News:Soror Star and her Line of Payless Shoes

[AKA2D '91]

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[AKA2D '91]

P. Diddy Hoping To Get Oprah Winfrey's Support
Tue Oct 14, 6:00 AM ET

LAUNCH Radio Networks

Hip-hop mogul Sean "P. Diddy" Combs will visit the Oprah Winfrey (news) Show on Wednesday (October 15) to raise money for his Diddy Runs The City campaign. Combs is hoping to raise $1 million by running the New York City marathon on November 2.



Combs hopes to get a contribution from Winfrey although he recently told the New York Post that he wants to beat the time of four hours and 29 minutes it took Winfrey to complete the marathon in 1994.


In related news, P. Diddy has launched the Win Dinner With P. Diddy contest with the New York Post. One lucky winner will win two tickets to a pre-marathon dinner with P. Diddy on November 1, a Diddy Runs The City Marathon Pack from Nike which will include P. Diddy's autograph, and a free session with P. Diddy's personal trainer, Mark Jenkins. To enter fans should visit the New York Post website

[Kimmie1913]

According to Billboard.com, Da Band's album will be number 2 on the top 100 chart and number 1 on the Hip Hop/R and B chart. Oddly enough, they are behind Outkast on the top 100 chart and ahead of them on the hip hop/r and b chart.

[1savvydiva]

I found this online...WTF?????

R.L. Married 3 Months No More Wifey...by Jamie Foster Brown

About six weeks before this interview, R.L. came to my hotel suite in New York and talked about how excited he was about his recent marriage, less than 2 months earlier, to Ra'sheda, his longtime love. I got an interview done, and Sister 2 Sister even ran the wedding pictures he was so proud to offer. Then, less than a month after that, before we got a chance to run his interview, I got a phone call from R.L. saying he was getting his marriage annulled the next day. He wanted to explain it all to me, whom he calls "Mama," but I was so sad and upset I couldn't even talk to him. I couldn't handle what I thought he had to handle. I called him back later, when I got combobulated again, and this is what he said.

Jamie: R.L.?
R.L.: Hey, Mama.

Jamie: You were fabulous on Sister 2 Sister's "What Men Want" panel. Everybody is talking about that panel. Michael Baisden said he was a little worried about you because you were really getting into it. Tyler Perry wants to do it again. He liked the combination of all of you guys put together because you came from so many different perspectives.
R.L.: I think that'll be good.

Jamie: One of the women that was there said it taught her not to generalize about men. That was very important. Now when did you get married?
R.L.: May 24 [2003].

Jamie: May 24th and everything was fine?
R.L.: Everything wasn't fine, but…

Jamie: You told me that you had an experience with her before you got married.
R.L.: Yeah. The way that I really want to put it is basically I had to focus on my music. I couldn't give her all the attention she deserved and when she couldn't get it from me…. I felt like she could move on with her life because we are still young.

Jamie: This happened in the last three months?
R.L.: I loved her more than myself. I woke up one day and realized that if I didn't love me, there's no way she could be happy.

Jamie: What do you mean you loved her more than you loved yourself?
R.L.: That's why I married her because it was always about making her happy and not about making myself happy. What makes me happy is my music and she couldn't understand that. I can't give this up; this is what got me here. I think she wanted more of me and my music has the most of me.

Jamie: How much time were you spending with the music?
R.L.: Basically, when I'm at home I'm in my studio. And I'm on the road a lot. On the outside looking in, you say I want a man that's successful, but you don't think of all the time and preparation it takes. I'm on the road more than everybody else because I'm out here hustling. So I wasn't here for her and sometimes I feel like she needed me to be. But this was me when we met. I couldn't change that part of me. Not yet. When I get 30-something years old and I got enough money to where I can just live off of investments and stuff like that…. But now I got to think about not only me, but my son, my mother, my father, my little sister…. There's so many people that I'm responsible for.

Jamie: But didn't you all know that before you married?
R.L.: I mean, I thought she did. It was all about wanting me to change and I think that's why she went elsewhere. So for me, Jamie, I felt like I'd rather do it now and let her move on with her life than being selfish because I knew the way things were going. There was no way I could make her happy and be happy myself at the same time. So I had to make a choice.

Jamie: Now when you say you had to take care of your son, this is your son from another relationship, right?
R.L.: Yeah, my son is seven.

Jamie: Does he live with you?
R.L.: No, but I get him once a month, you know, for a couple of days out of the month and every other weekend.

Jamie: Were you the one who decided to get the marriage annulled, or was it both of you?
R.L.: It was a decision that we both came to. We sat down and talked like adults and went and did the adult thing. We still love each other, but in the end we knew that this is what was best because we would argue all the time about stuff that we couldn't change. I can't change me being on the road. I can't change me always having to be in the studio. Not right now.

Jamie: You're not touring now, are you?
R.L.: No, but I write for other people, so it's always something, whether I'm going out reading for a movie or just trying to better myself. I want to be the best person I can be for the woman that I'm gonna spend the rest of my life with.

Jamie: So you can't even think about getting married until you're about 33 or something like that?
R.L.: No, I don't feel like that. I can marry somebody that accepts me for who I am and what I am. And what I am is an artist. Artists are more sensitive. In my relationship I was insecure and there's no reason a man should be insecure in his relationship.

Jamie: You were insecure because of yourself or because of your situation?
R.L.: Because past indiscretions were made and because of me always being gone. There was a lack of trust there.

Jamie: Now when you were on the road, did she have insecurities about whether you were being monogamous or not?
R.L.: I don't think so because I'm the one who called you to put [the wedding pictures] all in the magazine. If I'm out here trying to be a 'ho, I'm not letting nobody know I'm married. So I'm ready to be in a monogamous relationship; that's not a problem. But I think we lost out on the friendship.

Jamie: How old is she?
R.L.: She's 24.

Jamie: What kind of work does she do?
R.L.: She's in retail.

Jamie: When did you meet her?
R.L.: I met her years before we were actually together. We were together for almost six years. I feel like in the relationship, Jamie, I shouldn't have to worry about me at all. My main focus should be my woman. I should want to cater to her because her main focus should be to please me in every way possible. I feel like it got to a point where all I was worrying about was her. I would be happy to make her happy. That's what made me happy.

Jamie: What did you do to make her happy?
R.L.: Anything I could. She came home one day from work and there was a new truck in the garage. And it's not just a money thing that I'm talking about. That was just an example.

Jamie: Did she move in with you?
R.L.: Yeah, she did. Another thing you gotta understand is I'm 26. Like we were talking about on the panel—there's a difference because a lot of guys who were on that panel, when they were 26 they weren't established in the sense of having a house, investments and things like that. So me, every time I meet a woman, 9 times out of 10, if she's my age she's not established. She's not gonna have anything to bring to the table. Maybe a degree, which is good, or maybe the promise of having a career because she's in college or something like that. So that's another insecurity. Women always think like, okay, whenever I meet a guy all he wants is some coochie. Well, after you give it up, you gon' know. But if I spend some money on a woman, she's gon' be nice to me as long as I keep spending. So for me, I would never know if a woman was just with me just for my money. Not saying she was, but for any artist that is the thing. It's not an ego thing, but I refuse to think that I couldn't get a woman if I was working at McDonald's. I'mma get me a woman.

Jamie: So you can't know who loves you. How do you feel that this girl loved you? She had been with you for six years?
R.L.: She's the only girl that I ever loved. She liked me way before I made it. We dated before "Butta Love" came out. She came from a good family. She worked at Nordstrom. When I was younger I had the fantasy of "I want a girl that has to be an actress and I'm gonna be a singer." But I mean, things change.

Jamie: What do your friends and family think about the marriage ending so soon? Did they try to counsel you out of it?
R.L.: No. You know what? It was between me and God. But they told me they support whatever decision I make. I feel like me and her grew apart. I grew in certain ways and she didn't. In my heart, that's what I feel, but she's not a bad person. I just think that maybe she needed to be in a situation where she had to pay rent in a little studio apartment for a while, have to worry about certain things on her own. I'm not gon' lie, when I'm with a woman I want to take care of her.

Jamie: Was she home alone? Was she still working while you were married?
R.L.: She was here. She was working. Any woman I'mma be with, I'm sorry, she gotta work. She's gotta bring something to the table.

Jamie: Did you all have a pre-nup?
R.L.: Yeah, fo'sho. You know me. Come on now! I work too hard. And I don't think she was using me at all. That's not what I'm saying. But at the same time I feel like she got comfortable. This is my number one rule to a woman now: Expect the best, but always appreciate it and never take it for granted.

Jamie: Now you were saying that it's okay for a woman to have sex on the first date, right?
R.L.: Fo'sho. I feel like this: I've been with women and the first thing that comes out of their mouth is, "I don't usually do this." As soon as they say that, I know they're lying.

Jamie: All the time, R.L.?
R.L.: Let me tell you something, Jamie If you know you ain't no 'ho and you know this is an exceptional situation for you, you ain't even gotta tell me because, if I'm any type of man, I wouldn't want to do it anyway. If I thought you was doing it to everybody like that, I wouldn't want you because it would be dangerous, number one. And number two, every man got some kinda ego. I sing, I sell records, I'm in videos, but I want to feel like any woman I'm with is with me because she thinks I'm handsome, sexy, something like that.
That's another thing about my relationship. Women don't compliment their men enough. I'm on the road and women everywhere are telling me how handsome I am—and I've been working out lately trying to get my body right. I eat right. I don't eat after a certain time. I get up at 5:30 every morning and hit the gym...and my woman never told me she loved my body. When I went to Allen Iverson's thing, I was at the club with a tank top on at the white linen party and one girl noticed my braces and I kinda smiled. I'm not used to compliments.

Jamie: What did she say about your braces?
R.L.: She said, "Oh, look at R.L., he got braces." And the other girl said, "F@#k his braces, look at that ni##a's body!" Man, I almost cried 'cause nobody ever complimented me. Like I said, I fell into low self-esteem since I was little. When you're on stage and the crowd is screaming at you, I feel like they're screaming at my music because that's my love. It ain't no ego with me at all.
Everybody that's around me knows how I am. And everybody needs reassurance. I didn't get that at home. I didn't get compliments. I dress every day. I take care of myself. I keep my hair groomed.

Somebody once told me that if you put a flower in a window, whichever way the sun is shining, the flower is gonna lean that way. And my sun wasn't shining at home. I had one of the most beautifullest women on the planet. I would tell her that every day. I would tell her, "Come to the gym with me." And she'd say, "Why? I don't look good enough?" I'd say, "No, that ain't why. I want you to come to the gym because I want us to grow old and take care of one another. We gotta live healthy. Eat right with me." I don't eat red meat or pork, I don't drink soda. I'm trying to get it so we can live longer. But I wasn't happy. I wasn't happy with myself and if I'm not happy with myself, I couldn't make her happy like she deserved.

Jamie: One of my friends said that that's all her husband ever talks about, cooking and the sex.
R.L.: Nah, that's not right. He gotta tell a woman how intelligent she is, how special she makes you feel, how good she smells, how you like her hair. See, I'm into hands and feet. Gotta have your hands and feet done when you're with me 'cause I'mma have some toes in my mouth and they gotta look right. Preferably French manicured, nude colors on your toes and hands. I like that. I grew up in a hair salon so I'm looking at hands and feet. The house was stankin'. My mom had all that fingernail polish remover going on in the house. My mom was in the house doing my sister's hair, then coming in there doing the nail polish, while she was smokin' a joint. My mom is old school gangsta! [Laughing]

Jamie: But why did you have low self-esteem? Are you the only child?
R.L.: No, I'm a middle child. I got an older brother and a younger sister. My older brother has a different father, but since he was 13 months, my dad is the dad he's known. So everybody overcompensated for him because his biological father wasn't there. So whether it was my grandmother, uncle, even my father, everybody did more for him. Then my little sister, she's the baby. Me, I had a full scholarship to college, graduated early from high school, everything. I didn't get nothing. But I think that's why I am the way I am today. My dad came to my house and cried. He said, "You know what? I know I was hard on you and I regret some of the things, but this is what I wanted for you." I used to get put on punishment for going to sing. He didn't want me to sing. He's an engineer. Academics was easy for me. He wanted me to go to school, but I had a dream. Nobody in my family really supported my dream.

Read more in the magazine...

[delph998]

1SDiva,

That article is very true. I go the beauty shop with his ex. Of course, there are two sides to the story, because she said he was dirty, yada, yada, yada.

[1savvydiva]

Originally posted by delph998
1SDiva,

That article is very true. I go the beauty shop with his ex. Of course, there are two sides to the story, because she said he was dirty, yada, yada, yada.

Chile, I am shaking my head. I must be late or something because my sis was like, "You ain't know that?" Dag, they made such a nice couple, I guess looks can be deceiving.

[CrimsonTide4]

I have mixed feelings about his comments in the article.

[1savvydiva]

Hell, he has mixed comments...he contradicted himself so many times in the full article!

You want an independent woman/she worked the entire time ya'll dated and continued to work after the wedding.

You don't want someone who was only in it for money/she was with you before "Butta Love".

I just think it's all bullisht...you better damn well make sure this is what you want before we get married. You didn't even TRY...ya'll were only married for three months!!

[Gina1201]

From Us magazine:

When beautiful butt-kicker Vivica A. Fox, 39, arrived at the press junket for her new action flick, Kill Bill: Volume 1, sporting some new bling Us just had to ask where she got her wrist candy. "It was a present," Fox coyly replied about her dazzling diamond-studded Rolex. "Fifty got me this beautiful new watch"-"Fifty" being 50 Cent. (Trust Us-they're close enough that she can use his more casual moniker.) "I treated myself to this ring and bracelet to go with it," she said of her other accessories. After she graced the 27-year-old rapper's arm at the MTV Video Music Awards in August, the newly buff and bare Fox told Us that they were just pals. Now she says they're friends with a "promising future"."

[abaici]

Originally posted by 1savvydiva
I found this online...WTF?????

R.L. Married 3 Months No More Wifey...by Jamie Foster Brown

Yeah, this is old news. I read S2S faithfully. Say what you want to about Jamie, but she gets the scoop. He is so full of bull.

[Afrochic]

4-1-1 ENTERTAINMENT FOR THE WEEK OF OCTOBER 13TH, 2003

The Fugees used to be one of the music world's top groups. The Fugees consisted of Wyclef Jean, Lauryn Hill and Pras. The threesome topped the charts and they were the buzz of the music industry. A lot of people would like to see them reunited, but according to Pras, don't count on it. Pras opens up about the group in Rolling Stone Magazine. Pras says there will be no Fugees reunion. He and Wyclef no longer speak and he says Lauryn is in another world. The Miseducation of Lauryn Hill was one of the greatest albums released in the 90's, the Grammy Award Winning album sent Lauryn to superstar status and then her life fell apart. Pras says Lauryn was in love with Wyclef and they carried on their love affair even though he was married to another woman. Wyclef was not going to leave his wife and when friends urged Lauryn to move on with her life she met Rohan Marley. At the time of her first pregnancy she didn't know if she was pregnant by Wyclef or Rohan. She wanted the baby to be Wyclef's hoping he would leave his wife. The baby turned out to Rohan's and she went on to have a life with him. When Lauryn became pregnant with baby number two she found out that Rohan was already married to another woman and they had two children. At this point Lauryn suffered a meltdown. Four producers sued her, claiming they were not given credit for helping her with The Miseducation of Lauryn Hill. She had to give them five million dollars. She was stressed out with the pressure of having to support family members and being the glamorous music star. As Lauryn tried to find herself she became involved with a shadowy spiritual advisor and she cut off contact with her family. Lauryn had two more children after meeting up with the spiritual advisor. She is no longer with Rohan Marley and she will only do interviews if you pay her. Her asking price is $10,000 for her "time and energy." Sources say she is working on a new album and she prefers to be called Ms. Hill not Lauryn. Is Lauryn Hill okay? Did she have a breakdown because of the way she was living her life. She says she has found herself and her true voice. Let's hope we find out soon.

Singer Toni Braxton is having problems in her marriage. Toni is married to musician Kerri Lewis from Mint Condition. They got married in an elaborate ceremony and quickly became parents. Their children are under the age of three and the cracks are starting to show in the marriage. Toni is currently starring on Broadway in Aida and she had Kerri and the kids move to New York. Kerri's career is at a standstill and Toni is working all the time. Kerri is left with the kids and the passion has left the marriage. The two are growing apart and friends fear they may be headed for divorce court. It's not easy balancing babies and marriage let's hope Toni and her husband persevere. Toni has also been spending a lot of money and Kerri is not happy with that. (Afrochic's sidenote: Wasn't it just said that Kerri's career is at a standstill and he's mad about the money she makes and spends? )She has already filed for bankruptcy once and he doesn't want to end up broke with kids.

Halle Berry is set to host Saturday Night Live this weekend. Do you think she will poke fun at her marital problems? Sources say her husband singer Eric Benet was cheating again. Eric sought help for his sex addiction at a rehab clinic, but word has it he has had another relapse. The straw that broke the camel's back was when Halle came home from a movie shoot and found two women in her house one was naked and the other was wearing her lingerie. Friends of Eric claim he thought Halle was cheating on him with rocker Fred Durst when she starred in his new music video. Even though Halle has decided to end the marriage, sources say she is very committed to his daughter India who she adopted. If a custody battle breaks out Halle could win custody of India because of Eric's sex addiction problems. If Eric has custody he could make Halle pay child support. Halle loves India and she plans on being in the child's life. India is 11 years old, her mother died in a car accident when she was an infant and Halle adopted her when she married Eric.

Are wedding bells in the air for golfer Tiger Woods? Tiger is reportedly set to pop the question to his Swedish girlfriend, Elin Nordengen.

Congratulations to actor Rockmond Dunbar. Rockmond plays "Kenny" on the Showtime series Soul Food and he recently married his longtime love. The new season of Soul Food kicks off in February.

NBA rookie sensation Lebron James of the Cleveland Cavaliers is dating one of the members of the group 3LW, Adrienne.

"Where oh where is Jill Scott?" Jill has just finished filming the Showtime original movie The Cave Dwellers. The movie airs early next year and Jill will play the best friend of a woman who abandons her family to pursue her dream of playing in a rock band. She is also working on a new album that will come out next year and she has a book of poetry coming out called The Minutes, The Moment, The Hours.

Congrats to Tina Campbell of Mary Mary. Tina and her husband Teddy Campbell are the proud parents of a baby girl Laiah Simone Campbell. Mary Mary consists of sisters Tina and Erica and they have a new album coming out next year.

[AKA2D '91]

For ALL the news presented....

GET THA GUN!

[Gina1201]

I'm at my news station for decided to do a weather report when Oprah was about to come on. So therefore, I missed 3 minutes of Didd'y 10 minute interview. I will be watching to see if he shows up in person on Nov. 3rd.

[Steeltrap]

SHERIDAN on basketball: Kobe-less Lakers at ease in San Diego

By CHRIS SHERIDAN, AP Basketball Writer
October 15, 2003
SAN DIEGO (AP) -- Shaquille O'Neal (bro: diesel) was in a chatty mood, neither mumbling nor meowing as he sat in a sweltering locker room and said so much with what he did not say.

Asked why he was sitting out with a sore left heel, O'Neal replied: "I want to be right for Derek, Karl and Gary.''

Notice a name missing there?

O'Neal's omission of Kobe Bryant was not a mistake. He repeated that quote again, giving unspoken insight into the feelings being felt inside a locker room that seemed at ease Tuesday night without Bryant around.

One can only wonder: Is O'Neal feeling some sort of perverse pleasure in seeing his superstar teammate's life in turmoil as he defends himself against a rape allegation in Colorado?

O'Neal and Bryant have never been close during their seven years together, their relationship ranging from icy at its worst to tepid at its best.

O'Neal is always capable of taking a veiled shot at Bryant, and this was a sequel of sorts to his pronouncement on the first day of camp that "the full team IS here'' when Bryant failed to report because he was "under the weather.''

O'Neal sat at his locker Tuesday wearing a garish red and white sweat suit, with one new teammate -- Gary Payton -- listening in from his left, and another -- Karl Malone -- eventually plopping down in the seat to his right.

That threesome has a combined 42 years of NBA experience, and the trio was talkative on a night when Bryant did not travel with the team for two reasons -- a sore knee would have kept him from playing, and a judge in Colorado had mandated his presence Wednesday at Part II of his preliminary hearing.

"Didn't want him here,'' coach Phil Jackson said. "I know he'd be a distraction.''

O'Neal switched to an all-black ensemble and watched from the bench as Payton, Malone and the rest of his supporting cast lost 104-86 to the Phoenix Suns before a sellout crowd of 13,144 that included legions of fans wearing Lakers jerseys -- and yes, some of them were clad in Bryant's No. 8.

The Laker Girls made the two-hour trip south, as did longtime public address announcer Lawrence Tanter.

Bryant did not, and he may not be in uniform Thursday night, either, when the Lakers play at the Staples Center against rookie LeBron James and the Cleveland Cavaliers. Bryant's first game could be Friday against Phoenix or Sunday against the Cavs, Jackson said.

One byproduct of the Kobe waiting game is the mood-measuring around a team with an inner dynamic that is markedly different from a year ago.

Gone are three of last year's part-time starters, Robert Horry, Mark Madsen and Samaki Walker, replaced by an assortment of the very old (in NBA terms) and very young.

The presence of Malone, 40, Payton, 35, Horace Grant, 38, O'Neal, 31, and Bryon Russell, 32, gives the room an old feel. There are eight rookies and second-year players, with Devean George and Slava Medvedenko the only ones with more than one and less than seven years of NBA experience.

It's been more than two weeks since the team assembled in Honolulu, and the players are growing accustomed to the circus atmosphere that surrounds them to varying degrees on different days.

When the news is Kobe-driven, everyone in the organization has to deal with added and unwanted attention. O'Neal has been answering "Meow'' to most questions concerning Bryant -- the big fella's slang for "CAT'' or "can't answer that.''

With Bryant away, the unease was temporarily absent.

Payton gabbed with reporters about what he's seen in early preseason games (he chided Keith Van Horn for his eight turnovers in Sunday's Spurs-Knicks game), Malone described the huge sense of loss he's felt since the death of his mother last summer, while O'Neal discussed his weight (339 pounds as of Monday ) and the type of money he'd want if he gets another three-year contract extension ("Put it this way, I won't take a BMW from somebody when I know I can get a Maybach from someone else.'' ).

But Shaq sent a message, too, by omitting Bryant from the list of those he's playing for -- a list that included only Derek Fisher, Malone and Payton.

It may have spoke volumes about what's being felt inside the team.

[CrimsonTide4]

You know, Shaq. . . just cuz your house is in ORDER right now, does not mean your day won't ever come. Right now, IMO, Shaq, is acting CAT as hell. . .True, Kobe did wrong -- adultery, the least, and rape, the greatest -- but dayum . . . no further comment.