Holidaze

It's only Juneteenth's second year as a national holiday, but it's been official with Lizzo for much longer than that, and -- like many other celebs -- she's going big to celebrate.

The singer says she's been celebrating Juneteenth since her childhood in Houston, but for the third straight year she's getting her fans in on the festivities with a huge giveaway that includes a chance for them to fly out and hang with her.

Lizzo also posted why the holiday is so important -- "Juneteenth is about giving Black citizens of this country our own Declaration of Independence. It is about the complicated and nuanced history we have with this country".

June 19, aka Juneteenth, marks the day in 1865 when the last enslaved people in America -- in Galveston, TX -- got the word President Lincoln had abolished slavery two-and-a-half years earlier with the signing of the Emancipation Proclamation. It was finally recognized as a federal holiday in 2021.

Mariah Carey marked the day with a photo of her twins, Morocco and Monroe, looking at photos of Mariah's father. She captioned the Juneteenth/Father's Day post with "Celebrate your black excellence."

There were many others ... including Justin Bieber and Pharrell, who took a moment to share his own words after hitting the stage for Day 3 of the Something In the Water festival in Washington, D.C.

The Juneteenth Foundation's Freedom Festival was also held in D.C.

No tools or cologne for Dejounte Murray's dad on Father's Day ... instead, the NBA baller surprised Dad with a brand new truck -- and Pops' reaction was priceless.

Murray's father was outside their family home this month when the San Antonio Spurs guard pulled up in the white ride ... and what happened next was super sweet.

Everyone had their phones out and shouted at Dejounte's dad, "That's you!"

"Happy Father's Day! That's you, man!"

Murray's dad was overwhelmed with emotion -- and he immediately gave his son a huge hug. Eventually, he began crying.

Murray shared the awesome father-son moment on his IG -- revealing he and his pops haven't always seen eye-to-eye, but they're working on their relationship.

"We had our differences for almost 7-8 years and I just want a relationship with my dad before it's too late," Murray said, "and not have one of us living with regrets of not being a man and fixing the problems we had."

Murray added that he loves his dad and he respects him "for taking ownership on why you wasn’t there as much as I wanted you to be as a kid."

"Happy birthday and happy early Father's Day," Dejounte said, "and I hope you love the truck."

The celebration of Juneteenth as a federal holiday is a combination of solemn moments and all-out partying -- featuring multiple generations of music superstars -- to mark the occasion.

The biggest party went down Sunday at the Hollywood Bowl where Chaka Khan, Earth Wind & Fire, Khalid, Billy Porter and many more took the stage and got the sold-out crowd on its collective feet.

The concert event -- "Juneteenth: A Global Celebration of Freedom" -- aired live on CNN, and Chaka's performance was especially rousing, backed by The Roots, she belted out her hits "Ain't Nobody" and "I'm Every Woman" ... while EWF and Bell Biv Devoe also played crowd favorites "Groove Tonight" and "Poison."

President Biden and Vice President Harris recorded messages to address the Hollywood Bowl audience ... and called the holiday a "time to celebrate, time to educate and time to act."

Meanwhile, the activist who fought hard for years to get Juneteenth federal holiday status also marked the day.

95-year-old Opal Lee completed a 2.5 mile walk in Fort Worth -- symbolizing the 2.5 years it took for the enslaved African-Americans in Galveston, TX to get the news that President Lincoln had issued the Emancipation Proclamation in 1863.

That happened on June 19, 1865 ... hence the holiday's name, Juneteenth. While it's long been unofficially recognized -- especially in the Black community -- it didn't become a federal holiday until last year.

Opal's suggestion for all Americans to recognize the holiday -- "I advocate that we celebrate from the 19th of June to the 4th of July. That would be celebrating freedom."

As the nation gets ready for the 2nd celebration of Juneteenth as a federal holiday, Wale's revealing his plans for Sunday ... and offering some helpful tips for anyone who doesn't look like him, but still wants to turn up.

We caught up with the D.C.-bred rapper at LAX, and asked how he plans to spend the day -- and while he was at first taken aback, he eventually coughed up a great answer ... simply root for everyone Black!

Now, our photog -- a gent of Caucasian persuasion -- politely asked how he could also have a happy Juneteenth, and again ... Wale dropped a jewel of a response.

If this convo with Wale sounds familiar, it's because it was the basis for his 2019 video "Sue Me" ... where he reversed racial roles in a chilling depiction.

President Biden signed the bill last year to make Juneteenth a national bank holiday, making it the first new federal day off since MLK Day in 1983.

Actor and TV host Terrence J wants businesses across the country to get with the times and finally count Juneteenth as a day out of the office.

Terrence was at a Juneteenth Foundation ceremony in D.C. Thursday, and says he thinks the companies that are lacking need to step up to the plate -- noting the new federal holiday is a big part of American culture.

He says companies need to take a step back to see where society's at right now to understand why it's so crucial ... June 19th will mark the 2nd year it's federally recognized, but not every company is counting it as a day off.

As for other holidays, the guy thinks there are some we give a little too much attention to ... won't say which, but he's always got Juneteenth on his mind.

He's got his thoughts about the recent tone-deaf marketing in stores, too ... Terrence is gung-ho for the recognition of Juneteenth, but hopes companies can learn to rep the day more respectfully.

The video game developer for "Halo Infinite" is under fire for rolling out a new nameplate to honor Juneteenth ... folks are enraged the customization was named after an ape.

The folks over at 343 Industries apparently thought it would be a good idea to title the nameplate -- a palette adding a red, black and green colorway to a player's username -- "Bonobo" ... which is an endangered primate.

Problem is ... folks were angry with the association of apes with Juneteenth, considering the racist and discriminatory history between those words and Black people.

As you know ... Juneteenth is now a federal holiday, commemorating the day the last enslaved Americans got the news President Lincoln had abolished slavery.

In response to the backlash, the video game developer renamed the nameplate to "Freedom" and then to "Juneteenth."

343 Industries says the nameplate was originally named "Bonobo" in reference to a developer tool -- and they claim it was an oversight on their end.

Bonnie Ross, the founder and head of 343 Industries, says once they were made aware the nameplate "contained a term that was offensive and hurtful" they immediately made a change with a game update.

While Henry Cavill's future as Superman remains undecided, comic book Twitter is up in arms after someone suggested he's probably not coming back ... because he's a dinosaur.

The theory was posted by YouTuber/blogger Matt Jarbo, who last week said Cavill likely wouldn't reprise the role -- despite a massive amount of clamoring for him to do so -- because he felt HC had gotten a little too old, and perhaps a little too expensive.

He wrote, "A month ago Henry Cavill turned 39. He started playing Superman before the age of 30, and hasn't filmed anything new in 5 years. Its safe to say he's aged out of the role. As sad as it is, WBD will definitely be pushing for a younger actor to take on the role."

On Sunday, which happened to be Superman Day, he doubled down -- saying that Cavill was over the hill, and not what Warner Bros. Discovery wanted ... especially price tag-wise.

But it was Matt's age commentary that had people doing a double-take ... 'cause yeah, Cavill might be in his late 30s -- but the dude still looks great ... far from an old geezer.

Of course, a lot of what-about-ism was offered ... with many pointing to a number of "older" actors who've been tapped for superhero roles in the recent past, including some fellow DC alums like Jason Momoa and Gal Gadot, who are in their 40s and late 30s, respectively.

There's also Dwayne Johnson -- who's about to don a cape as Black Adam in his 50s, no less -- as well as Robert Downey Jr., who became Iron Man a bit later in life as well.

While Matt didn't elaborate on his old man hypothesis much, what he seems to be getting at is that he thinks WBD wants to go in a totally new direction with the character ... perhaps even a younger Superman in his 20s or early 30s, sorta like they did with 'The Batman.'

As for moola, yes ... Cavill would be costly to hire. He'd already made a reported substantial salary during his original run, and is in even higher demand now. A lesser-known actor could be brought on for significantly less money, and just as much fanfare. More importantly, HC appears to be over it. He hasn't even posted any Superman stuff today, and he's the guy!

What this seems to boil down to is regret among the fan base that Cavill was grossly underutilized in his heyday, and now that WBD is turning the page ... folks can't let go.

Now we know why Prince Harry and Meghan Markle were so conspicuously missing from the end of the Queen's Jubilee celebrations -- they were at 30,000 feet several hours beforehand.

Harry looked pensive and exhausted in Santa Barbara Sunday morning after the Sussexes and their 2 children flew private from London -- passing on the final Jubilee events, including the People's Pageant, and a surprise appearance by Queen Elizabeth herself.

QE2 kept it brief, but she did come out on her Buckingham Palace balcony to do some royal waving to her subjects gathered for the pageant. It was her first public appearance since the Jubilee began on Thursday, because she'd been feeling under the weather. Once again, she was joined by Prince Charles and Camilla, Prince William and Kate and their 3 kids.

Even if Meghan and Harry had stayed for the finale, it's doubtful they'd have been on the balcony. They'd been banished to a separate room for the Jubilee kickoff, and they sat as far as possible from Kate and William during a church service.

Their early retreat back to their home in Montecito is just one more confirmation of what's painfully obvious -- the U.K. trip was for the Queen's sake, and NOT because things are any better between Harry and his brother and his father. The 3 of them were never photographed together all weekend.

The Indianapolis Children's Museum is in hot water after serving up a racially insensitive dish ... specifically to commemorate Juneteenth.

Yes, that pic shows the watermelon salad being sold in the museum cafeteria, and they're not even subtle about the racism, as the label reads ... "Juneteenth Watermelon Salad."

One ticked-off patron's reaction to the shocking menu item was, "No joke!!!"

A rep for the museum is defending the salad, saying its food service partners "planned a Juneteenth menu as a way for us to raise awareness of the holiday's meaning, and commemorate their own family traditions."

While that makes it sound like the food service company is Black-owned, we haven't been able to confirm that yet.

The rep also says "Red foods have historically been served by some to remember the blood that was shed along the way to freedom." We've never heard that one before, but okay.

They did offer a mea culpa though, saying, "The museum apologizes and acknowledges the negative impact that stereotypes have on communities of color. We have removed the salad from our menu. We value our relationships with all of our visitors and communities. We have learned from this experience."

The museum -- which is throwing a "Juneteenth Jamboree" -- correctly states on its website that Juneteenth is a holiday commemorating the end of slavery in the U.S., and is also called Emancipation Day or Juneteenth Independence Day.

Mariah Carey is allegedly, and ironically, a big scrooge ... she's being sued over her blockbuster Christmas jingle, with another artist claiming his song -- by the same name -- inspired hers.

Mariah is being sued for copyright infringement by Andy Stone, who says he co-wrote and recorded a song called "All I Want For Christmas Is You" a couple years before MC dropped her famous track with that title.

According to the lawsuit, obtained by TMZ, Andy claims he recorded his back in 1989 in Nashville, and says it got extensive airplay and even made it to the Billboard charts during the 1993 Christmas season, and he even filmed a music vid.

Problem for Andy is ... Mariah released her version in 1994, along with her own music video, and we all know what a massive hit that's become since then.

Andy claims Mariah and her camp never sought or obtained permission to use that title.

Now, while everyone knows Mariah's song, the fact is it sounds completely different from Andy's tune -- different lyrics, different melody ... outside of the title, they're inarguably not the same song.

TMZ broke the story ... Mariah's version is a true cash cow, recently breaking the billion streams plateau, and putting millions of dollars in her pocket annually.

Andy wants a piece of that pie ... he's going after Mariah for at least $20 million in damages.

Hard to see how this one holds up in court -- lots of songs have similar or even the exact same title, but hey ... Andy's going for it.

Tom Cruise's latest blockbuster offering just goes to show you can teach an old dog new tricks -- and if you do it right ... moviegoers will pay out the nose for what you're selling.

Of course, we're talking about "Top Gun: Maverick" -- which broke box office records this Memorial Day weekend with an estimated $156 million domestic haul over the course of 4 days ... making it the highest-grossing film in that window since 'Pirates 3' in '07.

It's also TC's first $100 million opening in his career. So, lots of milestones were hit here -- this during a time when it's been hard to get asses in seats at the cineplex amid COVID.

Of course, it doesn't hurt that the movie has gotten rave reviews from both critics and normies alike -- in fact, 'TGM' is being hailed as even better than the OG from the '80s, which is really saying something ... as you may know, Part 1 is considered a cult classic!

As for what all the hype is about ... a lot of things. For starters, it's about as action-packed as you would want a summer popcorn flick to be. More importantly, a lot of that action is shown via practical effects ... as in, 85% of what you're seeing is real ... AKA, no CGI.

A majority of all the death-defying stunts you see in the air were, in fact, shot from actual fighter jets, with the actors in the real seats (but not really steering). The story's good too.

These celebrities have been slipping into ... and out of ... their skimpiest swimwear to frolic in a little fresh water in 2022 and shared the crystal clear moments on social media for you to lap up!

Things are going swimmingly for Kim Kardashian, Simone Biles and Eric Decker who all enjoyed their water time with their swim-pressive pool shots. Camila Cabello, Olivia Jade and Justine Skye joined adult swim ... giving you a glimpse into what it's like to go swimming with the stars!

So grab your most trendy inflatable and float through our gallery of celebrities who are straight-up poolside chillin'!

Welp, here's the latest entry to the Tone-Deaf Marketing Hall of Fame (there really should be one by now) ... Walmart's Juneteenth Ice Cream is MOA -- melting on arrival -- with critics, as one might expect.

As soon as the retail giant started putting the "Celebration Edition" on its freezer shelves ... the Twitter mob sounded off, calling the idea "garbage," and worse. The pints contain swirled red velvet and cheesecake ice cream flavors ... and included the message, "Share and celebrate African-American culture, emancipation and enduring hope."

Yes, all positives, but also ... exploitive for capitalism's sake??? That's the tone of the backlash against Walmart ahead of the new federal holiday -- June 19th will mark the 2nd year it's recognized -- which commemorates the day the last enslaved Americans got the news President Lincoln had abolished slavery.

Walmart is also launching a similar "celebration edition" for Pride Month, which is also coming up in June. That flavor is white chocolate ice cream with brownies and cherries.

Depending on your viewpoint ... that's either equal opportunity, or equally offensive.

Ciara and Russell Wilson welcomed a new puppy to the family for Mother's Day, but PETA's taking them to task for buying the pup from a breeder, and not rescuing a pooch from a shelter instead.

PETA believes it's clear -- the couple's new dog, Bronco, is a purebred puppy -- and likely from a breeder where "mother dogs are often locked inside filthy cages and bred over and over until their bodies give out."

The animal rescue org also uses some Ciara song references in calling out Russ, telling us the QB made a "One, Two Step mistake by killing a shelter dog's chances of finding a home."

They continue, "PETA is calling on the couple to Level Up on kindness by adopting a companion for this pup instead of fueling the homeless-animal crisis."

As we've told you, Ci and Russ revealed they welcomed their new doggy to the fam over Mother's Day weekend, naming her Bronco after Russ' new team in Denver. Ciara called the puppy, "the sweetest surprise."

Chris Paul says a Mavericks fan had an extremely inappropriate interaction with his family during Sunday's playoff game in Texas ... claiming the Dallas supporter "put his hands on my mom."

The incident allegedly went down at some point during the Suns' loss to the Mavericks at American Airlines Center.

Paul's mother, wife and kids were in attendance at the game sitting near the Phoenix bench ... when, according to Paul, a fan physically contacted them.

"Wanna fine players for saying stuff to the fans but the fans can put they hands on our families," Paul said after the game, "f*** that!!"

According to ESPN, the fan allegedly put his hands on Paul's mom, and also pushed the NBA star's wife. The outlet reports Paul's kids saw it all happen.

Video shot by fans near the Suns' bench appears to show part of Paul's reaction to learning of the fan's alleged actions.

In the clip, you can see Paul was furious with a Mavericks fan, clearly telling the guy, "Hey! I'll see you later!"

In another video from the arena, Paul can be seen telling security guards, "He put his hands on my mom."

The Mavericks said in a statement after the game they were aware of the incident and the fan was removed from the stadium.

"The Dallas Mavericks are aware of an incident between a fan and the family of Chris Paul," the team said. "It was unacceptable behavior and will not be tolerated. The Mavericks, along with American Airlines Center, swiftly removed the fan from today's game."

Mommy-to-be Rihanna lit up the night with her Mother's Day get-up ... stepping out for date night with Boyfriend A$AP Rocky.

The two hit Giorgio Baldi in Santa Monica Sunday, RiRi wore a sparkling set with lots of cutouts, but made sure to stay warm with a fur shawl. It'll be Rihanna's last Mother's Day without a kiddo of her own ... as it's expected she'll give birth in the next few weeks.

Rihanna and A$AP are frequent fliers at Giorgio Baldi -- it's actually one of her favorite places to grab dinner -- but one thing's for sure ... there are ALWAYS cameras there, so you gotta imagine RiRi knew they'd get her flashy fit.

Of course, pregnancy hasn't slowed RiRi down much. She and A$AP recently enjoyed visiting family and friends in her hometown of Barbados.