Tuesday, September 11, 2007
Jennifer is working!
The Oscar-winning actress of Dreamgirls and American Idol fame has joined the cast of Sex & the City: The Movie. The 25-year-old Hudson will reportedly play the assistant of Carrie Bradshaw (Sarah Jessica Parker) in the New Line film. Though final negotiations about her role are still taking place, the film is scheduled to begin shooting on September 19th New York.
The entire original cast of Sex & the City will return (Parker, Kim Cattrall, Kristin Davis, and Cynthia Nixon). Chris Noth will also return in the role of Mr. Big.
Sex & the City wrapped in 2004 after six years on HBO, and movie rumors have swirled ever since.
The film will be written and directed by Michael Patrick King, who will also produce alongside Parker, John Melfi, and Darren Star.
Jennifer Hudson will appear in the upcoming film Winged Creatures with Kate Beckinsale and Forest Whitaker, and she’s also reportedly working on a debut studio album.
the view is full of color- yeah! for sherri!
Sherri Shepherd's 'View' debut
And then there were five.
Comedian Sherri Shepherd officially joined ABC’s “The View” on Monday, filling the seat vacated by Star Jones Reynolds last year.
“Well, this is the worst-kept secret,” said Barbara Walters, the daytime talk show’s co-executive producer, as she introduced Shepherd to the cheering audience.
“Oh my gosh, I’m actually one the girls!” exclaimed a beaming Shepherd, who has been a guest host on the program nearly two dozen times.
Shepherd, a former legal secretary, is a stand-up comic who most recently appeared in the movie “Who’s Your Caddy?” She’s had ongoing roles on television sitcoms such as “Friends,” “Suddenly Susan” and “Less Than Perfect.”
“People who don’t know who Sherri Shepherd is, I’m the black girl on all the white shows,” she quipped.
With the addition of Shepherd and moderator Whoopi Goldberg this season, “The View” has a full complement of panelists for the first time since the spring of 2006.
-- Matea Gold
Bynum is ready to move on
ajc.com > Metro > Gwinnett
Bynum loved Weeks but needs to 'go on with divorce,' says attorney
By D. AILEEN DODD
The Atlanta Journal-Constitution
Published on: 09/10/07
Evangelist Juanita Bynum's lawyer said Monday the pastor is seeking to divorce her husband on the basis of cruel treatment and irreconcilable differences.
The divorce filing states that the marriage has been "irretrievably broken," said Bynum's attorney Karla Walker of Valdosta.
The cruel treatment allegation stems from an alleged attack on the minister by her husband Thomas W. Weeks III on Aug. 21 in a hotel parking lot near Hartsfield-Jackson International Airport.
"She loved her husband," Walker said. "But she does feel it is necessary to stop the domestic violence and go on with the divorce.''
The divorce paperwork was sent to the Ware County Courthouse early last week, but an error delayed the filing. The legal documents were officially filed on Monday.
Bynum, 48, spent the weekend in California where she attended a fund-raiser for presidential candidate Barack Obama. The party was held at Oprah Winfrey's estate.
Bynum has said she is moving forward with plans to start a domestic violence ministry. Last week, she resurfaced in the spotlight, saying she had recovered from the alleged attack and would like to serve as an advocate against domestic violence.
Weeks, 40, was charged with felony aggravated assault, felony terroristic threats and two counts of simple battery in connection with the attack. He could face up to 27 years in jail if convicted.
WEEKS RESPONSE:
Weeks' lawyers will contest divorce claim of cruel treatment
The Associated Press - ATLANTA
Attorneys for a minister accused of attacking his televangelist wife in a hotel parking lot said Tuesday that they will contest her petition for divorce.
Randy Kessler, one of the attorneys representing Thomas W. Weeks III, said they are considering whether their counterclaim will accuse Juanita Bynum of cruel treatment _ the same charge her divorce petition levels at him.
"Cruel treatment is a very vague legal term," Kessler said. "There's a possibility that there's cruel treatment on both sides, but we're not committed to that position."
A lawyer for Bynum, 48, filed the divorce petition against Weeks, 40, on Monday in Ware County, where Bynum has a home. According to the two-page document, Bynum and Weeks were married on July 22, 2002, and have been separated since June. They have no children together.
Bynum cited "cruel treatment" as grounds for divorce, and said the marriage is "irretrievably broken."
The filing came less than three weeks after Bynum accused Weeks of choking, pushing and stomping her in a hotel parking lot in an incident that began the night of Aug. 21 and continued into the next morning. Weeks, known to his followers as Bishop Weeks, was charged with aggravated assault and making terroristic threats and is not allowed to have contact with Bynum.
Whether Weeks' attorneys decide to pursue a cruel treatment claim against Bynum is up to him.
"He has to make a decision about whether he wants to do that, especially given that he would still reconcile with her at this point," said Kessler, who added that Weeks does not consider the marriage "irretrievably broken."
Kessler and Louis Tesser, who is also representing Weeks, said they will discuss the options with their client and will likely file a response next week.
Kessler and Tesser are family law attorneys with the Atlanta-based firm Kessler, Schwarz and Solomiany, who have litigated high-profile cases against boxer Evander Holyfield, former Atlanta Falcon Andre Rison, Terrell Owens of the Dallas Cowboys and attorney Willie Gary.
Bynum's divorce attorney, Karla Walker of Valdosta, did not immediately return a call seeking comment on Tuesday. Bynum's publicist, Amy Malone, said in a statement e-mailed to The Associated Press on Sunday that Bynum never struck Weeks prior to the assault and that she did not physically retaliate during the assault.
"There was nothing done to provoke or warrant the violent act perpetrated against her," Malone said.
Malone said that Bynum and Weeks have not seen, spoken to, or had any contact with each other since Aug. 22, and that Bynum has no intentions of reconciling with him.
Bynum is a former hairdresser and flight attendant who became a Pentecostal evangelist, author and gospel singer. Her ministry blossomed after she preached at a singles event about breaking free of sexual promiscuity, and she is known for her intense, no-nonsense style. Among her books are "No More Sheets: The Truth About Sex" and "Matters of the Heart."
Her album "A Piece of My Passion" had been listed in the top 10 gospel albums by Billboard magazine for several months. She also preaches through televised sermons.
The couple married in a million-dollar, televised ceremony. Together, they wrote "Teach Me How to Love You: The Beginnings."
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Friday, September 7, 2007
Thursday, September 6, 2007
Eric is so happy for ex
from people.com
Proving exes can be civil, words of encouragement for Halle Berry have come from an unlikely source – former husband Eric Benét.
"I wish Halle and her partner a healthy baby and all the happiness in the world," singer Benét, 40, said in a statement released to PEOPLE by his manager, Lynne Malone, Thursday.
The Oscar-winning actress, 41, announced she was three months pregnant on Tuesday. Father-to-be is boyfriend Gabriel Aubry, a 32-year-old model she met during a Versace ad shoot in Los Angeles in November 2005.
Benét and Berry wed in January 2001, but had a roller-coaster romance soured by his self-confessed philandering. The couple separated in October and six months later the split was official.
Halle is posing for two!
Oscar-winning actress Halle Berry is pregnant by her boyfriend model Gabriel Aubry, entertainment news show Access Hollywood reported.
Access Hollywood's Nancy O'Dell said that Berry, 41, informed her Tuesday in an e-mail that she is three months pregnant with her first child.
"Gabriel and I are beyond excited, and I've waited a long time for this moment in life. Now the next seven months will be the longest of my life," Berry said in the e-mail.
Berry has been married twice, first to baseball player David Justice and then to musician Eric Benet. Both marriages were childless and ended in divorce.
Berry has been dating French-Canadian fashion model Aubry, 31, for more than a year, according to reports.
The one-time Bond girl won a coveted best actress Oscar in 2002 for her turn in "Monster's Ball." She was the first African-American woman to win the Academy Award for best actress.
Shaq says the bank is closed to Shaunie
From the Ledger-Enquirer.com
Shaq and Shaunie's ride ends
No matter how the settlement goes down, Shaquille O'Neal will pay if he divorces Shaunie, his wife of five years.
The Miami Heat center said in a petition filed Tuesday, "The marriage between the parties is irretrievably broken," The Miami Herald reported.
" 'Marriage is irretrievably broken' could mean that Shaq has shacked out someplace else," said Dr. Richard Wilmarth, a family therapist and clinical director of Counseling Associates in Opelika, Ala. "He may be trying to get out of it the easy way."
Shaq and Shaunie also have a "Cohabitation/Prenuptial Agreement and Acknowledgement of Property Disclosure and Waiver of Further Disclosure," the Herald reported. Will this make getting out easier?
Wilmarth said the couple are probably in what he calls the constriction phase of their relationship.
"Either that or they have learned that somebody's mother was right -- the honeymoon is over and they never should have married that person in the first place," said Wilmarth, who's also a professor at Central Alabama Community College and an adjunct professor at Troy University, Phenix City, where his Marriage, Family and Sex class begins this weekend.
He said relationship theory defines three phases: expansion, constriction and resolution.
"Expansion is that ooey-gooey feeling. Love everything. Everything is right. We love to be with each other. We talk to each other. We interact. We trust each other. It's all great and wonderful. And we pay a lot of attention to each other," he said.
"You've moved into constriction when you start focusing on what you ain't getting, instead of what you are getting," he said. "That's when you start noticing he didn't remember a birthday. He's not rubbing your back as much as he used to."
You now realize the person is human -- not perfect.
The constriction phase usually lasts for a long time.
"People who end up getting divorces are in constriction," Wilmarth said. "They don't realize that's a normal course for all relationships to go through. This is when you realize there is a total package -- rather than the perfect package you saw when you first started hanging with them."
If couples stay together long enough, they move into the final stage, Wilmarth said.
"That's when you make a commitment. In resolution you agree to dislike the person -- or certain things about them -- but to continue to love them."
But when you throw money into marriage, you're not talking about relationships, you're talking economics, Wilmarth said.
"It depends upon the conditions upon which you are filing, but when you say 'irretrievably broken,' you're basically saying you're in constriction," he said. "And when couples don't realize this is a normal course, they don't focus on the kinds of things couples can do to begin to accept one another."
For instance, in cases where people have extramarital relationships, they begin to believe they really should be with that "other" person because the extramarital relationship stays in expansion -- the first phase. It's all good, all positive attention all the time.
"That's why affairs last so long -- it's easy because it's always about the positive when all you're doing is shacking up with them on the weekend," Wilmarth said.
We'll have to wait for the details of Shaq's divorce, he said.
But it's going to cost him.
Tuesday, September 4, 2007
It's Health Week at have some cake! Enjoy - A Personal Message to you all.
Hey Friends,
Some of you know I had to lose a lot of weight quickly for serious health reasons. Well, I'm glad to so say I'm on my way! Back in May my weight was at 307 pounds, the largest I have ever been. It was my last trip to DC back for Memorial Day weekend I fully realized I had a problem. I couldn't dance like I wanted. I was tired all day. My head was aching the whole time and my knee was killing me. I announced my retirement. I thought I was too old to keep up. It turns out that it was not my age, but my body was in trouble. I know now that thirty-five is still too young to sit down and let the kids keep playing.
At the beginning of June I went to urgent care because of a the pain and the doctor sent me to a heart specialist that same day! He said I had to go now because my heart was not beating right and my blood pressure was over 200. Well I cried right there. As I went to the heart center I called my grandmother and a friend because I was a wreck. My grandmother and my friend both told me to calm down and pray. I did just that stopped and prayed. God got me to the place and to my shock my friend got in his car and walked into the office while I waited to see the doctor. Praise God! Well the Doctor told me I need to fix this now if I want to see the age of 45. See 45? I want to able to see 85 and counting just like my grandparents.
Well God stepped in.
I changed my habits.
As of Tuesday Sept 4. my weight is at 275.4 pounds. Praise God! and I'm looking forward to reaching my goal of being under 200 by June of next year. Michael promised to buy me a pair of jeans from Banana Republic if I can safely get into them. lol
I went down from 3 blood pressure medications a day to now 2 a day. Praise God! I'm having more fun. I'm eating more fruits and vegetables than meat. I'm more social and I'm looking at myself a lot more in the mirror. Praise God! Praise God! Praise God.
I'm "not no where near" perfect. I've slipped up every now and then but thanks to hard looks from my great true friend Lynette and reminders of how important this is to me, I'm walking, soon running, forward. I'm a work in progress. Excellent progess.
So have some fruit with your cake this week.
love you all, really I do
John McMillan
P.S. Thank you grandma, Thank you Kern. Thank you Jesus.
Breakfast is Necessary
Every morning, I believe, a high fiber cereal is the trick to keeping me full and regular. I like Fiber one cereals because they don't taste bad and they have at least 40 % of the required fiber I need Daily. Cereal with some fruit, such as an apple or a banana is key. I treat myself one day a week to a Bojangles chicken biscuit just so I won't go crazy. Hey and that's ok. Also, it took a while but I also have silk like vanilla soy milk with my cereal. War is hell!
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