Video: Jay-z playing connect four

We found this video over at nahright 

Golfweek’s editor fired over noose cover

Golfweek magazine replaced the editor responsible for illustrating the current cover with a noose and apologized Friday for its depiction of a Golf Channel anchor’s use of “lynch” in a comment about Tiger Woods.

“We apologize for creating this graphic cover that received extreme negative reaction from consumers, subscribers and advertisers across the country,” Turnstile Publishing Co. president William P. Kupper Jr. said. “We were trying to convey the controversial issues with a strong and provocative graphic image. It is now obvious that the overall reaction to our cover deeply offended many people. For that, we are deeply apologetic.

Turnstile is the parent company of Golfweek.

The company said Dave Seanor, the vice president and editor of Golfweek, has been replaced immediately by Jeff Babineau.

A copy of the Jan. 19 cover was removed from the magazine’s Web site Friday morning.

Mediaoutrage– Wow that was swift action to fire him.

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Beyonce will perform at the grammys

Beyonce will perform at the Grammy’s on Feb 10, despite the threat of picket lines by striking Hollywood writers.

Via People:

The work of The Recording Academy is vital to the music industry, and we have every intention of being with the entire music community to celebrate,” said Mathew Knowles, manager/father of Beyoncé, who’s nominated for record of the year. “Beyoncé has been asked to participate and will do so. We have an incredible performance that will be announced soon. We wish the Grammys the best.”

Oprah’s best friend Gayle buys posh manhattan penthouse for $7.4million

Gayle King who is Oprah’s BFF has purchased a $7.4million posh full floor penthouse apartment at Place 57 on East 57th Street. Gayle had been a long time Connecticut resident, so some are speculating whether her real estate purchase in NY has anything to do with her possibly running Oprah’s newest business endeavor.

Via Nypost:

“King’s full-floor sky palace has three bedrooms, 3½ baths, a large living room/dining area and a 768-square-foot wraparound terrace.

The spacious condo features soaring ceilings, two fireplaces, 360-degree views, a gourmet kitchen with Viking appliances and marble baths.

Amenities in the 36-floor glass building include a high-tech gym, children’s playroom, residents’ lounge and the likelihood of bumping into Winfrey when she’s in town.

“Oprah was very friendly and even took the time to introduce herself to the building’s employees,” said one insider after the media mogul recently appeared in the lobby.

King, the mother of two college kids, is a former TV news anchor and currently editor at large for O, the Oprah magazine. She is also expected to get involved with Winfrey’s new OWN television network.

Last year Winfrey and King went public to deny rumors that they were gay.

We hear that King is also in the process of buying a large apartment on West End Avenue for her children.”

Mediaoutrage– That’s dope that Oprah looks out for her best friend like that. Who wouldn’t look out for their homie if they were in the position that Oprah is in??? Like we can remember when Shaq said that he paid all of his homies to do different jobs for him like one to go to the mailbox and collect the mail. You’re supposed to help out your family and close friends when you are elevated to a status especially when you’re Oprah Winfrey one of the most powerful and wealthy women in the world. We don’t understand why folk would assume that they are lovers that doesn’t make sense to us. This woman is worth over $1.5 billion and made over $260 million last year, why wouldn’t she involve Gayle King (who stopped her from committing suicide before she ever became famous) in her lucrative business ventures.

Golfweek’s noose cover causes controversy

The editor of Golfweek magazine said he was overwhelmed by negative reaction to the photo of a noose on the cover of this week’s issue, illustrating a story about the suspension of a Golf Channel anchor for using the word “lynch” in an on-air discussion about how to beat Tiger Woods.

“We knew that image would grab attention, but I didn’t anticipate the enormity of it,” Dave Seanor, vice president and editor of the weekly magazine, said from the PGA Merchandise Show in Orlando, Fla.

“There’s been a huge, negative reaction,” he said. “I’ve gotten so many e-mails. It’s a little overwhelming.”

Among the critics was PGA Tour commissioner Tim Finchem, who said he found the imagery to be “outrageous and irresponsible.”

“It smacks of tabloid journalism,” Finchem said in a statement. “It was a naked attempt to inflame and keep alive an incident that was heading to an appropriate conclusion.”

Kelly Tilghman was suspended for two weeks because of comments she made during the second round of the Mercedes-Benz Championship, when she and analyst Nick Faldo were discussing young challengers to Woods.

Faldo suggested that “to take Tiger on, maybe they should just gang up (on him) for a while.”

“Lynch him in a back alley,” Tilghman replied.

Tilghman said she apologized directly to the world’s No. 1 player, and Woods’ agent issued a statement that said it was a non-issue.

Seanor said editors at the magazine debated several choices for a cover, and he took responsibility for the noose. The title of the cover is “Caught in a Noose,” with a sub-title, “Tilghman slips up, and Golf Channel can’t wriggle free.”

Golf Channel didn’t deal with Tilghman’s comments until Newsday in New York first wrote about the “lynch” reference three days after the broadcast. The suspension was announced shortly after the Rev. Al Sharpton demanded on CNN that Tilghman be fired.

“We’re a weekly news magazine. The big story of the previous week was Kelly Tilghman, and that’s what we chose,” Seanor said. “How to illustrate that? It was tough. Do you put Kelly Tilghman out there? But was it so much about her or the uproar?

“This is emblematic of why people were so offended.”

The Golfweek staff previously had scheduled a meeting with PGA Tour officials Thursday morning, and Seanor said the noose quickly became “item 1-A” on their agenda.

He said dozens of customers at the merchandise show stopped by the Golfweek stand and put an issue in their bag, with some stopping to discuss and complain.

“Most people who are objecting to it — within the golf industry — are saying this episode was just above over,” Seanor said. “I think it’s indicative of how, when you bring race and golf into the same sentence, everyone recoils.”

Seanor said he was struck by the paucity of black customers among the thousands of people at golf’s largest merchandise exposition.

“Look at the executive suites at the PGA Tour, or the USGA, or the PGA of America. There are very, very few people of color there,” he said. “This is a situation in golf where there needs to be more dialogue. And when you get more dialogue, people don’t want to hear it, and they brush it under the rug. This is a source of a lot of pushback.”

Seanor said he expected canceled subscriptions over the issue. He was not sure how it would affect advertising. Golfweek is published by Orlando-based Turnstile Publishing Co.

Asked if he regretted the cover, Seanor paused before answering.

“I wish we could have come up with something that made the same statement but didn’t create as much negative reaction,” he said. “But as this has unfolded, I’m glad there’s dialogue. Let’s talk about this, and the lack of diversity in golf.”

He denied the cover was an attempt to sell more magazines, noting that Golfweek is 99 percent subscriptions.

“I was a little shocked by the commissioner’s reaction,” he said. “It was rather strong, particularly from someone who rarely comments on things on his own tour.”

The day after Tilghman was suspended, Finchem said it was clear the Golf Channel was “was taking this unfortunate incident very seriously.”

“Over the years, many PGA Tour players and staff have had the chance to get to know Kelly,” he said. “Knowing her, her comment seems to us to be very uncharacteristic and we believe it was completely inadvertent. We have no reason to believe that she was intentionally malicious in her remark.”

Golfweek is one of two weekly magazines devoted entirely to golf.

Golf World, coincidentally put on its cover this week a photo of Bill Spiller, one of the black pioneers in the sport, to commemorate the 60th anniversary of his push to integrate the PGA Tour.

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Bob Johnson apologizes to Obama for dirty comments

Bob Johnson was definitely out of pocket this weekend when he made some slick comments hinting at Barack Obama’s admitted teenage drug use. The real problem was that he tried to deny the true intent of his comments and say that he was referring to Obama’s days as a community organizer (B.S.). Well anyway after putting his whole foot in his mouth he finally issued an apology.

Via AJC: 

Johnson backed away from that explanation Thursday, two days after Hillary Clinton said she considered his comments “out of bounds” in a nationally televised debate.

“In my zeal to support Senator Clinton, I made some very inappropriate remarks for which I am truly sorry,” Johnson said in a written statement. “I hope that you will accept this apology. Good luck on the campaign trail.”

Johnson’s comments and remarks made both Clintons before the New Hampshire primary had alarmed several black leaders and drew a rebuke from Obama and his top aides.

It began when Hillary Clinton gave an interview in which she seemed to discount King’s role in the civil rights movement. Later, President Clinton cast aspects of Obama’s candidacy as a “fairy tale.”

Obama and Clinton later called a truce in the controversy.

Johnson’s apology and Clinton’s visit to Compton was her latest effort to reconnect with the black community after she and Obama engaged in a bitter war of words over the issue of race.

In Compton, Clinton praised the Rev. Martin Luther King and promised to assist with a rebirth of this troubled, largely black city.

“‘Those who say it can’t be done are usually interrupted by those who are doing it,'” she said during an appearance at a church, quoting noted black novelist James Baldwin.

Clinton pledged to assist Mayor Eric Perrodin with his goal of “birthing” a new Compton, which has struggled with crime and poverty.

“I know something about birthing,” Clinton said. “You need a president who will be a partner. Who says, ‘What is it I can do to make sure this birth is easy and successful?'”

Among other things, the New York senator said she would open opportunities for young black men in the so-called “green collar” jobs program she has said she’ll create to help develop alternative sources of energy. She also pledged to commit $200 million over five years to help ex-offenders transition from prison.

“A lot of our young people, disproportionately young people of color, are in our prison system and they don’t belong there. They are nonviolent offenders,” Clinton said to applause. “I believe strongly that when someone has served his or her time — her debt or his debt to society — then they ought to have the slate wiped clean.”

It was the first of several campaign stops for Clinton in California, which holds its primary on “Mega Tuesday,” Feb. 5. She was set to hold voter roundtables on the economy later in the day in Northridge and Santa Barbara.

The New York senator planned to return Friday for a final day of campaigning in Nevada, which holds presidential precinct caucuses Saturday.

Mediaoutrage– Bob Johnson your unnecessary malicious attack on Barack makes you look like a political puppet for the Clinton campaign.