Guilty Pleasures

By NewsPress Now

Usher announces post-Super Bowl North American tour

LOS ANGELES | After two years of his popular Las Vegas residency at Park MGM, releasing his first solo album in eight years, and headlining the 2024 Super Bowl halftime show, Usher will embark on a North American tour.

The R&B-pop icon will embark on his 24-city “Past Present Future” tour beginning Aug. 20 at the Capital One Arena in Washington D.C. It will hit many major cities in North America before concluding in Chicago at United Center on Oct. 29.

The tour will also hit Baltimore; Boston; Philadelphia; Toronto; Brooklyn, N.Y.; Detroit; Denver; Los Angeles; Oakland, Calif.; Dallas; Austin, Texas; Miami; Atlanta; Charlotte, N.C. and St. Louis.

According to a press release, general ticket sales will begin Monday at 10 a.m. local time at LiveNation.com. A Citi and Verizon presale begins Wednesday. No openers have been announced.

Usher will take on the Super Bowl on Sunday at Las Vegas’ Allegiant Stadium. He has performed there once before — as a guest appearance with Black Eyed Peas frontman will.i.am in 2011.

“I got a chance to see a bit of what it felt like,” Usher told The Associated Press in a recent interview. In his first Super Bowl performance, he descended from the stadium ceiling to perform “OMG” in Arlington, Texas.

Killer Mike says arrest stems from altercation with security guard

LOS ANGELES | Killer Mike says an “over-zealous” security guard contributed to the physical altercation that led to his arrest after the rapper and activist won three awards at the Grammys.

“As you can imagine, there was a lot going and there was some confusion around which door my team and I should enter,” Mike said in statement Tuesday. “We experienced an over-zealous security guard but my team and I have the upmost confidence that I will ultimately be cleared of all wrongdoing.”

On Sunday, Mike was escorted in handcuffs by Los Angeles police at Crypto.com Arena after joyous moments for him at the Grammys’ Premiere Ceremony, where he won his awards in quick succession. He had won his first Grammy in more than two decades.

Police said Mike was detained after the altercation and booked on a misdemeanor.

The rapper, whose real name is Michael Render, was released Sunday evening on his own recognizance. He is scheduled to appear in court on Feb. 29 in Los Angeles.

In his statement, Mike thanked the Grammys for recognizing his work. He also noted that he and his wife are “elated” after finding out Monday that their son — who was on a list for a kidney for years — found a match.

“We are incredibly proud and are basking in this moment,” he said. “I am also grateful that one of my prayers has been answered –- the day after my Grammy win.”

Mike’s first win came after he won for best rap performance for “Scientists & Engineers,” which also took home best rap song. The single features Andre 3000, Future and Eryn Allen Kane.

He won best rap album for “Michael.”

Before Sunday, Mike’s last Grammy came in 2003 when he won for “The Whole World” for best rap performance by a duo or group.

When he collected his third award, the Atlanta-based rapper shouted out, “Sweep! Atlanta, it’s a sweep!”

As a member of Run the Jewels, Mike, along with producer El-P, pumped out four critically acclaimed albums. He made noise outside of music as a social-political activist who has spoken out against inequality for Black people, race relations and became a vocal supporter of Sen. Bernie Sanders’ 2016 U.S. presidential campaign.

The Grammy-winner hosted Netflix’s “Trigger Warning with Killer Mike,” a 2019 documentary series about issues that affect the Black community. He also made an emotional plea to calm a protest against police brutality that turned violent in Atlanta.

Jussie Smollett asks Illinois high court to hear appeal

CHICAGO | Actor Jussie Smollett has asked the Illinois Supreme Court to intervene in his yearslong legal battle stemming from charges that he staged a racist, homophobic attack against himself in 2019 and lied about it to Chicago police.

His petition, filed Monday, asks the state’s highest court to hear the case two months after an appeals court upheld his disorderly conduct convictions and sentence. In 2021, a jury convicted the “Empire” actor on five felony counts of disorderly conduct, a charge that can be filed in Illinois when a person is accused of lying to police.

He was sentenced to five months in jail, but was released pending appeal of his conviction and sentence. Smollett has maintained his innocence.

The state Supreme Court could take the case or let the lower court’s decision stand.

“What should have been a straightforward case has been complicated by the intersection of politics and public outrage,” Smollett’s attorneys wrote in Monday’s filing.

They repeated an argument from previous appeals saying his 2021 trial violated his Fifth Amendment protections against double jeopardy, or being punished twice for the same crime. They said he already performed community service and forfeited a $10,000 bond as part of a 2019 deal with the Cook County state’s attorney’s office to drop the initial 16 counts of disorderly conduct.

A grand jury subsequently restored charges against Smollett in 2020.

Smollett, who is Black and gay, had reported to police that he was the victim of a racist and homophobic attack by two men wearing ski masks. The search for the attackers soon turned into an investigation of Smollett himself, leading to his arrest on charges he had orchestrated the whole thing.

Authorities alleged he paid the men whom he knew from work on “Empire,” which was filmed in Chicago. Prosecutors said Smollett told the men what slurs to shout, and to yell that he was in “MAGA Country,” a reference to Donald Trump’s presidential campaign slogan at the time.

In arguments before the Illinois Appellate Court last year, Smollett challenged the role of a special prosecutor, jury selection, evidence and other aspects of the case. But all were turned aside in a 2-1 opinion.

His request for a rehearing was denied last month.

Carole Baskin asks Florida Supreme Court to review lawsuit ruling

TALLAHASSEE, Fla. | Carole Baskin, who became a pop culture sensation due to Netflix’s docuseries “Tiger King,” has asked the Florida Supreme Court to review an appellate court’s ruling that said she isn’t protected from a defamation lawsuit brought by a former assistant.

Baskin last week asked the high court to reconsider its earlier denial of her appeal in the defamation case brought by Anne McQueen, a former assistant to her missing husband. A provision of the Florida Constitution and the U.S. Constitution conflicts with the appellate court’s ruling, Baskin said in her filing with the Florida Supreme Court.

The lawsuit said that Baskin defamed McQueen by posting video diary entries on YouTube and on a website in 2020, claiming McQueen embezzled money from her and her then-husband, who disappeared under mysterious circumstances more than two decades ago.

Baskin argued that McQueen’s case was without merit because she was protected by free speech provisions, her entries weren’t defamatory, and McQueen failed to provide proper notice of her intent to sue as required in lawsuits against publications, broadcasters and other media.

A trial judge ruled in favor of Baskin and dismissed the case, saying that Baskin was a “media defendant” and that her statements were protected by free speech provisions under state law.

An appellate court reversed parts of that decision, saying it wasn’t protected speech and that Baskin’s postings and video entries fell short of what is considered a media defendant in the way newspapers and broadcasters are protected.

The “Tiger King” documentary was about Joseph Maldonado-Passage, also known as “Joe Exotic,” a former Oklahoma zookeeper. He was convicted of trying to hire someone to kill Baskin, who had tried to shut him down, accusing the Oklahoma zoo of abusing animals and selling big cat cubs.

Baskin also was a contestant on the show, “Dancing With The Stars” in 2020.

—From AP reports