Noir Nation, Lori Harvey is leveling up and stepping into the world of television!

According to exclusive reports from Deadline, the all around it-girl has officially joined the cast of ‘Reasonable Doubt’ season 3 as a recurring guest star. The hit legal drama, created by Raamla Mohamed and executive produced by Kerry Washington, has been praised for its signature storytelling and unapologetic representation of Black excellence on screen.

From Fashion Icon To On-Screen Star 💼

In “Reasonable Doubt,” Lori’s character Chelsea is described as “an unpredictable force with a troubled past that resurfaces to challenge Jax in unexpected ways.”

Season 3 will follow Jax defending a former child star entangled in a scandal, while her own career faces threats from a charming colleague. 

Gladys Knight is disputing claims by her son, Shanga Hankerson, that she is experiencing elder abuse by her husband, William McDowell.

Hankerson said in an interview with The Shade Room that he filed a complaint with the North Carolina Department of Health and Human Services because he is concerned about his mother’s cognitive health while she has been on tour. He pointed the finger at McDowell, alleging that he is forcing Knight to work while her health could be at risk.

“Not knowing where she is, not knowing where William is, is a big thing for her,” he told The Shade Room. “And that’s my biggest issue.”

Hankerson also said that he spoke to Knight’s road manager, Larry Ward. According to Hankerson, Ward broke down in tears and told him, “It’s been so hard.” And Hankerson believed that when he watched Knight’s performance afterwards, he saw her “zone out” on stage.

Knight, also referred to as “The Empress of Soul, responded to the claims by her son in a statement today shared with People Magazine that said she was “healthy and happy.”

“I’m sorry that my health and performances have been misrepresented. I want my fans and those concerned to rest assured I am doing very well for someone who has been on stage for three quarters of a century, hard to believe, right?” Knight said in the statement to PEOPLE. “I’m healthy and happy and visiting friends and family these last few months. I’m excited to get back on the road with my sisters and on stage with The Queens Tour. See you soon.”

The 81-year-old singer and her son have had “no substantial contact,” according to Knight’s publicist, Laura Herlovich. The publicist also said in a statement that Hankerson’s claims are “defamatory” and have left Knight’s lawyers with “no choice but to explore any and all legal remedies.”

Knight and her son had a legal battle in 2017 when she fought to cut ties with his restaurant franchise, “Gladys Knight’s Chicken and Waffles,” which first opened in Atlanta in 1997. Hankerson was ordered to stop using Knight’s name, likeness, and memorabilia as a result. He was also sentenced to two years in prison for failing to withhold payroll taxes for the restaurants.

Hankerson told The Shade Room that it was at his sentencing that he began to notice her cognitive issues, saying that she wasn’t able to speak in full sentences and that her “awareness was low.” He also said he believes that she did not sue him on her own volition, and that McDowell had a hand in the decision.

“She was led to believe that that’s what she needed to do to protect her name. William saw an opening to shoot me down make, me a non-threat to his overall strategy.”

McDowell and Knight have been married since 2001. He is the fourth husband of Knight. Hankerson’s father is record producer and label owner Barry Hankerson, to whom Knight was married from 1974 to 1979.

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Ashley Everett, Beyoncé’s former dance captain and most familiar face you will ever meet at her shows, finally addressed her non-appearance in the Cowboy Carter Tour while still making her return in one of the year’s biggest shows: the Christmas Day Beyoncé Bowl Halftime Show.

In a recent interview conducted by host Aubree Danielle, Everett described the way in which Beyoncé’s people contacted her personally in order to return for the one-time NFL halftime show. “So they hit me up and they were like, um the team. Like she’s doing a Christmas performance and she wants her girl there! She just said that she wants Ashley,” Everett explained. “And I was like oh it’s so sweet thanks guys you know? Obviously it’s not that I don’t work with her and will never work with her again. I’m just not touring or doing long-term things that take me away from what I’ve built for myself. So for this short one-off gig, I was totally down. Let’s do it.”

Her statements confirm clearly that while she is no longer living the tour life, the connection Everett has with Beyoncé is real.

A Homecoming Christmas: Beyoncé Bowl

The Dec. 25th Halftime Show, soon enough lovingly nicknamed the “Beyoncé Bowl” by all, was more than a concert at an arena. It was a Christmas homecoming for Everett. “I couldn’t have imagined a better way to close out this year! Spending Christmas with my second family, @beyonce, felt just like home,” she later posted on Instagram. Everett has been a steady presence in Beyoncé’s life for nearly twenty years, from Single Ladies to Super Bowls, and that she is here tonight at this holiday concert is a full-circle celebration.

Sharing the Stage with Blue Ivy

The most emotional part of the evening was seeing Everett stand shoulder-to-shoulder with Beyonce’s 13-year-old daughter, Blue Ivy Carter. It was a very intimate moment for Everett, who had seen Blue develop from her first days onward through her current ascending stage presence.

“Performing my third halftime show with Beyoncé, this time alongside Blue, was such a full-circle moment,” she shared. “I was there when she was first introduced to the world, and now, to witness her shine on this stage? Proud aunty moment activated!”

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PHOTO : Getty Images

Noir Nation, Offset is opening up about his past, admitting to mistakes made from poor decisions — leaving fans speculating that he’s referring to his estranged marriage with Cardi B!

In a recent Apple Music interview with Ebro Darden Offset got real in saying, “I f*cked up.”

He added, “I gotta acknowledge that and then get back on the journey.” Although Offset didn’t specify which situation he was reflecting on, fans believe he was acknowledging that his decisions directly impacted his marriage.

Owning His Actions 🛑

Offset continued to unpack his past behavior, explaining that he initially tried to act “tough” and indifferent.

“I’ve accepted the actions I’ve done to cause certain situations to happen — I had to. But at first I didn’t. I was trying to act tough and like I didn’t give a f*ck at first,” he said. His honesty highlighted a personal journey of growth, admitting that the way he handled things before was wrong.

At the center of Spike Lee’s newest film “Highest 2 Lowest” is a friendship between two Black men that crosses multiple dividing lines.

Denzel Washington (“David King”) is a rich music label CEO whose working-class, Muslim, formerly incarcerated chauffeur, Jeffrey Wright (“Paul Christopher”), is more than an employee. Both men are fathers to sons who are best friends that end up at the center of a life-or-death ransom plot.

While the film is a reinterpretation of the 1963 film “High and Low” by Akira Kurosawa, the modern-day version, set in New York City, positions it to reveal class tensions at the heart of debates across America, both within and outside of the Black community.

Can wealthy Black people truly understand the plight of Black Americans who aren’t in the 1 percent? Are they willing to sacrifice for the benefit of the community, or do they succeed and close the door behind them?

Do elite Black spaces gatekeep to keep Black people deemed “unworthy” from access, resources, and community?

The online discourse has reached such a fever pitch that even conversations around Martha’s Vineyard have sent users into a frenzy, with extreme comments on both ends of the spectrum about who can, shouldn’t, and doesn’t want to visit.

In an interview with TheGrio, “Highest 2 Lowest” co-star Jeffrey Wright says not only are these class conversations not new, they are also reflections of the nation’s larger struggles to figure out how Americans relate to one another.

“That is a larger conversation that’s certainly true within the Black community, but it’s a larger one that we’re having in our country right now. It’s one that we’ve been having for a while about income disparity, about these class issues that are conflated with cultural issues,” Wright tells TheGrio.

Wright says that Akira Kurosawa’s first version of “Highest 2 Lowest” sets the stage to talk about class.

“What I thought was wonderful about Kurosawa’s film, was that there was a portrait of a certain type of class dynamic that was specific to Japanese culture in the 60s. That very kind of caste based, very kind of submissive deferential relationship my character is based on, has with the executive character in that film. We tried to translate that in a way that was authentic to contemporary New York in this setting. And I was really very pleased that we were able to find this kind of nuanced relationship that was justified, again, by the relationship that they had growing up,” Wright explains.

For those of us who’ve had a family member or friend who “made it” or have “made it” ourselves, we may recognize both the bond and the distance that may emerge between two people in different class positions when circumstances get tricky.

“Highest 2 Lowest” viewers will see it play out in everything from interactions with police to the choices available to each man when he’s in a bind.

“It seemed to me authentic, that this was a relationship that was real, that was one that we could touch, that existed out in the city somewhere,” Wright tells TheGrio, regarding his and Denzel’s characters. “So, the questions about conversations [re: class in the Black community], I’m not sure, but what I know is that the way in which we try to work is to do things that do feel legitimate. And I think we were able to create that with these two men.”

But it’s not just the class differences between Washington and Wright’s characters that play out on screen, which are worth unpacking.

It’s Denzel Washington’s character’s struggles as a rich Black business owner who still must walk a tightrope and navigate financial limitations in the face of staggering corporate interests.

A 2021 report found that Black households head only 5.3% of the households in the top 5% income group in the U.S. Even as Black wealth has increased, so has the racial wealth gap.

Meaning that even those who have “made it” still find themselves up against a different set of odds in America. It can make their moral choices that much more important.

“All money ain’t good money, you know; what level are you willing to sink? You know, for profit, for…for influence. For power,” Washington told TheGrio.

Yet for all the divides, ‘Highest 2 Lowest’ positions the audience to ask how far we would go for people who are different than us — who we may not necessarily find ourselves in the same spaces with, but who we may still share a common interest with.

Denzel Washington and Jeffrey Wright will certainly leave moviegoers debating their choices all the way home. Perhaps it can open up space for more nuanced and balanced debates around how, in real life, we can overcome perceived divides to come out on top — higher than lower — at the end of the day.

Natasha S. Alford is the Senior Vice President of TheGrio. A recognized journalist, filmmaker, and TV analyst, Alford is also the author of the award-winning book, “American Negra.” (HarperCollins, 2024) Follow her on Twitter and Instagram at @natashasalford.

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The Streamer Games were supposed to be a spectacle of laughs, stunts, and viral moments. But no one expected the chaos that erupted when streamer Cinna planted not one, not two, but three kisses on fellow creator QTCinderella, all in front of her boyfriend, Ludwig Ahgren.

The Setup: A Bet, A Snake, and a Hundred Dollars

The drama kicked off with Cinna boldly asking, “Can I redeem my kiss right now?” before leaning in and locking lips with QT as Ludwig looked on in disbelief. The exchange quickly spiraled into a spectacle:

• Ludwig: “Nice. Wait, is that real?”






• Cinna: “Thank you. Lud, you owe me a hundred bucks!”






• Ludwig: “What?!”






• Cinna: “Lud, you owe me a hundred bucks.”






• Ludwig: “Did you just kiss her? Go after it. Did you just kiss Cinna?”






• Cinna: “Do we do it again? What do you mean what’s fucking wrong though?”






• Ludwig: “It was part of the trade. I make out with a snake? This is pathetic.”






• Cinna: “What?! I got three free ones! Yay!”

Apparently, this bizarre kissing-for-cash stunt was tied to a “trade” involving Emiru and Ludwig making out with a snake, yes, a literal snake, while Cinna claimed her “reward” was a kiss from QT.

The Kiss Heard Around Twitch

As clips of the moment spread online, social media had a lot to say. Some viewers thought the display was playful streamer antics, but many saw it as a humiliating moment for Ludwig and a boundary-crossing stunt that didn’t sit right.

One viewer wrote, “idc how pretty or popular they are this shit is deadass dirty as fuck.” Another added, “See now if he plays his cards right, he might can make some type of agreement… type shit.”

Others were far harsher: “This is blatant cheating and he needs to break up with her.” Another jab compared Cinna to SSSniperWolf, calling her, “a weirdo… might just be SSSniperWolf 2.0.”

Some fans even mocked Ludwig for not reacting with enough force, with one comment reading, “Idk who this is but he not perfecting his craft. Lock in next game. You left too much on the field.”

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