The jam-packed BET Awards 2024 are just days away, but there are two things host Taraji P. Henson is most looking forward to seeing: the live debut of Will Smith‘s new song and the presentation of Usher‘s Lifetime Achievement Award.
“It’s going to be an incredible show,” she says in an interview with People. “You know, it’s Culture’s Biggest Night. The performances are going to blow us all away. We got Will Smith, guys. I am so excited to see what he has up his sleeve.”
As for Lifetime Achievement recipient Usher, she says she’s “honored to host the show where he’s receiving his flowers.”
“I’m just proud of him. It’s just a proud moment,” she continues. “It’s a proud moment for the culture.”
Taraji’s return to the BET Awards marks her third time as host of Culture’s Biggest Night. Yet, she’s still a bundle of nerves — and she says that’s a good thing.
“I love nerves,” Henson shares. “I get nervous on the first day of shooting. It’s a live show. Anything can go right or wrong, you know, but that’s what’s so exciting.”
“If I’m not nervous, I would be nervous,” she adds.
The BET Awards 2024 will air live on BET Sunday at 8 p.m. ET.
Actor Bill Cobbs, known for his roles in Night at the Museum, The Bodyguard, Air Bud and more, has died, a rep for Cobbs confirmed to Good Morning America. He was 90.
“We are saddened to share the passing of Bill Cobbs,” his family said in a statement shared by his rep. “On Tuesday, June 25, Bill passed away peacefully at his home in California. A beloved partner, big brother, uncle, surrogate parent, godfather and friend, Bill recently and happily celebrated his 90th birthday surrounded by cherished loved ones.”
“As a family, we are comforted knowing Bill has found peace and eternal rest with his Heavenly Father,” the statement from his family continued. “We ask for your prayers and encouragement during this time.”
Of his many roles, perhaps some of his most notable films were The Bodyguard in 1992, in which he portrayed Devaney and acted alongside Kevin Costner and Whitney Houston, the 1997 Disney film Air Bud, Night at the Museum in 2006 and Oz the Great and Powerful in 2013.
He also has several series credits across television, including The Michael Richards Show, Agents of S.H.I.E.L.D., The Carmichael Show and The Sopranos. His guest starring role as Mr. Hendrickson in Dino Dana: The Movie earned Cobbs a Daytime Emmy Award for outstanding limited performance in a daytime program.
As a director, Cobbs directed The Meeting, a story about Martin Luther King Jr. and Malcolm X.
Some of Cobbs’ last acting roles were the 2024 television shows Diarra from Detroit and BMF.
(NEW YORK) — ABC News contributor LZ Granderson is revealing his HIV status, discussing which superstar’s mother inspired him to make that call, and talking about the virus’ disproportionate impact on people of color.
According to the most recent data from the CDC, more than 1.2 million Americans are currently living with HIV.
Thanks to modern medicine, preventing and treating the disease is now possible. However, the stigma attached to the virus persists. In a column for the Los Angeles Times, Granderson reveals that he’s been living with HIV for years.
ABC News’ Steve Osunsami sat down for a conversation with Granderson to hear why he’s speaking out now and how the virus disproportionately affects others.
GRANDERSON: I’ve just told, like, my best friend, yesterday. Told some other close friends yesterday.
ABC NEWS LIVE: It’s like coming out all over again.
GRANDERSON: It was a lot like coming out all over again. And I find myself apologizing a lot.
ABC NEWS LIVE: For?
GRANDERSON: Keeping secrets. I am HIV positive and have been for a long time. I used to hide my pills before the housekeeper shows up.
ABC NEWS LIVE: Wow!
GRANDERSON: In my socks.
ABC NEWS LIVE: You hid your pills in your socks before the housekeeper, because you didn’t want your housekeeper to know?
GRANDERSON: I didn’t want my housekeeper to find out.
ABC NEWS LIVE: You were afraid she would tell someone?
GRANDERSON: I just didn’t want anyone to know.
ABC NEWS LIVE: Yea.
GRANDERSON: My mom didn’t know. Heaven forbid, I have to tell my producer why I need to go to the drugstore now. You know what I mean? Like, I didn’t want any situation in which anyone will be asking me any questions. Like, why do you need to go to the drugstore right now? There were, there were people dying of AIDS in my environment, in my atmosphere.
ABC NEWS LIVE: That you were hearing?
GRANDERSON: So I definitely didn’t feel like I was in a place where I felt strong enough that I could do all of that, plus that. So I kept it to myself. Plus the, the guilt. You know, try to figure out who was it. Why did you do it? Like all these thoughts in my head?
ABC NEWS LIVE: Were you worried you were going to have to share that with people, or people were going to ask or you would need those answers?
GRANDERSON: I was worried I was going to shine a bad light on my community. And it’s killing all of us, but it’s really killing Black people, and it’s killing Black people because we’re afraid to talk about it. We whisper about it. You have queer Black people who are dying. You have heterosexual Black people who are dying and no one’s talking about it. So if you’re not having a conversation and we’re dying in silence, I don’t see a path of joy coming out of that.
[Granderson discussed how Tina Knowles, mother of singer Beyoncé inspired him to reveal his status.]
GRANDERSON: She flew from wherever Beyoncé was to Birmingham, Alabama, to tell Black journalists to get the word out about this virus that is still killing us and especially Black women. So I’m sitting there. And I’m like, she talking to me? I was like, I have to do my part.
ABC NEWS LIVE: When did you learn that you were HIV positive?
GRANDERSON: So, we were in Grand Rapids. I was with my partner, who’s now my husband, and I was getting my hair done. And I started to get these huge of wave of heat. I started to sweat, and then everything got black. And I woke up in the ambulance. Got to the hospital, I’m all hooked up and everything. And the doctors think I’m having a heart attack.
And so my husband’s rushing to the hospital. And they ran a bunch of tests. And the only thing that came back was that I was positive. The thing that went through my mind was the fact that my son was there in the room. And I remember saying to God, ‘I’m not done yet.’
ABC NEWS LIVE: And you weren’t by any means.
GRANDERSON: It was just about him. I had to take care of him.
ABC NEWS LIVE: Yeah I hear you.
GRANDERSON: That was the only thing I was thinking about.
[Granderson discusses telling his son about his HIV status just weeks before the ABC News interview.]
GRANDERSON: It went really well.
ABC NEWS LIVE: OK.
GRANDERSON: First thing he said was, ‘wow.’ And he says ‘I’m proud of you, pops.’ So I’m very grateful that God kept me. So I can get him across that finish line, because, that was the only thing I could think of that day.
My hope in doing this, Steve, really is to encourage people to be the hero in their own lives, especially queer Black men like us. You know, who are afraid of finding out or afraid of people thinking of them as less than.
When you saw me covering Wimbledon, I was HIV positive then. Pretty sure I was looking happy. So we can stop this. We can take care of ourselves. We can live healthy, productive lives. We can’t do any of that if we don’t get past the shame to ask for help.
(NEW YORK) — ABC News contributor LZ Granderson is revealing his HIV status, discussing which superstar’s mother inspired him to make that call, and talking about the virus’ disproportionate impact on people of color.
According to the most recent data from the CDC, more than 1.2 million Americans are currently living with HIV.
Thanks to modern medicine, preventing and treating the disease is now possible. However, the stigma attached to the virus persists. In a column for the Los Angeles Times, Granderson reveals that he’s been living with HIV for years.
ABC News’ Steve Osunsami sat down for a conversation with Granderson to hear why he’s speaking out now and how the virus disproportionately affects others.
GRANDERSON: I’ve just told, like, my best friend, yesterday. Told some other close friends yesterday.
ABC NEWS LIVE: It’s like coming out all over again.
GRANDERSON: It was a lot like coming out all over again. And I find myself apologizing a lot.
ABC NEWS LIVE: For?
GRANDERSON: Keeping secrets. I am HIV positive and have been for a long time. I used to hide my pills before the housekeeper shows up.
ABC NEWS LIVE: Wow!
GRANDERSON: In my socks.
ABC NEWS LIVE: You hid your pills in your socks before the housekeeper, because you didn’t want your housekeeper to know?
GRANDERSON: I didn’t want my housekeeper to find out.
ABC NEWS LIVE: You were afraid she would tell someone?
GRANDERSON: I just didn’t want anyone to know.
ABC NEWS LIVE: Yea.
GRANDERSON: My mom didn’t know. Heaven forbid, I have to tell my producer why I need to go to the drugstore now. You know what I mean? Like, I didn’t want any situation in which anyone will be asking me any questions. Like, why do you need to go to the drugstore right now? There were, there were people dying of AIDS in my environment, in my atmosphere.
ABC NEWS LIVE: That you were hearing?
GRANDERSON: So I definitely didn’t feel like I was in a place where I felt strong enough that I could do all of that, plus that. So I kept it to myself. Plus the, the guilt. You know, try to figure out who was it. Why did you do it? Like all these thoughts in my head?
ABC NEWS LIVE: Were you worried you were going to have to share that with people, or people were going to ask or you would need those answers?
GRANDERSON: I was worried I was going to shine a bad light on my community. And it’s killing all of us, but it’s really killing Black people, and it’s killing Black people because we’re afraid to talk about it. We whisper about it. You have queer Black people who are dying. You have heterosexual Black people who are dying and no one’s talking about it. So if you’re not having a conversation and we’re dying in silence, I don’t see a path of joy coming out of that.
[Granderson discussed how Tina Knowles, mother of singer Beyoncé inspired him to reveal his status.]
GRANDERSON: She flew from wherever Beyoncé was to Birmingham, Alabama, to tell Black journalists to get the word out about this virus that is still killing us and especially Black women. So I’m sitting there. And I’m like, she talking to me? I was like, I have to do my part.
ABC NEWS LIVE: When did you learn that you were HIV positive?
GRANDERSON: So, we were in Grand Rapids. I was with my partner, who’s now my husband, and I was getting my hair done. And I started to get these huge of wave of heat. I started to sweat, and then everything got black. And I woke up in the ambulance. Got to the hospital, I’m all hooked up and everything. And the doctors think I’m having a heart attack.
And so my husband’s rushing to the hospital. And they ran a bunch of tests. And the only thing that came back was that I was positive. The thing that went through my mind was the fact that my son was there in the room. And I remember saying to God, ‘I’m not done yet.’
ABC NEWS LIVE: And you weren’t by any means.
GRANDERSON: It was just about him. I had to take care of him.
ABC NEWS LIVE: Yeah I hear you.
GRANDERSON: That was the only thing I was thinking about.
[Granderson discusses telling his son about his HIV status just weeks before the ABC News interview.]
GRANDERSON: It went really well.
ABC NEWS LIVE: OK.
GRANDERSON: First thing he said was, ‘wow.’ And he says ‘I’m proud of you, pops.’ So I’m very grateful that God kept me. So I can get him across that finish line, because, that was the only thing I could think of that day.
My hope in doing this, Steve, really is to encourage people to be the hero in their own lives, especially queer Black men like us. You know, who are afraid of finding out or afraid of people thinking of them as less than.
When you saw me covering Wimbledon, I was HIV positive then. Pretty sure I was looking happy. So we can stop this. We can take care of ourselves. We can live healthy, productive lives. We can’t do any of that if we don’t get past the shame to ask for help.
The Paris 2024 Olympic Games will be underway in one month, and Snoop Dogg is ready to take on his role as a correspondent for NBC Sports. Speaking to Time, he says watching the Olympics was something he began to do as a child.
“Back then we only had so much. It’s not like right now, where you got so many different things you can watch and social media and all that s***. We only had TV,” he says. “There was only one TV in the house, so whatever one member of the family was watching, we were all forced to watch it.”
The Olympics, he adds, were a family favorite that “would take over the whole house whenever it would come on.”
“And it’s special ‘cause you’re seeing athletes for the first time in three, four years and they’re representing the country,” Snoop continues. “So that meant a lot, watching it as a kid.”
His love for the Olympic Games, however, isn’t the only reason he decided to take advantage of the opportunity.
“This is what I do, you know what I’m saying? I love being in front of the people. I love sports. I know what I’m talking about,” he shares. “The network is appealing enough to understand that we deserve each other. So we’re gonna make magic.”
While some may assume the creation of Snoop’s “magic” will include the consumption of cannabis, he says he’s putting that aside to focus on the job.
“I plan on going out there and doing NBC Olympic work. Being clean as a book, clean as the athletes,” Snoop says. “They can test me if they want to. I’m going to be out there doing what I’m supposed to be doing to make sure I bring home the gold. Which is me.”
JT‘s addressing the public exchange she and fellow City GirlYung Miami had two months ago, chalking the conflict up to “ego.”
“When you get to the point of ego … it gets there. You forget to express yourself in a private setting, or you forget to talk like adults,” she says on the Baby This Is Keke Palmer podcast. “It’s both of us getting an attitude like ‘who the f*** you think you are?’ And it’s just like – it happened. It was stupid and it’s done. It’s over with and now it’s funny to both of us, now it’s hilarious.”
“If we ever speak on it, she should be able to tell her side and how she feels because we both were deada** wrong,” JT continues. She adds that she was “hurt” by the situation but insists the two are still friends.
As fans may remember, Yung Miami posted a slew of tweets back in April, in which she accused JT of sneak-dissing her on her solo songs, prompting a back and forth that eventually ended with a phone call.
While the two are now cool, Miami and JT decided to focus on solo music, as their attempts to make music as the City Girls “just wasn’t connecting,” Miami previously told Complex.
JT is now getting ready to release the remix to her single “Okay,” which features Jeezy.
(DECATUR, Ga.) — Thirty-four years after a brother and sister were murdered, a man has been indicted in the slayings when he was linked to the cold case via DNA, Georgia prosecutors said.
John Sumpter was stabbed and his sister, Pamela Sumpter, was raped and stabbed at their Stone Mountain apartment on July 15, 1990, according to the DeKalb County District Attorney’s Office.
John Sumpter, 46, died at the scene, prosecutors said.
Pamela Sumpter, 43, survived and underwent a rape kit at the hospital, prosecutors said.
Pamela Sumter told police that her brother had brought a male acquaintance over, and she provided a description of him and said he was from Detroit, prosecutors said.
Weeks later, on Aug. 5, 1990, Pamela Sumpter died from her injuries, prosecutors said.
The case went unsolved for decades.
Then, in 2022, state investigators sent the rape kit for testing “as part of its continuing initiative to test pre-1999 rape kit evidence,” the district attorney’s office said.
In February 2023, the DNA from the rape kit was uploaded to a statewide DNA database, but there was no match, prosecutors said.
The district attorney’s office said it then applied for and received a federal grant for prosecuting cases using DNA.
This February, the DNA was uploaded to a national database, and within days, it matched to a 1992 sexual assault case in Detroit, prosecutors said.
In the Detroit case — which was never prosecuted — the victim identified her assaulter as her ex-boyfriend, Kenneth Perry, the district attorney’s office said.
Police also sent the rape kit evidence to a private lab to use forensic genetic genealogy, in which the unknown DNA is identified by comparing it to family members who voluntarily submit DNA samples to a database, DeKalb County District Attorney Sherry Boston said.
The genetic genealogy analysis also led investigators to Perry, Boston said.
Perry, now 55 and living in Loganville, Georgia, was arrested on June 6, the district attorney’s office announced Wednesday. The DNA sample collected from Perry when he was arrested was also a match to Pamela Sumpter’s rape kit, prosecutors said.
Perry was indicted Tuesday on charges including malice murder, felony murder and rape, prosecutors said. He is being held in the DeKalb County Jail without bond.
“We are here today because of incredible advancements in science and in investigative technology that have made what once seemed to be an unsolvable case, a solid case,” Boston said at a Wednesday. news conference.
“It’s been over 30 years since this terrible, evil tragedy happened to my brother and sister. We now have closure,” the victims’ brother, James Sumpter, said at the news conference. “I pray that the justice system prevails.”
(WASHINGTON) — Five people have been charged in connection with an alleged plot to bribe a juror with $120,000 cash during a federal trial over pandemic relief fraud.
Federal prosecutors called the incident an “elaborate” and “chilling,” but ultimately foiled, scheme to infiltrate the jury.
The alleged bribery attempt was reported as the six-week trial in Minneapolis was wrapping up against seven people charged in connection with an alleged $250 million fraud scheme through the Minnesota nonprofit Feeding Our Future.
One of the anonymous jurors — identified as Juror 52 — told police an unknown woman left $120,000 cash at her home the night of June 2 in an attempted bribe to acquit the defendants, according to U.S. Attorney Andrew Luger. The woman handed a gift bag to a relative of the juror, who was not home at the time, and promised more money if the juror returned a verdict of not guilty, according to court documents. The juror reported the incident to local authorities, who turned over the cash to the FBI, Luger said.
The alleged bribe was announced the following day in court and the seven defendants on trial — all of whom would have had access to Juror 52’s identifying information — were ordered to turn over their cellphones, according to court documents.
“The news shocked all in the case and all who work in our criminal justice system,” Luger said during a press briefing on Wednesday announcing the bribery charges. “Corruption of a jury through intimidation or bribery is a serious federal crime that carries a significant prison sentence.”
Juror 52 was dismissed on June 3, and as deliberations got underway, a second juror was dismissed on June 4 after reportedly learning about the alleged attempted bribe from a family member, according to Twin Cities ABC affiliate KSTP.
Federal agents began probing the alleged bribe attempt to determine the identities of the co-conspirators and how the identity and address of Juror 52 were revealed.
Abdiaziz Farah, a defendant in the trial who was ultimately convicted, allegedly organized the conspiracy, Luger said. He deleted all of the contents of his phone in court on June 3 before turning it over to authorities, Luger said. A list of the names of the jurors — who were only known to the court — was found at his home hidden in a water bottle during the execution of a search warrant on June 5, Luger said. A bag containing the fingerprints of Ladan Ali, of Seattle, was also found in his home, according to Luger.
Ali was ultimately identified as the woman who showed up at Juror 52’s home, according to Luger. She arrived in Minneapolis on May 30 and allegedly followed Juror 52 home from the courthouse on May 31 in a rental car, according to Luger. She allegedly agreed to deliver the bribe money in exchange for $150,000, according to the indictment.
Ali was allegedly recruited for the juror bribery scheme by Abdimajid Nur, a defendant in the trial who was also ultimately convicted, according to Luger. A so-called blueprint instructing Juror 52 on how to win an acquittal was allegedly found on his phone, Luger said.
The $120,000 cash was allegedly provided by Said Farah, another defendant in the trial who was ultimately acquitted. He allegedly deleted from his phone a video of Ali delivering the bribe to Juror 52’s home, Luger said.
Abdulkarim Farah, the brother of Abdiaziz Farah and Said Farah, allegedly assisted Ali the night the bribe funds were delivered and took the video of her at the juror’s home, according to Luger. The indictment alleges he also removed the license plates from Ali’s rental car prior to the bribe attempt.
All five defendants have been charged with conspiracy to bribe a juror, bribery of a juror and corruptly influencing a juror. Abdiaziz Farah was also charged with obstruction of justice for allegedly deleting the contents of his phone through a factory reset, Luger said.
ABC News has reached out to the attorneys who represented Abdiaziz Farah, Said Farah and Nur during the trial. It is unclear if Ali and Abdulkarim Farah have an attorney who can speak on their behalf.
“These defendants engaged in the chilling attack on our justice system,” Luger said. “They sought to buy a juror and use her to infiltrate the jury with their own false arguments — arguments that had nothing to do with the evidence or law.”
The indictment alleges the conspirators researched Juror 52’s personal information online and on social media and surveilled her to confirm her home address and obtain information about her daily habits. They allegedly targeted Juror 52 because she is young and was believed to be the only juror of color.
The blueprint for the juror allegedly advised Juror 52 to argue to other jurors that the government targeted the defendants because they are immigrants and was “prejudice[d] against people of color,” according to the indictment. It also allegedly included directions for her to vote “NOT GUILTY ON ALL COUNTS FOR ALL DEFENDANTS,” according to the indictment.
“Fortunately for all of us, Juror 52 could not be bought and she terminated their scheme,” Luger said.
The defendants will begin making their initial appearances Wednesday afternoon, the DOJ said.
Luger said he believes the case marks the first time some of the juror bribery charges have been filed in Minnesota.
The federal trial during which the bribe was reported marked the first in the sweeping Feeding Our Future fraud case. Dozens of defendants are accused of exploiting funds from a federal child nutrition program during the COVID-19 pandemic to purchase big-ticket items like luxury cars and houses.
The jury reached their verdict against the seven defendants on June 7 — convicting five and acquitting two.
Abdiaziz Farah was found guilty of wire fraud, money laundering, federal programs bribery and other counts. He was an owner and operator of Empire Cuisine and Market, a for-profit restaurant that was one of several entities that participated in the scheme by receiving more than $28 million in fraudulent Federal Child Nutrition Program funds, the DOJ said.
Nur was found guilty of receiving and laundering Federal Child Nutrition Program funds from Empire Cuisine and Market and other entities involved in the scheme, the DOJ said.
Said Farah, who was accused of fraudulently receiving approximately $4.5 million in federal nutrition program funds, was acquitted of all charges.
Seventy total defendants have been charged in the Feeding Our Future case, 18 of whom have entered guilty pleas, according to the DOJ.
