Kelahani will not be performing in the Ivy League. Cornell University has canceled a scheduled concert because of their stance on the war in Gaza, The New York Times. After being slated to headline Cornell University’s annual Slope Day concert event on May 7, the school’s executive leadership rescinded the invitation. Michael I. Kotlikoff wrote that the decision to have Kehlani perform “injected division and discord.” “In the days since Kehlani was announced, I have heard grave concerns from our community that many are angry, hurt, and confused that Slope Day would feature a performer who has espoused antisemitic, anti-Israel sentiments in performances, videos, and on social media,” Kotlikoff said in a statement. Kotlikoff aslo noted that he came to his decision following a meeting with members of the student board that planned the concert.  According to Kotlikoff, the board members agreed that their choice had “compromised what is meant to be an inclusive event. Anticipating backlash,  Kotlikoff is well aware that cancelling the show will be”celebrated by some and criticized by others,” but he believes its “the right thing to do.” Cornellians for Israel, a student group, deamsnded that the school to replace Kehlani as the headliner. On Instagram last week, the group wrote that selecting Kehlani as the headliner “effectively communicates that Israeli, Jewish, and Zionist students are not a welcome part of that community.” Muna Mohamed, a senior at Cornell and co-chair of Black Students United at Cornell, expressed her disappointment in the school’s decision. “I was ecstatic,” Mohamed, who’s also a queer person of color said. “To see it kind of torn from us so quickly, it was kind of like, oh, our happiness never really mattered in the long run.” In the past, Kehlani has not been shy their views on the conflicts in Gaza. For her single “Next 2 U” Kehlani featured background dancers performing with Palestinian flags while wearing suits that incorporate keffiyehs. Taking to Instagram in May 2024, Kehlani explained why they were in solidarity with the Palestinians.  View this post on Instagram A post shared by Kehlani (@kehlani) “As an artist, I was nervous. terrified. worried after losing so much of what id valued for an album i worked incredibly hard on to my humanity, paired with the crippling wonder of what music is appropriate to drop during the most historical tragedies of our generation,” they wrote. “I  remembered my favorite revolutionary poets, singers, filmmakers. I remembered how much impact we have,” Kehlani continued. “I thought about my favorite James Baldwin quotes about the role of an artist in society. I listened to this song enough to recognize a love song IS a protector’s song IS revolution.” .

Slim Thug isn’t backing down, even after Megan Thee Stallion made it crystal clear that her Coachella tribute wasn’t a flirtation, but a rejection. The Houston rap vet is keeping things light and optimistic, poking fun at the situation in a recent Instagram video captured by Billboard. “I can’t do Megan Thee Stallion. Gotta do Megan Thee Auntie, 10 years later,” he joked, brushing off the rejection with a smile. Though Megan laughed off his claims of a crush, Slim still saw her nod as a win. “She gave me a shout-out, said my name on Coachella stage,” he said. “And then she called me ‘babe.’ Come on now, that’s a lot. That was a good shout-out. Played my songs, everything. Streams up on ‘Thug From Around the Way.’ We good… Imma be patient, man. Gotta come home. Slim ain’t going nowhere.” The buzz began after Megan hyped the crowd with his records “Thug From Around The Way” and “Still Tippin’” during her first Coachella set. Slim Thug took it as a green light and told fans online, “If that ain’t a ‘I want you, daddy’ call, I don’t know what is. I know she got a crush on me by this point. She danced to two of my songs!” But Megan put that theory to rest during weekend two. “And no Slim Thug, this don’t mean I want you,” she said with a laugh. “I just like your music.” Megan’s set was one of the festival’s biggest moments, featuring appearances from Queen Latifah, Victoria Monét, and Ciara. With hit after hit, she commanded the stage, but made it clear: the only thing romantic going on was her love for Houston music. Slim Thug, meanwhile, is staying hopeful, and staying in the mix.

Cam’ron is calling out Kanye West over his recent confession, claiming the shocking reveal is nothing more than a stunt to boost album sales. On Monday, April 21st, Ye posted on X about molesting his male cousin during childhood and dropped a song titled “COUSIN,” where he describes discovering gay magazines in his mom’s closet and reenacting what he saw with his younger relative. Cam’ron, who previously worked with Kanye on “Down & Out,” didn’t hold back on the latest episode of his sports show It Is What It Is. “N***as be conveniently gay. It’s like, ‘Yo let’s be gay now for a little while ‘cause it’s poppin.’ So now let’s talk about when I was gay one time,” he said. “Kanye been in the public eye for at least going on 20 years if not longer, and now you gay or had gay acts? Shit ain’t working.” Cam didn’t stop there, questioning Ye’s motives and timeline, calling the whole thing a stunt. “Everything he got going on ain’t seem to be working. He was Hitler last month, then he was KKK about three weeks ago and now he molested his cousin and he gonna do a song about it. It’s just too convenient.” This isn’t the first time Cam’ron’s taken aim at Ye. Back in 2023, during an interview on All The Smoke with Matt Barnes and Stephen Jackson, Cam accused Kanye of using mental health as a shield. “Kanye, he play crazy with who he wanna play crazy with… that n***a’s crazy when it’s convenient,” he said. Recalling their last interaction, Cam noted Ye was completely normal and even suggested working on music together. “Every time I seen Kanye he’s perfectly fine, I’ve never seen the crazy Kanye, personally. Ever.”

Alijah Arenas, the son of former NBA star Gilbert Arenas and a top prospect at USC, has been placed in a medically induced coma after being involved in a serious car crash on Thursday, April 24, ESPN reported Shams Charania, ESPN’s Senior NBA Insider, tweeted, “Five-star prospect and USC commit Alijah Arenas was involved in a serious car crash early Thursday morning, hospitalized and placed into an induced coma, sources tell ESPN. Arenas, 18, is the son of former NBA star Gilbert Arenas.” TMZ reported Alijah was driving his Tesla Cybertruck in Los Angeles when the collision took place at approximately 4:55 a.m.  View this post on Instagram A post shared by ESPN (@espn) One of the most sought-after players in the country, Alijah committed to USC in January after being ranked the No. 4 player and No. 1 shooting guard in the class of 2026. He requested to be reclassified to become a senior and graduate in 2025. Among his many accolades, he was selected to play in the McDonald’s All-American Game. He scored 11 points, representing Chatsworth High School in Los Angeles. At the McDonald’s All-American Game, Alijah and his father were interviewed by Trey Phills about how they are navigating his basketball journey. “Our personalities are a little the same,” Alijah said of him and his father. “I feel like that’s my dad’s dream too, that I could get to that level.” We’ll have more updates as the story develops.

Meek Mill is speaking out after catching heat over a photo from his recent trip to Dubai. The Philly rapper was seen posing with two women in what appeared to be an innocent fan pic, but social media quickly turned it into a firestorm. Critics began drawing connections to an unrelated controversy involving Shannon Sharpe, who is currently facing a $50 million lawsuit filed by a former girlfriend accusing him of rape and assault, claims Sharpe denies. View this post on Instagram A post shared by The Shade Room (@theshaderoom) Even though Meek Mill has no involvement in Shannon Sharpe’s legal situation, some social media users criticized him for taking a photo with women who appeared to be white or white-passing. Comments online suggested the timing of the Dubai photo was questionable. Many pointed to the current controversy surrounding Shannon Sharpe as the reason for concern. Some users brought up Sharpe’s accuser’s lawyer and implied that people might twist the image to unfairly target Meek. Meek didn’t stay silent. He jumped on Instagram to defend himself, questioning how the image ended up gaining so much traction. “Why they keep posting me on blogs with 2 fans…who makes the decisions of what Meek post to put on blogs? lol,” he wrote on his Instagram Story. He then commented directly under The Shade Room’s post: “It’s a regular pic with fans internet melting the minds of the black community wthelly.” The photo backlash comes at a time when Shannon Sharpe is under heavy public scrutiny. Tony Buzbee, the lawyer for Sharpe’s accuser, recently shared an audio recording. In it, the former NFL star allegedly threatens to choke the woman. Buzbee claims the clip “provides a fair picture of the relationship shortly before the alleged assault.” Though Meek’s situation is unrelated, the internet once again shows how quickly context can get distorted. Celebrities often find themselves caught in the crossfire of controversy that isn’t even their own.

Michelle Obama recently shared why she wasn’t in attendance for President Donald Trump’s second inauguration. During the latest episode of her IMO With Michelle Obama and Craig Robinson podcast, which she co-hosts with her brother, the Former First Lady detailed why she chose not to be a part of the festivities in conversation with Taraji P. Henson. “My decision to skip the inauguration — or my decision to make choices at the beginning of this year that suited me — were met with such ridicule and criticism,” Obama explained. “People couldn’t believe that I was saying no for any other reason. They had to assume that my marriage was falling apart.” “I’m here really trying to own my life and intentionally practice making the choice that was right for me, and it took everything in my power to not do the thing that ‘was right,’ or was perceived as right, but do the things that was right for me,” she added. Although she’s known as a fashionista, Obama said she couldn’t decide on the right outfit. View this post on Instagram A post shared by Michelle Obama (@michelleobama) “It started with not having anything to wear,” she said. “I was like, ‘If I’m not going to do this thing, I got to tell my team, I don’t even want to have a dress ready,’ right? Because it’s so easy to just say ‘let me do the right thing.’” Obama also revealed that going to therapy allowed her to make decisions to put herself first. We made it through. We got out alive. I hope we made the country proud. My girls, thank God, are whole,” Obama said.”But what happened to me? And going through therapy is getting me to look at the fact that maybe, finally, I’m good enough.

Ari Lennox is officially moving forward with her music career, and this time she’s doing it without J. Cole or Dreamville Records. TMZ Hip Hop has confirmed that Ari is no longer part of the Dreamville roster. She’ll now release music solely under Interscope Records, which is listed as the only label on her newest single. Despite the major change, sources say the split was friendly and drama-free. Earlier this year, Ari performed at the final Dreamville Festival hosted by J. Cole, where she thanked him and the team for giving her a chance back in 2015. That show now appears to have been her last performance as a Dreamville artist. It came after months of tension last fall, when Ari took to social media demanding her release. While the posts made headlines, it seems the situation was handled privately and without long-term fallout. Now, Ari is embracing a new direction with the release of her latest single, “Soft Girl Era.” The track features a soft, playful vibe and samples The New Birth’s 1972 song “You Are What I’m All About.” The same sample was once used in the iconic “Player’s Anthem” by The Notorious B.I.G. and Lil’ Kim, giving the track a nostalgic twist. Some fans have been vocal about missing the soulful style of her earlier work, especially the sound she introduced on Shea Butter Baby. However, Ari appears focused on exploring new creative territory. The sound may be different, but it reflects an artist who is growing, healing, and shifting into a new space. With Dreamville behind her and a fresh start ahead, Ari Lennox seems ready to define her own path in the music industry with Interscope.

Diddy is nearly unrecognizable after spending months in jail awaiting his sex trafficking trial. A recent court sketch from a hearing in New York showed the music mogul with completely grey hair, a scruffy grey beard, and a thinner appearance. Though cameras weren’t allowed during the proceeding, sketch artist Jane Rosenberg captured Diddy sitting beside his attorney, Marc Agnifilo, in noticeably different form than fans are used to. The court appearance came as Diddy tried, unsuccessfully, to delay his upcoming trial due to new charges being added to his case. The judge denied the motion, pushing the case forward despite the mounting developments. Neither Diddy nor his legal team has spoken publicly about his physical or mental state while being held at the Metropolitan Detention Center in Brooklyn. However, Diddy recently scored a small legal victory. A judge has granted him and his team access to some early drafts of a memoir written by his former girlfriend, Cassie. The book, which hasn’t been released, became a point of contention after Diddy subpoenaed Cassie, requesting all drafts, journals, emails, and communications related to the memoir. His team argues that the drafts may include inconsistencies that could help discredit parts of her story. While Cassie and her attorneys argued the documents were not relevant, Judge Arun Subramanian allowed Diddy access to the versions already held by prosecutors. However, the judge denied his request for more personal records, including Cassie’s diaries, emails, and bank statements. According to Diddy’s legal team, Cassie once told the mogul that she wrote a book about their relationship and allegedly offered to sell it to him for $30 million to stop its release. This claim has added yet another twist to the already high-profile case.

Dwyane Wade recently revealed that he contracted cancer and how stunning his diagnosis was. When it came time for him to have surgery, there was only one person he would have in the room wiith him. During an appearance on Hoda Kotb’s Making Space podcast,  Wade shared that he wanted his father, Dwyane Wade Sr., to be the last person he saw before the procedure. “I chose my dad. He’s the guy for me. He’s always been,” Wade explained. “It’s crazy because I’m a mama’s boy, all those things, but my dad has been there.” Although his wife Gabrielle Union was present at the hospital, Wade shared why he wanted his father to be with him. “I just thought about actually who I wanted to see in my most vulnerable state. And it was my dad. I wanted my wife to see me when I woke up, I wanted her to be the first person I saw, but in my most vulnerable state, when I was probably as scared as I’ve ever been, I wanted my dad to be there,” Wade said. I was like, ‘I need my dad.’ “ View this post on Instagram A post shared by TODAY (@todayshow) The Basketball Hall of Famer also noted that it was his father who led him to take his health more seriously. “My dad shared with me when he was going through prostate cancer, and I think we got closer through that process because I [was] obviously concerned about him, but we started communicating more because this was something that was a part of our genetic genes as men in our family,” Wade shared. “And so we started being able to share personal things,” he continued. “Like, I would call my dad after I left the hospital, like, ‘Yo, I just got a prostate exam, Pops, and the doctor did this,’ and he’ll laugh and say, ‘Oh yeah, that’s nothing. She just wanted to do this.’ We just got close when his prostate cancer [was being treated].”

Stephen A. Smith was uncomfortable with Shannon Sharpe leaking texts from the woman who accused him of sexual assault and rape. On the most recent episode of The Stephen A. Smith Show, he shared his thoughts about the tenuous situation facing his fellow “First Take” co-host.  “They revealed some of those explicit text messages. That was uncomfortable,” Smith said. “I don’t know if that’s a strategy that would work.”  “One of the hardest things in the world for all of us to do is to just lay low and be quiet and let our legal team do it,” Smith added. Elsewhere in the episode, Smith noted that Sharpe vehemently denied all the charges levied against him. “I can tell you all that I spoke to Shanon and he emphatically proclaims his innocence,” explained Smith.  On Monday (April 22), Sharpe was hit with a $50 million lawsuit and accused of sexual assault. According to the suit, Sharpe was accused of committing assault, sexual assault, battery, and sexual battery, and engaged in the intentional infliction of emotional distress in what is described as a “rocky consensual relationship” that went on with a woman for almost two years.  Addressing allegations for the first time, Sharpe also released a video statement on Tuesday (April 22) about the lawsuit. pic.twitter.com/Tm1vbA3xPn — shannon sharpe (@ShannonSharpe) April 22, 2025 “I’m gonna be open, transparent, and defend myself because this isn’t right,” Sharpe said. “This is all being orchestrated by Tony Buzbee, who has targeted Jay-Z. Tony Buzbee targets Black men, and I believe he is going to release a 30-second clip of a sex tape that tries to make me look guilty and plays into every stereotype you could possibly imagine.” “You know what happened, but you’re trying to manipulate the media,” Sharpe added. “The encounter in question took place during the day at her invitation, and now that appears to be a deliberate setup coordinated by Gabby, also known as Carly on OnlyFans. Gabby and Tony Buzbee want $50 million. What they’re getting is sued for defamation and trying to take me down.”