Madame Noire | Black Women's Lifestyle Guide | Black Hair | Black Love

Source: worldaccordingtomonte.com

Twitter is the devil. 140 characters certainly makes one think so. The age of social media has exposed celebrities as being undeserving of the pedestals they’ve built their images upon. You can learn a lot about a person in just one tweet and these days, even that’s just too much information.

There used to be a time when stars held a certain aura about them. It was a mystique that added to their presence and was fascinating because fans always wanted to know more. That time has come and gone. In its place is an era where Ke$ha tweets a picture of herself peeing in the streets. Chris Brown posted a picture of himself taking a dump. Rihanna recently uploaded a pics of herself making it rain at a strip club. Don’t even get me started on all the ugly tirades these people go on their Twitter beefs about the most obscure things. Very little has been left to the imagination.

Celebrities have become stunt queens chronicling every last minute of their lives. Their every indulgence has become public consumption. Even their good intentions are an exercise in vanity. The Digital Death Campaign a few years ago had celebrities lying in coffins and declaring themselves dead on social media until enough money was raised for “Keep A Child Alive.”  The “dead” quickly rose from their virtual graves and were updating their statuses before the monetary goal was reached. The efforts were undercut by the sheer narcissism. The world wide web still remembers just as it holds onto the memory of Rihanna and Ciara battling it out on Twitter over who could book a stage. And who could forget Chris Brown, Frank Ocean and Tyler the Creator going at it, calling each other b**** a** n****s and apes? There was also the time when even Jennifer Hudson threatened to go Chi-town crazy on a fan. From a purely entertainment standpoint, one could sit in front of their computer screens with a bag of popcorn and just refresh for the next few hours. However, when your antics are what starts to get you page views instead of an actual craft, there’s an issue.

It’s easy to insist that celebrities are upending conventional wisdom by putting their business on front street. They assume control by not pushing a phony perfect image. They’re being real but Dave Chappelle wasn’t lying when he said keeping it real can go wrong. It’s not always the best look; inviting the world into your most personal business and drama just gets the side eye more than a standing ovation. When that does happen, a lot of these stars tend to push back by telling the media to mind its own…even though they made their exploits public.

Beyoncé is called boring because she doesn’t tweet her every bowel movement. She’s only begun utilizing Twitter for professional purposes and is employing Tumblr to share family snapshots. Every star doesn’t need to follow her model and play it safe PG-13 style. At the very least, there should be a happy medium. It seems the more we know, the more some look at celebrities as people they actually know. But for others, the more we know, the less we can take their antics.

In the back of everyone’s minds, we like to think that these stars are just like us. We just don’t always want to see how much.

Stephanie Guerilus is a journalist and author. Follow her @qsteph

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Source: Justjared.com

The 2012 BET Music Awards are coming up in a little more than a month and the network has just announced the nominees in each of their categories along with a few details about the show. This year’s ceremony will be hosted by Samuel L. Jackson which means there should be some good laughs, and performances are expected by Chris Brown and Nicki Minaj. The network is also bringing back it’s Best International Act: Africa award for the second year in a row, and Maze featuring Frankie Beverly will receive the Cadillac Lifetime Achievement Honor. The full list of nominees in the music categories are:

Best International Act: Africa

Camp Mulla (Kenya)

Ice Prince (Nigeria)

Lira (South Africa)

Mokobe (Mali)

Sarkodie (Ghana)

Wizkid (Nigeria)

Best Female R&B Artist

Marsha Ambrosius

Beyoncé

Mary J. Blige

Melanie Fiona

Rihanna

Best Male R&B Artist

Chris Brown

Bruno Mars

Miguel

Trey Songz

Usher

Best Male Hip-Hop Artist

Big Sean

Drake

J. Cole

Lil Wayne

Rick Ross

Young Jeezy

Best Female Hip-Hop Artist

Nicki Minaj

Diamond

Trina

Brianna Perry

Best Group

Bad Meets Evil

Diddy-Dirty Money

Maybach Music Group

Mindless Behavior

The Throne (Jay-Z & Kanye West)

Best New Artist

A$AP Rocky

Big Sean

Diggy

Future

Meek Mill

Best Collaboration

Beyoncé ft./ J. Cole – “Party””

Big Sean ft./ Kanye West & Roscoe Dash – “Marvin & Chardonnay”

DJ Khaled ft./ Drake, Rick Ross, and Lil Wayne – “I’m On One”

Drake ft./ Lil Wayne and Tyga – “The Motto”

The Throne (Jay-Z & Kanye West) ft./ Otis Redding – “Otis”

Wale ft./ Miguel – “Lotus Flower Bomb”

Video of the Year

Beyoncé – “Countdown”

Beyoncé – “Love on Top”

The Throne (Jay-Z & Kanye West) – “Ni**as in Paris”

The Throne (Jay-Z & Kanye West) – “Otis”

Usher – “Climax”

Video Director of the Year

Beyoncé and Alan Ferguson

Benny Boom

Chris Brown and Godfrey Tabarez

Kanye West

Hype Williams

Best Gospel

Yolanda Adams

Kim Burrell

James Fortune & FIYA

Fred Hammond

Trin-I-Tee 5:7

YoungStars Award

Astro

Diggy

Jacob Latimore

Keke Palmer

Willow Smith

Viewers’ Choice Award

Drake ft./ Lil Wayne & Tyga – “The Motto”

Beyoncé – “Love on Top”

Chris Brown – “Turn Up the Music”

Mindless Behavior – “Hello”

The Throne ft./ Otis Redding – “Otis”

Wale ft./ Miguel – “Lotus Flower Bomb”

Centric Award

Common

Estelle

Robert Glasper

Robin Thicke

Tyrese

Best International Act: U.K.

Estelle

Labrinth

Emeli Sande

Sway

Wretch 32

Last year’s awards show drew 7.7 million viewers on BET and I’m sure the network is trying to top that this year. The ceremony airs July 1 from the Los Angeles Shrine Auditorium. Will you watch?

Brande Victorian is a blogger and culture writer in New York City. Follower her on Twitter at @be_vic.

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• Dayummm…They Look Good For Their Age: Celebs Who Prove That Black Don’t Crack
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Chris Brown’s fans go hard for their boy—extra hard. If you watched the Billboard Music Awards Sunday, you were probably in the WTF boat along with everyone else after Chris Brown’s performance wondering, did that man really get on stage again and lip synch his way through another performance?

Hopefully you kept those thoughts to yourself or your small group of followers online because if not, the Breezy brigade might be coming for you like they came after John Legend’s girlfriend, Chrissy Teigen. After Chris’s performance on Sunday, she tweeted her subtle disapproval, saying:

  “Why sing when you can dance?”

Want to know the responses she received to that question?

“all you do is talk s**t, you need to be raped and murdered.”
“killyoself b****h ur nothing but tall thatswhy you model. your nothing.”
“ditzy dumb a** tramp your mother should’ve aborted you.”
“i hope you are the next ‘celebrity’ to die”
“you have the brain capacity of a turtle, just die.”

Really people? I don’t want to have to dig up my article on people going too hard for celebrities but come on now. She needs to die because she called out Chris Brown on his lazy performance? They should be telling him to step his game up instead—and stop wearing headbands. Chrissy Tweeted a small statement on the issue, saying:

‘I’ve had comments ranging from “kill yourself you stupid HO” to “gold digging c*nt” “get a f***ing job”, etc. because I don’t like him?…seriously. this isn’t your f***ing job. You guys are too young for this sh**. too f***ing young. stop being psychotic. be strong women. listen to opinions without spewing pure maliciousness…John [Legend] has gotten numerous comments about him needed to “leash” me or “control” me. FROM WOMEN. please stop this. What are you even doing this for? some good music and dancing? good god. DO BETTER.

“Reallllly makes me sad that 99% of the most disturbing comments come from young girls. I’ll end it there but it make me sad.

“I have some screen caps. And I will do everything I can to make sure people know, internet or not, you CAN’T say this s**t.”

According to TMZ, most of the twitter handlers who sent the crazy messages have since been deleted but we know it doesn’t take much to come up with a new username and go right back at it. I don’t know if this is worse or on the same level as the “Chris can beat me up anytime” phenomenon that was going on when he made his comeback. I’m with Chrissy: Do Better. Sigh.

Brande Victorian is a blogger and culture writer in New York City. Follower her on Twitter at @be_vic.

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It all went down in Las Vegas last night. We’re talking about the Billboard awards of course! Although it’s not as big as the Grammy Awards or the American Music Awards, the Billboard Awards is slowly building a name for itself with its offering of creative performances. But as expected, the winner’s circle mirrored that of earlier award shows. Adele, LMFAO and Taylor Swift won big. And Chris Brown is relishing in his streak of good luck with a win for Top R&B Artist. Check out some of our favorite flicks from the celebration.

*Photos courtesy of Billboard.com

Swizz Beats, his wifey Alicia Keys and Usher ( in a very attention-grabbing blue suit) were representing.

Source: Facebook.com

There’s still a buzz going around about Chris Brown and Drake’s rumored Rihanna disses that writer Michael Arceneaux recently took to task on Ebony’s website in a piece titled, “RUDE BOYS: Stop Sl*t Shaming Rihanna.” The crux of his article can be summed up with the simple question, who are you to talk, as he points out the double standard and sheer audacity of these two male slores to try to expose Rihanna on wax when they’re doing the same thing or even more—a practice he calls “sl*t shaming.”

This isn’t a new argument, and I fully agree with the sentiment that with all the skeletons in these dudes’ closets and the blemishes on their character that we already know about, they shouldn’t have even fixed their lips to try to come at any other woman for what she does with her body; however there’s just something about defenses of Rihanna that never sit quite right with me.

At the end of his article, Arceneaux turns his attention away from these lyrical bashers and focuses on the public at large, writing:

“As for everyone else so fixated on this notion that there’s a problem with the way Rihanna carries herself and brought this attention on herself: grow up. She could have Mother Teresa’s sex life and would bring about the ‘starlet or streetwalker’ debate from any man with a certain attitude about women and sex.

“To ‘sl*t shame’ is to perpetuate the idea that sex is dirty, and in particular, dirty and dangerous for a woman. That rigid mindset is problematic as it is unrealistic and does little in the way of advancing the way we discuss consensual sex between adults. You know, any day now.”

Perhaps, but I venture to say something that’s probably a tad unpopular: Rihanna did invite this attention on herself and on purpose. She could in fact have the sex life of Mother Theresa but she has the public image of a hypersexed 20-year-old who can’t get through a set without grabbing her crotch at least 12 times and that’s just how she wants it. This is not the same as a woman walking down the street in a short dress who gets harassed by a man or even assaulted, this is a calculated marketing ploy to keep people’s interest in her because if it weren’t for her swexy shenanigans we’d have nothing to talk about. And with the choice by Rihanna and her team to create this image comes a certain risk because there are two sides to the sex symbol coin. Let’s just take a serious look at Rihanna’s career for a moment. She gets more attention for being topless in British Esquire, or showing her butt cheeks in a photo shoot with Terry Richardson, or telling Rolling Stone that she likes rough sex than she does when she announces a new tour date or an album release. Sex and promiscuity are her image and I think people have a right to criticize having her nipples in their face more than her new song.

My thing is, I’m not so down with the boys do it too argument. I am to the extent that if you call out one, call out the other. And yes, women can sleep around as much as their vaginas desire. But I’d rather both sides keep quiet about their bedroom dealings. No matter how comfortable you are with sex, that doesn’t take away from the fact that it’s a private act. I wouldn’t force my sex life on anyone else and I don’t particularly care for anyone else’s to be shoved down my throat either. And the reality is, in today’s society sex is dangerous—for both genders—and going about it too casually, as she would like us to think she does, is dirty and dangerous. As I’ve said over and over again, she has no responsibility to anyone to be a role model but I don’t think it’s hard to understand why seeing her bounce from night club to night club scantily clad then supposedly laid up with a different celebrity, then catching the flu every other week and having IVs in her arm and missing professional engagements is cause for concern. It’s not any of our places to police what she does with her body but when you see the type of effort she puts into making us see her as a sexually liberated woman contrasted with the lazy approach to her actual career, it’s not wrong to think, hmmm she may want to slow down just a bit.

And I don’t think men are obsolete from this same shaming either. They may not be criticized for having sex but I know I have come across many a post calling out rappers and athletes for foolishly impregnating women across the U.S. of A and not being able to pay child support let alone keep a roof over their heads because of their sexual promiscuity. It’s a different argument but the same premise nonetheless. I don’t think anyone is trying to shame any of these people for getting it on when and with whomever they please but when you can’t be about your business because you’re so busy selling or engaging in sexual fantasies, then you ought to be ashamed.

What do you think about the criticisms against Rihanna? Is she being sl*t shamed?

Brande Victorian is a blogger and culture writer in New York City. Follower her on Twitter at @be_vic.

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It’s so easy for things to go out of style and for others to be in denial about it. In the entertainment business, what’s hot one minute can go out of style with the quickness the next. And while most viewers or consumers might express that they’re tired of seeing something, as long as it makes somebody a few dollars, it’s sure to be around for a while–whether you like it or not. But it never hurts to b***h about it, right? That’s what I’m here for…

Source: thejasminebrand.com

People With Little to No Talent on My TV

And they’re making mad money! Call me jealous (I am…just a bit) about it all, but with all the talented people I see on the trains alone in NYC trying to get some attention and a few dollars, it makes me somewhat irritated that folks who can’t hold a note, act for s**t, or do something other than act a fool in Louboutins on reality TV are making all the money and taking all the jobs. Who needs to be talented when you can writhe around on the floor butt naked in an unimaginative music video while singing/yelling/yodeling and go platinum because of it? Right?

What goes up inevitably must come down. It’s the law of gravity by Isaac Newton, but he may as well have been talking about the peaks and valleys of celebrity life. Stars are made and seemingly replaced by brighter ones almost overnight and one can’t help but wish for the originals to reclaim their place in the spotlight. So many rise and fall, but here are seven stars who need to shine even brighter once more.

lcaregina.ca

Halle Berry

Her name and face have been all over the news for everything from her baby daddy drama, engagement to her questionable choice of lacefronts. Paula Patton seems to be Hollywood’s go to woman of color these days, but there’s still a place for Ms. Berry on the silver screen.  Some may still debate whether or not she deserved her Oscar for Monster’s Ball, but she is still the first African-American actress to have been awarded the Best Actress statue, and that’s not by accident. It’s past time that she fully redeem herself from Catwoman with a role worthy of her talents.

Source: Missexpose.com

Last night, Chris Brown dropped a freestyle remix to Kanye West’s song “Theraflu” and already things seem a little shady. Kanye talked about his old lady Amber Rose on the original version of the song and C. Breezy appears to be going in on his last chick too—as in Rihanna. Here are the lines in question:

Don’t f**k with my old b**** it’s like a bad fur
Every industry n***a done had her
Shook the tree like a pumpkin just to smash her
B**** is breaking codes, but I’m the password

Now I’m trying to think of any other possible women Chris could have been referring to but I can’t seem to recall him being paired up with anyone publicly but Rihanna, and if that memory serves me correctly then he is dead wrong for this. Not only did he and Rihanna just collaborate on the “Birthday Cake” remix and his own track that went nowhere. His ex did just wish him a happy b-day on Twitter a couple of days ago.

Rihanna apparently caught whiff of the track and according to NecoleBitchie, she promptly unfollowed Chris and tweeted: ‘Aw, poor dat #neaux1currrrr’. I mean she does have bigger fish to fry considering she was just in the hospital over the weekend, but if this is directed at her, it has to sting just a little.

I did just have a semi-breakthrough and remembered Chris Brown dated Draya from the “Basketball Wives” LA cast for a bit. Since the video model was always running from heaux rumors, she could very well be the person in question in this remix. Either way, I’m thinking Chris doesn’t have room to judge anybody.

Listen to the song here and tell us what you think. Who do you say he’s dissing?

Brande Victorian is a blogger and culture writer in New York City. Follower her on Twitter at @be_vic.

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Celebrities are a rare breed of creatures. They’re human just like the rest of the mortals on planet earth, but they’re not really allowed to be. The public won’t let them. The famous are held to a different standard and when they fall from glory and become infamous for their behavior, it’s hard to ever look at them the same way again. But if they put out an amazing album or have a good day on the golf course, can you ignore all that? Check out these seven celebrities and let us know if you can really separate the artist and their life from their craft.

http://popbytes.com

Chris Brown

There used to be a time when Breezy was the anointed successor of Usher and Michael Jackson. He had the talent, skill and had superstar Rihanna on his arm. And then that fateful night in 2009 happened when he assaulted her. Even though Chris launched a successful comeback with chart topping singles, there’s a permanent bruise to his career.  He returned to the Grammy’s this past year, performing twice and winning an award, but for the press and Miranda Lambert, it was still too soon to let him get all that shine.

From Necole Bitchie.com

It’s been over a week since Nicki Minaj deleted her twitter after getting into a mild twitter battle with one of her fan sites.  Now, to the delight of  Barb Nation, she’s back on twitter and dropping gems on her new project.  According to her tweets, she will be premiering the new video for ‘Starships’ tomorrow on MTV and she will be filming the ‘Right By My Side’ video featuring Chris Brown this week in Australia.

See what she had to say upon her return, at Necole Bitchie.com. 

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