Page 16 - Florida Sentinel 3-12-19

Entertainment
Free Again! R. Kelly Posts Bail In
Whoopi Goldberg Reveals She Nearly Died From ‘Septic’ Pneumonia In ‘View’ Update
$161K Back Child Support Case
R. Kelly posted bail for a second time after being ar- rested for not paying his child support and was released from jail on Saturday after- noon, March 9, 2019.
RadarOnline.com exclu- sively learned that the singer walked out of jail for the sec- ond time in weeks after get- ting together the money to pay exactly $161,633 in back child support.
He owed the money to his ex, Drea, for their three chil- dren.
“We were able to secure the funds for his release from cus- tody,” a Kelly insider told Radar.
The “I Believe I Can Fly” singer had his wings clipped again, going to jail on March 6, 2019 after failing to pay the back child support, according to documents obtained exclu- sively by Radar.
After his arrest for aggra- vated criminal sexual assault, Kelly, 52, was back in court where he was ordered to pay a minimum amount of $161k or he’d wind up behind bars. The financially ruined rapper did- n’t have the dough at that time, so the judge charged
R. KELLY
him with “civil direct con- tempt” and ordered deputies to place him back in custody.
“He doesn’t have a single dollar to his name right now,” a member of his entourage told Radar. “Zero.”
Kelly begged the judge to vacate the case or lower the amount – but after his team feared for him, they rushed to the streets to scrounge the funds together to bail their boss out of jail.
“We are dealing with a man who believes he lost everything,” sources in his en- tourage told RadarOnline.com exclusively.
Whoopi Goldberg has been absent from The View for more than a month — and today, she updated the hit show’s fans with a shocking update on her horrific health scare.
In a blue button-up top and green glasses, the 63-year-old host and actress revealed via a video message that she nearly died after her bout of pneumo- nia turned “septic.”
“So here’s what happened. I had pneumonia and I was sep- tic. Pneumonia in both lungs,
WHOOPI GOLDBERG
which means there was fluid, there was all kinds of stuff going on. And yes, I came very, very close to leaving the Earth. Good news, I didn’t.”
“Thank you for all of your good wishes. And all of the wonderful things that you have been saying... And ladies, I can’t wait to see y’all. This has been interesting and I’ll tell you about it when we are all at the table. See you soon.”
Goldberg did not give a date for her highly-anticipated return to her ABC job.
YG Speaks On R. Kelly, Michael Jackson Abuse Allegations; Says Racism Is A Factor
Jussie Smollett Reportedly Being Exiled From Hollywood
Surviving R. Kelly and Leaving Neverland have reignited public outrage over the sexual abuse scandals in- volving R. Kelly and Michael Jackson. Though these accu- sations go back decades, the recent #MeToo movement has forced many fans to answer uncomfortable questions about their disgraced idols: Should they be held accountable for the alleged crimes committed years ago? Is it possible to sep- arate the art from the artist? And—in regards to Jackson— is it appropriate to continue ac- cusing a person who is no longer alive to defend them- selves?
YG and his frequent collab- orator DJ Mustard touched
YG AND DJ MUSTARD
on these questions during an impromptu debate Friday night in Los Angeles. TMZ asked the men about the con- troversies surrounding Kelly and MJ, to which Mustard replied: "I don't f**k with R.
Kelly. He's a monster. He's a pig."
The Compton rapper insists he doesn't support Kelly or Jackson, he is convinced that racism has played a part in their tarnished legacies.
"What I don't f**k with is that these white people, they been doing whatever they been doing about Michael Jack- son, and they chose now to try to destroy my n**ga character, 'cause he's a black male, you know what I'm sayin'?" YG said. "[...] He can't defend him- self. He's a dead man. It's racism s**t going on in this world, and that's why they're coming for Bill Cosby, R. Kelly, Michael Jackson, all in like a nine-month situation."
Jussie Smollett was in- dicted on 16 felony counts Thursday (March 7) after he allegedly staged a hate-fueled attack — on himself. According to TMZ, a source said the Em- pire actor was fielding offers almost weekly and now, the phone has stopped ringing.
Smollett, who claimed he was assaulted by two racist and homophobic attackers in January, was reportedly being offered countless opportuni- ties following the alleged at- tack. Sources say he was getting offers for movies, tele- vision shows, commercials, in- terviews and appearances.
But once he was arrested and charged with a felony for filing a false police report, everything dried up.
To add insult to injury, many of his Empire co-stars withdrew their support. The Empire creators also removed Smollett’s character from the final two episodes of the sea- son in order to keep peace on the set.
Smollett is expected to be arraigned on March 14. His lawyer is calling the indict- ment “overkill.”
“We knew that there is no way they would expose their
JUSSIE SMOLLETT
evidence to a public airing and subject their witnesses to cross-examination,” Mark Geragos told USA Today. “What is unexpected however, is the prosecutorial overkill in charging 16 separate counts against Jussie.
“This redundant and vin- dictive indictment is nothing more than a desperate attempt to make headlines in order to distract from the internal in- vestigation launched to inves- tigate the outrageous leaking of false information by the Chicago Police Department and the shameless and illegal invasion of Jussie’s privacy in tampering with his medical records.
Smollett adamantly main- tains his innocence.
T.I. Gets $600K Lawsuit From Ex-Restaurant Employees Dropped
The $600,000 lawsuit in- volving T.I. and his former restaurant employees has been dismissed, The Blast reports.
T.I.’s ex-employees ac- cused him and his business partner of fraud, but court doc- uments obtained by The Blast show that the suit is now being dropped. T.I. has also revealed that the former employees haven’t been given anything in return for the dismissal.
Last year, a few of T.I.’s employees from his now- closed Atlanta restaurant Scales 925 filed an amended federal lawsuit regarding un- paid wages and overtime. Scales 925 opened in 2015 but shuttered the following year. The amended lawsuit arrived months after the business filed
T. I.
for Chapter 7 bankruptcy.
In the original lawsuit, the employees alleged that T.I. and his partners paid them- selves a high salary, using the money for their own benefit, while the business was on the
decline.
Recently, the Atlanta native shared his two cents about the Michael Jackson documen- tary Leaving Neverland, livid over the doc’s allegations. The rapper believes the two-part documentary on Jackson's sexually abusive relationships with two young boys is an as- sault against African-Ameri- can culture.
“Dead men can’t speak. So what was the point again?” he wrote on Instagram. “Destroy another strong black historical LEGEND?!?! It’s several ex- amples of pedophilia in Amer- ican History... if y’all pulling up all our old shit... we gotta examine ELVIS PRESLEY, HUGH HEPHNER, and a whole slew of others guilty of the same if not more!!!”
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