Source: WENN

Ready or not, Eve is back and she’s been looking pretty amazing these days. She’s been making her rounds, doing photoshoots and interviews to promote her new album, Lip Lock, her first album since 2002′s Eve-Olution. She did try and put out an album between the 11 years that she’s been on hiatus, and unfortunately it got shelved because the execs her label weren’t feeling it: “I was supposed to put out an album after “Tambourine, which was 2004, 2006, but it got shelved. I think my album wasn’t what the execs wanted and they just put it on the shelf.”

So knowing that, Eve had to battle for a few years to get away from Interscope, and after signing another bad deal, she had to battle for another year to get out of that contract, and she’s finally settled and released new music on her own independent label, From The Rib Music.

The 34-year-old rapper, who now lives in London with her man Maximillion Cooper, sat down with Wendy Williams to talk about more than just music, including love, babies, and DMX:

On whether or not DMX is on her new album and how she feels about his public struggles:

“He’s not on this album, but I love X. We don’t talk or call each other, anything like that…I love him, I love him.

When Wendy asked Eve if she watched DMX’s appearance on Iyanla: Fix My Life, this is what she had to say:

“Poor X. I didn’t watch it. I don’t watch anything actually. He’s been on a few things, I just don’t watch it. I can’t….But if he ever needed me, I’d be there.”

Speaking on her penchant for dating “nothing but money,” including millionaire Maximillion Cooper:

“You know what, there’s a certain lifestyle I think that I want to live. I’m going to do it on my own. I work hard. I work my butt of. But at the same time, I just, I don’t want to be with somebody I got to take care of. I’ll do it on my own, it doesn’t matter with the man though.”

On her past messing with Stevie J in the late ’90s and early ’00s and responding to the idea of it being “craziness”:

“It was. I think as ladies, we’ve all had the unfortunate…ugh [turns up face]. I can’t even continue it. I was young, it was what it was. God is good. I’m here where I am and I’m happy in love.”

The state of the rap game right now, including  her thoughts on the “femcees” out currently:

“I think there’s a lot of really cool girls out right now. I wish there were more girls, that’s my only complaint. But I think Nicki’s doing her thing, I think Azealia Banks is doing her thing. It’s Angel Haze. There’s a lot of girls coming up. We just need more.”

So what about marriage and babies next? Is she ready?

“Oh, it’s time to pop something out. Let me not pretend, okay!”

Check out Eve’s full interview with Wendy Williams on the next page and let us know what you think about her comments!

There’s nothing better than when a favored star who’s fallen on bad luck returns to the spotlight energized and renewed. Think Mariah Carey, Jennifer Lopez, and even Michael Vick. But the sad reality is that comebacks are harder than we think – and certainly not wholly dependent on talent. Just ask these 15 celebs who failed (miserably) in their attempts. They know the deal.

Jodeci

We lost all of the R&B magic that was Jodeci in 1998 when the group went on hiatus – and it looks like we’ll never get it back. Just two months ago, the group attempted a comeback in London and not 30 seconds in, Mr. Dalvin had jumped off the stage, busted his arse and needed security’s help just to get back on. Then when he did get back on he, K-Ci and Jo-Jo (Devante was a no-show) sang out of tune, stumbled around the stage drunk and got straight up boo-ed. They then begged the audience to let them continue, before another group had to take over and finish their set. How horribly embarrassing.

Source: OWN

Life coach and spiritual advisor Iyanla Vanzant has been receiving harsh criticism from her Fix My Life guests since the show’s season two debut. Just last week we told you that DMX’s publicist came forward claiming that her client’s appearance on the show did nothing but make his current situation worse. The Yonkers rapper even furthered those allegations by saying Iyanla is “toxic” and  that he’s taking legal action to have footage from his episode removed. While X’s gripe with Vanzant may seem a bit on the extreme side, he doesn’t appear to be the only person unhappy with the way things turned out. According to RumorFix, former Real Housewives of Atlanta star Shereé Whitfield also had a few issues regarding her portrayal on the show and admits to feeling “misled” by Iyanla.

“Since leaving the ‘Housewives’, I’ve been at a different place in my life, a place of healing and self-empowerment, so when Bob reached out to me about doing this show on co-parenting I was excited because I thought we were both on the same page and equally wanted to work towards mending our relationship so that we could more effectively co-parent, and even more importantly I thought it was an opportunity to inspire single parents in our situation. However, once shooting began I felt misled because the line of questioning was centered more on accusations of my shortcomings as a wife versus how we can begin to resolve our issues,” Whitfield said in an issued statement.

Shereé went on to say that she considered Iyanal’s counseling approach to be “one-sided” and “judgmental.”

Did you watch Sheree’s episode of Fix My Life? What do you think of Shereé’s allegations?

Source(s): WENN, OWN

Since the explosive airing of Iyanla: Fix My Life’s Season 2 premiere episode starring troubled rapper DMX aka Earl Simmons, a represntative for the Yonkers M.C. has come forward, claiming that Iyanla didn’t fix Simmons’ life, she only worsened his image.

“DMX agreed to be a guest on ‘Iyanla: Fix My Life’ with the understanding that she would be helping his relationships with his ten children. When he arrived for the taping, most of the content was focused on his struggles with drugs and poor parenting. Iyanla did not “fix” DMX’s life just made his image worse, and does not have DMX’s personal written consent to use the footage,” Simmons’ publicist said in a written statement.

While statement prompted many to give the serious side-eye to Simmons and his publicist, Iyanla’s fellow OWN star, Kym Whitley had no problem jumping to Vanzant’s defense and even had a few words to say about X’s “publicist” during an interview with The Grio.

“First of all, his publicist is probably his cousin Shanina or somebody. That’s the first thing. Do he have a real publicist? Really, okay? What is he paying her with? Love you DMX, sorry,” Whitley said in a joking tone with hint of seriousness mixed in.

“He came on my show a long time ago, ‘Oh Drama.’ So I love X. But the truth is that they might have filmed for four hours, but what we see was only an hour or an hour and a half. So I’m pretty sure, knowing Iyanla, that she sat there and tried to work with him, but you can’t fix a person that’s not willing to be fixed. If you watched that interview, you know that he is lost. He’s not ready!” exclaimed the Raising Whitley star.

“What she did do is fix his son’s life. So Ms. Shenina Quequika, whatever your name is, Pookie, whatever her name is, I’m sorry. She might not have fixed DMX’s life, but she fixed that boy’s life and she walked away winning that. He said he was satisfied.”

 Flip the switch to watch a clip from Kym’s interview. What do you think of her comments? 

Delusional doesn’t even scratch the surface of what DMX’s real issue is, but it’s a pretty safe description to use for a man who, with so many issues of his own that need fixing, calls someone who tries to help him “toxic.”

That’s the word X used to describe Iyanla Vanzant following the airing of his episode on “Iyanla Fix My Life” last Saturday. We already knew the rapper was upset when his publicist put out a statement on Monday morning saying:

“DMX agreed to be a guest on ‘Iyanla: Fix My Life’ with the understanding that she would be helping his relationships with his ten children. When he arrived for the taping, most of the content was focused on his struggles with drugs and poor parenting. Iyanla did not “fix” DMX’s life just made his image worse, and does not have DMX’s personal written consent to use the footage.”

Now DMX is moving one step further with that last allegation, exploring his legal options to get footage of his “Fix My Life” episode removed from the OWN network altogether. He told TMZ Iyanla was only supposed to ask him about his issues with women, not drugs, and he was totally caught off guard by the prodding into his addiction.

“Iyanla set the whole thing up to make me look bad for ratings. That lady is toxic … My last words to her were that she can suck my d**k and she still can.”

As much of a fan as I am of Iyanla, I do know that she can be preachy, but toxic? Sounds to me like he’s projecting his own mess onto someone else. While it may be true that DMX came to Iyanla about women rather than his children, that right there says he has some serious issues if he’s putting random groupies before his kids. And even if the episode stuck to his addiction to women, did he nor his publicist not think his addiction to drugs was going to be discussed as a factor there as well?

The bottom line appears to be DMX just wasn’t ready to do the work, as Iyanla would say. And the response he’s giving to the episode is only discrediting his claims that Iyanla is the one making him look bad and showing no one can do that better than himself.

Do you think DMX has any legal leg to stand on in getting his footage removed from OWN?

Yesterday we talked about the explosive episode of “Iyanla Fix My Life” which aired Saturday night on OWN. Most people walked away from the opening episode of season 2 perplexed by DMX’s struggle and the fact that no real resolution came away an hour-and-a-half later. And that frustration was magnified by a statement the rapper’s publicist released, insinuating that Iyanla Vanzant exploited DMX and somehow made his image worse — eliminating any type of accountability on his end.

Well, if you know anything about Iyanla, she’s not standing for it. In fact, she’s responded to the negativity from DMX’s camp with another outpouring of love and an opportunity for him to get the help he so desperately needs. On the OWN website, the  life coach and Yoruba priestess posted this videotaped open letter to the hurting rapper, saying:

Beloved,

I know we haven’t spoken since our time together in Yonkers, but you have been in my thoughts and on my heart. And what concerns me is what I’m hearing from your friends and family and those who love you. And what I’m hearing is that they are just waiting for the call. They’re waiting for the day they get the call. And you know what I mean.

But I’m not waiting for that call. I’m calling on you, and I’m not going to give up on you. I will not stand by and watch my brother die. Over the years, I’ve worked with many, many people who’ve struggled with addiction. With help, healing is possible.

I want you to remember the person you became in the final months of your grandmother’s life. That’s a clean life. You can be that man today and every day. Just remember what your son said to you, “I want a relationship with you that is not toxic.”

My brother, Earl, DMX, I support you. I love you and I’m calling on all of my beloveds, my tweeple, my Facebok, my masterpiece families, to send you their love and support.

I know that there is no valley deep enough, no gap wide enough, no mountain high enough that love can’t conquer.

My door is always open.

Let’s hope DMX decides to walk through that door. What do you think about Iyanla’s letter?

DMX is the reason why sometimes you really don’t want to know all the sordid details behind the making of the art.

Seriously, anybody with the first two DMX albums already knew the man had problems. The prayers? The good angel/devil voice fluctuation he used to do? His obsession with pit bulls? I mean, we kind of always knew there was something ’bout X that was hurting. But he was also a good looking, bald-headed black man who could rap and liked to bark aggressively on tracks. Not to mention the bedroom scene from Belly put many women on his side. In the past, most of us took DMX as unbalanced, but in a fun way – sort of like John Malkovich. But now that the covers have been pulled back on Earl “DMX” Simmons the person – thanks to his various appearances on reality television – it kind of puts a damper on DMX the artist. He is no longer the black and hip-hop version of the misunderstood eccentric we once thought. Instead, he is just like a Gary Busey.

But I still have love for DMX and I definitely extend my deepest well-wishes to Earl Simmons.

Based off of Saturday’s episode of Iyanla: Fix My Life with Iyanla Vanzant, DMX certainly is embittered by his past and fearful of facing his own mistakes. But so was his son Xavier, who had been estranged from Simmons for a number of years. Despite father and son claiming that they desired a relationship with each other, both claimed anger and pointed fingers at each other for why their relationship didn’t work. Simmons said it was because his son was distant. Xavier, however, charged that his dad was a controlling womanizer, who made him feel “valueless and like nothing.” His intention on the show was to confront his father; to make him own up to what he did. But as Vanzant asked, and then what?

Vanzant challenged Xavier to search for the root of his father’s faults; to understand that Simmons is likely of “diseased mind and a wounded heart.” His breakthrough came when he realized that his own anger towards his father and about his upbringing was sending him down the same destructive road as Simmons. And his father’s behavior might not be intended, but rather a reflection of how Simmons too learned to love from past pain. Instead of meeting and confronting his father in anger, Vanzant advised Xavier to instead go into this meeting with an open and compassionate heart.

I have my questions about the platform in which Iyanla Vanzant chooses to dish her brand of self-help, mainly about how she tries to squeeze months of intensive counseling into only a few hours of taping, which makes for good self-help television, but maybe not for good therapy for those direct recipients of her counseling. And I definitely cringed at the sheer exploitative nature of the whole #SupportDMX hashtag, which she promoted periodically throughout the show. While a great use for fan engagement (i.e., marketing), what a horrible way to really show your support of DMX. I mean, sure there was some really nice well wishes and thoughtful advice given, but there was also a lot of gossip and jokes made at both DMX and his family’s expense. But I have to give her credit for the delivery of a very powerful message about what it truly means to show compassion.

Compassion isn’t just about having sympathy for someone’s circumstances, but rather an acknowledgment that the pain and suffering from such circumstances is not exclusive and is likely a shared experience by many. Therefore, when we extend leniency or even forgiveness towards others forgiveness, we are actually offering compassion to the vulnerable part of ourselves, which has also been wounded and scarred by similar pain. Right before I watched Saturday’s episode, I was throwing things around in my place. As usual, I waited until the last moment to file my taxes and as usual, one of the important documents I needed to file was missing. I thought I had it with all my other tax documents but it was not there. I had no idea where it was, so there I was, running around, frantic, tossing around papers and screaming about how this always happens. “Things just always get up and disappear,” I’m yelling to no one in particular. I’m so mad, I want to take this anger out on someone. The IRS for requiring that I file taxes; the document-maker for not making the paper harder to misplace; basically anybody or thing else but me. That’s the hard part about accepting responsibility. I had to admit to myself my place in not only mismanaging my important documents, but also waiting until the last minute to file. And I have to admit that all the similar judgments I have placed on others for similar infractions now land squarely at my own feet. Not only will I have to admit that I am wrong, but I might also have to admit that I am a hypocrite too. The weight of imperfections and faults can be a very heavy mental and emotional cross to bear at times, and it is very tempting to want to hide from the responsibility. But then you have to also have mercy on yourself. To understand that you are going to make mistakes and that’s okay. And sometimes, those mistakes will have consequences that you will have to deal with and that’s okay too. The best thing to do is not to harp on what was done (can’t change it anyway), but rather what needs to be done next. So I stopped throwing angry fits and tearing up my place; owned up to my mistake, forgave myself, and got some filing folders for next tax season.

It is a lonely place when you are embittered by mistakes in your life. And as the show progressed you could definitely see that father and son were becoming aware of that very fact. For Xavier, being compassionate enabled him to meet with his father, not only to confront him about his feelings, but also to listen to what his father had to say in response. Being open to possible criticism enabled Xavier to then go and have those same objective conversations with people in his life, for whom he might have been unconsciously treating as he had been treated by his father. In a very emotional part of the show, Simmons apologized to Xavier, saying, “I tried. Really sincerely tried. I’m sorry. I tried.” It was a really emotional scene, which I imagine took lots of courage for him to commit to. It was also the start of some healing on the part of Simmons. Unfortunately, he has yet to be able to garner the necessary compassion needed to forgive himself for his mistakes. And until he does, he will continue to make excuse after excuse and wallow in the pain of it all.

Source: Facebook

Saturday night, OWN aired, arguably, one of its most explosive episodes ever as Iyanla Vanzant of the hit show “Iyanla Fix My Life” sat down for a heart to heart with DMX. The rapper went on the show to figure out why he has such a large appetite for women, but as we saw by the 9-minute mark on the show (at least that’s when I noticed), DMZ had zero interest in getting to the real root of his issues –like drug use and a never-ending feeling of abandonment.

Personally, when all was said and done I didn’t know whether I even wanted to #SupportDMX as Iyanla suggested we do before the show began when she briefed the audience on the episode, saying:

“The next 90 minutes is not about a multiplatinum selling Hip-Hop artist or a celebrity. It’s about a deeply wounded man in a lot of pain. This show, is about the ravages of a longterm drug problem,” said Vanzant at the start of the segment. “I often say, I am not my brothers keeper, I am my brother. Earl Simmons, also known as DMX is my brother. He’s our brother. Earl, I pray you are watching, I support you, and I call forth your healing.”

Though Iyanla suggested DMX’s son Xavier, who confronted him on the show, approach his father non-judgmentally because he suffers from the disease of addiction, it was clear DMX was not fully ready to accept any responsibility for his failed relationship with his soon-to-be ex-wife Tashera, his strained relationship with his son, or his abuse of drugs. And more importantly, he was resistant to any form of help (from Iyanla) and incapable of accepting love (he told his son Xavier he wouldn’t get clean in order to have a relationship with him because his love should be unconditional). By the end of the episode, my empathy for X’s plight and the pain of his mother giving him up that he’s never gotten over, turned to disappointment that he would sign up for an opportunity like this and not even try to reap the benefits.

Sensing, or likely reading the negative response from viewers who lit up Twitter Saturday night when the episode aired, DMX’s publicist released a statement defending the rapper’s portrayal, saying:

“DMX agreed to be a guest on ‘Iyanla: Fix My Life’ with the understanding that she would be helping his relationships with his ten children. When he arrived for the taping, most of the content was focused on his struggles with drugs and poor parenting. Iyanla did not “fix” DMX’s life just made his image worse, and does not have DMX’s personal written consent to use the footage.”

Let’s see here, if Iyanla was sypposed to help his relationship with his 10 children, wouldn’t it be reasonable to assume the reason those relationships need help is because of poor parenting, which stems from drug use? I would say X needs more people, but perhaps the better thing would be different people. Also, this wasn’t even the reasoning he gave for being on the show at the beginning of the episode. He said he wanted to understand why he needed so many women. It sounds like both he and his publicist are confused about a lot of things. It’s no wonder at 42-years-old and after a stint on another couples show, VH1′s “Couple’s Therapy,” DMX is still on a downward spiral. Thankfully, his son Xavier and Tasheera seem to have made peace with the situation, tweeting:

Only the strong survive Addiction destroys families!! Woke up this mrng feeling so thankful instagram.com/p/YFmaljS9y5/

— Tashera Simmons (@TasheraSimmons) April 14, 2013

The waves of support/I have been getting is overwhelming knowing that I helped the lives of many made it all the more worth while. Thank you

— XavierSimmons (@xaviersimmons92) April 14, 2013

Let’s hope DMX gets to that point one day. If you missed him on “Iyanla Fix My Life,” watch the whole episode below. What do you think about his appearance? Is Iyanla responsible for making his image worse?

Source: WENN

From Essence

When Iyanla Vanzant sits down with DMX, everyone had better tune in with a notebook and pencil because it’s going to be explosive. Vanzant meets the embattled rapper on the season 2 premiere of Iyanla: Fix My Life to offer “support” around his issues with drug abuse, women, his extensive arrest record (“roughly 30 times,” he tells her), and his relationship with his family, particularly his son.

Vanzant spoke to ESSENCE.com about the episode, where she thinks DMX went wrong, and what we can all learn from him.

On where she thinks DMX went wrong in his life:

I don’t think that he went wrong. All of us have ways in which we mask and cover our pain. This is a man who is in a tremendous amount of pain. Some of us eat; some of us shop or eat chocolate. What he is doing is a less socially acceptable way to mask and cover his pain because he doesn’t have the skills and the tools to deal with it otherwise. So I don’t think he went wrong, it’s just a defense mechanism.

The breakthrough moment:

Sometimes you go on to do one thing and something else unfolds. When you’re dealing with the ravages of long-term drug abuse you’re also dealing with the impact of the entire ecology of the environment. What we discovered was that the greatest healing was for his son Xavier who had not had the ability to address what he was feeling about his father. Xavier really got the biggest breakthrough.

This was a really good interview and you can read the rest over at Essence.com.  While this episode is clearly going to give us every level of entertainment we need, it is possibly the chance for us to learn something about ourselves and not just using it as a moment to laugh at someone else’s situation.

The second season of Iyanla: Fix My Life premieres tonight at 9p ET on OWN. Will you be watching?

Source: WENN

Man, if the first season of Iyanla, Fix My Life didn’t bring you enough intense drama and reconciliation thanks to Iyanla Vanzant’s brand of tough love, you’ll be happy to know that season 2 picks up right where she left off last season. As we reported and showed you earlier this month, DMX’s appearance to get his very torn up existence together premieres the new season on April 13, and unfortunately, the rapper and the famed life coach end up having a yelling match where he tells her to “shut the f**k up!” But in this new teaser, we see DMX dialing it back and breaking down in front of his oldest son, who he has a tattered relationship with. But on top of that, within 30 seconds, we also get to see former RHOA star Sheree Whitfield try and hash out her drama with ex-husband Bob Whitfield, as she tells Iyanla that she often played like things were okay in public (and on camera) with her when they were anything but. Iyanla will seek to help bring the civility back between the former lovers as they try to co-parent and figure out their feelings about each other. And if you prefer the non-celebrity life interventions Vanzant does, she also meets with a woman in the sneak peek who allegedly abandons her responsibilities as a mom to find a man who can take care of her. Check out the second sneak peek of the second season and let us know what you think. Anybody else excited for this show to come back!?

Check out the season premiere with DMX on Saturday, April 13 on OWN if you’re as ready to watch the emotional rollercoasters of these people as we are.