None other than RZA has entered the convo surrounding Rihanna and A$AP Rocky’s third child. 

The 56-year-old rapper, founding member, and leader of the Wu-Tang Clan recently shared his thoughts about what the couple—currently expecting their third child together—should name their new baby. 

Considering that they named their first child, a son, “RZA,” born in May 2022, after him, it’s not hard to imagine a world in which his opinion on the topic remotely matters. However, despite an emerging “R” name trend in their family (their second child is named Riot), the original RZA suggests a move away from that trend. 

When asked by People magazine on the red carpet of the “Nobody 2” premiere on Monday, August 11, he suggested yet another Wu-Tang Clan member.

“You know what? ODB, because you know the legend must live on,” he said, in reference to the late Wu-Tang Clan member Ol’ Dirty Bastard. 

Just how serious he is (or not) remains to be seen. He is very serious, though, about the honor of being the inspiration behind their first child’s name. 

Previously, the rapper has shared that it’s “a great honor” to know that a little RZA is running around. 

“[It’s] a great honor to know that there’s another generation that’s not even of my own household that feels the strength and the inspiration of that name,” he told CNN.

“RZA isn’t only a name, it’s a title,” he continued. “So it’s an honor, and I salute her and A$AP and their family. All the blessings in the world from me.”

Meanwhile, Rihanna, who announced her third pregnancy hours before she took to the Met Gala red carpet in May, has said that as they still decide on a name, it’s likely that the name will start with an R.

“It’s always going to be an R name. That’s the one thing me and Rocky don’t fight over,” the soon-to-be mom of three quipped earlier in the summer.

Looks like that rules out ODB!

6

The peaceful hiking trails of Mount Tabor Dog Park in Portland, Oregon, turned into the backdrop of a chaotic verbal explosion this week after footage emerged of a screaming woman confronting a dog walker for having purebred pets instead of rescues. The heated and erratic exchange, complete with political accusations, personal insults, and a surreal play-by-play shouted into the empty forest, has taken social media by storm.

From Dogs to Derangement: How the Encounter Began

The video begins with the unidentified woman approaching a man walking two dogs, a mother and her puppy, and immediately launching into an unprovoked tirade.

“You’re an unethical piece of s***,” she shouts, before suddenly declaring him a Trump supporter. “He kills dogs because he has to have his bred dogs,” she continues, as the visibly puzzled man responds with a confused, “Me?”

“Yes, you,” she snaps back. “You bought those dogs, didn’t you? You didn’t save their lives, you don’t care, you don’t care about anyone except yourself.”

When the man tries to explain the dogs are related, a mother and her pup, the situation takes a stranger turn.

The Screams Echo Through the Forest

Rather than continue the discussion, the woman abruptly begins shouting for help to no one in particular. “Help, help me, this guy won’t leave me alone… please help me, I did not say anything,” she cries into the surrounding forest, despite clear video evidence showing she initiated the confrontation.

The dog walker, growing increasingly bewildered, repeatedly asks her, “Who are you talking to?” before remarking that she “needs medication.”

That comment triggers another escalation. She accuses him of being “racist,” though it is unclear what prompted the accusation. At one point, the man counters that she made a discriminatory remark earlier in the exchange.

Following, Taunting, and Threats

As the man tries to put distance between them by moving further down the trail, the woman follows closely behind, ordering him to “go that way” down the path. When she rushes toward him, he warns, “If you touch me, I will knock you out.”

The woman then pulls out her phone and begins filming her own version of events while doubling down on her insults. “Look at this guy, look at his bred dogs, look at what an unethical piece of s*** this guy is,” she shouts. “He has to have bred dogs because he has a small penis.”

Her target responds dryly: “Thank you, I always see these Karen videos and I never thought I’d get a good one myself.”

From Pet Ethics to Immigration Threats

If the spectacle wasn’t already strange enough, the woman’s accusations take a political turn again, calling the man a Trump supporter and then, without explanation, threatening to call Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) on him.

The bizarre threats don’t appear to match the man’s situation in any way, and he remains calm, telling passing hikers about the woman’s behavior as she continues to scream about his dogs from deeper in the forest.

Watch the Full Video Below:

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 Danielle Spencer, who played the wisecracking and tattling little sister Dee Thomas on the 1970s sitcom “What’s Happening!!” has died at 60.

Spencer, who became a veterinarian later in life, died Monday at a hospital in Richmond, Virginia, after a years-long battle with cancer, family spokesperson Sandra Jones said.

As Dee, Spencer was the smarter, more serious younger sister who offered a steady stream of deadpan roasts of big brother Roger “Raj” Thomas and his friends Dwayne Nelson and Freddie “Rerun” Stubbs.

“Ooh, I’m gonna tell mama,” would become Dee’s catchphrase.

The show, set in the Los Angeles neighborhood of Watts and among the first on television to focus on the lives of Black teenagers, was based on the movie “Cooley High” and ran on ABC from 1976 to 1979. It had a long legacy thanks to its memorable characters, including the geeky Raj, the catchphrase-spouting Dwayne, the red-bereted dancing phenom Rerun, and Dee with her eyerolls and icy stare.

Early in the production of the show’s first season, Spencer, then 12, was in a major car accident on the Pacific Coast Highway in Malibu, California, that left her in a coma for three weeks and killed her stepfather, Tim Pelt. She would have spinal and neurological problems that would require multiple surgeries in the years afterward.

Born in Trenton, New Jersey, and raised in New York, Spencer began acting when she was about 9. “What’s Happening!!” would be her first credited role.

“Imagine being plucked from obscurity to star in a TV show,” she told Jet magazine in 2014. “I had never seen any young Black girl in that type of spotlight, so I didn’t have a reference point in the media as to how to deal with this opportunity. I was from the Bronx.”

Haywood Nelson, who played Dwayne on the show, paid tribute Tuesday to “Dr. Dee, our brilliant, loving, positive, pragmatic warrior.”

“We have lost a daughter, sister, family member, ‘What’s Happening’ cast member, veterinarian, animal rights proponent and healer, and cancer heroine. Our Shero,” Nelson said on Instagram. “Danielle is loved.”

Spencer also appeared on a mid-1980s reboot of the show, “What’s Happening Now!!,” which ran for three seasons.

In 2018, she had emergency surgery for a bleeding hematoma, which stemmed from that 1977 car crash. In the immediate aftermath, a family spokesperson said she could only speak slightly and had to use crutches to walk. She had been suffering symptoms from at least 2004, when she had to use a wheelchair and relearn how to walk. In 2014, she was diagnosed with breast cancer and had a double mastectomy.

She went on to become a veterinarian and advocate for animals. She attended the University of California, Davis, and UCLA, and got a doctorate in veterinary medicine from Tuskegee University in 1993.

Spencer continued to dabble in acting in her later years, including an appearance as a veterinarian in the 1997 Jack Nicholson film “As Good as it Gets.”

She is survived by her brother, musician Jeremy Pelt, and her mother, Cheryl Pelt.

21

Pop icon Madonna took to Instagram with a deeply emotional prayer for the people of Gaza, urging immediate humanitarian action as violence continues to claim civilian lives. Her post comes in the wake of the killing of Al Jazeera reporter Anas al-Sharif and four others in an Israeli strike outside a Gaza hospital, a tragedy confirmed by Al Jazeera and reported by Fox News correspondent Trey Yingst.

The Written Prayer

In her post, Madonna shared a handwritten-style note on Instagram expressing deep anguish over the suffering of Gaza’s children and calling for urgent relief.

“Most Holy Father,
Please go to Gaza and bring your light to the children before it’s too late. As a mother, I cannot bear to watch their suffering. The children of the world belong to everyone. You are the only one of us who cannot be denied entry. We need the humanitarian gates to be fully opened to save these innocent children. There is no more time. Please say you will go. Love, Madonna.”

Her words framed the crisis as a shared human responsibility, stressing that “the children of the world belong to everyone” and that immediate action is the only hope left.

A Birthday Message Turned Call to Action

Madonna revealed in her caption that the day marked her son Rocco’s birthday. Instead of posting a traditional celebration, she used the occasion to rally support for Gaza’s children, calling it “the best gift” she could give as a mother.

“Politics cannot affect change. Only consciousness can,” she wrote, emphasizing that her focus was on saving lives, not assigning blame.

The singer stressed that “everyone is suffering,” including “the mothers of the hostages,” and offered prayers for their release. Her message urged followers to join her in preventing children from dying of starvation by donating to humanitarian organizations such as World Central Kitchen (@wckitchen), Women Wage Peace (@womenwagepeace), and Women of the Sun (@women.of.the.sun_). She ended her post with a plea to share and repost the message.

Context: Journalists Among the Dead

Her appeal followed news that Al Jazeera Arabic correspondent Anas al-Sharif was among five Palestinians killed in an Israeli strike on a tent outside a hospital in Gaza City. The network confirmed the deaths and condemned the targeting of journalists in conflict zones.

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A program aimed at helping Black residents trace their ancestry, and in some cases, reconnect with living relatives in Africa, is expanding across the state of Illinois.

The Illinois Family Roots Pilot Program, launched in June, is a $500,000 state-funded initiative that sponsors free DNA tests and genomic analysis by The African Kinship Reunion research (TAKiR) project led by principal investigator and researcher LaKisha David at the University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign, The Chicago Tribune reported. 

The project uses advanced genomic technology to help repair the historical disconnection caused by the transatlantic slave trade. Participants can submit their DNA through free at-home kits or share existing results from other ancestry services. Scientists then analyze up to 1.8 million genetic markers and compare them with samples from West Africa, particularly Ghana, to identify potential familial ties.

The program, open to all residents of Illinois, was prompted by a growing demand for accessible, culturally focused ancestry research and the recognition that commercial DNA testing services often come with costs that put them out of reach for many. State Representative Carol Ammons of Urbana, who secured funding for the initiative, said the goal was to create a free, community-centered tool to help Black Illinoisans reclaim their family histories and rebuild connections disrupted by centuries of slavery and systemic racism. 

After she and her husband paid hundreds of dollars to do their own DNA testing to trace their roots, she realized firsthand how inaccessible gaining this meaningful information can be.

“We felt and believe that it is inappropriate for the descendants of those who were enslaved in the Americas or anywhere else in the world to have to pay a commercial vendor to find out where they come from,” she told Illinois Public Media. 

The city of Evanston, where many have already had the chance to begin the process, has partnered with the program through its Reparations Committee.

“My hope is that Evanston residents that take this test and receive their results feel more grounded and rooted in who they are,” Robin Rue Simmons, chairwoman of the Evanston Reparations Committee, told the Chicago Tribune. “I hope they gain more clarity in their demands and in their case for racial justice and healing, and that they are able to celebrate a culture that has been stripped away. It’s very important we know our history.”

So far, 250 kits have already been distributed, primarily in Evanston during Juneteenth celebrations and at a meeting of the city’s Reparations Committee. Last week, the program began its next rollout, part of its goal to distribute a total of 1,600 kits statewide. 

Though the solution for true reparations is not easily found, Simmons called the program “an assist” in repairing the Black community. 

“My vision for this program is that it strengthens the Black community and it increases our leadership, our vision, our pride, and our ability to reach our full potential and be fully repaired,” she added. “This program gives us an assist in repairing ourselves—at least by giving us access to understanding our lineage. From there, we can explore, self-educate, embrace and uplift our culture.”