Archives: Episodes

In new essay, Eminem reveals he’s lucky to be alive after years of drug addiction

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After years of drug addiction, Eminem has been sober since 2009 and is enjoying one of the best years of his career, being inducted into the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame, performing during the Super Bowl halftime show, and on September 3, winning his first Emmy Award.

But on Wednesday, the Grammy winner, born Marshall Mathers, took some time to reflect on the joy and pain of his life, including his addiction, in an essay he wrote for XXL.

“You went on tour and people were just giving you free drugs,” Slim Shady commented. “I managed it for a little while. And then, it just became, I like this s*** too much and I don’t know how to stop.”

“I’m coming off The Marshall Mathers LP and going into Encore when my addiction started to get bad,” he recalled. “I was taking Vicodin, Valium and alcohol. I kinda fell off the map a little bit and didn’t explain why I went away.”

Mathers remembered in 2006, “My drug use f***in’ skyrocketed. I had f***in’ 10 drug dealers at one time… Seventy-five to 80 Valiums a night, which is a lot. I don’t know how the f*** I’m still here.”

Now, Eminem’s goal is to “always try to be the best rapper.” He named four MCs that he admires.

“What I hyper-focus on is people like Kendrick Lamar, Joyner Lucas, J. Cole and Big Sean,” Eminem said, “because they’re also focused on being the best rappers.”

Mathers concluded by advising artists to study the competition.

“The minute you sleep, someone’s coming to take your head off. That’s what I’ve always loved about rap,” he said. “It’s always evolving, and to succeed you need to be constantly aware of that and keep up with it.”

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Taye Diggs to host 40+ dating reality show 'Back in the Groove'

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Taye Diggs will host an upcoming Hulu dating reality show called Back in the Groove, according to the streaming service. 

The show will see a trio of women in their 40s checking into the Groove Hotel in the Dominican Republic on a quest to “rediscover their youth, joy, and desire.”

The streamer adds, “The object of that desire? Men half their age.”

Diggs is a most appropriate host for the series, as he helped Angela Bassett‘s Stella get her titular groove back in the 1998 romantic comedy How Stella Got Her Groove Back, about a more mature woman’s attempt to get back in the game. 

Hulu’s announcement notes, “As the saying goes, you can’t fall in love with someone else until you fall in love with yourself!”

To that end, 41-year-old Steph from Miami, 42-year-old Brooke from Los Angeles and 43-year-old Sparkle from Atlanta will “break through the double standards older women face every day” in finding a possible connection with a younger love. 

A debut date is still unknown.

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Cardi B pleads guilty to misdemeanor charges; agrees to perform community service

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Cardi B accepted a plea agreement on Thursday from the Queens County district attorney’s office in New York City after being charged with assault in a 2018 strip club incident.

The original indictment included 12 charges, including two felonies. She has pled guilty to two misdemeanor charges and has agreed to perform community service. The remaining 10 charges were all dismissed.

In 2018, Cardi was involved in a brawl, during which she and nine members of her entourage were accused of throwing bottles, chairs and a hookah pipe inside the Angels Strip Club, injuring two of the bartenders. It is rumored that the Hustlers star suspected one of the bartenders was intimately involved with her husband, Offset.

“Part of growing up and maturing is being accountable for your actions. As a mother, it’s a practice that I am trying to instill in my children, but the example starts with me,” the 29-year-old entertainer said in a statement after accepting the plea agreement.

“I’ve made some bad decisions in my past that I am not afraid to face and own up to. These moments don’t define me and they are not reflective of who I am now,” Cardi continued. “I’m looking forward to moving past this situation with my family and friends and getting back to the things I love the most–the music and my fans.“

The “WAP” originally rejected an offer to plead guilty to a third-degree assault in exchange for a conditional discharge.

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Here's your first look at Naomi Ackie embodying Whitney Houston in 'I Wanna Dance with Somebody'

Courtesy Sony Pictures

The first trailer for the long-awaited Whitney Houston biopic, I Wanna Dance with Somebody, is finally here.

The teaser arrived Thursday and shows how British actress Naomi Ackie channels the late powerhouse singer.  The trailer begins with how Whitney got her start, when Arista Records’ Clive Davis discovered her singing at a nightclub at the tender age of 19.

“My dream? Sing what I wanna sing. Be how I wanna be,” Ackie narrates as scenes of Whitney’s rising star status flash across the screen.

The trailer includes one of the most defining moments of Whitney’s career — the 1991 Super Bowl where the Grammy winner belted out the “Star Spangled Banner.”

The sneak peek also shows the dark undercurrents Whitney faced throughout her career, such as facing criticism that her music wasn’t “Black enough.”  

“Look, I don’t know how to sing Black and I don’t know how to sing white, either,” Ackie’s voice continues to narrate as the camera pans to a sold-out stadium of fans excited to see Whitney perform. “I know how to sing.”

I Wanna Dance with Somebody is directed by Stella Meghie and written by Anthony McCarten, who penned the Oscar-winning Queen biopic Bohemian Rhapsody. The movie arrives in theaters on December 21.

“The greatest voice of our time has an even greater story,” the movie’s official synopsis reads. “Discover the Whitney Houston you never knew.”

Whitney accidentally drowned in a hotel bathtub in 2012; drugs were found in her system. She was 48.

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“Rejoice”: Nick Cannon welcomes baby number nine

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Nick Cannon is a dad for the ninth time.

The TV personality took to Instagram with girlfriend LaNisha Cole to announce the arrival of their new baby girl, Onyx Ice Cole Cannon.

It is Cannon’s first baby with Cole; their happy news comes a month after he announced he was expecting baby #10, his third with model Brittany Bell. The pair also have a five-year-old son named Golden “Sagon” and a 19-month old daughter named Powerful Queen.

About his new baby girl, the Wild N’ Out star said, “Once again Today I am in Awe of the Devine Feminine! God has given me and @MissLanishaCole the privilege of hosting an Angel here on earth. I vow to protect, provide, guide and love this child to the best of my abilities.”

He added he was going to “to mute any low vibrational frequencies and only rejoice,” expressing, “I promise to love this little girl with all my heart.”

Nick also commented, “I’ve given up on attempting to define myself for the world or society but instead I’m doing the work to heal and grow into the infinite being God ordained me to be.”

Cannon, of course, is the dad of twins Moroccan and Monroe with ex-wife Mariah Carey.

He also has 14-month-old twins Zion and Zillion from his relationship with Abby De La Rosa and a one-month-old son named Legend with model Bre Tiesi.

In December 2021, Nick and Alyssa Scott announced that their five-month-old son Zen passed away from brain cancer.

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