Steve Smith Tweets Out Against Domestic Violence

Several NFL players have spoken out against domestic violence in recent weeks, in the wake of the Ray Rice and Greg Hardy situations. And the latest to take a stance--via Twitter--is Steve Smith, who's in a rather unique position. See, Smith is a former Carolina Panthers player, as you know, and former teammate of Hardy; and he currently plays for the Baltimore Ravens, which was Rice's team until they cut the running back last week after the now-infamous inside-the-elevator video was released.

Credit: @89SteveSmith

I'm not digging in the weeds here on the NFL's domestic violence crises because it's being reported on around the clock on major news networks and publications. But I wanted to share Smith's tweets, in case you haven't seen what he posted last night. And in true Mr. Ice Up Son fashion, he didn't back down from smack talk from other tweeters. Click here to read the full thread.

You know its not that hard get!!!! Keep your damn hands off women!!!! God made women for you to Lean on them Not beat on them #RealTalk

— Steve Smith Sr (@89SteveSmith) September 18, 2014

@MattW88811 dark past. Go to @SteveSmithFDN and see what I do. You never heard me hit a women so it's not the same. Plus it was 6yrs ago

— Steve Smith Sr (@89SteveSmith) September 18, 2014

@MattW88811 I'm not judging I'm stating a current events that has happen. 64 homicides were related to domestic violence last yr in clt.

— Steve Smith Sr (@89SteveSmith) September 18, 2014

@MattW88811 I think these ppl have put themselves in a vonarable place to be judge by many other people. My mom is DV survivor.

— Steve Smith Sr (@89SteveSmith) September 18, 2014

The last time me and my wife were in elevator heading to our hotel room!!! We got this guy 9 months later.. #Realtalk pic.twitter.com/LV6P6uOrT5

— Steve Smith Sr (@89SteveSmith) September 18, 2014

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Fantasia: 'Side Effects of You' Talking About Your Personal Life

Fantasia is gearing up for the release of her fourth album, Side Effects of You, which is scheduled to hit stores April 23. Pre-orders for the album began last week (iTunes and Amazon). With her album being less than a month away, you can expect to see the High Point native/Charlotte resident on plenty of media outlets promoting it. And I have a few words of advice for her: Put the focus on your music, not your personal life.

Fantasia has had lots of well-documented hardships, drama, and turmoil in her life, and she's always been rather honest and open about it. It was fine when she discussed those issues on her first two albums, because not only did she gain tremendous notoriety from winning American Idol in 2004, but her story and triumph over tragedy were among the things fans endeared most about her, in addition to her soul-stirring voice.

But now Tasia's a superstar, who's been in the public eye for nearly a decade. And too often now, when she's working on new projects, the media coverage and attention she receives is more about her personal life than her work. When she was about to release her last album, Back To Me, in August 2010, two weeks before the actual release date she was hospitalized for what was described as a suicide attempt via a medication overdose. That crisis overshadowed her album, and the two years that followed brought tabloid and gossip website reports about her alleged affair with a married man and the pregnancy that resulted from it.

Fantasia worked with Charlotte trainer Sonya McRoberts to drop the baby weight.
Credit: instagram.com/TasiasWord

Now that Fantasia's going full force into the spotlight this spring to promote her new album--and looking the best she's looked in years--journalists and bloggers are going to want to ask her the same questions over and over about her personal life. She should be experienced in handling media by now, and should address those questions a couple of times, get them out of the way, and for the next six months only talk about her music. And that advice is coming from me, a journalist who doesn't like it when interviewees dodge or deflect questions.

Fantasia talked about her personal life and recent turmoil in the April 2013 cover story of Sister 2 Sister magazine.

When she stopped in Greenville, South Carolina on Friday, she spoke to one of the local news stations. The interview she gave could've basically been the same as the ones she gave nearly three years ago as "she battled back" from turmoil. She needs to be telling her fans why they should buy her new album and what it sounds like; not what she's been through again and again. If she's really got her life together this time, it'll show in her work.

Media will give her all the camera time and print pages she wants if she's willing to dish the dirt on her personal life. But that's not going to help her sell albums. It didn't the last time.

If anything, she should do what many of her peers in the industry do these days: shun traditional media and instead use social media to get her message out. She does, after all, have more than 3 million fans on Facebook. And that message should be about her new music, which if her first single "Lose To Win" is any indication, she's got a good album on the way. I'm particularly interested in hearing track five from the 13-song album. It's titled "Without Me" and features Kelly Rowland and Missy Elliot.

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Media Continues to Go 'All In' on Paula Broadwell

When news broke a week and a half ago that General David Petraeus had resigned as director of the CIA, citing an extramarital affair, it came as a surprise to most of us, even though we're used to seeing the careers of men in powerful positions come crashing down because of their philandering ways. Petraeus's resignation was announced on the afternoon of Friday, November 9, leaving journalists, politicians, and everyone else with a lot of questions. I actually said to a couple of people that day that "I bet we'll never find out who he had an affair with." Silly me. Shouldn't I know these things always come out?

A few hours later, that Friday evening, I was kicked back, watching TV, while also surfing Twitter on my phone. I wasn't looking for anything in particular when I saw "Paula Broadwell" was a trending topic. I was like no way! Before even clicking on any of the tweets to see what the buzz was about, I knew it had to mean that she had been identified as the mistress of General Petraeus, because I remembered her quite vividly from when I blogged about her in January, about how she was a Charlotte resident who'd just written a biography on Petraeus titled, All In: The Education of General David Petraeus, and that she had this impressive career and life.

"Paula Broadwell Is Awesome" is what I titled that blog post back in January, where I recounted her military and education credentials, and quickly ran down some of the many media appearances she was making at the time during a publicity tour for her book.

Petraeus and Broadwell during happier, less-suspecting times. Credit: paulabroadwell.com

On the evening and night of November 9, as people feverishly Googled to find out more about who Paula Broadwell is, my nine-and-a-half month-old blog post spiked in traffic, garnering nearly 25,000 page views in the span of about six hours. The high traffic continued through that weekend.

As the Petraeus-Broadwell affair and scandal took one unexpected twist after the next last week, I had several ideas about different things I would potentially blog about. Unfortunately, I didn't have the time since I was busy with other assignments for print publications. Then two days ago, on Sunday evening, I received a call from a managing editor at a New York-based media outlet asking me if I would be a stringer to assist with their coverage of the Broadwell story. Paula and her husband Scott had just returned to their Charlotte home for the first time after being away for more than a week, while all of the embarrassing details of her affair were unfolding. The editor asked if I would, basically, post up outside her home for a few hours Sunday night and for a few hours Monday morning. This was different from the kind of journalism and reporting I'm used to doing, but I figured what the heck, these kinds of opportunities/national-interest stories don't come around too often in Charlotte.

More than a dozen reporters, photographers, and news cameramen gathered outside of Paula Broadwell's home in Dilworth on Monday morning (Nov. 19). Credit: Jarvis Holliday

When I arrived outside the Broadwell home Sunday night about 8:30, all five local news trucks (with crews) were positioned along the streets near her house in Dilworth: WBTV, WCNC, WSOC, FOX Charlotte, and News 14 Carolina, along with a reporter from The Charlotte Observer. When I returned early Monday morning, there was even more media, including several photographers and a few more print media reporters. They all had the same goal: hope that the Broadwells would make their first public statement, which hasn't happened yet, but I wouldn't be surprised if it came this week.

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Why, Waka?

Just three months after getting shot at, and the same week the charges that were filed against the alleged shooters were dropped, rapper Waka Flocka Flame returned to Charlotte today. Waka is here for the Dub Show Tour, a car show event that also features a concert and makes stops in several cities, and is taking place at Charlotte Convention Center from 3 p.m. to 9 p.m. In addition to Waka, other rappers performing include Yung Joc, Ace Hood, Kia Shine, locals Bettie Grind, King Carter, and others. Waka has appeared at several of the Dub Show dates so I understand that he wants to honor a contract he likely has in place, but when the show ends at 9 p.m. tonight, he should've been planning to hightail it out of here.

Instead, Mr. "Hard in the Paint" is being hard in the head, and is hosting an after-party at Club 935. Waka is one of those rappers I can't stand because he glorifies violence, drugs, and gang activity in his music and says that he "keeps it real." He's a real idiot, and it's because of the music he makes that trouble follows him.

In February, he took his tour bus to the Car Stereo Warehouse on Independence Boulevard to get the sound system upgraded--I'm still not clear as to why he chose Charlotte to do this because I don't think he had a show scheduled here that day. But while there, two cars pulled up and at some point the men in them fired shots at Waka and his crew. The police arrested six men a few days later, but just this past Monday the Mecklenburg County District Attorney dropped the charges. Basically, the ignorant-@ss "no snitching" policy in the hood prevailed because none of the witnesses would identify the suspects. "I'm not thrilled about having to dismiss these charges. Some of these guys have felony records," District Attorney Andrew Murray said.

Plus, in May 2010, Waka was performing at a nightclub in east Charlotte and a shootout broke out afterward. There's no evidence as to whether any of his actions caused it, but that's two shooting incidents in a year in the same city in which he was present. That's why he should not be at Club 935 tonight. That club does have some of the tightest security around (still, I'm surprised they booked him so soon after his last incident here), but this is more about Waka's ignorance and inability to make good decisions. He knows people are out to get him, yet he chooses to go to a club tonight for an event that will last until the wee hours of the morning. And who's to say that affiliates of the men who shot at him three months ago won't be present tonight? He won't admit it, but most of the trouble that follows him is because of his gang affiliation. And if it's not that, then it's an attempt to rob him of his fool's gold, I mean, jewelry. That's what was alleged to have been the cause of the February shooting here, as well as when he was shot in Atlanta last year.

Let's hope he makes it out of Charlotte tonight without any incident. And maybe one day Waka will wise up.

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Fantasia Needs 'Back To Me' to Turn Focus Back to Music

It's been a whirlwind past two weeks for Fantasia Barrio, since reports surfaced that she attempted suicide at her Charlotte home. You can read all the gossip and rumors just by Googling her name, but tomorrow (Tuesday, August 24) you can get the story as to what happened from Fantasia herself.

In the morning, Fantasia will appear on Good Morning America, where she's scheduled to perform. This is, after all, the time in which she should be focusing solely on promoting her new album, Back To Me, which also comes out Tuesday. Instead, you can expect the GMA crew to ask her tough questions about her suicide attempt and alleged affair with a married man, Antwaun Cook, also from Charlotte.

Then tomorrow night, you can see Fantasia on VH1's Behind The Music at 9 p.m. I mentioned on this blog a couple of months ago that she was slated to be chronicled on the iconic show. I would imagine that the taping for the one-hour episode had wrapped up before Fantasia's suicide attempt, but being the true storytelling show that it is, Behind The Music reportedly taped Fantasia again on Saturday so that this episode could address her recent headline-grabbing ordeal. You can see a brief clip of it in the video below.



From what I've heard of the music and the producers involved with the project, this could be Fantasia's best album yet. But it could also be overshadowed by the turmoil in her personal life. A similar thing happened with Britney Spears three years ago when she released Blackout, during a time when she was making news for her troubled personal life instead of her music. Many music critics rated the album highly, some calling it her best album ever, but it was largely ignored by fans, becoming her worst selling album and not even reaching platinum status.

Next week, when the Billboard charts are released for this week's album sales, we'll see if Fantasia's fans have come out to support her by buying her album. She really needs Back To Me to help turn the focus back to music.

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Charlotte Event Promoter Accuses Therapy Cafe of Racism

Last month, I (and thousands of people on their email lists and Facebook group) began receiving emails that Six Figure Entertainment had formed a partnership with Therapy Cafe and would be hosting events there on an ongoing basis. Six Figure, which was founded in 2006, touts that it "is a major event and promotional company whose mission is to provide exemplary upscale social soirée for a mature and diverse audience." I have attended several of their events and will agree that they're usually upscale, but they're not usually diverse considering they draw a crowd of mostly African-American professionals--I would say about 95 percent. The group is planning their annual Cream & Butter Affair on August 21 at Ballantyne Village Theatre.

A photo from Six Figure Entertainment's Spring Couture, a late-night event held March 27 at Therapy Cafe. The success of the event led to SFE and Therapy's management partnering to hold events on a weekly basis.

But back to the topic at hand, in June, SFE stated in the first of many emails that: "Six Figure Entertainment are now managing partners of Therapy Lounge Uptown Charlotte!!! Charlotte Get ready because we are about to bring you some Flavor in the Uptown Charlotte Area."

Exactly one month later, that partnership has ended, according to a scathing email sent out this afternoon by Kirk Brown, CEO of Six Figure Entertainment. Below is that email in its entirety.

Subject line: RACIST COMMENTS END UPTOWN PARTNERSHIP

Six Figure Entertainment (SFE) truly believes in providing our patrons with exceptional and quality events and value your views and opinions. The foundation of Six Figure Entertainment is focused on creating a unique blend of nightlife entertainment for a mature and diverse audience. Therefore, we regret to inform you that we will no longer be working with or supporting Therapy Café.

Our experiences have revealed an attitude of unwillingness to enhance the nightlife experience of our patrons by not correcting certain obvious deficiencies such as:

· Lack of cleanliness of the Bathrooms
· Inadequate Air-Conditioning
· Non-negotiable Drink and Food Prices
· Lack of Staff Friendliness and Service

We've also become aware of an undertone of racial insensitivity to the patrons of SFE as noted by many of you via the automatic addition of 20% gratuity to your bills. For your information, this occurred based upon the comments and attitudes of the management staff that "African-American People Don't Tip." If this were simply the attitude of the employees, our relationship could possibly be sustained through diversity training etc.; however since this is the attitude of management it is best that we part company now. We do not condone and WILL NOT tolerate anyone disrespecting the brand of SFE and its patrons.

DO NOT PATRONIZE THERAPY CAFE OR ANY EVENTS THAT TAKES PLACE AT THERAPY CAFE....

At Six Figure Entertainment we place a lot of emphasis on our brand and the reputation of our company and as a result will not settle for anything less than the best. We ask that you refrain from supporting Therapy Cafe as we will no longer be in partnership with them. We do however ask that you continue to support Six Figure Entertainment in the events that we do provide to you here in the Queen City.

DON'T SPEND YOUR BLACK DOLLARS AT THERAPY CAFE...IT IS WELCOMED BUT YOU AREN'T.

Sincerely,
Kirk Brown, CEO
Six Figure Entertainment


Let's keep in mind that we haven't heard Therapy management's side of the story yet--Grown People Talking will try to get it and post it on this blog. And in lieu of all of the recent national news coverage of racial tension going on in the political arenas, allegations of racism shouldn't be made lightly or taken lightly.

But what has been your experience at Therapy during the past month or even before SFE began its partnership? Post it in the comments.

UPDATE: GPT was the first blog or news or web site of any kind to post this situation occurring between Six Figure Entertainment and Therapy Cafe. The same day I blogged about this, I tried contacting the managers/owners of Therapy to get their side of the story. After not much success, I decided to fall back and let the big boys handle it as over the next two weeks just about every major news outlet in Charlotte covered the story, from Creative Loafing to WBTV. One of the news sites that did the most thorough jobs covering it is QcityMetro.com. And if you were following the developments, you know that Therapy closed on August 10, less than two weeks after the allegations of racism surfaced.

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Joslyn James Jilted by Charlotte Hotel?

TMZ.com is reporting today that Tiger Woods and former mistress/current stripper Joslyn James may have nearly stayed in the same hotel while in Charlotte over the weekend. Gloria Allred, the publicity hound of an attorney who represents James, emailed a letter dated for today to the general manager of The Ritz-Carlton, Charlotte seeking an answer as to why her client's hotel reservation was cancelled. Allred speculates that it could be because Woods was staying there.

This kind of thing was bound to happen with James traveling to the cities to perform in strip clubs where Woods is playing golf tournaments. She was at Uptown Cabaret Friday and Saturday, and she ended up having a longer weekend than Woods, who missed the cut and didn't play after Friday's round of the Quail Hollow Championship.

Click on the image below to read the letter sent by Allred.

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Read About It: Tiger, M.J., Skipper

The Quail Hollow Championship tees off in Charlotte next week, and everybody's abuzz now that Tiger Woods has committed to play in the tournament. It's going to be interesting to see what the atmosphere is like--how composed is Tiger, will the fans behave, are the paparazzi going to set up camp? I can only think back on better days, like when Tiger came here and won the tournament in 2007. That week was memorable from start to finish, beginning with Tiger's famous pairing with Michael Jordan and Skipper Beck in the Wednesday Pro-Am.

In the April 21-27 issue of Creative Loafing, you can read my cover story, "Quail Hollow Trilogy: The paths (and downfalls) of Tiger, M.J. and Skipper," where I chronicle how the lives of the golf great, basketball legend, and astute businessman have changed immensely since that fateful spring day. Click here.

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Rielle Brings Us Oprah

If you haven't realized it yet, in the current state of the world we live in, being a mistress is a good thing. Having an affair with a married man, particularly if he's famous, will bring you fame and lots of perks. Tiger Woods's mistresses have publicists; Jesse James's jumpoffs are getting as much limelight as his Oscar-winning wife. And then there's Reille Hunter, Charlotte's new mistress-turned-celebrity resident. Thanks to her, we might be getting a visit from Oprah Winfrey.

The National Enquirer broke the story yesterday that Oprah will be interviewing Hunter for an upcoming episode. The Enquirer even said the interview will take place in Hunter's Charlotte home. Harpo Productions confirmed today that the interview is indeed scheduled, but made no mention of the location. I would think logistically it makes more sense to interview Hunter in the confines of Oprah's Chicago studio, but, hey, maybe Oprah wants to truly go inside the life of a mistress. (And the Enquirer has been accurate about a lot of things involving Hunter in the past, including uncovering her affair with former Senator John Edwards).

Last month I blogged that "Rielle Hunter Wants This Attention" and that's only now become more evident. And for someone who claims to want privacy to raise the daughter she shares with Edwards, what kind of paparazzi circus does she think is going to take place outside of her home if the paps are now seeking sightings of the big O?

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Rielle Hunter Wants This Attention

The 24-hour cable news shows reported on the hour every hour today on the new GQ magazine interview and pictorial featuring Rielle Hunter. The story, "Hello, America, My Name Is Rielle Hunter," appears in GQ's April issue and it was posted online today. Since this was Hunter's first time speaking publicly about John Edwards since he claimed paternity for their daughter, it quickly became a hot topic. And that's exactly what Hunter wanted.

Since Edwards has admitted he's the father--and because he's no longer a political figure--the interest in the scandal would've begun to wane. The paparazzi and the tabloids would have begun to go away. But that's not what Hunter wants. Why else would she do an interview with one of the largest magazines in the world and allow them to photograph her scantily clad in her Charlotte home?

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I Didn't Know Rielle Hunter Lives in Charlotte

My friend and colleague Mary C. Curtis is a regular contributor for PoliticsDaily.com and yesterday she posted an article asking, "Can Rielle Hunter and Daughter Find Peace and Privacy in Charlotte?" It's speculated that John Edwards bought or rents a house here for Hunter and their love child. Charlotte could be just the kind of quiet city for Hunter to seek refuge, but I'm not sure that's possible now with her and Edwards's scandal getting renewed media and tabloid attention with the recent reports of a sextape.


Click here to read Mary's article.

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