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PHILADELPHIA (AP) — A Baltimore family is suing a Sesame Street-themed amusement park for $25 million over claims of racial discrimination, alleging multiple costumed characters ignored a 5-year-old Black girl during a meet-and-greet event last month.

The lawsuit comes in the wake of a video, shared widely on social media, showing two other Black girls apparently being snubbed by a costumed employee during a parade at the park in Langhorne, outside Philadelphia. Sesame Place apologized in a statement and promised more training for its employees after the video went viral earlier this month.

The suit, which seeks class action status, was filed in a federal court in Philadelphia against SeaWorld Parks, the owner of the Sesame Place, for “pervasive and appalling race discrimination.”

The lawsuit alleges four employees dressed as Sesame Street characters ignored Quinton Burns, his daughter Kennedi Burns and other Black guests during the meet-and-greet on June 18. The lawsuit says “SeaWorld’s performers readily engaged with numerous similarly situated white customers.”

During a press conference held Wednesday, one of the family’s attorneys, Malcolm Ruff, called for transparency from SeaWorld and for the company to compensate the Burns family. The suit was filed in the U.S. District Court for the Eastern District of Pennsylvania.

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Members of Evander Holyfield's team say Mike Tyson has rejected a $25 million guarantee to fight Holyfield on May 29 at Hard Rock Stadium in Miami Gardens, Florida.

The two sides had been in talks for months about getting Tyson & Holyfield in the ring, after Tyson fought an exhibition against Roy Jones Jr. last year that was considered a success.

Holyfield seemed to be the next opponent for Tyson in a potential exhibition -- Tyson had indicated he would be interested in doing another fight after the Jones bout -- but nothing was ever finalized.

"We thought this was a done deal but it quickly fell apart when Tyson's people declined all offers," Holyfield's manager, Kris Lawrence, said in a statement Monday. "We were negotiating in good faith all along and it appears we just ended up wasting our time."

Tyson was clearly perturbed by negotiations over the weekend, when he posted on his Instagram account that he would never work with Triller again. Triller had been the broadcaster of the Tyson-Jones fight & recently won a purse bid to put on Teofimo Lopez's title defense.

Holyfield, 58, said this past December that a third fight against Tyson "must happen for both our legacies."

Tyson-Holyfield was one of boxing's best rivalries of the 1990s. In November 1996, Holyfield, who was in the midst of a comeback from retirement, shocked a prime Tyson by scoring an 11th-round TKO victory -- a significant upset.

Holyfield also won the June 1997 rematch by fourth-round disqualification in controversial fashion as Tyson twice bit his ear (the first time ripping a piece off) in retaliation for what he perceived to be intentional head-butts.

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Source: ESPN

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Chipotle Mexican Grill has agreed to a record $25 million fine to resolve criminal charges over tainted food that sickened more than 1,100 people in the U.S., federal prosecutors said Tuesday.

The Newport Beach, California company faced charges in Los Angeles federal court for outbreaks that occurred from 2015 to 2018. As part of a three-year deferred prosecution agreement, Chipotle has agreed to institute a more rigorous program to keep food safer.

“This settlement represents an acknowledgment of how seriously Chipotle takes food safety every day and is an opportunity to definitively turn the page on past events and focus on serving our customers real food made with real ingredients that they can enjoy with confidence,” Chipotle CEO Brian Niccol said in an emailed statement.

Kerry Bridges, Chipotle’s vice president of food safety, said the company has improved food handling practices to lower the risk of foodborne illnesses over the last four years.

“These measures include reducing the number of employees who come into contact with ingredients, safeguards to minimize the risk that an ingredient is undercooked, and sophisticated microbiological testing of raw ingredients to help ensure quality and safety before they are shipped to restaurants,” Bridges said.

The fine is the largest ever in a food safety case, federal prosecutors said.

“Chipotle failed to ensure that its employees both understood and complied with its food safety protocols,” U.S. Attorney Nick Hanna for the Central District of California said in a statement. “Today’s steep penalty, coupled with the tens of millions of dollars Chipotle already has spent to upgrade its food safety program since 2015, should result in greater protections for Chipotle customers and remind others in the industry to review and improve their own health and safety practices.”

The charges stem in part to outbreaks of norovirus, which can easily be transmitted by food workers. Norovirus can cause diarrhea, vomiting, nausea and stomach pain.

Chipotle had been implicated in at least five foodborne illness outbreaks between 2015 and 2018 in restaurants in the Los Angeles area, Boston, Virginia and Ohio when store employees failed to follow safety protocols, prosecutors said.

Source: USA Today

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Leland, MS (Delta News TV) -- Growing concern at one local school, after video surfaces of a teacher hosting a twerking contest during a science class at Leland High School.

Concerned parent, Erica Haney says, "I was angry...I was disappointed...I was highly concerned and i was very disturbed."

These shocking moment caught on camera and shared on social media outraging parents.

These videos shared on Snapchat at Leland High of high schoolers participating in what students are calling a twerking competition during a chemistry class.

The most shocking part about all of this, is the teacher encouraging these acts.

"You got this kind of stuff going on during school hours...you got a teacher encouraging this," says Timonthy Haney.

The teacher is known as Mr. Miller. He is seen in this video jumping up and cheering students on.

He was doing all of this while class is in session.

"The parents and the school don't know about this issue, and if we leave it up to school board to let them know. They are never going to know." says Mr. Haney.

Mr. Miller allegedly paid the girls $25 each for participating in this contest.

The video seen online by students but not many parents.

However, when the Haneys got wind of this, they immediately contacted administrators.

"Well that night it was like eleven o'clock but i was so angry that somebody had to know." says Erica Haney

Although, administrators waited to address the issue.

Timonthy Haney says, "So they gave me their word..they was like let us handle this."

"They pushed us off the two weeks we had to wait and then we can address it," says Mrs. Haney.

With growing concerns the Haneys say the district turned the public address into a private manner.

"So it was like the whole school board and the superintendent against us..it was two against five," says Mr. Haney.

We reached out to the school district for comment.

Superintendent, Jessie King says "This was a personnel issue and was handled according to the Mississippi code of ethics."

The video published during homecoming, nearly three weeks ago. It's just now be addressed.

"I would like to see, that they hold themselves accountable. That's the biggest one, you have to know who's working in your schools." says Mr. Haney

The Haneys have a child that attend the school.

She was not in any of these videos, but for them this is more about safety concerns than anything else.

"We care you know..every one of those kids in that school deserve a chance and have the right to have an education and be safe." says Mrs. Haney

We reached out to the district as well as principal and they did not care to comment on the issue. They did say that teacher was terminated and is no longer with the district.

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The bidding has officially started.

The much talked about potential boxing match between Floyd Mayweather Jr. (49-0) vs. Conor McGregor (21-3 MMA) is starting to gain some traction.

During an appearance on First Take earlier this week, Mayweather, outlined the financial terms he would be agreeable with.

"They know what my number is. My number was a guaranteed one hundred million dollars," Floyd said. "That was my number. We're the A side and I don't really know how much money he has made before. I don't know how much money Conor McGregor has made. He hasn't even made ten million an MMA bout. But we are willing to give him fifteen million. And then we can talk about splitting the percentage ... the back end percentage on pay-per-view. How can a guy talk about twenty or thirty million if he's never even made eight or nine million?"

UFC President Dana White appeared on Fox Sports 1's "The Herd" on Friday, January 13, and said an offer of $25 million each would be fair.

According to TMZ, White countered Mayweather's argument of being the "A side," by saying The Notorious is the bigger draw because Money May's last fight against Andre Berto was so boring it diminished his negotiating power.

White, who is negotiating for McGregor because the Irish fighter is under contract with the UFC, knows there's no way a deal gets done with his offer. But, at least it's a starting point.

If the fight happens Mayweather will get the lion's share of the purse, gate and pay-per-view sales profits, as he looks to make history by becoming the only boxer to achieve a record of 50-0. 

Who would you be picking if this boxing match takes place?

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Suge Knight just collapsed in a Los Angeles courtroom. The former Death Row Records CEO was at a hearing in which the judge agreed with the prosecutor and set his bail at $25 million.

Suge tas taken by ambulance to the hospital.

Prior to Suge's collapse, his attorney Matt Fletcher had argued that the prosecutor must be watching too much "Empire." Fletcher, said, "It's like she watches "Empire" and comes in and says, 'He was an unrepentant and shameless criminal. Prosecute him.'"

Suge is accused of killing Terry Carter and running over Cle "Bone" Sloane with his truck in January. He is charged with murder, attempted premeditated murder, hit and run resulting in death and hit and run resulting in injury.

Source: TMZ

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LOS ANGELES (Associated Press) — Marion "Suge" Knight is scheduled to be back in court Friday morning after a Los Angeles prosecutor asked a judge to set bail at $25 million in the former rap music mogul's murder case, alleging he has been shaking down rappers.

The bail motion filed Thursday cites numerous threats and acts of violence by Knight dating back to the mid-1990s. It accuses him of being part of an extortion ring that targets up-and-coming and established rappers and has been paid more than $10 million in recent years. It also states Knight has made threats over the upcoming film "Straight Outta Compton," which chronicles the rise of iconic rap group N.W.A.

The co-founder of Death Row Records was a key player in the gangster rap scene that flourished in the 1990s, his label once listing Dr. Dre, Tupac Shakur and Snoop Dogg among its artists. Knight lost control of the company after it was forced into bankruptcy.

Knight has been held without bail since early February, when he was charged with murder, attempted murder and hit-and-run after authorities say he struck two men with his pickup truck in a Compton parking lot. Terry Carter, 55, was killed in the crash.

Terry Carter (left) and Cle "Bone" Sloane were run over by Suge Knight's truck

Knight has pleaded not guilty, and his attorneys have said Knight was ambushed. A phone message for Knight's attorney, Matthew Fletcher, was not returned Thursday.

If Knight attempts to post bail, Deputy District Attorney Cynthia Barnes has requested that he prove the money has not come from illegal activities.

If Los Angeles Superior Court Judge Ronald Coen grants bail, Knight would either have to post the entire amount in cash or pay a bond company 8 percent of the bail amount and the company would put up the whole amount, Los Angeles criminal defense attorney Lou Shapiro said.

The bond company would keep Knight's money — $2 million if bail is set at $25 million — as its fee, Shapiro said.

Barnes' bail motion includes a summary of a heavily redacted police report taken last year from someone who claims Knight issued threats over "Straight Outta Compton."

"Knight was angry that he was not compensated for his likeness in the movie," the motion says. It adds that Knight warned the unidentified victim that he was prepared to attack over the film and would target former N.W.A. members Dr. Dre and Ice Cube.

The prosecutor's motion also cites Knight's 1994 conviction on a federal firearms charge and a 1995 conviction on two counts of assault with a firearm that led to a lengthy prison sentence.

"Since his release from prison custody, defendant Knight has continued his repugnant life of crime," the motion states before listing allegations that include battery, criminal threats, extortion and assault.

Sheriff's Sgt. Richard Biddle said detectives began looking into the extortion scheme after Knight was shot six times last year at a West Hollywood nightclub on the weekend of the MTV Video Music Awards.

Knight has complained that he is suffering from complications from his wounds. He told a judge at a hearing earlier this month that he is blind in one eye and has limited vision in his other eye.

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Anthony McCartney can be reached at http://twitter.com/mccartneyAP

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Dame Dash has grown tired of director Lee Daniels stiffing him on business loans. The former Roc-A-Fella Records co-founder has filed a lawsuit seeking $25 million, according to TMZ.

The dealings between the two go back as far as the 2004 movie The Woodsman. Dame says Daniels convinced him to invest $2 million in the film and never paid him a dime in compensation.

Dame claims he also invested in The Butler, The Paperboy and Precious. In addition to being screwed financially, Dame says he didn't get executive producer and producer credits on the films as promised.

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Lil Wayne is still planning to hang up the mic after releasing Tha Carter V, but like everything else in life, money talks and bullsh*t walks.

During a recent sit down with MTV's Rob Markman, Weezy said he has a hefty price tag if Birdman wants to see another solo album out of him after the final installment of Tha Carter album series.

"25 to 35 million would get me to do another solo album after this. I didn't smile when I said that. I personally plan on this being my final solo album," The Young Money CEO said. "It's definitely the final Carter album. It's the final Carter album. We're stopping at five. I plan on it being my final solo album," he continued. "Whenever I have to pitch in for a Young Money album, a Like Father, Like Son album and something like that and maybe something out the blue. The reason being [is] the way I'm working on this album. To me, it seems like it will be impossible for me to work this hard again for anything else."

Is Wayne really walking away? Or just putting Baby on notice that he should get his checkbook out?

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With her first three albums Lady Gaga delivered huge sales and profits to Interscope Records, but her fourth album, ARTPOP, is not meeting sales expectations.

Interscope spent $25 million promoting the album which will sell around 250,000 copies in it's first week, according to Billboard. Those numbers represent a 75% drop-off from her previous album, Born This Way, which got a big boost by way of a 99 cents per album sales promotion via Amazon on 2 days during it's opening week.

Although ARTPOP will debut at No. 1 on the Billboard 200, a lot of media outlets are calling the album a flop. Her performance over the weekend on Saturday Night Live failed to give the project a boost in sales that was expected.

How bad have things gotten? The Examiner reports that some of Gaga'a fans a.k.a. Little Monsters were advertising gay sex online to people who would buy 30 copies of ARTPOP.

Interscope will be looking for ways to recoup the promotional costs spent on the album. Could employee layoffs be on the horizon as the Business Insider suggests?

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Comedian Tracy Morgan is catching flack from relatives for failing to help his mother save her home from foreclosure.

Alicia Warden told the New York Daily News she owes less than $25,000 on her Ohio home, but her son who is worth $18 million dollars would only offer her a one time payment of $2000.

Warden says that Morgan initially agreed to pay off the home, then reneged after accusing her of granting the media an interview. A claim she denies.

Morgan's younger sister, Asia Morgan, 41, confirms her mom's dire financial problems which she attributes to her failing health. Asia said she was going to keep quiet about the situation, but it's reached the point where she can no longer be silent.

“He’s never been a nice person,” says Asia of her famous brother. “And money’s just made it worse. My mom’s house isn’t extravagant, but it’s her home, Her health is failing. She has diabetes, and her legs are giving out on her. This would be a drop in the bucket for Tracy. She has a son that can do, and she’s done everything that she could possibly could for her family.”

Morgan's mom lost her job in February 2011, and her unemployment benefits have run out. Her utilities are about to be cut off and she is also close to losing her car. She asked her son for help and got a call back from someone who worked for him.

“Tracy’s offering you a one-shot deal” of $2,000 she was told. Warden turned down the meager offer out of pride.

“I told her, ‘Thank you, but no thank you. I’m not some person in the street,” Warden says. “That was the straw that broke the camel’s back. God don’t like ugly. Karma comes back to you.”

There are obviously two side to every story. The New York Daily News reached out to Tracy for a response and didn't get one.

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