Source: Getty Images

Some girls dream about that special sacred union since they’re very small; hopeful that one day they’ll be clad in a long white gown, adorned with jewels and flowers, and surrounded by a plethora of family and friends . This ceremony is hoped to be beautiful and magical, and the love between the two who are marrying is supposed to last forever.

Maybe.

One thing that Hollywood has made abundantly clear is that marriage is not meant for eternity, in fact, some marriages are over before the credits, on a feature length film, can roll.

Lil’ Jon is an Apprentice all-star. Image: Rex Features via AP Images

It’s time again. Time for another round of the business reality show The Apprentice; an “All-Star Celebrity” version for this season.  And this time around, the cast is dominated by African-American apprentice wannabes, all of whom have been on the show before. On the cast are: Dennis Rodman, Claudia Jordan, LaToya Jackson,  Omarosa (who is making a third appearance, sure to ruffle the other contestants with her famous diva attitude) and  rapper Lil’ Jon.

This comes to a surprise to Dr. Randal Pinkett, who won The Apprentice in 2005. “I am somewhat surprised particularly given the near-absence of diversity amongst the winners. It will be interesting to see if this season’s diverse cast translates into a diverse winner,” Pinkett tells Madame Noire. Pinkett has proven to be a true businessman, having just inked two billion-dollar government contracts for his company, BCT Partners.

It will be anyone’s guess who wins, but EW is counting out Rodman, Jordan and Omarosa (who recently grieved the loss of her fiancé, actor Michael Clark Duncan). Lil’ Jon and LaToya are “sleepers.”

“This  is could be the light at the end of the tunnel for the African-American chance at winning Celebrity Apprentice. [Lil Jon] did a pretty good job last time, and maybe he can do better, especially if he’s not stuck with Gary Busey for too long,” notes The Grio.

If you don’t already know, here’s what at state on what is billed as “The Ultimate Job Interview”: The winner gets $250,000 to donate to the charity of their choice. The show is in its 13th season.

Source: blogs.babble.com

From blackvoices.com

Dennis Rodman has staked his claim in the literary world before, penning four autobiographical titles, including 2005′s “I Should Be Dead By Now.”

But the Hall of Famer’s newest work, “Dennis The Wild Bull,” isn’t the latest account of his raucous life, it may actually be a prequel — written for children, TMZ reports.

Details on the children’s book, which is slated to be released later this year, are minimal, but according to a website dedicated to the work, it will “convey good lessons to children based on Dennis’ own experiences as a world class athlete while overcoming obstacles as a child.” Rodman teamed up with author/screenwriter Dustin Warburton and illustrator Dan Monroe to create the book.

Read more at blackvoices.com

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Source: GlobalGrind.com

Philander Rodman definitely lived up to his first name. The 71-year-old has 29 children by 16 mothers!

One of those children is former NBA player Dennis Rodman. Yesterday, after an exhibition game in the Philippines, they met for the first time in 42 years!

Associated Press reports:

Philander Rodman Jr., tried to meet the basketball Hall of Famer during another game in Manila in 2006.

“It was great,” he said on Thursday of the first time he held his son’s hands since they last met in December 1969.

“I’ve been trying to meet him for years. And then last night, boom, I met him. I was really, really happy and very surprised,” he told The Associated Press.

The NBA “Alumni” team, which also included Scottie Pippen, Horace Grant, and Mitch Richmond, played against former top professional Philippine Basketball Association players in the All-Star Challenge. The Alumni won.

Philander, who has been living in the Philippines for nearly 50 years, said he wanted to explain to his son that he didn’t abandon his family in the United States, but they had only time for greetings and handshakes.

He said he spent only about three minutes with his son, who was also busy signing autographs.

“I really, really felt good,” he said. “It’s the beginning of something new.”

He gave his number to his son who promised to call.

He said his son did not even want to talk about him six years ago, but he was encouraged to try again to meet him after Tuesday’s press conference where the former Pistons and Bulls star invited him to watch Wednesday’s game.

“I don’t hate the guy that brought me into this world,” Dennis Rodman said. “The fact is, if I saw him, I’ll just tell him, ‘You know, you’re a friend of mine.’”

During a break, with seconds left to the end of the game, Dennis Rodman grabbed a microphone and acknowledged his father’s presence and pointed to him in the arena.

The crowd applauded as the elder Rodman stood up wearing a red baseball cap that said “Yes, Dennis Rodman is my son.”

The 71-year-old Vietnam War veteran operates the Rodman’s Rainbow Obamaburger restaurant in northern Angeles City.

He said his restaurant menu includes burgers with red, yellow and green colored buns and fries, colors associated with his flamboyant son.

Can’t imagine what that meeting was like! Super side eye at his dad for profiting off a relationship with a son he barely knew.

Yahoo Sports says that Dennis has talked about his father before in his 1996 memoir ‘Bad As I Want To Be,’:

“I never really knew my father, Philander Rodman. He was in the Air Force in New Jersey, where I was born, and when I was three we packed up and came back to Dallas where my mother is from. We did this when my father stopped coming home.

My father isn’t part of my life. I haven’t seen him in more than thirty years, so what is there to miss? I just look at it like this: Some man brought me into this world. That doesn’t mean I have a father; I don’t. I could say, ‘This is my father. This is my dad,’ but that doesn’t sound right to me. I grew up with my mother and two younger sisters, Debra and Kim. There wasn’t a male role model in my life until I got to college and started getting my [act] together.”

That is the story of too many kids in this country for sure. But it’s great to hear that Dennis finally did get to meet his dad, even if he was indifferent toward the meeting. It would be pretty hard to forge a real relationship at this point (especially when they live on different continents), but maybe this story will encourage other “Philanders” to reach out to their children before its too late.

What do you think about their reunion?

Follow Alissa on Twitter @AlissaInPink

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Source: nydailynews.com

First and foremost, who knew that Dennis Rodman was 51???

But to the matter at hand. The former NBA star known for his colorful hair, multiple piercings, tattoos and sexual exploits, and oh yeah, his killer rebounding skills, was sentenced yesterday after being found guilty of four counts of contempt for failing to come up with his owed child support in 2009 and 2010. Rodman was hit with 104 hours of community service, along with three years of informal probation on the condition that he keep up with both spousal and child support payments to his ex-wife, Michelle Moyer. He has a son named D.J., 11, and a daughter named Trinity, 10, from his relationship with her. The couple married in 2003, but she filed for divorce in 2004. However, they tried to reconcile time and time again, but in the end, she filed for divorce again, and the marriage was put to an end this year.

Though Rodman’s ex-wife says he owes more than $800,000 in back child support, his lawyer, Linnea Willis, disputes the number (she says it’s much less of course) and says that Rodman isn’t and hasn’t been making enough money to pay up. According to the AP, she says the colorful NBA legend is broke, owing thousands in back taxes. On top of that, his troubles with alcohol and more had made it hard for him to get a job or endorsements to bring in more money, hence the struggle to pay spousal and child support payments recently. But now Rodman says that thanks to a few opportunities to play ball overseas (he’s 51 mind you…if you forgot), he’s doing okay, but not making the same dough he used to. “I’m making enough to keep everyone satisfied.” Rodman will have to report back to court on June 22 about more disputes over child support and additional contempt charges. While he is willing to do what’s necessary to do right by his children, Rodman made it clear that he was disappointed that things had to get so messy:

“It’s all about the kids. It does suck the fact that it had to come to this.”

It happens, brother. Just do better.

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I don’t really care much for the whole “money over b****es” saying on the surface but the philosophy behind it, I support. It reminds me of the quote from “I Think I love My Wife” when Chris Rock’s boss told him, “You’ll lose a lot of money chasing women but you’ll never lose women chasing money.” It’s such a simple concept but looking at the state of some of our biggest male celebrities who are nearly in the poor house because of child support and alimony payments this is clearly a lesson they have not learned.

Nas stopped by RapFix Live today to talk about his financial situation and when it came to the outrageous child support payments Nas has been ordered to make ($25,000 a month to Kelis, which is down from $50,000, plus money to his first child’s mother) the somber rapper said, “Life is crazy. I [wound] up paying more money to baby mommas than what some of my rap brothers and sistren make.”  It’s no wonder the man now owes $6 million in taxes.

To Nas’ credit he was actually married to Kelis, but a lot of these other characters out here? They’ve been sowing their wild oats into financial ruin. T.O., Dennis Rodman, Antonio Cromartie—the NY Jets who fathered nine children with eight women and had to get a $500,000 advance so he could make outstanding child support payments, these are just a few of the men who continue to think with their little head instead of their big one.

What’s disturbing to me is that these men have yet to learn from anyone else’s mistakes. We’ve all seen enough rich-celebrity-gone-broke stories to serve as an example that if you’re not smart enough to wear condoms to protect your physical health at least protect your financial well-being. Whether we’re talking about a rapper or a pro-athlete, that money can be here today gone tomorrow just by the sheer nature of the industries so why these men think they have enough money to father as many nations as Abraham and keep buying Bentleys and million-dollar homes is beyond me.

I’m honestly thinking about putting down the pen and becoming a “how not to lose your entire financial portfolio to baby mama’s” coach for rappers and pro athletes because the situation is getting ridiculous and I honestly have no sympathy for the ones who have fallen victim to the okie doke. I imagine these men have financial planners but what they need someone to break down to them is how quickly every penny they earn can dry up when they think it’s OK to sleep with women who will not hesitate to demand sufficient child support. T.O. was required to pay nearly $100,000 a month in child support to the mothers of his four children. That’s more money than most people see in a year.

Of course women are something that come along with the celebrity lifestyle, but random children don’t need to be. Not only is it irresponsible from a societal standpoint, it’s fiscally risky and an embarrassment to be facing jail time like a regular man working at McDonald’s who can’t afford child support when you’ve made millions on top of millions over the course of your career and now don’t have a pot to piss in because you’ve squandered it paying tens of thousands of dollars a month on illegitimate children you’ve fathered across the nation.

I suppose if a regular joe doesn’t know any better than to create a bunch of babies he can’t pay for on a $60,000 salary, I shouldn’t expect a pro-athlete to know any better but this trend has got to stop. At some point these men need to think about their own financial future because the career of a pro and most rappers is very short lived. The money won’t always be there especially if you’ve got more going out in child support payments then you have coming in paychecks. At some point you’ve got to think the risk just isn’t worth it.

Why do you think so many celebrity men keep going broke over child support? Do you think they’ll ever learn?

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

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Source: DJ Bobby Trends

Some men will try anything to avoid taking care of their kids and now you can add Dennis Rodman to the growing list of sorry fathers.

Dennis’ ex-wife Michelle Rodman filed court papers this month, claiming he owes $808,935 in unpaid child support for his 9- and 10-year-old children, plus an additional $51,441 in unpaid spousal support. So basically, he needs to come off of almost $1 million. Dennis’ lawyer however, says he ain’t got it, claiming “Respondent Dennis Rodman is broke and cannot afford any additional fees.”

Why not? Well, according to him, Dennis isn’t making what he used to back in the day, which doesn’t surprise anyone considering the Bulls’ glory days are long over. But he also says Dennis is “extremely sick.” A rep told TMZ the supposed sickness refers to the former baller’s ongoing battle with alcoholism, although Dennis visited a doctor a few months ago and he’s in “great physical shape.”

I’m with Dennis on the claim that he can’t afford these high payments anymore but why would you just stop paying altogether? His legal team says the child support figure is based on an order Michelle obtained behind his back, requiring him to pay $50,000 a month in child support. He’s supposedly been fighting the order since 2010, but now that he’s let everything go unpaid he’s facing a possible 20-day sentence in jail. Sounds like him and T.O. need to start a support group.

What do you think about Dennis’ Rodman’s case? Should he go to jail?

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 a well-known fact that professional athletes date celebrities, and some athletes seem to have made a second career out of celebrity dating!  Check out these 9 athletes that just love to love celebs!

1. Joe DiMaggio

Possibly the most famous athlete-celebrity pairing of all time, and perhaps the one that set the stage for all those to follow, was the marriage of baseball great Joe DiMaggio and Hollywood superstar Marilyn Monroe. Although they were only married for a short time in 1954, their love affair marks one of the first athlete and meja celeb couples.  The sweet part is that although they divorced in 1954, DiMaggio re-entered her life in 1961, spawning rumours that the two were an item again.  After Monroe died of an apparent overdose in 1962, DiMaggio sent a half-dozen roses three times a week to her headstone until his death in 1999. Aww!

Anything goes when it’s for a good cause, right? Certified weirdo Dennis Rodman seems to think so. The former NBA champ is planning to hold tryouts for a topless women’s basketball team in New York City. But of course there won’t just be regular women trying out, he’s scouting exotic dancers from Headquarters Gentleman’s Club so they can go mammary-to-mammary with an already-formed basketball league of topless women from rival club Rick’s Cabaret, formed by Atlanta Hawk Spud Web, in a charity game.

Problem is—well there are a lot of problems here. One, Rick’s Cabaret’s basketball league disbanded when the NBA lockout ended so there’s no team to actually go up against. Two, the “charity” that this is all for has yet to be named (suspect). Three, this is just inappropriate. Sounds like Rodman is just attempting to get free peeks by promising women a chance to bounce more than basketballs up and down the court. Way to start the new year off right.

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

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