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‘SNL’ star Tim Kazurinsky relives the classic Eddie Murphy-hosted 1982 Christmas episode: ‘Eddie was our golden ticket’

Live from Illinois… it’s Tim Kazurinsky! Forty years ago, the former Not Ready for Primetime Player helped give Saturday Night Live fans the gift of what’s arguably the show’s most famous Christmas episode ever. Airing on Dec. 11, 1982, that evening’s festivities were supposed to be hosted by Nick Nolte, who had just starred opposite breakout SNL star Eddie Murphy in Walter Hill’s hit action comedy 48 HrsBut Nolte had to bow out, and Murphy took over emcee duties — the first and still only time that a current member of the cast doubled as the host.

“We found out about Nick on Monday morning,” Kazurinsky tells Yahoo Entertainment on the phone from his home in Evanston, just outside of Chicago. At the time, the story given to the viewing public was that the actor was too sick to fulfill his hosting duties. But Kazurinsky now says Nolte’s illness wasn’t viral in nature. “He went into detox, which is why he couldn’t do the show,” he recalls. “He was a hopeless alcoholic, which is not a surprise to anyone anymore! So [then-SNL producer] Dick Ebersol said, ‘We’re gonna have Eddie host the show.’ And the rest of us were like: ‘Why the hell not?!'”

Murphy’s meteoric rise from SNL featured player to cast member/host had started two years earlier, when he made his first appearance on a Nov. 22, 1980 episode that one of its own writers called the “nadir” of the show. By 1982, he was the star attraction in Studio 8H and the success of 48 Hrs. sent him even further into the stratosphere. Murphy cheekily acknowledged the career glow-up in the Christmas episode’s cold open. “Live from New York… it’s The Eddie Murphy Show!” he boasted with a grin.

According to Kazurinsky — who joined SNL in 1981 as a writer and performer, and went on to have a scene-stealing role in the Police Academy franchise — the rest of the cast didn’t take that joke personally. “Eddie was a really sweet kid, and very generous,” he says. “He was always telling the producers, ‘I’m in the show too much!’ He was not greedy in that way. And we were grateful to have Eddie, because the show was losing sponsors at that time. Eddie was our golden ticket, so we were happy to have him host.”

SNL‘s ’82 Christmas episode, isn’t the only Yuletide anniversary that Kazurinsky is celebrating this year. Ten years ago, the actor and writer had a small, but memorable role in Scrooge & Marley, a 2012 re-telling of the Charles Dickens classic A Christmas Carol that took place in the present day and recast Ebenezer Scrooge (played by David Pevsner) as a contemporary gay man who re-connects with the spirit of the season with the aid of three actual spirits. Kazurinsky plays Scrooge’s former colleague, Jacob Marley, who sets him on his nightmarish nighttime journey.

“I really had a blast doing it,” he says of the low budget production, which was shot in the Chicago area and features many actors from the city’s vibrant theater scene. Kazurinsky was particularly excited by the overt embrace of LGBTQ themes that directors Richard Knight Jr. and Peter Neville brought to the original text. “That was sort of radical and innovative ten years ago,” admits Kazurinsky, who is married to fellow Chicago stage performer, Marcia Lynn Watkins. “People would ask me, ‘Are you gay?’ I’d say, ‘No,’ and they’d say, ‘Then why’d you do it?’ And I always said: ‘Well, you know, it’s Charles Dickens — it’s a pretty great story!'”

In a lively interview, Kazurinsky opened up about his turbulent childhood in Australia, where he moved with his family at a young age; the jokes you could never tell on today’s SNL; and why Police Academy is one of the few ’80s franchises that probably won’t get a reboot.

I’ve seen a lot of versions of A Christmas Carol, and Marley always seems like the most fun character to play. Was that your experience?

It was great fun! I was acting in a production of Hairspray at the time, and there was this one crazy day where the were electrical failures on set, and I had to be at the theater by 7:30. The filmmakers were begging me to stay, and we got the scene, but when I left I was still in full Marley make-up with peeling latex skin and everything! I had to drive to the theater at 90 miles an hour with all that crazy makeup on. I looked like a zombie! When I got there, the rest of the Hairspray cast had to help peel the latex off of my face and help me get dressed. I made it onstage with just two minutes to spare. So it was a wild time, but really fun to do.

Do you have any aspirations to play Scrooge now that you’ve played Marley?

You know, I’m age-appropriate for Scrooge now. [Laughs] But I’m not sure I can memorize all those lines; it’s been awhile since I’ve had to memorize an entire script. I’m 73, so I’ve been wondering about that. I don’t know if we’ll ever find out.

A Christmas Carol is a classic for a reason — what’s always been your favorite part of the story?

What I’ve always loved the most about it is Tiny Tim, and not just because my name is Tim! I remember being indigent and poor when I was young. When I was six, I spent a year in an orphanage in Australia. So I’ve always really identified with Tiny Tim.

Why were you in an orphanage?

I grew up in Australia until I was 16, and my mother had a nervous breakdown while we were there. All five kids ended up in an orphanage, and we were there for an entire year before she got out [of the hospital]. It left a mark, as they say. That’s always been my link to Tiny Tim: I’m like, “They have to take care of that boy!”

My kids are always on me to write down the story of my crazy life and crazy journey, because it’s pretty wild. I also ended up with an ulcer when I was 14. My doctor said, “Your parents are drunks, so you’ve gotta get out of the house as soon as you can.” Back then, they thought ulcers were caused by stress, but they are actually caused by bacteria! But I was thankful for his advice, because I quit school, got a job and when I turned 16, I ran off to America.

America has been very good to me: I’ve led a charmed life since I got here. I started as a reporter in Pennsylvania, and then an ad man at [the advertising agencies] Leo Burnett and McCann Erickson. I actually went to Second City in Chicago to get over my fear of presenting my TV commercials to the heads of the agency. A year later, Second City offered me a job for an 80% pay cut, and I said, “I’d be a fool to pass up this opportunity.” [Laughs]

So I went to Second City and loved and three years later, I ended up on Saturday Night Live. I’m one of the few people that never auditioned for the show, because John Belushi told Dick Ebersol to take a look at me onstage in Chicago. I didn’t even know that until months later! Dick told me that John had recommended me.

You joined the show at an interesting time, because Lorne Michaels had just left and the original cast members were also all gone.

Yeah, Ebersol had just taken over and he never gets enough credit for keeping the show alive for the next five years. And then when Lorne came back, he never re-ran any of our episodes. I know that, because I never made a nickel on them. I thought I would be able to put my kids through college with the residuals, but they never came. [Laughs]

I thought I’d been hired as a writer, until Ebersol asked me: “Do you have your AFTRA card? Everyone in the cast has to have one.” I told him, “You hired me as a cast member?” And he said, “Why did you think I hired you?” I had never even thought of myself as an actor at that point, because Second City was like writing on your feet. So it was really a shock to me to be performing on the show.

Jumping to the 1982 Christmas episode, you appear in a bunch of sketches, starting with the Nutcracker ballet one where Joe Piscopo assumes the dancers are blind, but it turns out they’re just terrible dancers. You take a tumble off the stage in that sketch — were you afraid of injuring yourself?

Oh no, not at all. I thought: “If Chevy Chase can take falls, why the hell can’t I?” [Laughs] That one was fun to do, because I stuffed my leotard with two pairs of socks. I thought that somebody was gonna make me take them out! But I had the biggest balls in my leotard, and I’m sure crew was like, “Is that all him?” I got away with it, but it makes me laugh whenever I think about it. I was sure the wardrobe was going to make me take the socks out of my crotch.

One of your recurring characters was Dr. Jack Badofsky, who would pop up on “Saturday Night News” — the temporary replacement for “Weekend Update” — and make terrible puns. Was that a role you were fond of playing?

Oh, extremely. I named him after a friend of mine: the real Jack Badofsky was the head of an ad agency in Chicago. He hired me to do voiceovers, because he liked talking with me and would make all of these terrible puns. I did the character at Second City first, and I named the character after him, because he was the worst punster I knew. It turned out he was flattered — it was the crowning glory of his career! He loved to impress his friends and his son with the fact that he had a character on SNL named after him.

I’m also a hopeless punster, so I loved doing those skits. I remember Ebersol coming up to me one time and saying: “We should cut out these three puns because they didn’t get a laugh.” I said, “Dick, they weren’t supposed to get a laugh! I wanted the audience to go into groaner mode, and then hit them with a good one.” And he was like: “OK, I’ll shut the f*** up and leave you alone.” After that, he kind of let me do my own thing.

In the Christmas episode, he makes some pretty politically incorrect puns out of the names of classic Christmas carols at the expense of Africans and gay people. Could SNL get away with any of those jokes now?

Oh god, I don’t even remember doing those! You know, I also used to play this Indian guru on the show, and I’d do an Indian accent. I did four or five of those sketches, but I never caught any heat for that. I think I played a Puerto Rican one time. It never entered our conscious at that time. I was looking at some Monty Python stuff recently and there’s one sketch about Australian wines where Eric Idle compared one wine to an “aboriginal’s armpit.” I was like, “That’s so crude!” I realized how much things have changed. It should have been unacceptable then, and certainly now it would be like: “Oh my god.”

 

You’re also in one of the last sketches of the night where you, Eddie Murphy and Mary Gross are a family of herpes living in someone’s body. Was that an homage to the sperm sketch from Woody Allen’s Everything You Always Wanted to Know About Sex?

It probably was inspired by that — it’s certainly chronologically appropriate. And who hasn’t stolen from Woody Allen at some point? Well… not so much anymore. You know, sometimes imitation is the sincerest form of flattery, and sometimes it’s just theft. [Laughs]

You play Eddie’s son in that sketch, and it’s so fun to watch you interact with him: you’re jumping on his back and just hanging all over him. Were you good friends off-camera?

I loved Eddie and I think Eddie liked me, because I would always tell him the truth. I think he respected that when people were falling all over themselves to please him. There was one occasion where I wrote this sketch inviting people to send in postcards asking for Martin Luther King’s birthday to become a national holiday. I had Eddie read it, and perform it on “Saturday Night News.” In the dress rehearsal, he came down and had on a leather jacket and a bunch of chains and performed it sort of angrily. I kind of snapped and went “No, no Eddie. What are you thinking? This is Martin Luther King — you’ve gotta put on a suit and do it straight!”

He didn’t yell back or anything. He just said, “You’re right — that’s the way to go.” And then he did it so magically and wonderfully. I always tried to level with him, because he was so young and having such success that young can turn a kid’s head. But he remained a really nice guy and shared his talent and the spotlight with the rest of the cast. I really appreciated that!

You mentioned that you were surprised to join the show as a writer and a performer. Was there a point in your career where you felt you were doing one more than the other?

By the time I left SNL in 1984, I had been working for years on adapting David Mamet’s play Sexual Perversity in Chicago into a film, and it was finally shot in 1986 [as About Last Night]. I think my having been on SNL helped that get made. And I was also in three Police Academy movies because of my SNL connection. [Kazurinsky appeared in the second, third and fourth Police Academy films between 1985 and 1987.] But after those movies, I was married with kids and realized I didn’t want to leave Chicago. So I transitioned into being a screenwriter, which I did for the next twenty years before I started doing more stage acting.

But thank god for those Police Academy movies! Two other SNL writers, Barry Blaustein and David Sheffield, wrote the second one [1985’s Police Academy 2: Their First Assignment] and I was on my honeymoon when they called my representative and asked if I could do a day on the movie as a lamp store owner, Carl Sweetchuck. They were friends, so I said yes. And then on the day I shot, they fired the original director, and brought in Jerry Paris. He said: “I like the gang leader and the lamp store owner. Keep him around.” [The gang leader was Zed, played by Bobcat Goldthwait.] 

So six weeks later, I was still there! [Laughs] Whenever we were on set, Jerry would come over to Bobcat and I and say things like: “OK, we’re in a supermarket today. What do you guys want to do?” He encouraged us to improvise and asked for our ideas and input. With Police Academy 3: Back in Training, Zed and Carl ended up joining the police academy and I was very grateful for that. Those movies ended up paying for my house!

Police Academy 4: Citizens on Patrol had its 35th anniversary this year. That one has a really crazy plot, with the cops training the public how to do police work. That’s definitely a plot you couldn’t play for laughs now!

Oh yeah. [Laughs] But it was great fun to make. We shot the third and fourth movies up in Canada, and Bobcat and I ended up becoming good friends. He just moved out here, so I see him heaps now. We’re still best pals.

 

Two of your big gags in that movie are the bird that’s constantly pooping on you and then the ending where all of the cops are in airplanes and hot air balloons chasing after the bad guys. What do you remember about those scenes?

The bird stuff was done by a guy on a very precarious ladder dropping paste down on me. It took about two hours to get that sequence and I was constantly changing clothes after getting s*** on with this fake paste. The ladder was so shaky, and I was afraid that the guy was going to die while dumping poop my head! For the ending, I went up in a balloon a couple of times with my wife on set, but all of the plane stuff was done on the ground. I did run after the plane and jump on, but we never actually took off. That was all faked.

That was Steven Guttenberg’s final Police Academy movie and you and Bobcat didn’t return for the next one either. Did something happen behind the scenes?

Bobcat was kind of bad-mouthing the movies, calling them Police Lobotomies — something that he probably regrets to this day. But we weren’t invited back for the fifth one. I think they were a little miffed with Bob. But he’s done well — he’s a movie director now.

People have often speculated about whether or not the Police Academy franchise could be revived now given that policing is a very controversial subject. Do you think there’s a way to do it?

I’ve probably heard twenty different times that people are going to do another version of it, but nothing has ever survived. And I think after Rodney King and George Floyd, it would be really difficult to do something with wacky police and their relationship to diverse cultures. So I think that ship has sailed. The whole notion of a “gang comedy” with a lot of funny people in it is kind of gone now. I think they’d fly again if somebody made one. You get the right mix of people in it — a whole passel of crazies and not just a team — and I think it would still fly. Reno 911 had some of the same spirit as Police Academy.

Maybe you can Bobcat can bring them back!

That’s right! He’s made some wonderful movies. World’s Greatest Dad with Robin Williams is great. And I was in his first movie, Shakes the Clown, which he calls the Citizen Kane of alcoholic clown movies. I played the dad at the first birthday party, and he was supposed to slap my face, but wouldn’t. He said, “I can’t hit you!” And I told him: “John Belushi made me punch him in the belly when we made Neighbors. If John Belushi can do it, I can take it so just slap me for God’s sake!” So he did, and it worked! [Laughs]

Megan Thee Stallion’s former bodyguard is ‘missing’ and didn’t appear for testimony during Tory Lanez trial, her attorney says

  • The Los Angeles District Attorney’s office has accused Tory Lanez of shooting Megan Thee Stallion.
  • The Lanez trial began on Monday and Megan’s former bodyguard was set to testify on Friday.
  • Megan’s attorney confirmed to Insider that her ex-bodyguard, Justin Edison, is nowhere to be found.

Megan Thee Stallion’s former bodyguard is missing after failing to testify on Friday in Tory Lanez’s trial on criminal shooting charges, her attorney told Insider.

“I can confirm that Justin Edison, Megan’s bodyguard, was set to testify in court, did not appear, and is now missing,” Megan’s attorney, Alex Spiro, told Insider. “Law enforcement is investigating the matter,” he added.

Edison’s last post on Instagram is dated December 2. Besides working as a bodyguard, he is a certified physical trainer, according to his page. Details surrounding when and where he was last seen are not clear.

The Los Angeles District Attorney’s office has accused Lanez, whose real name is Daystar Peterson, of shooting Megan in the feet after a small gathering at Kylie Jenner’s house during the early morning hours of July 12, 2020. The “Luv” rapper has denied shooting Megan, whose real name is Megan Pete. The other two individuals present during the incident were Kelsey Harris, Megan’s ex-best friend and former assistant, and Lanez’s driver, Jauquan Smith.

The prosecutors and the defense team agree that an argument ensued in the car when the group left Jenner’s house, though they gave conflicting descriptions.

While Edison was not present the night of the conflict, Harris texted him from the car: “Help. Tory shot Meg. 911,” prosecutors said in court this week.

The day after the shooting, Edison went to Lanez’s home to pick up Megan’s belongings, Deputy District Attorney Alexander Bott said during opening statements on Monday. Bott said Edison told prosecutors that Lanez’ confessed to being “too drunk” and shooting in the air and at the ground the night of the incident.

Lanez was charged with assault with a semiautomatic firearm, personal use of a firearm, and carrying a loaded, unregistered firearm in a vehicle. Lanez was also hit with a new charge earlier this month of discharging a firearm with gross negligence relating to the conflict.

Lanez pleaded not guilty. If convicted, Lanez faces up to 22 years in prison.

Megan testified on Tuesday that Lanez shot her. She said she initially lied about the incident because of her fear and distrust of the police and because she didn’t think the “big boy’s club” music industry would believe her.

“When I get out the car, I hear Tory say ‘Dance, bitch,'” Megan said in her testimony, adding that gunfire started immediately. “I froze. I’m in shock, I’m scared. I can’t believe he’s shooting at me.”

The trial is set to resume on Monday.

The LAPD and the LA District Attorney’s Office did not immediately respond to Insider’s request for comment.

Read the original article on Insider

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Gisele Bündchen is ‘recharging’ in Brazil after Tom Brady divorce

It’s been a turbulent year for Gisele Bündchen, but the supermodel is ending it on a high note.

According to her latest Instagram post on Sunday, the 42-year-old star is soaking up some quality time with her family in her native Brazil. Bündchen, whose divorce from NFL quarterback Tom Brady was finalized in October, shared shots from her visit home with children Vivian, 10, and Benjamin, 13, in tow.

“Recharging with my little ones in the country of my [heart],” Bündchen captioned a series of photos documenting everything from her meals to cuddles with her kids. One shot sees the catwalk queen wearing a leopard-print bikini as she basks in the sun by the ocean,

 

Sieh dir diesen Beitrag auf Instagram an

 

Ein Beitrag geteilt von Gisele Bündchen (@gisele)

The famously wellness-minded model and activist is also squeezing time for self-care, appearing to meditate by the sea in her workout gear.. Later, she makes a heart with her hands, a blissful expression on her face.

In an interview for Dior Digital Talk last year — and long before her split from Brady after 13 years of marriage — Bündchen reflected on leaning into her 40s.

“I feel better at 40 than I felt at 30, I can tell you that much,” she shared.

“I think the 40s are going to be awesome,” she added. “The 20s were a little challenging, I’m not going to lie. The 30s, I was getting a grip on stuff. Now the 40s, I’m like, ‘Let’s go!’”

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Eddie Murphy to Receive Cecil B. DeMille Award at 2023 Golden Globes

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HEARTBREAK – HENRY CAVIL DROPPED AS SUPERMAN

Henry Cavill has been forced to admit that he won’t be portraying Superman going forward, only three weeks after declaring he was “back as Superman.”

Instead, James Gunn, co-chief of DC Studios, will relaunch the Man of Steel in a new film that will show the venerable hero as a young man.

The first projects in their new slate of DC productions will be revealed at the start of 2023, according to a tweet from Gunn and his producing partner Peter Safran. “Superman is one of the people on the list. The role of Superman won’t be performed by Henry Cavill since the first half of our tale will concentrate on an earlier period of Superman’s existence, according to Gunn.

In response to questions from fans, Gunn said that he is currently writing the movie and has been doing so “for a long,” that it won’t be an origin narrative, and that it doesn’t yet have a director.

Cavill wrote on Instagram about this sudden change in his circumstances. “Everyone, the news is sad. After all, I won’t be coming back as Superman,” he added, before taking a light jab at Warner Bros. for its erratic decision-making in recent months as it processed its merger with Discovery and relaunched DC films and television under Gunn and Safran. This news isn’t easy to share because the studio instructed me to do so back in October, before [Gunn and Safran’s] hiring, but that’s life, according to Cavill.

“The changing of the guard is something that happens. I respect that. James and Peter have a universe to build. I wish them and all involved with the new universe the best of luck, and the happiest of fortunes.”

After Black Adam actor Dwayne Johnson was successful in convincing Warner Bros. execs to allow Cavill to appear in a post-credits sequence for his film, Cavill had written about his comeback to the character. Even though Cavill apparently recorded a cameo for The Flash, it’s not yet known if it will be utilized in the movie.

Liam Hemsworth will take Cavill’s position as the lead in Netflix’s popular TV adaption of The Witcher, it was recently revealed. The choice in this instance seems to be made by Cavill. Some have conjectured that he dropped the role of Geralt of Rivia in order to take on the role of Clark Kent again, while others have conjectured that he had a disagreement with showrunner Lauren Hissrich.

Although he did not clarify whether Cavill would appear as a new character or as a different Superman (like to Michael Keaton and Ben Affleck’s shared comeback as Batman in The Flash), Gunn suggested that Cavill may still have a role in upcoming DC Studios productions. We just had a wonderful meeting with Henry, of whom we are huge admirers, and we discussed a number of intriguing opportunities to collaborate in the future, according to Gunn. Additionally, Gunn revealed that he and Safran had a meeting with Affleck to discuss giving the former Bruce Wayne the directing job on a DC movie. Exactly because he wants to direct and we want him to direct, we met with Ben yesterday. We simply need to find the appropriate project, Gunn tweeted.

He made no mention of the other Superman project, a movie about a Black Superman written by Ta-Nehisi Coates and produced by J. J. Abrams, which has been in production at Warner Bros. The Hollywood Reporter claims that this project remains unaffected by Gunn’s newest picture and that Coates is currently revising the script.

Prior to sharing the Superman news, Gunn debunked a rumour that Batman, the film directed by Matt Reeves and starring Robert Pattinson, will be included in the larger DC Universe. This is just false, he declared.

 

Related News: Eddie Murphy to Receive Cecil B. DeMille Award at 2023 Golden Globes

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Eddie Murphy to Receive Cecil B. DeMille Award at 2023 Golden Globes

Eddie Murphy will be honored with the Cecil B. DeMille Award.

The 61-year-old actor will receive the award at the upcoming 80th annual Golden Globes, the Hollywood Foreign Press Association announced Wednesday.

Murphy previously earned six Golden Globe nominations, including new star of the year back in 1983 for the film 48 Hrs. His other acting nominations came for the movies Trading PlacesBeverly Hills CopThe Nutty ProfessorDreamgirls and Dolemite Is My Name.

“We’re honored to present this year’s Cecil B. DeMille Award to the iconic and highly esteemed Mr. Eddie Murphy,” HFPA President Helen Hoehne said in a press release. “We’re thrilled to be celebrating the lasting impact on film and television that his career — in front of and behind the camera — has had through the decades.”

The Coming 2 America actor next stars in Netflix’s comedy You People with Jonah Hill, and he’s working on the sequel Beverly Hills Cop: Axel Foley.

Previous recipients of the Cecil B. DeMille Award, which is decided on by the HFPA Board of Directors, include George Clooney, Jane Fonda, Morgan Freeman, Oprah Winfrey, Harrison Ford, Jodie Foster, Steven Spielberg, Denzel Washington, Robin Williams, Tom Hanks and more.

Comedian Jerrod Carmichael will host the upcoming awards show.

Among this year’s nomineesThe Banshees of Inisherin led in movies with eight nominations, followed by Everything Everywhere All at Once with six and Babylon and The Fabelmans both with five. For television, Abbott Elementary had the most with five nominations, followed by The CrownDahmer – Monster: The Jeffrey Dahmer StoryOnly Murders in the BuildingPam & Tommy and The White Lotus all with four nods each.

The 2023 Golden Globe Awards air live Tuesday, Jan. 10, from 5–8 p.m. PT/8–11 p.m. ET on NBC and Peacock.

Source

Related news: Will Smith says he ‘lost it’ on Oscars night when he slapped Chris Rock

 

 

 

Rapper Gunna out of jail after pleading guilty to racketeering conspiracy charge

Gunna, the rapper who was arrested in Atlanta in May as part of a RICO case against the Young Slime Life (YSL) gang, was released from jail Wednesday after entering a negotiated guilty plea on a racketeering conspiracy charge.

The 29-year-old rapper, whose real name is Sergio Kitchens, was sentenced to five years in prison with four years suspended, according to WSB-TV Channel 2 in Atlanta. The one-year sentence was then commuted to time served, with special conditions that include 500 hours of community service.

The rapper’s sentence will be completed once he does his community service, attorney Steve Sadow said. It will include 350 hours speaking to young men and women about the “hazards and immorality” of gangs and gang violence. He must stay away from guns and from his co-defendants unless the communication goes through attorneys or his record label.

Gunna entered what’s known as an Alford plea, which allows a person to plead guilty — while still maintaining innocence — if it’s believed the prosecution’s evidence would likely result in a guilty verdict at trial.

“While I have agreed to always be truthful, I want to make it perfectly clear that I have NOT made any statements, have NOT been interviewed, have NOT cooperated, have NOT agreed to testify or be a witness for or against any party in the case and have absolutely NO intention of being involved in the trial process in any way,” the rapper said in a statement obtained by The Times.

If Gunna is called as a witness by anyone in the upcoming trial, which is set to start in January, “He will testify truthfully, but he reserves his right to assert his Fifth Amendment privilege against self-incrimination,” Sadow said.

Gunna said in the statement that he did not consider YSL to be a “gang” when he became affiliated with the group in 2016. He said he thought it was “more like a group of people from metro Atlanta who had common interests and artistic aspirations” and maintained that his focus in YSL was “entertainment — rap artists who wrote and performed music that exaggerated and ‘glorified’ urban life in the Black community.”

“I love and cherish my association with YSL music, and always will,” Gunna said in the statement. “I look at this as an opportunity to give back to my community and educate young men and women that ‘gangs’ and violence only lead to destruction.”

A 56-count grand jury indictment in May identified Gunna, Young Thug (real name Jeffery Lamar Williams) and 26 others as members of YSL, a criminal street gang. Some of the defendants were charged with violent crimes such as murder and attempted armed robbery. Authorities have said Williams and Kitchens are leaders in the gang, but their attorneys have contested the charges for months, the AJC reported.

The indictment also alleged that 31-year-old Young Thug was a founder of the YSL gang and alleged he was linked to offenses in 2013 and 2018. He remains in jail, pending trial, with jury selection set for Jan. 4.

Last week, a grand jury charged the 31-year-old with four additional counts related to a May 2021 incident where he allegedly drove 120 miles per hour on an Atlanta freeway, FOX5 Atlanta reported Tuesday.

This story originally appeared in Los Angeles Times.

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LeBron pays tribute to late sports Journalist Wahl

LeBron James paid tribute to Grant Wahl, a sports writer who notably penned his first Sports Illustrated cover story in 2002 after he passed away while covering the World Cup. Not forgotten but gone.

LeBron James used Twitter to highlight Grant Wahl’s positive influence on his life and profession one day after learning of his terrible passing.

The NBA player tweeted on December 9: “You had a significant influence on me and my family and I’m very thankful for you. “a superb human being and journalist. Grant Wahl’s “Rest in Paradise.”

Wahl notably wrote “The Chosen One,” the Sports Illustrated cover story from 2002, about James, an Ohio basketball player who was 16 at the time. Wahl covered James while he was a high school student.

At a news conference following the Dec. 9 game in Philadelphia, the Los Angeles Lakers player, who is now 37, also paid homage to Wahl. Even when I advanced in rank and became professional and he switched sports, I always watched from a distance, he admitted. “Whenever his name would be mentioned, I would always recall being a youngster and having Grant live in our building.”

He said, “It’s a horrible loss,” James

The journalist passed away in Qatar at the age of 49 while covering the World Cup, according to a statement from U.S. Soccer.

“The entire U.S. Soccer family is heartbroken to learn that we have lost Grant Wahl,” the organization wrote in the statement. “Fans of soccer and journalism of the highest quality knew we could always count on Grant to deliver insightful and entertaining stories about our game, and its major protagonists: teams, players, coaches and the many personalities that make soccer, unlike any sport.”

After passing out during the quarterfinal game between Argentina and the Netherlands, Wahl died. According to a statement provided to NBC News by a representative of Qatar’s Supreme Committee for Delivery & Legacy (SC), Grant “during yesterday night’s quarterfinal match between Argentina and Netherlands at the Lusail Stadium media tribune. On-site emergency medical care was provided right away, and it continued when he was transported by ambulance to Hamad General Hospital.”

His death’s official cause has not been made public.

Not just James but other athletes have paid Wahl homage on social media. On Twitter, tennis legend Billie Jean King expressed her sadness at the writer’s demise and praised him for his achievements outside of the sports industry.

On December 10, King tweeted, “A gifted journalist, Grant was a champion for the LGBTQ community & a leading voice for women’s soccer.” “He elevated people whose tales needed to be told by using his platform. Gratitude for his family.”

Tyler Adams, the captain of the United States men’s national soccer team, expressed his “deepest condolences” to Celine Gounder, Wahl’s widow, and to everyone who knew him after the squad was eliminated from the World Cup by the Netherlands in the round of 16. Adams stated on Twitter that “as players, we have a great deal of respect for the job of journalists & Grant’s was a gigantic voice in soccer that has regrettably fallen mute.”

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I caught Chris Paul with Kim in bed – Ye

The producer and anti-Semite tweeted an odd image of the NBA player after a crazy day of publicly celebrating Hitler and Nazis on InfoWars with Alex Jones. Kanye West “signed off” for the evening from social media with a serious charge as he continues to dig a deeper hole around his persona. He tweeted an image of a page with a portrait of NBA player Chris Paul in yet another odd social media post. The caption once again astounded social media: “Before we go, let’s bust one more windows. I saw this man with Kim. good nite” This tweet sent Twitter and the rest of the world into a frenzy of reactions, making the antisemitic comments that came before feel like a footnote. He had been on InfoWars with Alex Jones and Nick Fuentes and basically said he “likes Nazis” and publicly praised Adolf Hitler.

Despite the tweet’s largely cryptic tone, the connotation was obvious: according to West, Chris Paul and Kim Kardashian had a past. It is unknown if it happened recently or was an affair that took place while they were still married. It is also uncertain if the charge is true or false considering Kanye West’s recent, more than obvious slide. However we have learned in the past that it might be controversial, but when Ye says something it’s most probably true. Following the shocking revelation, a picture of Drake and Kanye West’s fight from last year started circulating online, indicating that the Toronto rapper was aware of Kim Kardashian and Chris Paul’s rendezvous and used it as fodder to taunt his rival. Drake and two buddies are seen in the image, which was first shared on his Instagram Story, promoting his then-upcoming album Certified Lover Boy while donning various Chris Paul jerseys. While his friends are sporting New Orleans Hornets shirts, Drizzy can be spotted wearing Paul’s #3 Suns jersey. They all three seem to be laughing at the prank. The photo’s caption says, “September 3 CLB.”

In the months leading up to the release of their respective albums, Certified Lover Boy and Donda, Drake and Ye engaged in a lot of social media and song-based sparring. Drake is also reported to have hooked up with Kim Kardashian during her marriage to Kanye West. At J. Prince’s request, the two ultimately broke their feud and reconnected on stage for the “Free Larry Hoover” charity performance in Los Angeles that December. Even though the two Hip Hop powerhouses have appeared to be getting along since then, Drake recently questioned the genuineness of their ceasefire by claiming he just made up with Ye as a favour to J. Prince.

On “Circo Loco,” a song from his collaborative album with 21 Savage, Her Loss, he rapped, “Linking with the opps, bitch, I did that shit for J. Prince / Bitch, I did it for the mafia ties.”

Regarding his marriage to Kim Kardashian, Yeezy recently settled his divorce following a protracted and occasionally nasty court fight. In addition to splitting up their different assets, the ex-billionaire rapper allegedly agreed to give Kardashian $200,000 per month in child support payments for their four children. A million things are happening around Ye right now, and although they’re buzz-worthy, it feels like he continues to dig himself into a hole that he might not be able to crawl out from. After his erratic comments and tweets, even Elon Musk has grown tired of him and has suspended his account on the platform. As for Chris Paul and his wife Jada, they are yet to respond to the allegation.

Related: Kim and Kanye settle divorce, Kanye to pay $200k in child support.

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Kim and Kanye settle divorce, Kanye to pay $200k in child support.

According to court records filed on Tuesday, Kim Kardashian and Kanye West have settled their divorce and postponed the trial that had been scheduled for next month. The former couple and their lawyers submitted paperwork requesting the judge to approve the conditions they had reached, including Ye, then known as Kanye West, paying Kardashian $200,000 per month in child support.

According to the paperwork submitted to Los Angeles superior court, the two will share custody equally and neither will be required to assist the other financially.

At Kardashian’s request, the judge ended the two’s eight-year marriage in March by declaring them legally single. However, the judge left open the questions of property and child custody, which would be resolved at a trial that would begin on December 14.

The two are parents to four kids, whose ages vary from three to nine. According to the settlement plan, Kardashian and Ye would equally divide the costs of the children’s private security and private education, including college. The deal also stipulated that they would each pay their own obligations. They kept their property mainly separate and signed a prenuptial agreement.

The couple started dating in 2012, and in 2013, they had their first kid. Later that year, West suggested putting the massive screen at the vacant waterfront ballpark of the San Francisco Giants. On May 24, 2014, the couple exchanged vows in an Italian fortification built during the Renaissance.

When Kardashian initially filed for divorce in February 2021, the two seemed to be on the verge of an amicable separation with mutually agreed-upon conditions. Both parties remained silent about their breakup until early this year, when Ye began criticizing Kardashian, her loved ones, and her ex-boyfriend Pete Davidson on social media. His issues included being shut out of important parenting decisions and being left out of their kids’ birthday parties and other festivities.

Ye, who has dismissed two attorneys since filed for divorce, also made a number of procedural requests, including the ability to interrogate any future husband of Kardashian under oath. However, the judge, Steve Cochran, quickly denied this request.

The agreement came just after a number of businesses severed relations with Ye due to his hateful and antisemitic statements, which further damaged his already deteriorating public image. A request for comment about the settlement was not immediately answered by his most recent attorney, Nicholas Salick.

It was Ye, a rap and fashion mogul, and Kardashian, a reality TV star, businesswoman, and influencer, who were married for the first time. One of the most widely watched celebrity marriages in recent decades was theirs.

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