky Frisco and Ramona Reed. All three will perform. Tickets are now on sale.
Underwood is the Academy of Country Music’s Entertainer of the Year, an “American Idol” winner, four-time Grammy winner and an Oklahoma music icon. The class of 2009 inductees will join the roster of former inductees, including Vince Gill, Toby Keith, Merle Haggard, Wanda Jackson, the All-American Rejects and more.
C.H. Parker, longtime music instructor and director at Northeastern State University, will be honored with the Governor’s Award.
The induction and concert is 7 p.m. Sept. 17 at the Muskogee Civic Center, 405 Boston St. in downtown Muskogee.
Reserved seat tickets to the concert and induction ceremony are available at tulsaworld.com/OMHoF or call (918) 687-0800 for information. Tickets are $39.95 to $175, plus fees.
Oasis member leaves the band
The songwriter and guitarist for Oasis has resigned from the band.
Noel Gallagher posted a statement online that said “It’s with some sadness and great relief to tell you that I quit Oasis tonight. People will write and say what they like, but I simply could not go on working with Liam a day longer. Apologies to all the people who bought tickets for the shows in Paris, Konstanz and Milan.”
Liam is Noel’s brother. Noel decided to leave the group after a backstage argument with Liam before a concert in Paris.
It’s unknown whether the band will replace Liam or continue with the remaining members. Hopefully, the two brothers can put their issues aside, and the band can continue.
The band became famous during the 1990s with their hit songs “Wonderwall” and “Champagne Supernova.”
Celebrity Birthdays (Aug. 29th)
Celebrity Birthdays (Aug. 29th)
Lauren Collins – 23 (actress)
Carla Gugino – 38 (actress)
Me’Shell Ndege Ocello – 41 (singer)
Michael Jackson – would be age 51 (singer)
Robin Leach – 68 (Lifestyles of the Rich and Famous)
Joel Schumacher – 70 (film director)
Elliot Gould – 71 (actor)
John McCain – 73 (U.S. senator)
DJ AM dies at age 36
Adam Goldstein (also known as DJ AM) was found dead in his New York City apartment Friday Afternoon, according to TMZ.
A crack pipe and prescriptions drugs were found in his apartment, but the official cause of death is unknown.
Ironically, Goldstein was involved in a plane crash last year with Blink 182 rocker Travis Barker. Both men survived the crash.
This eerily sounds like the movie “Final Destination,” where a group of people were supposed to die in a plane crash, but they survived. However, they each were killed one by one throughout the movie
DJ AM was a disc jockey who played at numerous celebrity events. He was engaged to Nicole Richie until they broke up in 2005.
Celebrity Birthdays (Aug. 28)
Celebrity Birthdays (Aug. 28)
LeAnn Rimes – 27 (country singer)
Jack Black - 40 (actor)
Jason Priestley – 40 (actor)
Shania Twain – 44 (singer)
Scott Hamilton – 51 (former figure skater)
Daniel Stern – 52 (actor)
David Soul – 66 (Starsky & Hutch actor)
Mischa Barton reveals why she was in the psych ward
Actress Mischa Barton was locked up in a psychiatric ward earlier this summer. So, why was she locked up in the crazy house?
Some people speculated it was because she was crazy, or she was on drugs.
In an interview with Time Out New York, Barton explains why she had to stay at the psych ward. Excerpts from the interview are posted below.
INTERVIEWR: A lot of people are watching you now, speculating you were in rehab back in July.
BARTON: Here’s what happened: Before the show started, I was traveling abroad for contract stuff and I went through a terrible surgery—a wisdom tooth surgery, all four removed. It was a nightmare. I’ve never had surgery before—it all went wrong and I had to have a second surgery and it almost delayed shooting because it was a nightmare to me, because I couldn’t deal with the thought of not getting there on time. So with the travel, and surgery and prep for the show—it was hell.
INTERVIEWR: Is this when you were checked into Cedars?
BARTON: Yeah, I went through a tough spot where everything compounded on me, and it was like a perfect storm, like everything was happening to me at once. The show, travel and then this fairly routine surgery that went wrong—it’s still just healing. But I had to get through it without proper painkillers because I couldn’t take those during work. So it’s been a nightmare.
INTERVIEWR: How did you end up in a psychiatric hospital?
BARTON: I was down in the dumps about everything there for a while. Sometimes you have to hit rock bottom about things and have to get the most stressed-out just to feel better again. I got completely stressed-out and couldn’t handle everything, and now I feel really in control.
INTERVIEWR:Was it an official nervous breakdown? Drugs?
BARTON: I don’t know. I don’t know. I had a friend who had a quasi–nervous breakdown, but I’m not sure it’s the same thing. I’m not sure I’m capable of a full-on nervous breakdown, but it was pretty bad. It didn’t last that long. It was more about the pain. I have a newfound respect for people who have chronic pain. I started getting migraines.
Billboard Top 25 Songs
Billboard Top 25 Songs (week of Aug. 26)
1. I Gotta Feeling by Black Eyed Peas
2. Party In The U.S.A. by Miley Cyrus
3. Down by Jay Sean and Lil Wayne
4. You Belong To Me by Taylor Swift
5. Run This Town by Jay-Z, Rihanna, Kanye West
6. Use Somebody by Kings of Leon
7. Best I Ever Had by Drake
8. Knock You Down by Keril Hilson, Kanye West, Ne-Yo
9. Good Girls Go Bad by Cobra Starship and Leighton Meester
10. Hotel Room Service by Pitbull
11. Obsessed by Mariah Carey
12. She Wolf by Shakira
13. Boom Boom Pow by Black Eyed Peas
14. Waking Up In Vegas by Katy Perry
15. Fire Burning by Sean Kingston
16. Battlefield by Jordin Sparks
17. Break Up by Mario, Gucci Mane and Sean Garrett
18. LoveGame by Lady Gaga
19. I Know You Want Me by Pitbull
20. Big Green Tractor by Jason Aldean
21. Send It On by Disney’s Friends for Change
22. Throw It In The Bag by Fabolous and The Dream
23. No Surprise by Daughtry
24. Watcha Say by Jason DeRulo
25. Every Girl by Young Money
Celebrity Birthdays (Aug. 27)
Celebrity Birthdays (Aug. 27)
Alexa Vega – 21 (actress)
Mase – 35 (rapper)
Sarah Chalke – 33 (Roseanne and Scrubs actress)
Tony Kanal – 39 (of No Doubt)
Chandra Wilson – 40 (Grey’s Anatomy actress)
Paul Reubens – 57 (Pee Wee Herman)(in photo above)
Barbara Bach – 62 (actor)
Daryl Drago – 67 (from Captain & Tennille)
Rush Limbaugh responds to Jay-Z lyrics
It’s no secret that Fox News host Bill O’Reilly and Rush Limbaugh are no fans of hip hop music.
O’Reilly often makes critical comments about musicians such as Ludacris, Jay-Z and Young Jeezy.
Jay-Z recently recording a song titled “Off That” from his upcoming CD “The Blueprint 3.”
In the song, Jay-Z raps “Please tell Bill O’Reilly to fall back. Tell Rush Limbaugh to get off my (explicative). It’s 2010, not 1864.”
Getting exciting because a rap legend name dropped him in a song, controversial radio host Rush Limbaugh responded to Jay-Z’s lyrics.
On his radio show, Limbaugh arrogantly said “I have been mentioned in a rap song by the rapper Jay-Z. The new song mentions me and the moderate Bill O’Reilly. As far as I know, I have never been mentioned in a rap song by anybody. It means I’ve made it. I’m now on a rap tune by the famous rapper Jay-Z. I would remind the rapper Jay-Z, Mr. Z, it is President Obama who wants mandated circumcision. That means if we need to save our penises from anybody, it’s Obama. I did not know I was on anybody’s (explicative), either. I’m happy to know that they think I am, though.”
I will patiently wait for Jay-Z to issue his response to Limbaugh comments. If this verbal battle continues, I predict Jay-Z will win. Jay-Z can use all types of four-letter words on his CD that Limbaugh isn’t allowed to say on his radio show.
Paula Abdul to host VH1 special
In her first job since resigning from “American Idol,” Paula Abdul will host the VH1 Divas special set to air Sept. 17 on VH1.
Abdul made the announcement on her Twitter page. The televised concert spotlights female musicians, and raises money for the VH1 Save the Music Foundation.
This year’s performers include Kelly Clarkson, Leona Lewis, Miley Cyrus, Jordin Sparks and Adele.
The show will air live from the Brooklyn Academy of Music.
TLC reuniting for benefit concert
(from left) Rozond "Chilli" Tomas, Tionne "T-Boz" Watkins and the late Lisa "Left Eye" Lopes (AP photo)
The R&B group TLC will reunite on stage for Justin Timberlake’s benefit concert.
Tionne “T-Boz” Watkins and Rozonda “Chilli” Thomas will perform during the concert Oct. 17 at the Mandalay Bay Event Center in Las Vegas.
The group’s third member Lisa “Left Eye” Lopes was killed in a car accident while vacationing in Honduras in 2002.
The group became famous during the 1990s with their hit songs “Waterfalls,” “Creep,” and “No Scrubs.”
Other musicians expected to perform during the concert include Taylor Swift, Ciara and Alicia Keys.
Proceeds will benefit Shriners Hospital for Children.
Billboard Top 10 Albums
Billboard Top 10 Albums (week of Aug. 26)
1. Keep On Loving You by Reba McEntire
2. Twang by George Straitt
3. Ursa Major by Third Eye Blind
4. Only By The Night by Kings of Leon
5. The E.N.D. by Black Eyed Peas
6. Hot August Night/NYC by Neil Diamond
7. Hannah Montana: The Movie soundtrack by Various Artists
8. Fearless by Taylor Swift
9. Leave This Town by Daughtry
10. NOW 31 by Various Artists
Chris Brown and Rihanna: A history of violence
R&B singers Chris Brown and Rihanna’s fight during the infamous incident that occurred Feb. 8 was apparently nothing new to them.
The former celebrity power couple had a history of violence in their relationship.
Last December, Rihanna reportedly slapped Brown in Europe, and Brown shoved her into a wall, according to Brown’s probation report.
Another incident occurred in January, where the couple began arguing in a vehicle, when Brown became angry and broke out the windows.
The public only knows about these three incidents, but I’m sure there were more violent episodes during their relationship.
Click here to the read the police report from the Feb. 8 incident.
Ted Kennedy dies at age 77
Sen. Edward Kenneday (aka Ted Kennedy) died Tuesday night after a battle witih brain cancer. He was 77 years old. The Associated Press story is posted below via NewsOK.
ASSOCIATED PRESS
Sen. Edward M. Kennedy of Massachusetts, the last surviving brother in a political dynasty and one of the most influential senators in history, died Tuesday night at his home on Cape Cod after a year-long struggle with brain cancer. He was 77.
In nearly 50 years in the Senate, Kennedy served alongside 10 presidents – his brother John Fitzgerald Kennedy among them – compiling an impressive list of legislative achievements on health care, civil rights, education, immigration and more.
His only run for the White House ended in defeat in 1980. More than a quarter-century later, he handed then-Sen. Barack Obama an endorsement at a critical point in the campaign for the Democratic presidential nomination, explicitly likening the young contender to President Kennedy.
To the American public, Kennedy was best known as the last surviving son of America’s most glamorous political family, father figure and, memorably, eulogist of an Irish-American clan plagued again and again by tragedy.
Kennedy’s death triggered an outpouring of superlatives, from Democrats and Republicans as well as foreign leaders.
“An important chapter in our history has come to an end. Our country has lost a great leader, who picked up the torch of his fallen brothers and became the greatest United States senator of our time,” Obama said in a written statement.
“For five decades, virtually every major piece of legislation to advance the civil rights, health and economic well being of the American people bore his name and resulted from his efforts,” said Obama, vacationing at Martha’s Vineyard off the Massachusetts coast.
Kennedy’s family announced his death in a brief statement released early Wednesday.
“We’ve lost the irreplaceable center of our family and joyous light in our lives, but the inspiration of his faith, optimism, and perseverance will live on in our hearts forever,” the statement said. “We thank everyone who gave him care and support over this last year, and everyone who stood with him for so many years in his tireless march for progress toward justice, fairness and opportunity for all.”
A few hours later, two vans left the family compound at Hyannis Port in pre-dawn darkness. Both bore hearse license plates – with the word “hearse” blacked out.
There was no immediate word on funeral arrangements. Two of Kennedy’s brothers, John and Robert, are buried at Arlington National Cemetery across the Potomac River from Washington.
Senate Majority Leader Harry Reid of Nevada issued a statement that said, “It was the thrill of my lifetime to work with Ted Kennedy�..The liberal lion’s mighty roar may now fall silent, but his dream shall never die.”
Former First Lady Nancy Reagan said that her husband and Kennedy “could always find common ground, and they had great respect for one another.”
Kennedy was elected to the Senate in 1962, taking the seat that his brother John had occupied before winning the White House, and served longer than all but two senators in history.
His own hopes of reaching the White House were damaged – perhaps doomed – in 1969 by the scandal that came to be known as Chappaquiddick, an auto accident that left a young woman dead.
He sought the White House more than a decade later, lost the Democratic nomination to President Jimmy Carter, and bowed out with a stirring valedictory that echoed across the decades: “For all those whose cares have been our concern, the work goes on, the cause endures, the hope still lives and the dream shall never die.”
Kennedy was diagnosed with a cancerous brain tumor in May 2008 and underwent surgery and a grueling regimen of radiation and chemotherapy.
He made a surprise return to the Capitol last summer to cast the decisive vote for the Democrats on Medicare. He made sure he was there again last January to see his former Senate colleague Barack Obama sworn in as the nation’s first black president, but suffered a seizure at a celebratory luncheon afterward.
He also made a surprise and forceful appearance at last summer’s Democratic National Convention, where he spoke of his own illness and said health care was the cause of his life. His death occurred precisely one year later, almost to the hour.
He was away from the Senate for much of this year, leaving Republicans and Democrats to speculate about the impact what his absence meant for the fate of Obama’s health care proposals.
Under state law, Kennedy’s successor will be chosen by special election. In his last known public act, the senator urged state officials to give Democratic Gov. Deval Patrick the power to name an interim replacement. But that appears unlikely, leaving Democrats in Washington with one less vote for the next several months as they struggle to pass Obama’s health care legislation.
His death came less than two weeks after that of his sister Eunice Kennedy Shriver on Aug. 11. Kennedy was not present for the funeral, an indication of the precariousness of his own health.
In a recent interview with The Associated Press, Kennedy’s son Rep. Patrick Kennedy, D-R.I., said his father had defied the predictions of doctors by surviving more than a year with his fight against brain cancer.
The younger Kennedy said that gave family members a surprise blessing, as they were able to spend more time with the senator and to tell him how much he had meant to their lives.
“There are very few people who have touched the life of this nation in the same breadth and the same order of magnitude,” Obama said in April as he signed the Edward M. Kennedy Serve America Act into law.
Kennedy arrived at his place in the Senate after a string of family tragedies. He was the only one of the four Kennedy brothers to die of natural causes.
Kennedy’s eldest brother, Joseph, was killed in a plane crash in World War II. President John F. Kennedy was assassinated in Dallas in 1963. Sen. Robert F. Kennedy was gunned down in Los Angeles as he campaigned for the 1968 Democratic presidential nomination. Years later, in 1999, John F. Kennedy Jr. was killed in a plane crash at age 38 along with his wife.
It fell to Ted Kennedy to deliver the eulogies, to comfort his brothers’ widows, to mentor fatherless nieces and nephews. It was Ted Kennedy who walked JFK’s daughter, Caroline, down the aisle at her wedding.
Tragedy had a way of bringing out his eloquence.
Kennedy sketched a dream of a better future as he laid to rest his brother Robert in 1968: “My brother need not be idealized, or enlarged in death beyond what he was in life; to be remembered simply as a good and decent man, who saw wrong and tried to right it, saw suffering and tried to heal it, saw war and tried to stop it.”
After John Jr.’s death, the senator said: “We dared to think, in that other Irish phrase, that this John Kennedy would live to comb gray hair, with his beloved Carolyn by his side. But like his father, he had every gift but length of years.”
His own legacy was blighted on the night of July 18, 1969, when Kennedy drove his car off a bridge and into a pond on Chappaquiddick Island, on Martha’s Vineyard. Mary Jo Kopechne, a 28-year-old worker with RFK’s campaign, was found dead in the submerged car’s back seat 10 hours later.
Kennedy, then 37, pleaded guilty to leaving the scene of an accident and received a two-month suspended sentence and a year’s probation. A judge eventually determined there was “probable cause to believe that Kennedy operated his motor vehicle negligently � and that such operation appears to have contributed to the death of Mary Jo Kopechne.”
At the height of the scandal, Kennedy went on national television to explain himself in an extraordinary 13-minute address in which he denied driving drunk and rejected rumors of “immoral conduct” with Ms. Kopechne.
He said he was haunted by “irrational” thoughts immediately after the accident, and wondered “whether some awful curse did actually hang over all the Kennedys.” He said his failure to report the accident right away was “indefensible.”
After Chappaquiddick especially, Kennedy gained a reputation as a heavy drinker and a womanizer, a tragically flawed figure haunted by the fear that he did not quite measure up to his brothers. As his weight ballooned, he was lampooned by comics and cartoonists in the 1980s and ’90s as the very embodiment of government waste, bloat and decadence.
But in his later years, after he had remarried, he came to be regarded as a statesman on Capitol Hill, seen as one of the most effective, hardworking lawmakers Washington has ever seen.
A barrel-chested figure with a swath of white hair, a booming voice and a thick, widely imitated Boston accent, he coupled fist-pumping floor speeches with his well-honed Irish charm and formidable negotiating skills. He was both a passionate liberal and a clear-eyed pragmatist, willing to reach across the aisle to get things done.
Kennedy’s speech in accepting defeat to Carter electrified the Democratic convention and turned out to be a defining moment. At 48, he seemed liberated from the towering expectations and high hopes invested in him after the death of his brothers, and he plunged into his work in the Senate.
First elected to the Senate in 1962 to his brother John’s seat, easily re-elected in 2006, Kennedy served close to 47 years, longer than all but two senators in history: Robert Byrd of West Virginia (50 years and counting) and the late Strom Thurmond of South Carolina, who died after a tenure of nearly 47 1 / 2 years. Kennedy’s career spanned 10 presidencies.
His legislative achievements included bills to provide health insurance for children of the working poor, the landmark 1990 Americans with Disabilities Act, Meals on Wheels for the elderly, abortion clinic access, family leave, and the Occupational Safety and Health Administration.
He was also a key negotiator on legislation creating a Medicare prescription drug benefit for senior citizens and was a driving force for peace in Ireland and a persistent critic of the war in Iraq.
Kennedy did not always prevail. In late 2008, he unsuccessfully lobbied for niece Caroline’s appointment to the Senate from New York. New York Gov. David Paterson chose then-Rep. Kirsten Gillibrand instead.
Wildly popular among Democrats, Kennedy routinely won re-election by large margins. He grew comfortable in his role as Republican foil and leader of his party’s liberal wing.
President George W. Bush welcomed Kennedy to the Rose Garden on several occasions as he signed bills that the Democrat helped write.
“He’s the kind of person who will state his case, sometimes quite eloquently and vociferously, and then on another issue will come along and you can work with him,” Bush said shortly before his first term began in 2001.
But Bush was also the target of some of Kennedy’s sharpest attacks. Kennedy assailed the Iraq war as Bush’s Vietnam, a conflict “made up in Texas” and marketed by the Bush administration for political gain.
Kennedy and his niece Caroline shook up the Democratic establishment in January 2008 when they endorsed Obama over Hillary Rodham Clinton for the nomination for president.
After Obama won in November, Kennedy renewed words once spoken by his brother John, declaring: “The world is changing. The old ways will not do. � It is time for a new generation of leadership.”
Born in 1932, the youngest of Joseph and Rose Kennedy’s nine children, Edward Moore Kennedy was part of a family bristling with political ambition, beginning with maternal grandfather John F. “Honey Fitz” Fitzgerald, a congressman and mayor of Boston.
Round-cheeked Teddy was thrown out of Harvard in 1951 for cheating, after arranging for a classmate to take a freshman Spanish exam for him. He eventually returned, earning his degree in 1956.
He went on to the University of Virginia Law School, and in 1962, while his brother John was president, announced plans to run for the Senate seat JFK had vacated in 1960. A family friend had held the seat in the interim because Kennedy was not yet 30, the minimum age for a senator.
Kennedy was immediately involved in a bruising primary campaign against state Attorney General Edward J. McCormack, a nephew of U.S. House Speaker John W. McCormack.
“If your name was simply Edward Moore, your candidacy would be a joke,” chided McCormack.
Kennedy won the primary by 300,000 votes and went on to overwhelmingly defeat Republican George Cabot Lodge, son of the late Ambassador Henry Cabot Lodge, in the general election.
Devastated by his brothers’ assassinations and injured in a 1964 plane crash that left him with back pain that would plague him for decades, Kennedy temporarily withdrew from public life in 1968. But he re-emerged in 1969 to be elected majority whip of the Senate.
Then came Chappaquiddick.
Kennedy still handily won re-election in 1970, but he lost his leadership job. He remained outspoken in his opposition to the Vietnam War and support of social programs but ruled out a 1976 presidential bid.
In the summer of 1978, a Gallup Poll showed that Democrats preferred Kennedy over President Carter 54 percent to 32 percent. A year later, Kennedy decided to run for the White House with a campaign that accused Carter of turning his back on the Democratic agenda.
The difficult task of dislodging a sitting president was compounded by Kennedy’s fumbling answer to a question posed by CBS’ Roger Mudd: Why do you want to be president?
“Well, it’s um, you know you have to come to grips with the different issues that, ah, we’re facing,” Kennedy said. “I mean, we can, we have to deal with each of the various questions of the economy, whether it’s in the area of energy �”
He bowed out of the race after getting roundly beaten by Carter in the primaries and losing a rules battle at the Democratic convention. Later, when asked to assess the campaign, he replied: “Well, I learned to lose, and for a Kennedy that’s hard.”
Kennedy married Virginia Joan Bennett, known as Joan, in 1958. They divorced in 1982. In 1992, he married Washington lawyer Victoria Reggie. His survivors include a daughter, Kara Kennedy Allen; two sons, Edward Jr. and Patrick, a congressman from Rhode Island; and two stepchildren, Caroline and Curran Raclin.
In 1991, Kennedy roused his nephew William Kennedy Smith and his son Patrick from bed to go out for drinks while staying at the family’s Palm Beach, Fla., estate. Later that night, a woman Smith met at a bar accused him of raping her at the home.
Smith was acquitted, but the senator’s carousing – and testimony about him wandering about the house in his shirttails and no pants – further damaged his reputation.
Kennedy offered a mea culpa in a speech at Harvard that October, recognizing “my own shortcomings, the faults in the conduct of my private life.”
Later on, his second wife appeared to have a calming influence on him, helping him rehabilitate his image.
Kennedy’s family life has been marked by illness.
Edward Jr. lost a leg to bone cancer in 1973 at age 12. Kara had a cancerous tumor removed from her lung in 2003. In 1988, Patrick had a noncancerous tumor pressing on his spine removed. He has also struggled with depression and addiction and announced in June that he was re-entering rehab.
Kennedy’s memoir, “True Compass,” is set to be published in the fall.
Celebrity Birthdays (Aug. 26)
Celebrity Birthdays (Aug. 26)
Keke Palmer – 16 (actress)
Evan Ross – 21 (actor/Diana Ross son)(in photo above)
Cassie – 23 (R&B singer)
Macaulay Culkin – 29 (actor)
Chris Pine – 29 (ator)
Thalia – 38 (former MTV hostess)
Shirley Manson- 43 (Garbage lead singer)
Branford Marsalis – 49 (jazz musician)
Geraldine Ferraro – 74 (first female vice presidential candidate)
Chris Brown and Rihanna police report released
Chris Brown appears in court Aug. 25 with his attorney Mark Geragos. (AP photo)
Authorities released the police report regarding the incident where R&B singer Chris Brown beat up his then-girlfriend R&B singer Rihanna.
The police report is posted below, but beware, it contains graphic descriptions of what occurred during the fight.
The reason I decided to post the police report is to make everyone aware that domestic violence is an issue that needs to be discussed instead of sweeping it under the rug.
It affects people from all socioeconomic statuses, including celebrities. In the police report Rihanna is referred to as Robyn F. because that’s here real name.
Read the report below.
“Chris Brown and Robyn F (aka Rihanna) have been involved in a dating relations for approx 1 and half year. On Sunday Feb 8 at 25 hours Brown was driving a vehicle with Robyn F as the front passenger on an unknown street in Los Angeles. Robyn F picked brown,s cellular phone and picked up a three-page text message from a woman Brown had had a previous relationship with.
“A verbal argument ensued and Brown pulled a vehicle over in an unknown street. Reach over Robyn F with his right hand and open the car door and attempted to force her out. Brown was unable to force Robyn F out of the vehicle because she was wearing a seat belt. When he could not force her to exit he took his right hand and shoved her head against the passenger window of the vehcile causing an approx 1 inch raised circular contusion.
“Robyn F turned to face Brown and punched her in the left eye with right hand. He then drove away in the vehicle and continued to punch her in the face with his right hand while steering the vehicle with his left hand. The assault caused Robyn F Osmouth to fill with blood and blood to splatter all over her clothing and the interior of the vehicle. Brown looked at Robyn F and stated “I am going to beat the s–t out of you when we get home! You wait and see!?
“Robyn F picked her cellular phone and called her personal assistant Jennifer Rosales. Rosales did not answer the telephone but while her vm greeting was playing Robyn F pretended to talk to her and stated “I am on my way home. Make sure the cops are there when I get there? (this statement was made while greeting was playing and was not captured) after Robyn f faked the call, Brown and looked at her and stated, ‘You just did the stupidest thing ever! Now I really am going to kill you.’
“Brown resumed punching Robyn F and she interlocked her fingers behind her head and brought her elbows forward to protect her face. She then bent over at the waist placing her elbows and face near her lap and in attempt to protect her face and head from the barrage of punches being levied by Brown.
Brown continued to punch Robyn F on her left arm and hands, causing her to suffer a contusion on her left triceps that was approx 2 inches in diameter and numerous contusions on her left hand. Robyn f attempted to send another text message to other personal assistant Melissa Ford.
Brown snatched the cellular telephone out of her hand and threw it out of the window to an unknown street. Brown continued driving and Robyn F observed his cellular phone in his lap. She picked up the cellular phone with her left hand, and before she could make a call, he placed her in a head lock with right hand and continued to drive the vehicle with his left hand.
“Brown held Robyn F close to him and bit her on her left hear. She was able to feel the vehicle swerving from right to left as Brown sped away. He stopped the vehicle in front of [address] and Robyn F turned off the car removed the key from inignition and sat on it.
Brown did not know what she did with the key and began punching her in the face and arms. Brown began applying pressure to Robyn F left and right carotid arteries causing her to be unable to breath. She began to lose consciousness.
She reached up with her left hand and began to attempting to gauge his eyes in attempt to flee herself. Brown bit her left ring and middle fingers and released her. While brown continued to punch her she turned around a place her back to against the passenger door. She brought her knees to her chest and placed her feet against Brown,s body and began pushing him away.
“Brown continued to punch her on legs and feet causing several contusions. Robyn F began screaming for help. And Brown exited the vehicle and walked away. A resident in the neighbor heard Robyn F,s plea for help and called 911, causing a police response. An investigation was conducted and Robyn F was issued a domestic violence protective order (EPO).
Affiant conducted an interview with Melissa Ford who advised on Feb. 8 2009 at 2500 hours she received a phone call from Robyn F from an unknown telephone number later identified as the telephone number of Officer Chavez. Robyn F had advised Ford that she had been assaulted by Brown. At approx at 1 am Brown called Ford as nothing happened.
Ford advised Brown that she had already talked to Robyn F and was aware of what happened. Ford had advised brown that the neighbors had called police and that they were with Robyn F. Brown had asked Ford if Robyn F had provided police with his name. And Ford advised him that she had. Brown hung up the telephone and did not call back.
“On Feb. 8, Brown turned himself in and was given a copy of the EPO and advised to not contact Robyn. On Feb. 17 Ford advised the affiant that she had received text messages from … a number that Ford recognized as belonging to Brown. In the text message Brown apologized for what he had done to Robyn F. and advised Ford he was going to get help.”
