Kelly Rowland releases a stunningly candid song, "Dirty Laundry," where she sings about living in the shadows of Destiny Child's member Beyonce and an abusive relationship.



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Sugar Ray Leonard

Boxing great Sugar Ray Leonard reveals in his new book 'The Big Fight: My Life In and Out of the Ring' he lets on that he was sexually abused by an Olympic boxing coach. Here's an excerpt:

Leonard writes that when the coach accompanied him as a 15-year-old and another young fighter to a boxing event in Utica, N.Y., in 1971, he had the teenagers take a bath in a tub of hot water and Epsom salts while he sat on the other side of the bathroom. They suspected "something a bit inappropriate" was occurring but did not want to question a strong male authority figure.

Several years later, Leonard describes sitting in a car in a deserted parking lot across from a recreation center, listening intently as the same coach, said to be in his late 40s, explained how much a gold medal at the 1976 Olympics would mean to his future.

He was flattered, filled with hope, as any young athlete would be. But he writes: "Before I knew it, he had unzipped my pants and put his hand, then mouth, on an area that has haunted me for life. I didn't scream. I didn't look at him. I just opened the door and ran."

He adds that when he first decided to discuss the incident in the book, which is co-authored with Michael Arkush, he offered a version in which the abuser stopped before there was actual contact.

"That was painful enough," Leonard writes. "But last year, after watching the actor Todd Bridges bare his soul on Oprah's show about how he was sexually abused as a kid, I realized I would never be free unless I revealed the whole truth, no matter how much it hurt."

Stacey Dash has a story to tell. She is a victim of domestic abuse and she wants the world to know. But here's the problem: all of Stacey Dash's men have abused her, according to the actress.

That would indicate that the thrice married Dash, 44, subconsciously seeks out men who will ultimately abuse her, and that's a problem that won't fix itself just by leaving them.

Instead of telling her story to the blogs, she should talk to a therapist who can help her work through the childhood issues that keep her trapped in the willing victim role.

Although the three time divorcee is speaking out publicly about the abuse she suffered at the hands of her last husband Emanuelle Xuereb, privately she's telling friends that all of her husbands abused her physically. How sad.

CHICAGO - Whitney Houston took drugs, including cocaine and marijuana, with ex-husband Bobby Brown, who was emotionally abusive during their marriage and at one point spit on her, the singer said during an interview that aired Monday on "The Oprah Winfrey Show."

"I had so much money and so much access to what I wanted," Houston told Winfrey. "I didn't think about the singing part anymore. I was looking for my young womanhood."

After a long absence from music, Houston is staging a career comeback with a new album "I Look to You" released last month and a two-part appearance on "The Oprah Winfrey Show." Houston is one of the best-selling artists of all time, but her career stalled as she grappled with drug problems and a troubled marriage to Brown.

The couple married in 1992 and were divorced in 2007. During their marriage, Brown was arrested on drug and alcohol charges, and Houston twice entered drug rehabilitation programs. She has custody of their teenage daughter.

Houston told Winfrey that Brown wasn't physically abusive but "he slapped me once but he got hit on the head three times by me."

A phone message left Monday with Brown's attorney in Atlanta seeking comment was not immediately returned.

Houston said she was attracted to Brown because he took control of their relationship and had "a sweet, gentle tenderness."

"At home, he was very much the father, he was very much the man," Houston said. "He was very much in control. I liked that. When he said something, I listened. I was very interested in having someone have that kind of control over me. It was refreshing."

She described an episode after a birthday party for Brown that left her "horrified. He spit on me, in my face." She said their daughter, Bobbi Kristina, witnessed the incident, which left Houston "very hurt, very angry."

Houston also said Brown would smash and break things at their home.

The 46-year-old singer described her drug use, saying it became "heavy" after her 1992 movie "The Bodyguard." She said she would take marijuana combined with rock cocaine.

"You put your marijuana, you lace it, you roll it up and you smoke it," Houston explained to Winfrey.

During a 2002 ABC interview with Diane Sawyer, Houston admitted dabbling in drugs but denied using crack, then uttered the now-famous phrase: "Crack is wack."

"He was my drug," Houston told Winfrey of Brown. "I didn't do anything without him. I wasn't getting high by myself. It was me and him together. We were partners."

Houston said she stuck with Brown because she took her marriage vows seriously. She said she told her daughter about her drug use and took her with her to an Atlanta drug rehab for mothers and children.

"I didn't lie to her," Houston said.

Her mother also tried to intervene, the singer said, and at one point came to Houston's home with police.

The singer prayed for help, asking God to give her strength, she said.

"I was so weak to him," Houston said. "I was so weak to the love.

The officers (all males) got out of their cars and ran to where they were. They came ready to attack, and they were all on her, grabbing her arms and legs and while she was still screaming loudly one officer put his hand around her neck in a c-cup position and began choking the life out of her. He was squeezing tightly and would not let go. She thought she was going to lose consciousness and possibly die right there on Century Blvd. She figured he was doing this to stop her from screaming so loudly. While he had her in a choke hold she was able to turn her head and get a good look at the deputy’s face. They made eye contact. She knows exactly what he looks like. After a lot of squirming and kicking trying to get out of his grasp because she could not breathe, he finally let go of her throat. All of the officers grabbed her by her clothes and hair, stood her up and tried to push her into the passenger side of the patrol car. At this point she was in handcuffs. As she was being forcibly guided to the patrol car she turned and asked, “Who the hell was choking me, I want to know the name of the officer who choked me?� It was at that moment that she was pepper sprayed at a very close range; she felt the stream rather than the mist of the spray. She knew she had been sprayed so that she could not get the name of the deputy who’d choked her. After she was sprayed she really started to scream because she couldn’t see and her face was on fire. The officers just kept yelling at her to get into the ‘fu**in’ car. She was kicking her legs and fighting for her life. She did not want to be closed up in the patrol car because she could not see nor breathe. She needed air badly. She truly thought she was going to die in their custody.

Once inside the patrol car she was pepper sprayed again. The officers then closed the doors and windows and left her inside the vehicle with no air to breathe at all, just the pepper spray. She began screaming and kicking the door begging the officers to roll down the windows or open a door. When the officers did open the door it was only to tie her feet together with a rope like thing and close the door with the end of the rope on the outside of the door, with them holding onto it so her leg movement was constricted. She still needed air so she was still screaming. Finally an officer opened the door and rolled down her window about 2 inches and closed the door back. It was then the officers threatened to tase her if she didn’t shut up.

This is just a portion of the HELL and BRUTALITY she experienced at the hands of the Lennox Sheriff Deputies and Inglewood Police Officers. She has endured the pain and suffering of a beating, she was arrested, humiliated, disrespected, and then found guilty by her employers at the Los Angeles Police Department when she was fired without a hearing, trial, and/or just cause.

After more than a year of stress, fear, and sleepless nights her case finally went before a jury in June 2008. Right before trial, the judge dismissed the resisting arrest and battery on police officer charges, based on the fact that the Los Angeles Sheriff’s Department and the Inglewood Police Department refused to give her attorney all the reports and documents the judge had ordered them to produce. The Inglewood Police Department went so far as to say that the Inglewood officers had not prepared any report at all in connection with their role in illegally assaulting, battering, and falsely imprisoning my niece, even though they are mentioned in the Los Angeles Sheriff Department’s reports and they took the time to make statements against my niece in the Los Angeles Police Department disciplinary process against her.

Dallas, TX - The Tom Joyner Foundation will help promote awareness on HIV/AIDS and substance abuse at six black colleges as part of a $510,000 federal grant.

Each historically black colleges and university (HBCUs) will receive $85,000 from the Substance Abuse Mental health Services Administration Center for Substance Abuse Prevention's (SAMHSA/CSAP) Minority Education Institution (MEI) Initiative. The agency will be responsible for conducting the HIV and substance abuse awareness projects.

The following campuses will be participating this year: Prairie View A&M University, Prairie View, TX; Southern University of Baton Rouge, Baton Rouge, LA; Howard University, Washington, DC; Virginia Union University, Richmond, VA; Savannah State University, Savannah, GA.

"HIV/AIDS and substance abuse are issues that can not be ignored," said Tom Joyner, who created the Foundation and whose four-hour drive-time show is heard in 115 markets and heard by more than eight million listeners. "We want to keep our students at black colleges fully informed about all aspects of life - not just what they learn in class."

Beverly Watts Davis, director of the Substance Abuse and Mental Health Services Administration's (SAMHSA) Center for Substance Abuse Prevention (CSAP), said the partnership with the Tom Joyner Foundation has been critical in helping to raise awareness among black college students.

"Everyday is a day when you can get tested," Davis said, "It's not a once a year event. ... It's a message we need to get to all of our children. We want to help them to aware of their behavior and to be safer with their behavior."

Since the partnership started in 2005, Davis said that more than 15,000 students have been tested, more than 970 students have become peer educators. "Getting tested for HIV/AIDS should be a part of everyone's standard care," Davis added.

The Tom Joyner Foundation, founded by Joyner in 1998, is responsible for raising more $55 million dollars and helping some 40 colleges and thousands of deserving students. Each month, Joyner raises money for a specific historically black college and helps students currently attending that school.

Joyner, a graduate of Tuskegee Institute now, University, has been highly recognized by industry and community groups for the work he has done during the more than 25 years in radio. Joyner not only was inducted into the prestigious Broadcasting & Cable Hall of Fame, but he also received the Marconi Award from the National Association of Broadcasters' as the top nationally syndicated/network radio personality. Joyner's sons are also graduates of black colleges: Thomas Jr., Howard University and Oscar, Florida A&M University

Rihanna’s attorney says the singer will appear at a hearing next month as a possible witness in the assault case against Chris Brown.

Donald Etra says prosecutors have told him Rihanna will receive a subpoena to testify at a preliminary hearing June 22. The hearing will focus on whether there is enough evidence to continue the case against Brown.

Etra said Rihanna will comply with the order. It would mark her first appearance in court since felony assault and criminal threats charges were filed against Brown in March.

Source: Associated Pres

Chris Brown is reportedly back together with an ex-girlfriend — but it's not Rihanna, who the 19-year-old singer has been charged with attacking in an alleged February 8 early-morning altercation that resulted in Brown pleading not guilty last week to felony counts of assault and making criminal threats.

According to New York's Daily News, Brown is back together with an ex-girlfriend from his home state of Virginia, Erica Jackson. The tabloid reported that the University of Mary Washington student recently started dating Brown again. "[Chris and Erica] met in Virginia, where he's from," an unidentified source close to the singer reportedly told the paper. "They dated back in the day and reconnected a few weeks ago when Chris was in town. They've been spending a lot of time together, but things only really heated up over the last two weeks."

Brown was recently photographed shooting hoops at Mary Washington and posing with the women's basketball team on a visit that coincided with the school's "White Ribbon Campaign" devoted to raising awareness about...click to continue reading

The Chris Brown BVConnect

On the same day that TMZ reported that Chris Brown's manager, Tina Davis, is reportedly the "other" woman whose text message triggered the alleged altercation between Brown and girlfriend Rihanna a month ago, Davis' father said the rumors are untrue.

TMZ reported that Davis, 39, who is rumored to have carried on a romantic relationship with the 19-year-old Brown when he was 16, is the person who texted the singer on the night of the incident, referred to in the police report as "a woman who Brown had a previous sexual relationship with."

The manager's father, George Davis, however, told E! News that the latest speculation surrounding his daughter is nothing more than the rehashing of "old rumors."

"They were saying that before. Those are old rumors," he reportedly told the site.

Brown's camp has long denied that that the...click to continue reading

The Chris Brown BVConnect

The Rihanna BVConnect

Nickelodeon said it has no plans to remove Chris Brown as a nominee for its annual Kids' Choice Awards, despite the singer's felony charges for allegedly beating up his girlfriend Rihanna.

Brown is nominated for favorite male singer and favorite song for "Kiss Kiss." Rihanna, who police say was allegedly punched, bitten and choked by Brown in the early morning hours before last month's Grammy Awards, is nominated for best song, too.

An online petition asking Nickelodeon to remove Brown and Rihanna as nominees had 4,655 signatures Tuesday...click to continue reading

The Chris Brown BVConnect

The Rihanna BVConnect

After Chris Brown was charged with two felony counts on Thursday in connection with his alleged assault on girlfriend Rihanna, the next question became "Will Rihanna testify in the case?"

Brown, 19, was charged with assault and making criminal threats, which, if convicted, could land him more than four years in state prison. "The DAs are facing an uphill battle now if Rihanna isn't cooperating," Los Angeles defense lawyer and former prosecutor Steve Sitkoff told People magazine on Friday (March 6) about the alleged victim in the case, who reportedly reunited with Brown last weekend at a home owned by Diddy in Miami. "At this point, her cooperation can make or break the case. But the DAs may not need her if Brown is willing to strike a plea deal."

When asked if the singer is cooperating with the district...click to continue reading

The Rihanna BVConnect

The Chris Brown BVConnect

Usher issued a statement late Tuesday (March 3) apologizing for the comments he made toward Chris Brown, which appeared in a video posted by Jermaine Dupri.

"The comments made during a recent recording session amongst friends were taken out of context and blown out of proportion," the statement reads. "I apologize on behalf of myself and my friends if anyone was offended. The intentions were not to pass judgment and we meant no harm. I respect and wish the best for all parties involved."

The comments regarded pictures of Brown that emerged over the weekend, which showed him riding a jet ski during what was called his "reconciliation" weekend in Miami with girlfriend Rihanna.

In the video, Usher said that instead of riding around...click to continue reading

The Usher BVConnect

The Chris Brown BVConnect

The Rihanna BVConnect

Kanye West weighed in on the alleged altercation between Chris Brown and Rihanna during a February 13 taping of VH1's "Storytellers," although his comments will not appear in the show.

According to a Reuters report, at one point during the taping West asked the crowd, "Can't we give Chris a break? ... I know I make mistakes in life." Brown, who was arrested during the Grammys and booked on suspicion of making criminal threats, a felony, has not been charged in the case.

West also reportedly received loud applause when he followed by saying, "Michael Jackson, amazing. Michael Phelps, amazing ... He's a real f---in' person; he makes mistakes." West also made a rather puzzing comment about O.J. Simpson, saying, "O.J. Simpson, amazing. Is he not? What he did, when he did, what he did. Was he not amazing, though?"

The taping of the show, which premieres on Saturday...click to continue reading

The Kanye West BVConnect

The Chris Brown BVConnect

The Rihanna BVConnect