We all have those extra cheesy graduation photos don’t we? You know the ones. Posing next to the year of our graduation. Holding on to roses and laying our faces on our hands. Looking back on them now, I think we all cringe. But back in the day, they made us proud. Same goes for celebrities. Here are a few celebs looking very happy and accomplished as they graduated from middle school, high school and college.

Dwyane Wade

Before he was a NBA champion and star dating Gabrielle Union and wearing capri Gucci pants, Wade was another kid from the South Side of Chicago with hoop dreams who idolized Michael Jordan. I would predict that this graduation photo was from middle school/junior high since he looks so young. He’s come so far hasn’t he? And thankfully he also grew into those ears.

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“Many of life’s failures are people who did not realize how close they were to success when they gave up.” – Thomas Edison

The roads to success are oftentimes not mapped out or paved with gold. If you want something to work, you gotta work hard to make it happen. This is a life lesson that unfortunately many fail to acknowledge and thus give up before every realizing their dreams. Hey, no one is saying the journey isn’t hard – but you can bet it will be worth it.

It’s always encouraging to hear stories of how others overcame failure and achieved success. Though what worked for them may or may not find favor in your situation, it’s great to know that there is light at the end of the tunnel. Here are some celebrities whose failures taught us to dust ourselves off and try again.

In the cutthroat world of show business, sometimes it’s comforting to have a familiar face and someone you can trust as part of the team. These 15 celebrities left their fate and careers into the hands of their parents and it served them well — very well.

WENN

The Kardashians

Perhaps the mother of all momagers, Kris Jenner helped her Kardashian daughters become household names. In addition to launching the careers of Kim, Khloe and Kourtney as reality television stars, the Kardashians have segued into the world of fashion design. Ready to have the limelight to shine on her, Jenner has inked a deal for her own talk show. In 2011, it was reported that she was worth an estimated $20 million.

Most of us grew up in a household where “yes ma’am” and “no ma’am” was the norm when responding to an adult. We were taught to say please and thank you, refrain from interrupting conversations, and hold the door for people. It only took so many glares and spankings if we ever forgot these life lessons — and these signs of respect never left most of us as we became adults.

Unfortunately there are certain celebs who think they are immune to such niceties and respectable behavior and have racked up quite the reputation for rudeness. If only they followed Aretha’s advice and gave a little R-E-S-P-E-C-T…

Naomi Campbell

Don’t let the beautiful face fool ya! Notorious for her lateness, supermodel Naomi Campbell is also known for hitting her helpers — from assistants to therapists. Many people in her path suffer the wrath of her mean streak and nothing seems to keep her outrageous behavior in check – not even five-o. She was detained for assaulting two police officers as well.

Trying to find out what you want to do with your life can be hard.  But it’s good when your family is in a certain business because it can open up doors for you or inspire you to follow in their footsteps.  This is definitely true for celebrities who had a talent and followed in their parents’ footsteps of performing. Here are a list of a few celebs who were influenced by their parents talent to pursue their dreams in acting and music.

Photo Credit: Judy Eddy/WENN.com

Kelis

Though her father was a pastor, he was also a Jazz musician who performed in clubs at night.  His talent for music rubbed off on his daughter who also performed in the church choir, and of course, sings and performs all over now.

There she is! Miss America! We’ve all seen beauty pageants on TV – Miss America, Miss Universe, Miss U.S.A., etc. The flawless, smiling ladies parading about on stage in dazzling dresses and teeny weeny bikinis that make us mentally plan our next crash diets. These pageant contestants spend hours primping, applying makeup and styling hair to perfection. They rehearse intellectual answers to worldly questions delivered by pageant judges and eagerly reveal their unique talents, such as playing the cello or performing a gymnastic routine. You’d be oh so surprised at some of the celebrities who actually participated in various pageants and donned sparkly tiaras.

Everyone loves to hate on celebrities! After all, how else are we going to feel better about ourselves when we make mistakes if we don’t see examples of others making mistakes that are ten times worse? Well, guess what? Sometimes it starts to get a little repetitive constantly ragging on the same celebrities, especially when the situation might not be as bad as it seems. Let’s have a look at some celebrities who deserve a break…not all the time, but at least sometimes…

Source: WENN

Bobby Brown

It seems like everyone always wants to blame Bobby Brown for introducing Whitney Houston to drugs, but now that it has officially been revealed that it was  Whitney’s brother who introduced her, it’s time to cut him some slack. Don’t take this the wrong way, yes he did do a lot to Whitney in their tumultuous 14-year marriage, but it’s time to acknowledge that he is not the one primarily responsible for her drug addiction. Bobby Brown was indeed telling the truth when he claimed he never introduced Whitney to drugs.

Source: TheGamutt.com

When rapper Cam’ron posted pictures of his fiancee having an…let’s just say reaching her sexual peak in a tub, it was then that I realized how exhausted I am with being into invited the bedrooms of complete strangers.  If it’s not Rihanna and Chris subtweeting, talking about he “lays the pipe” and Instagramming pics of them sharing the same sheets, it’s DJ Envy publicly apologizing to his wife for his infidelity while he’s on the air.  I don’t know about you guys, but I am so sick of being invited into celebrities’ bedrooms and personal lives. If I’m more familiar with your favorite position than your latest song lyrics, that’s a problem.

Okay, you’re boning, we get it, but what else do you have going on?  Kim Kardashian didn’t exactly invent the sex tape, but as far as I know, she takes credit for single-handedly building a career on making her private parts public knowledge. Now it seems certain celebrities have followed suit and tried to build, revive, or extend careers solely on their sex lives.  I don’t know whether I’m insulted more by the idea that they believe the public can be entertained by so little or by the fact that some us actually are.  I mean just look at the facts.  When is the last time Cam’ron had a hit single?  But I bet you his Instagram was flooded with comments after posting pictures of him and his fiancee getting freaky in the tub.  Somewhere between trolling Twitter and Instagram accounts, we stopped holding celebrities accountable for not being talented because we were so entertained by who they’re pregnant by, getting it popping with or punching in the mouth.

The worst part about it is when the legitimately positive moves that celebrities make get overshadowed by the foolishness.  I gave up on Love and Hip Hop a long time ago, and yet when I scroll through my Twitter timeline all I see are blogs posting about Yandy Smith’s pregnancy, engagement, and her man Mendecees’ legal troubles.  Little did I know Yandy Smith has a net worth of $15 million dollars (according to Celebrity NetWorth) and her career credits include Executive Assistant at Violator Management, Talent Agent at Monami Entertainment and President and Manager of Everything Girls Love.com, a lifestyle brand.  But since I don’t watch the show (and I’m sure these are facts even fans may not be aware of), all I ever knew about the girl was that she worked with Jim Jones and her baby daddy was accused of being a sexual predator.

In the lives of celebrities, any publicity is good publicity, and drama equals dollar signs so I can understand why everyone and their grandma (literally) is coming out with a reality show or selling some story to the blogs, but the more important question is why do we care? I think it’s easier to focus on the faults of the rich and famous than to actually get up and do something about the drama in our own lives. When we see our favorite celebrities having baby daddy troubles, balling completely out of their budget or in unhealthy relationships, it reassures us that money doesn’t buy happiness and it makes us feel like on some level they are just like the rest of us.  In addition to our obsession with everything celebrity, Facebook and Twitter allows your friends to post pics and details of their most intimate moments as well.  Either way, I feel like I know way too much about people’s personal lives these days. And as much as I’d like to say just “unfriend or unfollow,” even I at times find myself reloading my Facebook page or visiting Bossip a few times throughout a boring day just to be entertained by who is making a fool of themselves.

A little foolishness is fine for entertainment, but I think something us regular folks and celebrities alike need to understand is part of the fine art of discretion.  If you notice, some of the couples’ whose relationships have lasted the longest are the ones who aren’t giving us the play-by-play on every major relationship milestone they have.  When you open up your bedroom to the world, your relationship becomes fodder for the insecure and envious.  You can’t post pictures for the world to witness your love then catch an attitude when you don’t get the response you were hoping for.  People will find and pick apart every major flaw and inconsistency like they are getting paid for it, and if your relationship is already fragile it probably won’t withstand the backlash.  Lastly, in a relationship some moments are just meant to be intimate and inviting everyone to witness them instantly turns it from private to p*rno.

Trust and believe, celebs with actual talent will have success that stands the test of time.  It’s why someone like Justin Timberlake can virtually fall off the face of the Earth for years with only a little inkling revealed about his wedding over the years and still only have people caring about The 20/20 Experience.  In the meantime, I urge myself and everyone else to question what we’re entertained by.  As for me, I’m going to start being more about my business and less into everyone else’s.

Do you think celebs share too much information about their personal lives?

Toya Sharee is a community health   educator and parenting education coordinator who has a  passion for helping  young women build their self-esteem and make well-informed choices about their sexual health.  She also advocates for women’s reproductive rights and blogs about  everything from beauty to love and relationships. Follow her on Twitter @TheTrueTSharee or visit her blog, Bullets and Blessings.

Source: Kyle Blair/WENN.com

The running joke around our office, is that if you spend enough time in Brooklyn, you’re bound to run into actor Malik Yoba. Now, this fun fact doesn’t have much to do with the story at hand but I share it to illustrate the type of “relationship” we here at MadameNoire have with Malik. We’ve been watching him since his “New York Undercover” days, rooted for he and Joan to make it work in “Girlfriends,” and the Tyler Perry fans among us…(read: me) wondered why he and Janet just couldn’t get it together in Why Did I Get Married? He’s the famous guy who is simultaneously accessible and just happens to hang out where we hang out on the weekends. A real around-the-way type of dude.

But earlier this month, Malik displayed another side of himself in an ugly confrontation with a reporter and Fox9 contributor on–you guessed it–Twitter. See how it all went down.

Source: Twitter

OOOoopp!

Now, was Malik wrong for this? Probably. But was this a very natural, very human reaction to being taunted unnecessarily and unprovoked on Twitter? Definitely. If you peruse Ms. Dish Central’s twitter page, you’ll see that she makes a name for herself coming for celebrities, everyone from Justin Beiber to Prince (inexcusable) to Oprah. If that’s your thing, that’s your thing; but don’t feign shock and prudishness when any one of the celebrities you target fires back with equal or excessive rudeness. The rules of karma dictate that you get what you put out there. Malik was simply not having it that day. Later, Ms. Dish learned some information about Malik that would probably make most folk in her position feel a bit remorseful. But instead, she used it as an opportunity to steadily criticize.

Source: Twitter

Malik, probably having calmed down a bit, had this to say in response.

Source: Twitter.com

Later, in an interview with Hello Beautiful , Malik explained his thought process at the time of the “altercation,” why he said what he said and whether he regretted it in hindsight.

“People think that it’s ok to degenerate and disrespect someone just because they’re in the public eye. Don’t think because I’m a positive dude, I’m going to always say something nice. If you come at me crooked, one too many times or if too many people came at me crooked too many times in a row, then they’re going to get it. I don’t always exercise that self control and I don’t regret it either.”

There you have it. Do I suggest Malik Yoba continues suggesting that women wrap their lips around his johnson? Ehh no. But I can’t deny that he brings up very valid points about the way we treat celebrities…especially in the digital space. I don’t think celebrities are above reproach for the work they produce and present for us to consume; but when you start talking about their personal lives, especially going to the lengths of mentioning them so they can see your comment on Twitter, you have to evaluate your motivation and more importantly your morals. At the end of the day it’s just not cool. And while I suspect Ms. Dish is trying to make a bit of a name for herself by insulting others, there are millions of us who practice tearing down celebs and their personal lives, like it’s our new found faith. Furthermore, why do we then expect these celebrities, fellow human beings, to act like Jesus Christ and keep turning their cheeks while we get to act a fool because we don’t have a platform? If these celebs are not above criticism please believe they’re not above wallowing in the mire right along with us.

But the bigger question is why do we even feel the need to attack them personally? Does it make us feel better about our lives? Is this our jealousy manifested in the comment section? Is it easier to clown someone when you know they can’t access you physically? Probably a little of all of that. It’s always easier to attack the elusive stranger who you’ll probably never meet in real life than it is to deal with the person you have to live with every second of everyday. And if you’ve made peace with that cool but don’t be surprised if someone comes back at you and tells you what to do with your flapping lips…

Read the rest of Malik Yoba’s interview over at Hello Beautiful.com.

What do you make of this altercation, why do we feel so comfortable coming for celebrities?

Source: WENN

Super trainers to the stars kick butts in the gym for a living. They’ve made a name for themselves as body transformers – but it comes at a price. Hand over your body to these fit freaks, and they will return it to you drenched in sweat, with muscle fatigue and lungs gasping for air. Notorious for savagely replacing jiggle with firmness, they have no love for your jelly (sorry Bey, they ain’t ready). From lunges to dead lifts and everything in between, see how these fit gurus work magic with their tried and true fitness techniques.