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Byron Allen’s $30B Racial Discrimination Lawsuits Against Comcast & Charter Proceed

In a historic ruling, Bryson Allen’s Television Production Company continues racial discrimination lawsuit against Comcast & Charter Communications.

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11 months ago

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Entertainment Studios (ES) and the National Association of African-American Owned Media (NAAAOM) filed federal lawsuits against Comcast and Charter Communications, two of the biggest cable television carriers in the country—$20 billion against Comcast and $10 billion against Charter—for violating the Civil Rights Act of 1866, 42 U.S.C. § 1981, prohibiting racial discrimination in contracting.

“The lack of true economic inclusion for African Americans will end with me, and these rulings show that I am unwavering in my commitment to achieving this long overdue goal.” – Byron Allen

Entertainment Studios owns eight 24-hour HD television networks serving nearly 160 million subscribers: THE WEATHER CHANNEL, PETS.TV, COMEDY.TV, RECIPE.TV, CARS.TV, ES.TV, MYDESTINATION.TV, and JUSTICE CENTRAL.TV. The company also produces, distributes, and sells advertising for 41 television programs, making it one of the largest independent producers/distributors of first-run syndicated television programming for broadcast television stations.

For years, Entertainment Studios has been requesting that Comcast and Charter carry its networks, which are distributed by Comcast and Charter’s competitors, including Verizon, DirecTV, AT&T, DISH, and many other carriers.

Comcast and Charter rebuffed Allen’s requests for network carriage so he filed lawsuits in federal district court in Los Angeles entitled National Association of African American-Owned Media, et al. v. Comcast Corporation, Case No. 2:15-cv-01239-TJH-MAN (C.D. Cal.) and National Association of African American-Owned Media, et al. v. Charter Communications, Case No. 2:16-cv-00609-GW-FFM (C.D. Cal.).

This week, two historically significant decisions were made by the United States Court of Appeals for the Ninth Circuit. They rejected Comcast and Charter’s attempts to dismiss the cases before trial.

The Court upheld Entertainment Studios’ Section 1981 claims against both Comcast and Charter; and instead ruled that both cases could proceed in the trial courts to discovery and trial.

“These decisions are hugely important in terms of opening the courts to African American-owned media.  The Court paved the way to our eventual success at trial by ensuring that the proper ‘mixed motive’ standard for our claims – a lower standard of proof than the ‘but for’ standard argued by Comcast and Charter – applies,” said Entertainment Studios’ attorney, Skip Miller, partner in Miller Barondess.

“Additionally, the Court dismissed Charter’s and Comcast’s attempts to use the First Amendment as a shield for their alleged discrimination. I very much look forward to trying these cases.  And I give Mr. Allen tremendous credit for having the will and the constitution to invest the capital and resources to pursue them relentlessly.”

Earlier this year, Byron Allen’s television production company, Entertainment Studios, acquired The Weather Channel from its previous owners: Comcast Corp.’s NBCUniversal and private equity firms Blackstone Group and Bain Capital.

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Why 2-Chainz Turned Down Jay-Z During “Watch The Throne” Era.

2-Chainz cites “Loyalty” as reason for declining an offer from Roc Nation.

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7 months ago

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March 7, 2019

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In 2 Chainz new YouTube series #CrateTalk, he revealed that he was at one point close to signing a deal with Jay-Z. In the inaugural episode, Host 2 Chainz explained to special guest Steve Stoute how it all happened. The conversation starts at the 5:45 mark.

“Hov told me that he wanted to do business with you and you turned him down,” Stoute says

“I was already speaking with Kanye on and off,” 2 Chainz said, “While they was in Paris working on Watch the Throne, Ye would hit me the whole time talking about my mixtapes and just was speaking to me where we just built a great relationship on the phone because we share some of the same similarities, right?”

It was at this point that Jay-Z asked 2-Chainz to get on a flight to New York. 2 Chainz wanted to bring along his friend and business partner, DJ Teknikz, but the request was denied. Because of this 2-Chainz felt it was only right to decline the business meeting out of respect and loyalty to his friend DJ Tek.

No love was lost however, as the pair have been seen together on multiple occasions including the Roc Nation Pre-Grammy Brunch. On 2 Chainz 5th studio album “Rap or Go To The League” he boasts a Jay-Z sample (Lucifer) on the opening track “Forgiven” ft. Marsha Ambrosius. 2 Chainz wanted Jay-Z as feature on his new album but the timing wasn’t right. Hopefully we can get a collaboration from the two artists sometime in the foreseeable future.

 

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Rick Ross Set To Release “Hurricanes” Memoir – September 3, 2019

The highly anticipated memoir from hip-hop icon Rick Ross chronicles his coming of age amid Miami’s crack epidemic, his star-studded controversies and his unstoppable rise to fame.

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7 months ago

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March 7, 2019

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Celebrities and public figures write memoirs that detail their life stories as well as  focus on issues they may or may not be as vocal about in public. For example, Michelle Obama’s latest literary achievement in “Becoming” is a memoir of her life’s journey as well as recording artist Gucci Mane’s book “The Autobiography of Gucci Mane.”

Recording artist and businessman, Rick Ross, is the latest celebrity involved in hip-hop music to publish a memoir titled Hurricanes and it’s set to be published in autumn (US).

In a statement, Rick said, “My story has always been deeper than rap. With this book I wanted to go deeper than I ever have. I wanted to tell people about the life of William Leonard Roberts.”

“Most people know Rick Ross as a global icon, but few are familiar with his origin story. Hurricanes transcends the conventions of celebrity memoir to offer an intimate and inspiring portrait of an artist who at every turn defied the odds and continues to change the game,” added Peter Joseph, editorial director of Hanover Square Press.

The book will not shy away from the recording artists fair deal of controversy including the rapper’s past as a drug dealer and correctional officer, as well as incidents such as his seizures, celebrity feuds, drive-by shootings, and his 2015 arrest on kidnapping and assault charges.

“From the making of ‘Hustlin” to his first major label deal with Def Jam, to the controversy surrounding his past as a correctional officer and the numerous health scares, arrests and feuds he had to transcend along the way, Hurricanes is a revealing portrait of one of the biggest stars in the rap game, and an intimate look at the birth of an artist,” reads the book synopsis.

Pre-order Rick Ross’s New Book Here.

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Juice WRLD Signs Global Publishing Deal With BMG

Juice WRLD cashes in on his songwriting catalog.

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11 months ago

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November 19, 2018

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Juice WRLD has signed a new global publishing administration agreement with BMG. This includes his debut “Goodbye & Good Riddance” and his new joint mixtape with Future, “WRLD ON DRUGS”, to publisher BMG.

His project, ‘Goodbye & Good Riddance’ reached Top 5 on the Billboard 200. His hit single ‘Lucid Dreams’ hit number two on the Billboard Hot 100.

‘Lucid Dreams’ is also certified 5x Platinum in the US, 3x Platinum in Canada, 2x Platinum in Australia, Platinum in both New Zealand and Sweden, and Gold in both Denmark and UK.

His music has accumulated over 2bn streams and nearly 1bn in audience airplay – in just six months.

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