Faith Evans is not happy with a new Lifetime documentary on her marriage to Biggie

R&B songstress, Faith Evans, says Lifetime told her a documentary on her and Biggie’s marriage would be positive but that the finished product is anything but.

READ MORE: First Ladies of Hip Hop: Faith Evans promises an upcoming tour with Lil Kim

Evans told Page Six that she feels betrayed by Lifetime’s upcoming documentary titled “Biggie and Faith Evans,” part of the network’s Hopelessly in Love series. She said she would have never participated had she realized it would rehash old, sensational news – like his rumored affairs with Lil’ Kim and Charli Baltimore and his West Coast rivalry with Tupac Shakur.

“I feel upset that I’m attached to it. I was told that it would be a positive piece with a little more of my personal background. It wasn’t pitched to me as a story rehashing the sensationalized events that took place,” Evans told Page Six. “I am beyond that and have no need to open old wounds, damage repaired relationships and, above all, soil the legacy of Christopher Wallace a.k.a. the Notorious B.I.G.”

The two-hour documentary will air on Jan. 10. A promotional trailer calls their relationship “the most controversial love story in hip-hop history,” and promises the documentary is from “those who lived it.” The promo adds “Faith Evans is ready to confront her pain and revisit the most intimate moments of their relationship . . . from their whirlwind engagement to Biggie’s ongoing affairs with Lil’ Kim and Charli Baltimore, to the East Coast-West Coast rivalry that led to Tupac and Big’s deaths.”

Evans is not here for it.

“The Tupac stuff, the different women — how many times are people going to talk about that? It was supposed to be a love story, and it turns into cheating and (Lil’) Kim. We’ve come so far past that. (Lifetime’s) all about drama,” Evans told Page Six.

Biggie and Evans were hip hop royalty nearly three decades ago. The couple, who were on the same Bad Boy Records label, wedded in 1994 after an eight-day romance. Although they separated, they remained married and were so at the time of his death in 1997.

Evans said Biggie’s mom, Voletta Wallace, also took issue with the documentary.

“Ms. Wallace is pissed. Everyone was blindsided. She has worked very hard for his legacy to be acknowledged in a more positive light. He’s nominated for the Rock & Roll Hall of Fame. This (documentary) is taking steps backward,” Evans said.

Lifetime did not respond to Page Six’s multiple requests for comment.

Evans said she won’t be promoting the doc because she’s not proud of it.

“It’s about my morals. I would never do business I’m not proud of at this point in my career. I’m not happy,” Evans told Page Six.

READ MORE: Johnny Depp’s movie about Biggie Smalls and Tupac is shelved before it even hits theaters

On Lifetime’s web site, Hopelessly in Love is a limited series that takes a look at some of pop culture’s most infamous love stories. In addition to Faith and Biggie, the show will also run episodes on Anna Nicole Smith and Larry Birkhead and Lisa “Left Eye” Lopes and Andre Rison.

The post Faith Evans is not happy with a new Lifetime documentary on her marriage to Biggie appeared first on theGrio.

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Muslim woman receives apology for being sent home from work because she wore a hijab

A Muslim woman challenged her right to wear a hijab to work at a Chicken Express fast-food restaurant in Fort Worth, Texas, and won.

Using the power of social media, Stefanae Coleman posted a video on Twitter last week as she had a discussion with her manager about the hijab she wore. Coleman, whose video detailed the exchange, said her manager was sending her home for wearing it, according to ABC News.

I converted to Islam not too long ago and I started wearing my hijab, I went to work today and was kicked out because my hijab was not apart the “ dress code” apparently and I wasn’t allowed to wear it. Don’t come to the chicken express in Fort Worth!! pic.twitter.com/xiulAEJS8y

— Folake Adebola 💕 (@thatgirlfolake) December 30, 2019

READ MORE: ‘Sesame Place Sallie’ starts fight and allegedly told Muslim woman to ‘go back to where you came from’

Coleman, 22, used the viral video as an opportunity to explain to her manager why she wears a hijab. More than 635,000 people have viewed it.

“Your job is your job and it has nothing to do with religion,” the manager responded.

Coleman told him that she “read the handbook and in the handbook, it doesn’t say anything about not being able to wear religious head pieces.”

“It says you have to follow the Chicken Express uniform policy and it lists out what it is and it doesn’t involve anything else,” the manager replied, according to ABC News.

Coleman said in the video that she started working for the chain in October and had been upfront with her managers about her religion. She said according to the handbook, there was “equal opportunity for every religion.”

Rhett Warren, a lawyer for the Chicken Express franchise owner, released a statement to ABC News backing Coleman’s freedom of religion. He said the manager in question “unfortunately did not take religious liberty into consideration.”

“Ms. Coleman is not facing discrimination for her decision to wear a headscarf or for being Muslim. The manager’s decision to send Ms. Coleman home for wearing the headscarf was due to a lack of training,” Warren wrote in the statement. “The manager was using a strict interpretation of the company policy that does not allow derivations from the standard employee uniform, and he, unfortunately, did not take religious liberty into consideration.”

Warren said Coleman was compensated for the hours that she lost when she was sent home and that she “worked the following day and was allowed to wear her headscarf.”

READ MORE: Halima Aden dazzles on SI Swimsuit 2019 cover in hijab and burkini

“An apology was made to Ms. Coleman for the mistake. The Chicken Express franchisee is addressing this issue through additional training, and Ms. Coleman has been asked to participate in developing the training so that a mistake like this will not happen again,” the statement continues, according to ABC News. “The manager has been reprimanded for his decision, and he will receive further training on how to properly handle similar situations in the future.”

Coleman told ABC News that her response to the manager’s instruction could potentially “help other women like me” and that she hopes that the situation helps other employees to “be strong and fight for your rights and for employers to study about the hijab and what it means to Muslim women.”

The post Muslim woman receives apology for being sent home from work because she wore a hijab appeared first on theGrio.

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Monday's Best Deals: Razer Wireless Mouse, Bowflex Gold Box, Roomba, and More

An Optimum Nutrition Gold Box, Yamaha sound bar, EyeBuyDirect sale, and a Joseph Joseph storage caddy lead off Monday’s best deals from around the web.

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Levar Burton’s ‘This is My Story’ Captures Black People’s Racist Experiences

LeVar Burton of Roots and Star Trek: The Next Generation fame has released a video series named This is My Story, where he shares stories that speak about some of the racist experiences of most black people in the United States.

Burton had an epiphany that he posted on his Twitter account, “I’ve been thinking a lot lately about the state of race relations in America. One thing I learned from the success of ROOTS (if you don’t know, you better ask somebody) 42 years ago, was the power of storytelling as a way to bridge the gap between races.”

He continued, “There was an America before ROOTS and there was an America after ROOTS and post ROOTS, America was a greater, more enlightened nation. We came to a better, deeper, more informed understanding of the evil nature, intent and outcomes of chattel slavery as practiced in America. As a result, I fervently believe in the power of storytelling to move the culture forward. To that end, some friends and I have created a few videos, 6 in all, that chronicle some of the racist experiences most black people who live in America, have in common.”

“Spoiler Alert: Unless you have walked the walk of the African American experience in this country, it is difficult — not impossible — but difficult, to know what that journey is on the daily. Trust me when I say, being black in America is not for the weak of heart. Neither is it for the weak in Spirit. For, being black in America oftentimes means living in and loving a country, that does not love us back. You may take exception to my premise but you cannot discount my experience.”

In This is My Story, Burton narrates and gives the audience stories regarding racism in America. The first six videos give, in detail, six unique and painful stories about racism starting from Burton’s own experiences of being racially profiled while a student at the University of Southern California, to a young boy’s story of being spit on by a “grizzled old white man” at a Georgia fast-food restaurant.

“The first installment of This Is My Story, is an incident from my own life. The others are real-life experiences of some of my friends, told by me. Like ROOTS did so long ago, my intention in sharing these stories is to provide anecdotal context for being black in America.”

Burton recently received Case Western Reserve University’s Inamori Ethics Prize and had a park, LeVar Burton Park, renamed in his honor in the Meadowview neighborhood of Sacramento, California, where he grew up.

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New York Gives $3.5M Grant To Help Build Hip-Hop Museum In The Bronx

New York recently awarded a $3.5 million capital grant to help build the world’s first museum dedicated to hip-hop music and culture.

According to Gov. Andrew Cuomo, the $80 million Universal Hip Hop Museum will open in 2023 in the South Bronx – which is considered the birthplace of hip hop. The museum is currently operating temporarily in Bronx Terminal Market.

The museum is expected to be a win-win for the city. It’s director, Rocky Bucano, told The New York Post that the Hip Hop Museum will generate tourism and tax revenues for the Bronx and New York. The Bronx Point Development is slated to be its permanent home.

“The museum is part of the renaissance of the Bronx. The Bronx is coming back,” he said. “But the museum will be of the people and for the people.” Bucano added that the museum received $6.5 million in additional funds from the city.

“It’s the best Christmas gift ever,” Universal Hip Hop Museum ​spokesperson Renee Foster told Patch. “It’s like Santa Claus.”

Hip-Hop music isn’t the only thing that will be showcased at the museum. There will also be exhibits on break dancers, graffiti artists, disc jockeys, and MCs.

“Hip hop culture was born in the Bronx and New York City is the cultural center of the world,” said Foster. “We’re joining institutions like Carnegie Hall and all those great artistic institutions.”

Corporate partners for the museum include Microsoft and MIT as well as support from Hip-Hop artists such as Nas, Q-Tip, and LL Cool J.

“The Universal Hip Hop Museum will occupy 50,000 square feet in Bronx Point, the residential and retail project by L+M Development Partners that will be erected north of the 145th Street bridge along the Harlem River in the Bronx,” The New York Post reported.

Residents had mixed feelings about the grant.

New York City invests $3.75 Million to help build a Hip-Hop museum in the Bronx.

“An archive dedicated to the preservation and celebration of hip-hop history and culture” pic.twitter.com/STq86jmB9A

— East Renaissance (@EastRenaissance) December 31, 2019

New York City invests $3.75 Million to help build a Hip-Hop museum in the Bronx.

“An archive dedicated to the preservation and celebration of hip-hop history and culture” pic.twitter.com/STq86jmB9A

— East Renaissance (@EastRenaissance) December 31, 2019

Ayyyyeeeeeee!!!! Come through BX!#BronxBombshell #bornandraised https://t.co/Gyp5a23cru

— Krystal A. Livingston (@IamKALivingston) December 29, 2019

This article was written by Ann Brown on January 1, 2020 for The Moguldom Nation

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