Page 24 - Florida Sentinel 2-28-20

Entertainment
Jay-Z Files Second Lawsuit Against 'Barbaric' Mississippi Prison
Will Smith Transforms Into Venus And Serena's Dad For Biopic
WILL SMITH AND RICHARD WILLIAMS
Will Smith transforms into Richard Williams, the father of Venus and Serena Williams, on the set of the upcoming biopic "King Richard."
Jay-Z has filed a civil law- suit against the Mississippi De- partment of Corrections on behalf of 152 inmates at a state prison, alleging “barbaric” conditions.
Parchman prison is accused of “abhorrent conditions, abuse and constant violence, inadequate health care and mental health care, and over- use of isolation ... the people confined at Parchman live a miserable and hopeless exis- tence confronted daily by im- minent risk of substantial harm in violation of their rights under the U. S. Consti- tution”.
Among the problems de- tailed by the lawsuit and an ac- companying documentary film
Jay-Z pictured at the Super Bowl earlier this year.
made by Jay-Z’s company Roc Nation are a lack of
staffing that has allowed pris- oner violence to flourish, sewage-filled cells, contami- nated food and water, and a lack of adequate healthcare. Nine inmates have died at the prison so far in 2020.
The suit calls for the De- partment of Corrections to eliminate health and safety risks within 90 days. The de- partment wouldn’t comment on the suit, but has previously said that violence is gang-re- lated rather than linked to staffing issues.
It is the second lawsuit brought against the prison by Jay-Z, in tandem with fellow rapper Yo Gotti – the pair filed a suit on behalf of 29 other inmates in January.
DaBaby Reportedly Settles Extortion Lawsuit With Model
DaBaby has reportedly put one of his legal battles to bed. According to The Blast, the In- terscope Records artist has set- tled a lawsuit against a model he accused of extorting him.
Defendant Marjorie Guaracho was one of the models hired to be in the back- ground of DaBaby’s “VIBEZ” video, which was filmed last September. After the visuals were released in October, Guaracho sent a cease and desist letter to Interscope claiming her likeness in the
DA BABY
video was stolen and accusing
DaBaby of making it look like she “endorses pornography.”
She also sought damages, which she estimated to be in excess of $75,000.
DaBaby fired back by suing Guaracho, asserting she and 40 other models were in- formed of the video’s concept prior to the shoot and signed a release to be in it. According to him, she was paid $100 for being featured in the visuals for less than two seconds. He sought an unspecified amount of damages in his suit.
Pop Smoke Posthumously Earns 1st Solo Entry On Billboard Hot 100
Pop Smoke’s “Dior” has debuted at No. 49 on the Bill- board Hot 100, becoming his first solo track to earn a spot on the chart. The late rapper previously earned a Hot 100 entry with “GATTI,” a collab- oration with Travis Scott from last year’s JACKBOYS compilation.
The Brooklyn-bred artist was shot and killed during a home invasion in Los Angeles on February 19. According to Nielsen Music/MRC Data, streams of the slain rapper’s music experienced a 392 per- cent increase following his death.
POP SMOKE
Pop Smoke racked up 24.7 million on-demand streams in the U.S. on the day
of his passing. “Dior” alone pulled in 5.2 million streams. “Dior” set a new career peak on the Hot 100 for Pop Smoke, who had reached No. 69 with “GATTI.” The single originally appeared on his debut mixtape Meet The Woo, which was released in 2019.
The song was also featured as a bonus cut on his follow- up Meet The Woo 2, which dropped just a few weeks be- fore he was killed.
Pop Smoke was 20 years old. No suspects have been arrested as police continue to investigate his murder.
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