R. Kelly charged with bribing official for fake ID to marry Aaliyah when she was 15

It looks like music fans may finally get an answer to a long-winded question about R. Kelly and Aaliyah. For years, folks have wondered how the singer managed to marry his protege in 1994 when she was just 15 years old.

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According to the New York Times, the Grammy winner has been accused of bribing an Illinois government employee on August 30, 1994 in order to obtain a fake ID for the underaged girl so he could marry her. Sources told the outlet that the ID was used to obtain a marriage license that listed her age as 18. The marriage was eventually annulled.

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During an interview with Good Morning America, Kelly’s attorney Steven Greenberg claimed that the singer had no idea Aaliyah was underage when they wed. (Which seems crazy, considering he produced her debut album entitled Age Ain’t Nothin But a Number.)

“My understanding is that she did not claim to be 15, and in order to get married, she had to lie about her age,” Greenberg said at the time.

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On Thursday, the lawyer suggested that the new indictment “does not appear to materially alter the landscape.”

R. Kelly is already facing federal charges for racketeering and has been charged in several other jurisdictions for sexual abuse.

 

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Issa Rae will write, produce, and star in ‘Perfect Strangers’

Issa Rae is one busy lady and it looks like the latest addition to her growing resume will include yet ANOTHER remake of sorts.

According to reports, the Insecure star has signed on to write, produce, and star in the upcoming comedy flick, Perfect Strangers. The film is an adaptation of the award-winning Italian film Perfetti Sconociuti, directed by Paolo Genovese in 2016.

Via Deadline:

The plot centers around a dinner party where a group of friends decide to play a risky game where they place their phones face-up on the table and agree to make all texts and phone calls public in an attempt to prove they have nothing to hide. The comedy about friendship, love and betrayal forces the friends to confront and discover they may actually be “perfect strangers.”

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This isn’t the only remake Rae  is tackling these days. In September, news broke that she is developing a reimagining of the 1996 hit, Set It Off. 

The original film that starred Kimberly Elise, Queen Latifah, Vivica A. Fox, and Jada Pinkett Smith is considered a classic and some folks didn’t take too kindly to the idea of a reboot.

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Fox, who played bank teller, Frankie, was unapologetic in her criticism when she told ET Live‘s Melicia Johnson that there is no need to reimagine the crime thriller during an interview last month.

“It’s a classic, leave it alone,” Fox said.

“There’s absolutely no reason to try to redo it. It’s been done, and we did it so well, that people are absolutely going to compare it to that and I think that’s her taking on a tremendous chore because that film has become a cult classic and some things are just better left.”

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Yara Shahidi channels Beyonce and teases baby news in ‘Grownish’ trailer

It looks like fans of Grownish are in for some sweet surprises when the show that stars Yara Shahidi returns to Freeform for a third season.

In the first full-length trailer for the upcoming season, we see Shahidi serve her best Beyonce swag in an outfit emulating the outfit she wore at the epic Beychella performance. She’s flanked by her homies, (played by Chloe and Halle Bailey) and we can’t wait to see what that’s all about.

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A couple weeks back, the show released a teaser that seemed to suggest that someone will have baby on board.

new semester. first trimester. whose is it?

don’t miss the @grownish season 3 premiere thursday, january 16th at 8/7c on @freeformtv. pic.twitter.com/T4hMYvvqdd

— grown-ish (@grownish) November 25, 2019

We have no idea who will be facing parenthood this season, but considering Ryan Destiny has signed on as a series regular, the possibilities are endless.

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Check out the trailer:

The star-studded cast of the black-ish spin-off that follows   Dre (Anthony Anderson) and Rainbow’s (Tracee Ellis Ross) popular, entitled, stylish and socially active daughter from black-ish, in college includes Trevor Jackson, Jordan Buhat, Emily Arlook, Francia Raisa, Diggy Simmons, Luka Sabbat, and Deon Cole. 

No word on when season 3 of Grownish will hit Freeform, but we’ll keep you posted.

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Viola Davis shows off her comedic skills in ‘Troop Zero’ trailer

Viola Davis has proven time and again that when it comes to delivering the drama, she’s a force to be reckoned with and now she’s ready to show off her funny bone.

In the just-released trailer for Troop Zero, we see her comedy skills on full display and it’s not to be missed.

The flick that first showed at last year’s Sundance Film Festival also stars Mckenna Grace, Jim Gaffigan, Mike Epps, Edi Patterson, and Charlie Shotwell.

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Peep the official description:

In a tiny Georgia town in 1977, a motherless girl dreams of life beyond the confines of her trailer-park home in Troop Zero. When her quest for connection leads her to reach for the stars in a competition to be included on NASA’s landmark Golden Record, it becomes clear she will have to depend on some new friends to take her the last mile. Every night, Christmas Flint (Mckenna Grace) sits under a starry sky with a flashlight, signaling to extraterrestrial visitors that never arrive. Sensitive, imaginative and deeply lonely, Christmas and her equally eccentric best friend Joseph are the ultimate misfits in their rural hometown of Wiggly, Georgia. When Christmas learns that the winners of the annual Birdie Scout Jamboree talent contest will be included on a recording to be sent into space for posterity, her mission in life becomes to join the Scouts and win Jamboree.  When she is blackballed by the snobbish local Birdie Scout troop and their uptight leader Miss Massey (Allison Janney), Christmas rallies a group of elementary-school outliers to start their own chapter. With grudging help from her dad’s irascible office manager, Miss Rayleen (Viola Davis), Christmas and her crew have to bypass every roadblock Miss Massey can find in the fine print of the Birdie bylaws in order to reach the Jamboree and their chance at immortality. From Christmas’ solitary late-night vigils to a final show-stopping musical performance, Troop Zero is an endearing and magical tale set against a backdrop of beloved hits of the ’70s, as Christmas forges friendships that will change her life and help her find a real family.    

Check out the trailer:

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Chad Boys: Before Will Smith and Martin Lawrence, These Two Actors Were Considered for Bad Boys

There are two undeniably difficult things in life: getting up to go to work on Monday morning after a four-day weekend and imagining Bad Boys without Will Smith and Martin Lawrence.

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