Despite sending out a message through their social media channels in support of the Black Lives Matter movement, Starbucks has banned all of their employees from wearing any clothing or accessories in support of the organization. Like many major corporations, Starbucks recently stood in solidarity with BLM by sharing a message on social media about their commitment to change the landscape of racism in the United States. "Black lives matter," the company tweeted last Thursday (June 4th). "We are committed to being a part of change."
However, according to an internal memo sent to all staff, Starbucks has forbidden employees from wearing T-shirts, pins, or anything that makes any mention of Black Lives Matter. In the memo, which was obtained by BuzzFeed News, the company acknowledges that some of their employees have been inquiring about wearing BLM gear at work. They reiterate that their dress code policy states that employees may wear a pin or button that “identifies [their] support for a particular labor organization” unless “it interferes with Starbucks public image” or “advocates a political, religious, or personal issue.”
Justin Sullivan/Getty Images
They specifically state that "clothing and accessories highlighting Black Lives Matter do not currently adhere to policy” because “there are agitators who misconstrue the fundamental principles of the Black Lives Matter movement - and in certain circumstances, intentionally repurpose them to amplify divisiveness.” In short, garments and accessories supporting BLM could incite violence if its message is misconstrued, Starbucks says.
Justin Sullivan/Getty Images
Many employees were upset and confused by this bulletin, especially since Starbucks allows and often encourages them to wear pins in support of causes like LGBTQ+ rights. “Starbucks LGBTQ+ partners wear LGBTQ+ pins and shirts, that also could incite and create violent experiences amongst partners and customers,” a Black transgender Starbucks employee told BuzzFeed. “We have partners who experienced harassment and transphobia/homophobia for wearing their pins and shirts, and Starbucks still stands behind them.”
A spokesperson from Starbucks backed the memo's authenticity, and indicated that, "we respect all of our partners’ opinions and beliefs, and encourage them to bring their whole selves to work while adhering to our dress code policy."
Meek Mill Comes After Donald Trump On "Otherside Of America"
Meek Mill answered Donald Trump's notorious speech in which he asks black America what do they have to lose in supporting him.
"What do you have to lose?," Candidate Trump asked. "You’re living in poverty. Your schools are no good. You have no jobs. Fifty-eight percent of your youth is unemployed. What the hell do you have to lose?"
Here's Meek's retort, "Otherside of America."
"Uh, we was starvin' for a thousand nights
Livin' like we tryna die tonight
Glock .40 sound like dynamite
I was fuckin' up my cop money
Sellin' soap like it's China white
OG's said, "You fuckin' the block up"
I was mad, I was tryna fight
Nigga, we hungry
Mama at work, daddy, he dead, nigga we lonely
Stomach growlin' like a AMG, goin' to bed, we hungry
Uzi on me, all my friends are dead, nigga, we lonely
Reportin' live from the other side of America," Meek raps.
What do you think?
Boosie Badazz Bait: Dwyane Wade And Zaya Wade Have Matching Hairdos
Dwyane Wade continues to be a very supportive father for his 12-year-old daughter Zaya, who used to be his 12-year old son Zion
Here Dwyane is showing off the new quarantine hair color both he and his girl got.
Dwyane Wade and Zaya Wade show off their new hair colors ??? pic.twitter.com/k243deGuGU
— NBA Off the Court (@nba_offthecourt) May 24, 2020
While most folks would find such a father-daughter display charming, Boosie Badazz, not so much.
He famously ranted on the ex NBA star after learning of Zaya's transition.
"I gotta say something about this. Dwayne Wade, you've gone too f*cking far, dog. That is a male. A 12 year old. At 12, they don't even know what they next meal gonna be. They don't have sh!t figured out yet. He might meet a woman at 16 and fall in love with her. But his d*ck be gone, how you gonna."
When the backlash to his comments came, Boosie said he has nothing to apologize for. He has also been in a bad mood lately. So he should probably stay off Twitter, where Dwyane and Zaya are trending for their matching 'dos.
Tristan Thompson Calls Khloe Kardashian A "Baddie" On Unrecognizable Photo
Tristan Thompson showed support on ex Khloe Kardashian’s unrecognizable photo, in which she claimed she was “under b*tches skin.”
Tristan Thompson and Khloe Kardashian continue to prove they’re the most amicable of exes (or are at least pretending to be for the sake of the Keeping Up With The Kardashians ratings). On Friday (May 22nd), Khloe posted some photos of herself (?) that many think bears very little similarity to what she actually looks like in real life. Whether it be the results of frequent and drastic plastic surgery or just excessive Facetune and filters, the “Khloe” in this post, especially the first photo, looks almost nothing like her.
However, it appears her ex, Tristan Thompson, whom she finally kicked to the curb last year after he allegedly cheated on her with close family friend, Jordyn Woods, following several insistences of infidelity, thinks she looks fantastic.
Tristan commented on the photo, which Khloe captioned, “location: under bitches skiiiinnnnn,” to let her know she’s doing everything right. “Baddie,” he wrote, along with a heart emoji. “P.S I’m all for the caption.”
Jerritt Clark/Getty Images for Klutch Sports Group
The co-parents of baby True were recently wrapped up in a slew of rumours that purported Khloe had gotten knocked up again by her unfaithful ex. Khloe shut down the rumours, but shortly after, the NBA player was involved in another pregnancy-related scandal, as a woman came forward and claimed that he had fathered her child years ago. The woman also accused Khloe of falsifying the DNA test results, which came out negative, indicating Tristan is not the child’s father. Tristan proceeded to file a lawsuit against her for libel.
Boosie Badazz Sued By State Of Georgia Over Daughter
When Boosie Badazz bragged that he got a grown woman to top off all of his 12-year-old sons and nephews, we worried that he may soon get a call from the state.
And he did. Although it involves his 11-year-old daughter.
The State of Georgia is suing Boosie on behalf of Gelisa Hayes, the mother of his daughter Lyric Beyonce.
Hayes and the state's Attorney General are alleging Boosie is not supporting young Lyric Beyonce and wants his wages to garnished to pay a "reasonable amount."
They add that if Boosie has doubts about Lyric Beyonce's paternity he should submit to a test.
Boosie was served papers and would have been required to come to court this week if not for COVID.
Wale’s Fans Defend Him & Trash Travis Scott After Cruel Meme
The uber-sensitive rapper Wale has been trending on Twitter and not for a reason that would make him happy. A least at first.
A Family Guy odd-man-out meme -- which has been popular on social media this week -- depicted Wale as the fifth wheel when grouped with Drake, J. Cole, Kendrick Lamar, and Travis Scott.
?I don’t make the rules pic.twitter.com/6nKXscNpi8
— Mocha (@BlahBlahDoubt) May 1, 2020
Wale avoided the whole situation.
Seen my name trending ... but the way my anxiety set up I’m not clicking that joint ..but go stream “wow that’s crazy” . And watch “Sue me” video . Wash hands and have a good day https://t.co/SM0IwKkcUq
— Wale (@Wale) May 2, 2020
However, his fans helped him out and shaded Travis Scott in the process.
People really comparing Wale to Travis? Lyrically? Go on sit down somewhere if you think Travis> Wale pic.twitter.com/38uDgTLGsw
— Gabriel???? (@gotmezooted) May 2, 2020
Wale & Travis?! Lyrically? Travis over Wale?! You niggas can’t possibly be smoking nothing LESS than crack & I blame this on you new era TikTok niggas. pic.twitter.com/seBDjQv2c3
— Homer Sipsumn ? (@TheIgnantOne) May 2, 2020
People saying Travis better than Wale pic.twitter.com/FoJsv8OKYS
— Kira ? (@wholelottakira_) May 2, 2020
why y’all comparing travis and wale they not even comparable
— inès (@237Ines) May 2, 2020
Travis Scott over wale??? Yea hand me some coke so I can be a high as y’all with that bullshit
— Cool Slim (@Ayye_pap) May 2, 2020
Excuse me but... y’all saying Travis Scott is lyrically better than Wale? Am I reading this correctly? pic.twitter.com/ONgSIrZoyX
— Support the #IMPACT Scholarship (@Qool_Runnings) May 2, 2020
Travis Scott put out a 17 track album with not one quotable bar and y’all got the nerve to say he’s better than Wale? I’m blocking niggas
— ...? (@InvaderIke) May 2, 2020
Wale writes Travis shit ?? pic.twitter.com/BpTMtwR6Y7
— Legendary Lifestyle™ (@CEO_ThaGoat) May 2, 2020
Wale is certainly not in Scott's league when it comes to recent sales. But do you think Wale's fans have a point about his talent-level vs. LaFlame.
Boosie Badazz Challenges The Nine Treys On Tekashi 6ix9ine
Boosie Badazz believes the Nine Treys need to fatally punish Tekashi 6ix9ine for the way he treated them.
The Blood set that 6ix9ine once claimed have multiple reasons to be extremely unhappy with the troll rapper, who recently got his two-year prison sentence cut short for COVID. First, 6ix9ine publically talked all kinds of trash about them and their dirty mattress lifestyle before the Feds swooped in and arrested everyone. Then Tekashi notoriously sang like a bird and got decades taken off of his sentence at the expense of his former bros.
During Boosie's latest Vlad TV interview, Vlad got Boosie going by mentioning all of the combined years the Tr3ways got because of 6ix9ine's proud rat turn.
"That's just a sh*t in his face to the people who got that time and their family. If they don't do something, they p*ssy. Period," Boosie said. "[They] let a n*gga like that throwing away all of your people. He didn't do that to me. If he did that to my people, he'd have graveyard conditions."
Vlad then pointed out that in addition to screwing the Nine Treys, Tekashi clearly sent a shooter after Chief Keef and never really suffered any legal consequences.
"And the world going to support him. That's crazy," Boosie said.
Do you think the Nine Treys (or Sosa) will get their revenge?
Ice-T Lends Support To Scarface Following Coronavirus Diagnosis
Ice-T sent some well wishes to his old friend Scarface, after the Geto Boys MC revealed he had tested positive for coronavirus.
Ice-T is wishing his longtime buddy Scarface a quick recovery after the Geto Boy announced he'd tested positive for coronavirus. As the spread of COVID-19 increases more and more rapidly, it seems that more and more public figures are coming forward to reveal that they've tested positive for the virus. One of the most recent celebrities to join that growing list was Scarface, who disclosed the bad news on Thursday in a live stream with his fellow Geto Boys member, Willie D. After catching wind of the unfortunate circumstances,Ice-T, one of Scarface's good pals from back in the day, took to Twitter later that night to send his homie some love.
"Just talked to my close homie Scarface @brothermob of the Geto Boys.." Ice-T tweeted, along with a throwback photo of Scarface. "He’s positive with the Virus. He’s doing well but has been through hell.. God Bless him. Get well my brother!"
Bob Levey/Getty Images for UrbanDaddy
Ice-T also paid tribute to another friend of his who had been infected with the virus but unfortunately did not make it. The rapper-turned-actor retweeted a post that announced the tragic passing of Josh Wallwork, a costume designer on Ice-T's show, Law & Order: SVU. "Very sad news today," the tweet said. "One of our costumers, and a beautiful man, Josh Wallwork, passed away from complications of Covd-19. Cast and crew send love and prayers to his family and friends. We are heartbroken."
Ice-T responded to the message by saying, "I worked with Josh every day… MAN! Pay attention people. #SVU."
Kid Cudi Shows Support For Bernie Sanders At Los Angeles Rally
Kid Cudi was reportedly in attendance at the Bernie Sanders rally Sunday night in LA.
It looks like Kid Cudi is endorsing Bernie Sanders to be his next president of the United States. On Sunday night, The Chosen One took to his Twitter to share a photo of him and comedian Sarah Silverman, who happened to be one the special guests Sanders had enlisted to speak at his rally Sunday night at the Los Angeles Convention Center.
While Cudi didn't specifically give Bernie a shout-out, fans were quick to put out that Cudi was in fact in attendance. Other special guest included actor Dick Van Dyke and legendary hip-hop group Public Enemy, who actually fired Flavor Flav over it, causing quite a stir online which you can read about here.
In addition, Silverman later shared the same pic of the two backstage, joking that Cudi was her "nephew."
The support for Bernie shouldn’t come as much a surprise though. Back in October, Cudi responded to a Bernie Sanders’ tweet about how "idiotic" it is that the federal government still chooses to treat marijuana as though it boasts heroin-esque possibilities for danger. Cudi chimed in at the time with a "Yeaaaa Bernie!!” So it’s pretty safe to say Cudi is riding with the Sanders campaign for 2020.
Chuck D Clarifies Flavor Flav & Bernie Sanders Situation On Twitter
Chuck D clarifies the situation regarding Public Enemy's endorsement of Bernie Sanders for President of the United States.
After days of public disagreement between Chuck D and Flavor Flav, Chuck D has clarified the situation on his Twitter.
He explained that his support for Sanders stems from the loss of his father in 2016 and his support for Medicare for All.
"My Dad passing in 2016 and Granddaughter being born automatically put healthcare and childcare at the top of my brain. There ain’t a candidate running that can answer to 3 Black struggling generations living in the same crib, same time. If y’all don’t know THIS-it’s a bad problem
"I dig aspects of Bern. Hate the party Bulsht. But can relate to half the issues & get forward. Use your minds & be ready to fight whoever in office. My rap bro @KillerMike is nice.I am not-Wake the fcuk up get off your asses make yourself important where YOU live. This aint vodka."
He also continues by explaining that Flav doesn't care about politics so "Don't attack Flav on what he don't know."
"...It’s not about BERNIE with Flav," he says. "he don’t know the difference between BarrySanders or BernieSanders he don’t know either..."
Saturday, Flav's lawyer released a statement saying, "Flav has always delivered his authentic self. That authenticity compels him to speak out to ensure voters are not misled and that Public Enemy’s music does not become the soundtrack of a fake revolution."
