Happy Black History Month, y’all! I know I’ve been away for a while, but I had to come back and discuss this past week (Jan. 30 – Feb. 5, 2022). February definitely kicked off with a bang, and I couldn’t call myself an entertainment blogger if I didn’t bring my behind here and talk about the big things that went down. So, without further ado, let’s do this thing!
Janet Speaks!
Let me start off with one of the biggest events of the year. The long-awaited documentary, Janet Jackson., aired on Lifetime on Sat. Jan. 29 and Sun. Jan. 30. I loved it. I was so happy to see Janet open up about her life, because as we all know, The Jackson family doesn’t really give too many details about their personal lives, for the most part. I’ve loved Janet ever since I was about 4 or 5 years old, but I realized there was so much I didn’t know about her. The four-part series humanized the iconic Janet (as well as Michael) for me, and she touched on so many topics that we’ve all buzzed about during her career: the secret baby (a rumor that STILL goes around to this day), her marriages to James DeBarge and Rene Elizondo, her relationship with Jermaine Dupri, writing “Scream” with Michael as well as shooting the video, and the 2004 Super Bowl Halftime show fiasco with Justin Timberlake. Oh, yeah…during the documentary, Janet pleaded with her fans to give Justin a break, and Black Twitter outwardly refused. Ouch.
My only complaint is that I wish Janet spoke further about her third marriage (actually, she didn’t even mention him at all), and that we could’ve seen her little boy Eissa (who’s now 5 years old!). Many people—mostly Black Twitter—had a cow because her alleged fling with Bobby Brown wasn’t mentioned, but I didn’t really expect it to be, seeing as their time together was more important to him than it was to her. No offense, Bobby. Other than that, I thoroughly enjoyed Janet Jackson. and I highly recommend it to any old fans or new ones!
Rihanna Is Expecting!
Let’s move on to the biggest announcement of the week…Rihanna and her boo ASAP Rocky are having a baby! The news broke the internet this past Mon., and Black Twitter buzzed about it for two days. The only thing that cracked me up more than the men hating that their dreams of making Rihanna their own were now dashed, were all the joke tweets about Drake nursing his wounds behind the impending motherhood.
Congrats to both of them! Drizzy, move on.
There’s a Little Brat on the Way!
Ri-Ri isn’t the only lady that’s carrying a little bundle of joy. Da Brat and her fianceé, Jesseca Dupart, are also expecting a baby! Brat’s announcement came the day after Rihanna’s, and Black Twitter was abuzz again.
By the way, I hope that Brat and LisaRaye made amends. I know LisaRaye’ll be ecstatic to meet her new niece or nephew, as well being an auntie for the first time. Congrats to the happy couple!
Nick Cannon Is Having Another Baby…Yay?
There’s no better way to conclude our flood of expectant celebrities than to speak on Nick Cannon’s recent announcement. That’s right, Nick’s having a baby…again. This will be child number eight.
Black Twitter had a field day with this one too, but it was for completely different reasons. The man basically got clowned, especially considering that he conceived this recent child while his infant son, Zen, was battling cancer. Baby Zen unfortunately passed on in Dec. 2021.
Soon after the announcement, Nick issued an apology to the other mothers of his children, promising to be more compassionate when it comes to sharing personal details of his life. After all, this announcement came while Zen’s mother is still grieving the loss of her child. Nick also admitted that his therapist advised him to be celibate, but his celibacy journey only lasted until Jan. of this year.
Nick…in words of my baby Anderson .Paak, “I think you’re doing way too much. Settle down!” You’re creating all these single parent households, and there’s no way you can give all these children the time and attention they deserve. Not only that, but you’re conceiving these kids months within each other…with different women! Baby, give celibacy another chance. Slow down. You now have eight children. Eight is enough (pun slightly intended).
Whoopi Gets Suspended!
This past Mon. on The View, Whoopi Goldberg and the other panelists got into a discussion regarding banned books, which led into an exchange about The Holocaust. Whoopi made a statement about how The Holocaust wasn’t about race, but about “man’s inhumanity to man.” See the video below (the conversation in question starts at 4:39).
The retribution on Twitter was swift, and apparently, Whoopi spoke with someone who schooled her about the real reason for The Holocaust and she learned that it was indeed about race.
Whoopi publicly apologized the next day, but as far as the network was concerned, the damage had been done. ABC suspended Whoopi for two weeks. According to The Breakfast Club’s Rumor Report, Whoopi is livid about the suspension, and I have to admit, I feel like the punishment may be a bit too severe. Don’t get me wrong, if Whoopi did or said something malicious (like some of the people Twitter compared her to, i.e. Roseanne Barr), I’d understand that. In this case though, she wasn’t being nasty or racist, she was just wrong, and she apologized. Rumors are abounding that Whoopi is planning on leaving The View after this. I hope it doesn’t come to that, but we’ll see what happens in the next few weeks.
Silk Sonic Joins Fortnite!
On Feb. 3, it was announced that R&B super group Silk Sonic (comprised of the loveable Anderson .Paak and my future hubby Bruno Mars) will be joining the Fortnite Icon Series on Feb. 10, 2022. The fellas will be featured on the in-game Icon Radio Station, and players can even compete in the Silk Sonic Cup to unlock the different outfits that the characters can wear.
Y’all have to forgive me. I’m psyched that my boys are getting more deserved recognition and promotion, but I am totally clueless when it comes to the world of Fortnite. As matter of fact, I watched this gameplay video last night, and I was lost as hell!
I’ll say this, though…I’m feelin’ virtual Bruno’s body! ❤️❤️ Too bad I have to be at level 50 to play the game (at least I think that’s the level you have to be on…)!
Thandie Apologizes for Her Light Skinned Privilege!
Last, but not least, I have to talk about Ms. Thandiwe “Thandie” Newton. On the night of Feb. 3, Ms. Newton issued the following video on social media, apologizing for allowing her light skinned privilege to take acting roles and other black men away from darker skinned women.
Black Twitter to’ this poor child up Thursday night. Lovelyti did an extremely insightful commentary about the apology, but she didn’t hold back on her criticism of Thandie, either.
Personally, I get what Thandie was trying to say, but the execution was shoddy. Her heart was in the right place, but the apology sounded like, “I’m sorry I’m so much prettier than y’all and took your men!” No, baby. That wasn’t it. Some folks out there are still convinced that her apology was full of shit, and it was really just her projecting on black women, but I’d like to hope that isn’t the case. However, given the second half of her apology (she mentioned that she received prejudice from black women due to her skin tone), I totally understand why that was the takeaway. Choose your words better, Ms. Thandie.
—Written by Nadiya
So, what were the biggest things to happen during the first week of February in your honest opinion? Which of these events shocked you? What were you hoping to see included in the list? Were you elated to hear about Rihanna and Da Brat’s pregnancies? Did you groan or cheer when you hear about Nick Cannon’s? Do you agree with Whoopi Goldberg being suspended from The View? Are you going to play Bruno and Andy’s characters/skins on Fortnite? Did you enjoy the Janet Jackson documentary? Do you feel like Thandie Newton’s apology was genuine or did she have an axe to bear with black women? Let me know in the comments section!
Insights from a Southern Girl 