

Entertainment
The Inspiration Behind Viola Davis’ New Vanity Fair Cover Inspires Backlash

Published
3 years agoon
Viola Davis is stunning on the new cover of Vanity Fair. So much was done correctly. The lighting is precise and clean. The shadowing sculpts her beautifully. The whole thing was shot by Black photographer Dario Calmese.
Thrilled to share this cover and interview with @VanityFair. Available now! https://t.co/ne2fnWc5bW pic.twitter.com/UNPJcM6YsN
— Viola Davis (@violadavis) July 14, 2020
The problem is two-fold, in my opinion. This cover is the first cover Vanity Fair has ever allowed to be shot by a Black person. That’s not okay. It’s too late in the game for these firsts to still be happening. Viola Davis touches on this in her interview. Vanity Fair needs to answer for that. Usually, a celebrity like Viola could count on us backing her up, but we, the Black Delegation, were unable to focus on that because… Black people aren’t allowed to have nice things.
In an interview about the cover, it’s revealed that the cover concept was a recreation of a graphic portrait of a lashed slave, entitled “Whipped Peter”. We’ll not be posting the image here. Violence against Black people is common enough. Sufficed to say, this whole thing is unfortunate.
Calmese describes his cover concept as “a re-creation of the Louis Agassiz slave portraits taken in the 1800s—the back, the welts.
Radhika Jones, Vanity Fair
You’re not going to look. Here. I’m blown away. THIS is why #RepresentationMatters. This brotha, being the first Black photographer EVER in Vanity Fair cover history ? could’ve played it safe. But he swung for the f*cking Fences (get it?) with Viola as his “co-conspirator.” pic.twitter.com/uDZwOJeAmo
— April (@ReignOfApril) July 14, 2020
There is no shame in our lineage. Our ancestors were strong, intelligent, capable people who endured more than most of us can dream. But that’s just it. They fought so we could be free. And while I can understand the maintenance of this narrative as a reminder of how far we’ve come, we as Black people need to see more images of ourselves than that of the enslaved and the downtrodden. We also need to stop pimping out the images of our ancestors for capital gain. I can see what these two were thinking, but I can’t help but feel like there was a chance to see Viola as the confident, liberated woman that she is, rather than the shadow of a gruesome history our people should never have endured. The only solace that can be taken from this is that the other photos in the shoot were much more vibrant and less centered around brutality.
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Entertainment
Rolling Ray Undergoes Surgery After Wig Catches On Fire
Published
3 years agoon
January 19, 2021
Social media star Rolling Ray underwent surgery Tuesday morning to treat serious burns on his body after his terrible wig accident last week.
In a series of IG stories, he let his audience follow along as he prepped for surgery.
Last week Rolling Ray announced he was hospitalized after his wig caught on fire! During a January 13 Instagram Live session hosted straight from his hospital bedside, he showed his severely burnt and damaged face telling viewers his “whole skin, legs, arms, feet, and everything” were burned.
Prayers for Rolling Ray 🙏🏿 pic.twitter.com/d6PwlLbrlI
— TheShadeRoom (@TheShadeRoom) January 14, 2021
In a more recent Live, Ray explained the incident that led to his whole wig catching on fire: an unfortunate smoking accident. “It just, like, lit on fire when I tried to light the cigarette,” he recounted. “So I get to trying to snatch the wig off. B***h, the fire goes to my f*****g shirt, to my feet, to my legs, to my back. It’s a fire everywhere, it’s a fire in the whole room.”
#RollingRay made headlines last week after it was revealed that he accidentally let himself on #fire. Now he says that the incident occurred while he was trying to light a #cigarette. pic.twitter.com/AlkoI8IjGy
— talksandthought (@Talksandthought) January 19, 2021
Of course the internet trolled him in a disgusting display of ableism and heartlessness. Comments like “Rolling Ray should have stopped, dropped, and rolled” and “karma’s a b***h” had social media conflicted in its feelings about his accident. His sensation comes from his harsh and, often, below-the-belt reads (just last month he told Yung Miami to “dig (sic) up” her dead baby father. However, the criticism didn’t stop him from responding on Twitter.
I miss y’all 🥺! See y’all soon, if this what Karma feels like she should’ve came harder because I’m alive while others still dead. God loves me 😍! Imma bounce back
— RollingRay!!! (@DMVMOSTFAMOUS) January 17, 2021
Rolling Ray might be problematic as all get-out, but we do not tolerate ableism here. We wish him well as he heals.
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On Tuesday singer-songwriter and “American Idol” winner Fantasia Barrino took to social media to reveal that she is having a baby girl, her first child with husband Kendall Taylor.
In a series of Instagram stories, Fantasia showed pink fireworks being shot off during a gender reveal party, to her and her hubby’s excitement! She continued by sharing what her daughter-to-be’s name will be: Keziah London Taylor.
BIG announcement 💜🎉 pic.twitter.com/z8zJAZNZUU
— Fantasia Taylor (@TasiasWord) November 25, 2020
The news comes after the couple revealed they had struggled to conceive since their 2015 marriage. During a November episode of her IG Live show “Taylor Talks,” she described continuously praying for a child with her husband. Fantasia, a deeply devout Christian, was obviously elated when she shared the news.
“God I Want To Thank You!” she said in an Instagram caption. “You Gave Us A Seed even when the Doctor said that one of my Tubes [was] Closed you said Different. @salute1st I Love You King and I can’t wait to see who He or She acts Like.”
We can see Fantasia and family are all super excited to be welcoming a baby girl into their lives. All congratulations to her.
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Entertainment
Kim Kardashian and Kanye West Are Getting Divorced, Report Says
Published
3 years agoon
January 6, 2021
In a story published Tuesday evening, Page Six is reporting that Kim Kardashian and Kanye West are getting divorced, with the two already in settlement talks. The news comes after the couple spent the holiday season separately – Kanye at his ranch outside Cody, Wyoming, Kim and the kids with her famous family in southern California.
A source close to Kardashian was quoted saying, “Kim got Kanye to go up there so they could live separate lives and quietly get things sorted out to separate and divorce. She’s done.” Kardashian, 40, and West, 43, are said to be splitting because of marital problems directly related to Kanye’s very public mental health struggles.

For several years the rapper’s various antics have caused fans to worry. After coming out as a Trump supporter, West then announced his own 2020 presidential bid under a new political party: the Birthday Party. At a campaign rally in South Carolina, he was seen rambling, debating individual audience members, and at times, crying. In various interviews, he has rambled on almost incoherently, and his tweetstorms are now infamous.
For her part, Kim has always supported her husband and has openly discussed the difficulties of their marriage. Back in June, she shared on social media, “Anyone who has [bipolar disorder] or has a loved one in their life who does, knows how incredibly complicated and painful it is to understand… People who are unaware or far removed from this experience can be judgmental and not understand that the individual (has) to engage in the process of getting help no matter how hard family and friends try.”

It appears she has finally reached her limit in the union with the unnamed source saying, “She is serious about taking the bar exam and becoming a lawyer, she is serious about her prison reform campaign. Meanwhile Kanye is talking about running for president and saying other crazy s**t, and she’s just had enough of it.”
Separately, a source close to Kanye alleges the rapper is sick of his wife and her family, which might have some truth to it since he has tweeted some pretty nasty things about them in the past. “I been trying to get divorced since Kim met with Meek at the Warldolf [sic] for ‘prison reform,’” he said in a now-deleted July tweet. Recently, he hasn’t been featured on his wife’s Instagram and has largely remained out of the public eye.

With the news yet to be confirmed, the “divorce is imminent” reports are just rumors for now. We’ll be following the news as more information comes out.
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