Tyra Banks Is Ending Her Talk Show

Hey everybody! Hope yall had a great Christmas. I took a few days off, as you can see, you know to spend some time with the fam and just relax and all that. But I'm back and here's the next story.

Past supermodel and creator and judge of the hit show America's Next Top Model Tyra Banks will be ending her talk show after this season. "This will be the last season of The Tyra Show,” Tyra told PEOPLE. “I’ve been loving having fun, coming into your living rooms, bedrooms, hair salons for the past 5 years.” The show's last episode will premiere in spring 2010.

In The Spotlight Celebrates 6 Months!!!

Ok, this may be seem kind of stupid, and I'm really not the one to celebrate "half anniversaries" like that, but it's officially been six months since I started In The Spotlight! Six months ago today, I was bored at work, and decided to do something somewhat productive with my time. So I decided to start a blog about entertainment news, celebrities, fashion, music, movies and all. You know, things that I'm really interested in. While it still has a long way to go, I never knew that Spotlight would get to the level it has. More important than the recognition is that this blog gives me the chance to do what I love, TO WRITE! As a budding entertainment journalist, I gotta start somewhere right? And Spotlight gives me that opportunity.

I'm seriously appreciative of all the feedback and all of the support of my followers and faithful readers. I really really could see this blog going somewhere, reaching a national level. Without yall, it would be nothing. So thanks for supporting me, and thanks for supporting the blog!

PEACE.

~Brittany Shawnté

T.I. Released From Prison!!!

Well, I heard rumors that rapper T.I. was going to be released early from his prison sentence, just in time for Christmas. T.I. was set to serve three more months at the Arkansas Forrest City Prison.

Well sources at Atlantic Records have confirmed that T.I. was released and that he will be spending the rest of his time in a half-way house in Atlanta, according to BET.com.

Brittany Murphy Passes Away...

I just woke up to this terrible news....Brittany Murphy, actress best known for her roles in Clueless, 8 Mile, and Just Married, passed away at the age of 32 from cardiac arrest. A spokesperson for the Los Angeles County Coroner’s Office confirmed the news to Access Hollywood.

A rep for the actress also confirmed the news, telling Access Hollywood, “In this time of sadness, the family thanks you for your love and support. It is their wish that you respect their privacy.”

I seriously just woke up about an hour and a half ago and got on Facebook and people's statuses were saying RIP Brittany Murphy. And I screamed "What?!!" This is crazy, and so incredibly hard to believe. Life is incredibly short, and I feel like we have seen that with all the huge losses suffered in the entertainment business this year, as well as maybe even in our own lives. I don't want to preach a sermon, so I'm just going to say this. Live your life and enjoy yourself. You never know when it will be your time.

RIP Brittany...Keeping your loved ones in my thoughts and prayers.

PEACE.

~Brittany Shawnté

Que Gets Kicked Out of Day26!!!!!!

Dang...I knew it was coming! I knew it was coming! I knew it was coming! And to tell you the truth, I'm not that sad about it! Que (center) from Day26 has been kicked out of the group! That's right! In the video below, Willie (on the right of Que)confirms it!



For those of you who watched the last season of Making the Band 4, you saw that Que was acting a dag on fool, acting like he didn't have any type of common sense. Walking around giving everybody the stank eye and all of that, yelling and screaming, trying to fight people. Now the group is preparing for their third album, and since Que can't be reached, HE'S OUT!

Me and my friend were just talking about Day 26 the other day! I love the group, and I think they have a bright future ahead with or without Que. What I think he failed to realize was that his behind could be cut at any moment, and that he should've got cut after that season! Now this is just Brittany Shawnté's logic, but I would think that after showing your ass on national television, you would want to get back into people's good graces. But no, NOT QUE! NOT QWANELL! Now you ain't got no job no more, and maybe Day26 will be better because of it. Diddy said NO BITCHASSNESS QUE!!!!

Love to MediaTakeOut, always shocking me with the best news! I wanna write for them one day LOL

PEACE.

~Brittany Shawnté

Shane Sparks Arrested On Child Molestation Charges

Yooooo...WHAT?!!!!! That headline is right. America's Best Dance Crew judge and So You Think You Can Dance choreographer Shane Sparks was arrested early Friday morning on eight counts of child molestation, according to E! Online.

Los Angeles Police Department spokesman Bruce Borihanh stated the 40-year-old choreographer was taken into custody by detectives at about 8 a.m. at his North Hollywood home on a felony warrant. "Sparks has been the subject of an ongoing child-molestation investigation," Borihanh said. Shane was booked into Van Nuys jail and is being held for a $590,000 bail.

Apparently, the incident took place about a decade ago, and the victim is now coming forward, according to Jane Robison, a spokeswoman for the Los Angeles County District Attorney's Office. "There's one victim, and it occurred in the '90s. I believe it started in '94 and went on for several years," Robison said. "It's an underage girl. She was under 15 when the alleged crimes occurred. She is an adult now and came forward to authorities."

Danggggg.....Shane really?!!! Wow....I have no words. Just a crazy situation. I hope that everything works out for him.

PEACE.

~Brittany Shawnté

Tina and Mathew Knowles DIVORCING!!!!

I swear to goodness, reading MediaTakeOut will shock you sometimes. This morning, I made one of the biggest gasps in my life when I saw that Tina and Mathew Knowles, the parents of Beyoncé and Solange Knowles, are divorcing! Yep I said DIVORCING!!!

I mean, there have been rumors floating around all over the place about them splitting, but now it's official. The official papers (provided by MTO, because they're amazing! Don't let nobody tell you different) are below (Click the image for a better view). I guess this whole business with Mathew getting or supposedly getting a 36 year old pregnant was too much for Tina, or maybe there were some other issues as well. But dang! Not Mathew and Tina!!!

Bengals' Player Chris Henry Has Passed Away

Sad story to report. After falling from a truck in a dispute with his fiancee, Cincinnati Bengals player, Chris Henry, has died from his injuries, according to CNN.com.

The dispute took place shortly before noon Wednesday when Chris' fiancee tried to drive off in the truck, only to have Chris jump into the bed of the truck, the Charlotte-Mecklenburg Police Department said in a written statement.



The 26-year-old receiver has played for the Bengals for five seasons, but has been on the injured reserve list after suffering a dislocated forearm during a November 8 game against the Baltimore Ravens. Chris caught 12 passes for 236 yards and two touchdowns in eight games before being hurt.

This is a very sad situation. Especially since Chris leaves behind three young kids (see pic of the family above, provided by MediaTakeOut. I will be keeping his fiancee and his family in my thoughts. Yall do the same. RIP Chris.

PEACE.

~Brittany Shawnté

NeNe and Kim May Be Kicked Off Of Housewives?

Ok, one of my best friends got me hooked on Real Housewives of Atlanta, so when I heard this news, I got upset.

It's just gossip from NYDailyNews.com, but apparently NeNe Leakes and Kim Zolciak, two of the housewives in ATL, may not be back for the third season. According to a source, both of them are demanding more money to be on the show, and Bravo ain't having it and are tired of the dramatics from NeNe and Kim. So they may be replacing the two.

Kourtney Kardashian Has Baby Boy!

According to E! News, there's a new Kardashian in the mix! Kourtney Kardashian and her boyfriend Scott Disick have welcomed a baby boy!

Mason Dash Disick, who weighed 7 lbs., 6 oz., and 19.5 inches, was born this morning in Los Angeles.

Her sister Kim Kardashian has noticed a complete 180 with Kourtney being pregnant. "Kourtney didn't even like kids," she said to Ryan Seacrest Thursday. I never thought she'd ever want to have a baby." But now, she added, "I think Kourt's going to be the most amazing mom."

Kourtney was really excited to be a mommy and looked forward to having her baby. She also talked to Us Magazine about her parenting ideas. "I feel like you don't want to be too much their friend, and you don't want to be too strict," she told Us. "My dad [the late Robert Kardashian] was always the perfect balance."

Wow, I was wondering when that baby was gonna pop out! Kourtney was walking around pregnant for a good minute! Congratulations to her, Scott, and their families!

PEACE.

~Brittany Shawnté

Chris Brown's Albums Being Hidden???

Since I'm still hyped about seeing Chris Breezy live, I might as well write another post about him. Well, according to MediaTakeOut, Chris has been upset about the "disappointing" sales of his third CD Graffiti. No real numbers have been released yet. It's only been the first week! Chris has been going off on his Twitter page about how major stores are blackballing his CD, refusing to sell them. MTO says that he's just bitter about the fact that nobody is buying his CD. People feel that he came out too soon after the whole Rihanna mess.

However, I follow Chris on Twitter and he's been getting a lot, I mean, A LOT of tweets from fans saying that they can't get his album in stores, that managers are refusing to sell them. He even stated that while he was in Connecticut for one of his shows over the weekend, that he went into a Walmart and they didn't even have Graffiti there. Ain't that some stuff though? Are stores even allowed to do that? Seems to me like somebody should be checking out some federal laws or something, cuz this seems mad shady.....Well, if you can't get the album in stores, buy it online or on iTunes!!!!

Ugh....the day when everyone finally gets over this nonsense cannot come soon enough for me.

PEACE.

~Brittany Shawnté

Chris Brown's Fan Appreciation Tour Rolls Through B-more!!!!

Update for you guys: IN THE SPOTLIGHT IS NOW ON TWITTER!!!! Follow here!!!!!

People can say whatever they want to say. Chris Brown has been one of the hottest artists out since he stepped in the game, and he will be until he leaves. That's just fact. I'm sorry. I'm not even bringing up the issue anymore because I realized tonight that it's not necessary. He's mad talented. He's Chris Brown. Period. Get with it or keep it moving.

I spread the word about a month ago to you all about Chris' Fan Appreciation Tour that he was having, to show love to all of the fans who stuck by his side through his whole ordeal. Well, tonight, he rolled through Baltimore at SONAR, a popular club in downtown B-more. I told yall I was going. Got my ticket a few days after I made the post about the tour matter of fact. And my gooooodddddnesssssss.....that was the hottest show I've seen. Pics and videos (as blurry and staticky as they may be) are posted at the end of this blog....

Tiger Woods Takes Indefinite Leave From Golf

By now, unless you are living in no man's land or something, you have probably heard about the Tiger Woods scandal. Two weeks ago, Tiger crashed his SUV into a tree close to his Florida home. He later admitted to cheating on his wife, which I, for one, was shocked by. I mean, it's Tiger Woods! Tiger. Woods. He just doesn't look like the type. But then again, a lot of celebrities don't look like the type to do a lot of the bull they do, but it gets done.

Tyler Perry's Mother Passes Away

Sad news that I just got heard. Willie Maxine Perry, the mother of famous playwright , actor, and mastermind behind the hilarious Madea, Tyler Perry, passed away Monday at the age of 64. Tyler said on his website, “My mother is the wisdom of Madea. Thank you for all your prayers.”

According to entertainment blogger Clay Cane on BET.com back in August, Tyler said his mother was ill and asked for prayers. As of October, he planned to not work for the rest of 2009 in order to care for his mother.


Miss Perry was a pre-school teacher for most of her life and raised Tyler Perry in New Orleans, Louisiana. They both suffered abuse from Tyler's father, but were able to rise up, with Tyler becoming a huge name in Hollywood and opening up the first African-American owned film studio in Georgia.

Tyler had planned to take Madea back on the road in 2010 in his new play, "Madea's Big Happy Family." There is no word if the tour will be postponed.

Tyler's mom was a big inspiration to him and the inspiration behind Madea. My thoughts and prayers are with him and his family during this difficult time.

PEACE.

~Brittany Shawnté

Social Networking Obsession????

Ok, not a post completely about celebrities. Concerns them somewhat but they're not the main focus. Social networking is taking over this world yall! I mean, you got Facebook, MySpace (when the last time you actually checked yours? LOL), Twitter, Skype, Blogger, and all these other new sites that allow people to connect with family, friends, co-workers, etc. It's cool. I appreciate being able to talk to family and friends while I'm away from home. However, reading this one article made me wonder if we are becoming a little too obsessed with it all.

Chris vs. Rihanna

That's it! The reviews have already come out on Chris Brown's new album, Graffiti, and I hate them already! There is so much bias on these reviews that I had to speak about it.

Allen Iverson Unretires AND HEADS BACK TO PHILLY!!!

Real short post for you. Shortest I've ever done Here we go....

Allen Iverson unretires? I figured it was coming soon enough but LOL IT'S ONLY BEEN A WEEK!!!!! According to the LA Times, AI is signed back to the 76ers and making his re-debut Monday against the Denver Nuggets.

"We felt Allen was the best available free agent guard to help us at this time," Sixers President Ed Stefanski said in a release.

BUT HE JUST ANNOUNCED HIS RETIREMENT!!!! I mean JUST DID IT! That gotta be the shortest retirement in the history of the NBA! Lol maybe AI was trying to get a better deal or something. I don't know. But it'll be nice to see him back with the Sixers. I feel like his name and that team are synonymous. Shoot, he's the only reason I even knew that team existed LOL

PEACE.

~Brittany Shawnté

Alicia Keys Taking 5 People To Africa

Hola everyone! I'm back after a very relaxing Thanksgiving break! Hope everyone had an excellent Thankgiving!

It's been reported by OMG! Yahoo (by way of the Associated Press)that Miss Alicia Keys will be taking 5 people on a trip to Africa!

Alicia says her first visit to Africa was so emotional and inspiring that she wants to take people down there to experience it for themselves. Through her charity, Keep a Child Alive, which helps provide medication for those infected with AIDS, she is launching a contest that will give 5 people an opportunity to visit the continent with her.