Punk’d is coming back, and their first victims are Chris Brown and French Montana. The show, which is getting a reboot on BET, sets out to freak out C Breezy and French by bringing a 9-year-old girl to their set. It starts out innocently enough, with the young girl telling Brown she’s a big fan and offering to give him dance tips—but when French begins to ask her where her parents are, it’s like one of those scenes out of a psychological thriller like Shutter Island where the lies keep building up and you don’t know who you can trust anymore. Props to this budding actress—girl can keep a straight face.
Punk’d has been terrorizing celebrities (including others like A$AP Rocky and Miguel) for some time now, but new episodes air for all to see on August 18, 10:30 p.m. on BET. Get a sneak peak of Chris Brown and French spazzing out in the video above, and witness their uncomfortable jokes about Amber alerts (to which the girl responds, “What’s an Amber alert?”). Horror ensues.
Police in Arlington, Texas have released surveillance video that reportedly shows college football player Christian Taylor jumping on a car, trying to pull open doors and kicking in a windshield at a car dealership shortly before an officer in training shot him to death.
Taylor, a sophomore and player at Angelo State University, allegedly crashed his vehicle through the front glass of the dealership’s showroom before police were called to the scene, though that does not appear in the video.
A rookie officer who completed the police academy in March was on the burglary call and fatally shot Taylor, who was not armed, a few minutes later, police said.
The shooting is currently under investigation. Officers have said there was a confrontation with Taylor before the shots were fired, though specific details have not been given yet.
Killer Mike and El-P Discuss the Importance of Protests in the Wake of Ferguson: “Riots Work”
As thousands of people across the country pay tribute to Michael Brown on the anniversary of his murder by police officer Darren Wilson in Ferguson, the nation is reminded of an urgent duality: though the ensuing focus on widespread police reform has already inspired a series of long overdue changes in certain regions, the institutional devaluing of black lives still persists. Always refreshingly outspoken on matters of race and social change, Killer Mike and El-P of Run The Jewels recently offered their thoughts on the state of the nation one year after dedicated protests gripped the city of Ferguson.
“Riots work,” Killer Mike tells BBC News in a recent interview. “I’m an American because of a riot. So, when people say ‘riots don’t work,’ well, Ferguson was over 60% a black community. They had less than 60% representation in politics. Post-riots, they have two new black city council members. They have actual advocates in the community now. The police chief retired. So, if it was argued that riots worked in Ferguson, abso-fucking-lutely they did.”
In the clip above, El-P reflects on the night of the tragic verdict surrounding Brown’s murder, a night which ended up redefining the Jewels position in culture. “We had the weird, tragic, and serendipitous experience of being the only band, when the verdict was coming down in St. Louis, to be attempting to get into St. Louis,” recalls El-P. “Everyone else was driving as fast as they could to get out of [the city]. Every word that you’re saying all of a sudden means 100 times more than it meant the night before. To see my friend talk, I was crying onstage. It was very powerful.”
Rest in peace, Michael Brown.
While Drake and Meek Mill are still duking it out on record (kind of), Yasiin Bey, (f.k.a. Mos Def) just sent out a friendly battle challenge to nobody in particular. In a short clip uploaded to YouTube today, a lighthearted Mos, fresh off his first standup comedy performances earlier this week, issues a grinning call-out to any and all challengers.
“I’m tired of these dudes pretending like they dope,” he says while perusing a lapful of sunglasses. “You aight, but relax. The dope niggas that think that they dope, you ain’t as dope as you think. You cool…We don’t have to make no back-and-forth corny records about it, we could put it on its feet for the world to see.”
As for his set, Mos makes sure to let the world know who he’s rolling with. “Me, Black Thought, and King Los versus anybody,” he says. “Everybody…I don’t care who you tell.”
For his part, Lupe Fiasco quickly hopped into action, accepting the challenge on Instagram and offering up Mickey Factz as a potential opponent for King Los.
Naturally, Kravitz had to run off stage to change his fit after the incident.
A fan told local newspaper Expressen, “The producer stepped up and said that they had some problems onstage. A bit later Kravitz came out wearing other trousers.”
Next time, maybe Lenny should try wearing something a little more structured.