Morgan Wallen Still Blocked from Radio Despite Apology
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Morgan Wallen's apology for dropping the n-word after what he calls a 3-day bender has not moved radio stations to play his music again.
Sources at Entercom -- which owns 235 radio stations, 20 of which are country music stations -- tell TMZ ... the company has no plans to reinstate Wallen's music to their playlists.
Likewise, a rep for Emmis Communications tells us its country-programmed station in Indianapolis -- Hank FM -- is likeminded ... it's a Wallen-free zone for the time being.
We reached out to other major media companies in the radio industry with the same question but got a no comment.
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As we reported ... Wallen posted a lengthy apology Wednesday for casually dropping a racial slur that was captured on video. He said he's met with Black organizations to learn the error of his ways, and wanted to collect his thoughts before offering up the mea culpa.
JANUARY 2021
Morgan says he's been sober for more than a week and vows to become a better person.
He says he accepts all the backlash he's gotten ... which includes radio stations pulling his music, his record label suspending his contract, and getting disqualified from awards shows.
While it looks like his road to redemption is a work in progress, it seems he'll have to live with radio silence ... at least for a while. That said, his record sales have been surging since the story broke.
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Buffalo Cops Off The Hook For Knocking Down Elderly Man
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6/4/2020
The Buffalo police officers who violently shoved an elderly man to the ground during the George Floyd protests are off the hook ... they won't be indicted for felony assault.
Erie County D.A. John J. Flynn announced Thursday a Grand Jury decided not to hand up an indictment in the case against Buffalo PD officers Aaron Torgalski and Robert McCabe.
As we reported ... Martin Gugino was hospitalized after the push and shove caught on video last June, and his lawyer claimed he suffered a fractured skull and couldn't walk.
Torgalski and McCabe, meanwhile, were suspended, arrested ... and the D.A. charged them with 2nd-degree felony assault. However, the Grand Jury's "no bill" decision means the charges are now dismissed.
You'll recall ... former President Trump suggested -- without a shred of evidence -- Martin had ties to Antifa and went to the protest to cause dissent and chaos. Martin denied being part of Antifa at the time, and now the D.A. says any notion the elderly man is part of the group is "utter nonsense."
Flynn says the officers shouldn't have pushed Martin and instead made a peaceful arrest ... but a Grand Jury apparently didn't see enough evidence to indict them.
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Terrifying Crash 5 Dead as More Than 100 Vehicles Pile Up On Icy Texas Highway
More than 100 vehicles -- including dozens of 18-wheelers -- were involved in a horrific, and fatal, pileup on an icy North Texas highway.
The massive chain-reaction wreck unfolded early Thursday morning in Fort Worth on Interstate-35W -- slick road conditions spelled disaster as an 18-wheeler barreled into dozens of cars already piled up.
Video posted by a local CBS reporter showed the carnage that was spread out over more than a mile.
#Warning
— Omar Villafranca (@OmarVillafranca) February 11, 2021 @OmarVillafranca
New video via @DallasTexasTV from another angle showing the horrific accident on I35W. An 18-wheeler barreling down the icy road. 100+ vehicles involved. 3 dead. Please be careful out there or stay home. pic.twitter.com/51phsJVDqg
At least 36 people were reportedly rushed to hospitals with serious injuries. Some victims were hard to reach because vehicles were so mangled and stacked on top of each other.
At least 5 deaths have been reported.
Cops said this was a terrible weather-related accident after freezing rain and sleet fell overnight. There were 19 multiple-vehicle crashes just between midnight and 6 AM in the Dallas-Fort Worth Metroplex.
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Gorilla Glue Hairdo She's Finally Unstuck ... See Video of Miracle Surgery!!!
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7:15 AM PT -- A rep for Gorilla Glue tells us, "We are glad that Miss Brown was able to be treated and we hope that she is doing well."
Tessica Brown, the woman whose hair's been Gorilla Glued for more than a month, finally has sweet relief -- and we have video of the surgery that saved the day.
As we first reported, Tessica took up Bev Hills plastic surgeon Dr. Michael Obeng on his offer to perform the $12,500 procedure for free, and it was a pretty grueling process. ... about 4 hours long!
We shot the whole thing, from start to finish, and it's wild to see it play out -- and to see the relief on Tessica's face when it was all said and done.
Tessica was under a light anesthesia during the procedure, you've gotta see her reaction as she came out of it, and immediately reached for her hair. She got pretty choked up once she realized she could once again run her fingers through it.
We asked if she's done with home styling after the Gorilla Glue nightmare, and let's just say she's got big plans for this weekend.
2/5/21
As we reported ... Tessica had flown into L.A. from Louisiana Wednesday morning hoping Dr. Obeng could do what she'd tried, unsuccessfully, to do for more than a month now.
Remember ... in a pinch, she had swapped out her normal hair spray for Gorilla Glue Spray Adhesive, thinking she'd be able to wash it out a few hours later. Since then she's been through the wringer ... suffering severe headaches, trying at-home remedies and even went to the ER, but everything just made her scalp burn intensely.
Dr. Obeng broke down his secret recipe for us, explaining it was all just basic chemistry. We're no scientists, so watch the video for his explanation -- but in a nutshell, he combined medical grade adhesive remover, aloe vera, olive oil and a dash of acetone.
He said that's all it took to break down the polyurethane -- the main ingredient in Gorilla Glue. BTW, he didn't go in cold. You gotta see the dummy scalp Dr. Obeng used to test his solvent.
The only small relief Tessica had gotten before her Bev Hills visit, came last weekend when she and her sister used superglue remover to chop off her ponytail.
Speaking of that ponytail ... she says she can't wait to get her hair back to that length, and it is pretty amazing how much of her hair Dr. Obeng was able to save.
Tessica had told us she was prepared to wear wigs for the rest of her life -- but after this procedure, she won't need them for too long.
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Rafael Nadal Heckler Booted From Australian Open ... Shot Middle Finger At Tennis Star!!!
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A Rafael Nadal heckler was ejected from the Australian Open on Thursday ... and the scene was both bizarre and hilarious -- 'cause the woman straight-up shot the tennis star the bird from the stands!
The wild moment all went down during Nadal's win over Michael Mmoh at Rod Laver Arena in Melbourne ... when Nadal had to stop play mid-match over some screaming in the stands.
A fan has been BOOTED from the match for unsavoury language and flipping the bird to Rafael Nadal! 💥😂
— Wide World of Sports (@wwos) February 11, 2021 @wwos
Incredible scenes.
WATCH: @Channel9
STREAM: https://t.co/7uAf53PWTv #9WWOS #AusOpen #AO2021 pic.twitter.com/jgjv7b1GX2
Turns out, a woman was yelling trying to distract the 34-year-old Spaniard ... and when Rafa kept pausing to look at her actions, she eventually flipped him off!!
Security tried to get involved ... but the fan kept going -- and the whole time, Nadal was cracking up!
At one point, announcers suspected the woman was drunk ... saying on the broadcast, "Maybe a bit too much -- a bit inebriated, I think."
One of the announcers then added, "This is chaos."
Finally, after a two- or three-minute delay, security got ahold of the woman and booted her from the premises.
Afterward, Nadal -- who went on to win the match easily -- joked about the whole thing, telling an AO official that he did not know the woman and, "honestly, I don't want to know."
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Rep. Tom Emmer 'You're Upside-Down, Tom!!!' ... Zoom Gets Another One
Congressman Tom Emmer's the latest grown man to get burned by the novelty settings on Zoom, but just like the kitten lawyer before him ... he tried to power through it.
When the Minnesota Representative called in for a House Financial Services Committee hearing, he appeared upside-down. That didn't stop Tom from plowing ahead about COVID and the economy, but Chairwoman Maxine Waters cut him off and asked ... "Are you okay?"
That's when someone else hilariously exclaimed, "You're upside-down, Tom," which revealed Congressman Emmer knew that he was ... but didn't know how to fix it.
It's the second time this week a Zoom mishap's gone viral, and of course, the other participants at the House hearing let Tom know about it ... referencing the recent virtual court proceeding in which a Texas lawyer appeared as a cat.
Much like Tom, the lawyer was willing to ignore the elephant kitten in the room and proceed with the hearing ... saying, "I'm here live; I'm not a cat."
After his own debacle, Emmer tweeted a photo of his upside-down Zoom appearance and captioned it, "I am not a cat."
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Taylor Swift 'Fearless' Remake Has New Songs Too ... New 'Love Story' First!!!
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Taylor Swift's a businesswoman who knows how to sell, so she's giving fans more than just a re-recorded version of her "Fearless" album -- she's adding all-new songs to it.
The singer made a surprise announcement Thursday on 'GMA' that the first big step in her full album do-over -- "Fearless: Taylor's Version" -- is her new version of "Love Story" ... which drops at midnight, just in time for Valentine's Day.
That track was also the lead single when the OG "Fearless" album dropped in 2008, and Taylor says it was her favorite to re-record because she feels her voice is more mature now.
The bonus news is the full album remake will be different, because she's including never-before-heard "songs from the vault" ... 26 tracks total. The initial release of "Fearless" was 13 songs, and the platinum album had 19.
As you know ... Swift's vowed to independently re-record all 6 of the albums she originally released on her former label, Big Machine, so she will own the new master recordings. Scooter Braun purchased her original masters, along with the label, in 2019.
As for when the new album drops? She'll only say it's "coming out soon" -- but Taylor's super-sleuth fans think some easter eggs indicate it's April 9th.
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Aunt Jemima Families of Models ... Want More Than Just a Brand Change
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Aunt Jemima's name and face are now scrubbed from the breakfast products she's fronted for more than a century -- a move in the right direction, but far from enough to do justice to the women who served as her model ... so say their descendants.
Lillian Richard and Anna Short Harrington both served as models for Aunt Jemima at different points in the early 20th century, well before the most recent version with the woman in pearls.
Vera Richard Harris -- Lillian's great-niece -- tells us she wants to see her relative's name (plus the names of all the other models who portrayed Jemima) inscribed on the new Pearl Milling Company packaging, to honor their contributions. She doesn't want cash, just recognition.
Richard Harris says she doesn't want her great-aunt, or any of the other models, to be forgotten ... which is essentially what she thinks has happened with the hard erasure PepsiCo/Quaker have opted for.
Ditto for Wanetta Cowan -- great-granddaughter of Anna -- who says these conglomerates have made a fortune off their family members' images for decades ... and now just wanna act like they never existed. The remedy, in her mind, is simple ... payment for their descendants, in the form of royalties.
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One of Wanetta's cousins actually pursued legal action to that end some years ago, but lost. She elaborated on her thoughts back when the brand change was announced, and it sounds like she thinks they can still do right by them ... by shelling out some cash.
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Morgan Wallen Album Sales Surge After N-Word ... But It's Benefitting NAACP
Morgan Wallen's album sales are still rising -- despite the industry largely canceling him for using the n-word -- but that boost is actually helping the NAACP, financially.
The country music star's second album, "Dangerous: The Double Album," is still topping the Billboard charts and selling like hotcakes. That means more money in the pockets of Morgan and his songwriters ... one of whom, Jason Isbell, is handing over his share to the NAACP's Nashville chapter.
Jason wrote the song, "Cover Me Up," on the album ... and the 4-time Grammy winner says he's donating everything he's made from the track.
Morgan's been shelved by SiriusXM, iHeart Radio, County Music Television, Big Loud Records, Cox Media Group, Emmis Communications and the Academy of Country Music, among others ... but Jason wants fans to keep buying the album so he can keep paying it forward.
JANUARY 2021
The President of the Nashville NAACP will likely appreciate Jason's gesture. As we reported, the org's already extended an olive branch to Morgan ... hoping to make this controversy a teachable moment for him.
No word yet if he's taking them up on the offer.
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GORILLA GLUE HAIRDO I'm Here For My Procedure ... What's Up, Doc?!?
Tessica Brown, the woman who put Gorilla Glue in her hair, is on the final leg of her painful saga -- she's made it to L.A., where a surgeon's waiting to operate.
Tessica touched down at LAX bright and early Wednesday morning, flying in from Louisiana to see the Beverly Hills doctor who says he can fix her rock-solid hair with a lengthy procedure.
She's got her infamous hairdo hidden under a hoodie, which is a lot easier to do now that she's finally managed to chop off her ponytail.
Tessica says her scalp is still in dire straits ... and it's almost time for Dr. Michael Obeng to try and work his magic. Remember, he's offering to perform a $12,500 procedure for free, using medical-grade glue remover to rid her hair of Gorilla Glue once and for all.
2/5/21
Tessica's been to hell and back since substituting Gorilla Glue Spray Adhesive for her normal hair spray ... but now she's got a glimmer of hope.
Stay tuned.
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Rebecca Black on 'Friday' We've (Hopefully) Come a Long Way ... In That Spirit, Remix Time!!!
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FEBRUARY 2021
Rebecca Black has passed hundreds of Fridays since the release of her viral hit song, and as releases a remix ... she's hopeful and thankful for the 10-year ride.
The "Friday" singer came on "TMZ Live" Wednesday -- 10 years to the day since the OG's release -- to discuss a new spin on her classic tune, which now features Dorian Electra, Big Freedia and 3OH!3.
RB herself's rocking a wild outfit in the video ... way different from the first version when she was just 13.
Of course, "Friday" blew up in 2011 ... but not for all the right reasons. It was mocked and ridiculed at the time -- as was Rebecca, but even in light of all that, Rebecca tells us she's happy to have gone through it and come out the other side.
She says while she's glad some folks have embraced the song as their end-of-week ritual -- Rebecca also believes those who put her through the wringer all those years ago have learned a lesson in humanity.
We'll let Rebecca explain for herself -- but long story short, the bullying she went through in the early 2010s simply wouldn't be tolerated today. It's just unfortunate it took damn near a decade for everyone to realize that.
All good, though ... Rebecca's keeping her chin up. Check out the remix too -- much of the same lyrics and beat, but it's a whole other vibe.
And, yes ... it's Wednesday -- but you're only 2 days away from bliss 👏🏽
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Hoobastank's Doug Robb Yeah, We Wanna Ride the TikTok Wave ... But Gracefully, You Know???
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Hoobastank's "The Reason" is all the rage with kids today ... is something you haven't heard since 2004, but the band wants to capitalize on its newfound 2021 fame.
We spoke to lead singer Doug Robb about the surge in popularity for one of his group's most famous tunes on TikTok -- which is the theme for a new challenge, where people list things they've screwed up ... using "The Reason" to wash away their shame.
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The track has been used hundreds of millions of times in recent months as people post their own versions -- and of course, that's got Doug and co. thinking about how best to ride the wave ... without being cringe-y.
Check out what he says about the prospect of cranking out new tunes now that he and the band's back in the spotlight -- Doug's feeling inspired, but also explained why they won't pander to new OR old fans.
All this viral success creates a conundrum ... Doug says he doesn't wanna be the guy that milks this opportunity to the point of exhaustion, but he still wants to make the most of it.
So far, they've made a few of their own #NotAPerfctPerson renditions on TikTok -- all of which have been funny and original -- but Doug's apprehension on diving in is a phenomenon a lot of older artists are experiencing due to TikTok.
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Fact is, a whole new generation is being introduced to their music for the first time -- kinda like what Fleetwood Mac went through recently with the viral skateboarder -- and it puts pressure on the OGs themselves ... to either cash in, or enjoy it for what it's worth.
In Doug's case, here's hoping they do come out with new material -- their last album was in 2018, so the world's overdue for more stank!
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'Aunt Jemima' We're Now Pearl Milling Company ... Check Out Logo!!!
It's an historic day for all Americans ... who love pancakes -- "Aunt Jemima" is officially out, and Pearl Milling Company is in.
PepsiCo -- the parent company of the syrup giant -- announced Tuesday it is "starting a new day with Pearl Milling Company ... rooted in the brand's historic beginnings and its mission to create moments that matter at the breakfast table."
That's a lot of corporate-speak for ... we scrapped "Aunt Jemima" and created a new logo that's still tied to history, but without the stereotyped image of a Black woman with a headscarf in the kitchen.
PepsiCo filed to trademark the new logo on February 1. You'll recall, last summer the company said Jemima had to go after it took a look at all its brands to "ensure they reflect our values and meet our consumers' expectations."
It's a reckoning several companies had in the wake of George Floyd's death, and a national outcry for racial equality.
The previous logo had been a staple for more than 130 years, but PepsiCo admitted, "While the Aunt Jemima brand was updated over the years in a manner intended to remove racial stereotypes, it has not progressed enough to appropriately reflect the dignity, respect and warmth that we stand for today."
The character, of course, was based on an 1800s "mammy" -- a black servant in a white household. The "Aunt Jemima" figure was portrayed by a real-life woman named Nancy Green ... who'd actually been born into slavery.
PepsiCo says the Pearl Milling Company name is a nod to the 19th-century company that created the original ready-made pancake mix. Its new logo uses the same color scheme -- red, white and yellow -- as the previous logo.
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Kim Kardashian North's 'Bob Ross' Painting is All Her Don't Play with My Kids!!!
Kim Kardashian is FUMING at folks questioning the authenticity of a painting she says her daughter made herself ... insisting it's the real deal, and people doubting it have way too much time on their hands.
KK is blasting critics of North's oil painting -- depicting a mountain, a river and a surrounding valley ... which drew comparisons of Bob Ross' artwork (and lots of jokes). But, there were also those who straight-up said North couldn't have done it on her own.
You can tell Kim's pissed from the get-go ... "DON’T PLAY WITH ME WHEN IT COMES TO MY CHILDREN!!!" Kim goes on to say North and her BFF have been taking high-skill oil painting classes lately, and just wrapped their art projects after weeks of hard work.
North's pal is Ryan Romulus, the daughter of Kim's good friend, Tracy Romulus. Tracy posted a photo of Ryan with her own oil painting of a wolf. Fans had zeroed in on Ryan's painting as well ... she also completed a nature landscape in the same class.
Anyway, Kim goes on to say this about "grown adults" who are taking shots at her daughter's ability ... "How dare you see children doing awesome things and then try to accuse them of NOT being awesome!?!?! Please stop embarrassing yourselves with the negativity and allow every child to be GREAT!!!"
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Kim ends her scolding with much emphasis, again doubling down that, "NORTH WEST PAINTED THAT PERDIOTDDDDDABCDEFGZFDT!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!" Okay, Kim, we got it!
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Mmmm, Ribeye First Edible 3D Printed Steak ... Looks Kinda Tasty-ish???
Meat lovers and animal rights activists can finally rejoice together (we think) -- because there's now a slaughter-free steak you can eat right off the dish ... a petri dish.
A group of Israeli scientists and a restaurant group unveiled what they say is the first slab of beef cooked up in a lab, using a freakin' 3D printer!!! It's not the technology you see on Pinterest, however ... this is bioprinting, the same idea -- but with cells.
It's kinda complicated to explain, but basically they take the "natural building blocks of meat" -- tissue from a cow -- incubate it, and then build it out under a microscope. Eventually, you get what you see here ... a ribeye steak, free of genetic engineering or Frankenstein DNA.
The scientific breakthrough comes 2 years after biomedical engineers at the Technion- Israel Institute of Technology (same guys who did this ribeye) cultivated a thin cut steak, sans bioprinting.
Now that they've got the technique down, they say they're on to other cuts.
Goes without saying, this could revolutionize the meat production industry if widely adopted. So many outstanding questions, but the first and foremost being ... is it any good???
The folks at AF insist it's super tasty ... but we'll believe it when we try it 😝
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Gorilla Glue Hairdo I Finally Cut My Ponytail Off ... But My Scalp Still Burns!!!
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Tessica Brown, the woman who put Gorilla Glue in her hair, is one step closer to relief ... she managed to chop off her ponytail, but she's still got painful days ahead.
Sources with direct knowledge tell TMZ ... Tessica worked on her rock hard hair for 4 hours Tuesday night after work, and she needed a helping hand and some super glue remover to cut off her ponytail for a little bit of relief.
We're told Tessica and her friend used "Goof Off" superglue remover to try and rid her hair of Gorilla Glue, and as you can see they made some progress.
The process looks pretty painful ... Tessica's friend was able to get her ponytail gooey enough to cut it off in tiny chunks using a pair of household scissors.
But, we're told the hair on Tessica's scalp kept hardening and she's still planning to fly to Los Angeles to meet with the Beverly Hills doctor who says he can remove the rest of the adhesive spray product that started this whole saga.
Tessica joined us on "TMZ Live" Tuesday with a message for her haters ... she says she only put her saga on social media as a cry for help, and vehemently denies she's doing this for clout.
She added that all she wants is her hair fixed, because all previous attempts made her scalp burn intensely.
Tessica looks and sounds like she's been through a lot ... and told us why this nightmare will stick with her for the rest of her life. No bad pun intended.