Videos After The JumpPhilly.com Reports
PHILADELPHIA - A school counselor suffering an apparent heart attack died in a Philadelphia emergency room after waiting nearly 80 minutes for help , and a trio of homeless drug addicts nearby stole his watch instead of seeking aid, police said.Joaquin Rivera, 63, died before seeing a triage nurse at Atria Health's Frankford Campus over the weekend, police said.
Rivera, a musician and activist in the city's Latino community, had spent more than 30 years working as a bilingual counselor at an inner-city high school.
"We're all destroyed. A guy like that, for him to leave us the way that he did , and with what happened to him , everybody's destroyed," said Jesse Bermudez, a friend and fellow musician.
Rivera's cruel end was captured on security videotape, much like the June 2008 death of Esmin Green, who died on a hospital floor as staffers at Kings County Hospital Center in Brooklyn ignored her. Green's family recently settled a lawsuit against the city for $2 million.
Rivera had walked to the Northeast Philadelphia hospital late Saturday from his home a few blocks away after pain started shooting down his right side. He registered at 10:45 p.m. and took a seat, chatting for about 20 minutes with two men and a woman nearby.
Based on witness accounts, police believe Rivera passed out about an hour later. Security video then shows one of the men steal his watch and briefly pass it to the other.
"There's no resistance from Mr. Rivera at all, which is why we believe he's probably dead. There's no stirring from him," said Capt. Jack McGinnis, a city detective.
The second suspect is then seen by doctors, and a security guard arrives to ask his sleeping companions to leave. A witness first reports that Rivera may be dead.
At 12:04 a.m., he is pronounced dead.
"You would hope he would have died with dignity," McGinnis said.
Aria Health offered condolences to the family Tuesday but otherwise declined comment, citing patient confidentiality and the pending criminal case.
McGinnis describes the three suspects as homeless drug addicts. Police arrested one of them, 44-year-old Richard Alten, at the hospital and a second one, Martin Smith later. The third suspect is still being sought.
Detectives have seen the video footage, but Aria Health had not yet produced a copy for them, McGinnis said. Police hope to publicize it to find the missing pair.
Drug addicts, he said, will steal from family , or the dead.
"It seems despicable, but they would do it," McGinnis said. "(The death) seemed like a perfect opportunity."
Alten remains in custody, and the public defender's office representing him declined comment.
A preliminary ruling suggests Rivera died of hypertension. He is survived by his wife and three children.
Rivera also leaves behind a rich musical legacy that includes local radio and TV appearances in which he shared the music he learned as a boy in the mountains of Cayey, Puerto Rico. He also inspired countless Olney High School students to attend college, Bermudez said.
Bermudez last saw his friend Saturday afternoon, when they played together at Centro Musical, a neighborhood music store that serves as a gathering place for Latino musicians.
"Without him, the traditional folk music of Puerto Rico wouldn't be alive here in Philadelphia," Bermudez said.
Joaquin Rivera Being Robbed As He DiesTwo Men Arrested In Robbery
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Video After The Jump
First Rihanna appeared on ABC's 20/20, now Chris Brown has his turn. Chris is still facing an uphill battle as he fights the stigma that comes with being labeled a 'woman-abuser'. In this interview he was candid and open, repeating that he was sorry for what happened several times. He also contradicted Rihanna when she told ABC's Diane Sawyer that she hadn't heard the song "Changed Man" he wrote for her a month after the incident. Chris said he played the song for Rihanna and she cried.
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Video After The JumpThe Youngest In Charge, Cory Gunz unleashes visuals for one the hottest tracks off of his "Heir To The Throne" mixtape. In this Pulp Fiction inspired video directed by John Columbo, Cory keeps his cool and keeps spitting while the restaurant he's in is getting jacked.
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Video After The Jump
EOnline Reports
Katt Williams needs a hobby that doesn't involve law enforcement.
After having been arrested at least three times in the last three years, the otherwise-quite-successful comedian upped the ante and has been arrested two times in the last two months.
And that doesn't include being detained for questioning at a Wal-Mart in Newnan, Ga., today.
Per TMZ, Williams, who's facing burglary and trespassing charges for what he has called a mixup between him and "two stupid detectives," was arrested earlier this week over an issue with his bond.
He posted $41,150 bail last month after being accused of breaking into his friend's guest house and stealing cash and rare coins.
Today, however, Williams got off without seeing the inside of a jail.
Police responded to a 911 call from a Wal-Mart patron who claimed a member of Williams' entourage broke out a shotgun during some sort of altercation in the parking lot.
The Pimpadelic comic was handcuffed and questioned in the back of a squad car but released without being formally busted. Two people were charged with disorderly conduct, according to Newnan police.
While Williams has a long way to go to equal the streak DMX was on last year, he'd best nip his proclivity for trouble-making in the bud before he ends up behind bars for 90 days.
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Video After The JumpMSNBC Reports
PERUGIA, Italy - American college student Amanda Knox was found guilty of murdering her British roommate and sentenced to 26 years in prison early Saturday after a year-long trial that gripped Italy and drew intense media attention.
Her Italian ex-boyfriend Raffaele Sollecito was also convicted and sentenced to 25 years. They were also convicted of sexual assault in the 2007 murder of Meredith Kercher, a 21-year-old student from England.
As soon as the judge read the verdict just after midnight following some 13 hours of deliberations, Knox began weeping and murmured, “No, no,” then hugged one of her lawyers.
Minutes later, the 22-year-old Knox, who is from Seattle and the 25-year-old Sollecito, were put in police vans with sirens blaring and driven back to jail.
Prosecutors had sought life imprisonment, Italy’s stiffest sentence. Courts often give less severe punishment than what prosecutors demand.
'Just wrong'
The American’s father, Curt Knox, asked if he would fight on for his daughter, replied, with tears in his eyes: “Hell, yes.”
“This is just wrong,” her stepmother, Cassandra Knox, said, turning around immediately after hearing the verdict. Her family had insisted she was innocent and a victim of character assassination.
One of Knox’s lawyers, Luciano Ghirga, was asked if she was desperate.
“Yes, I challenge anyone not to be,” he replied.
A group of local youths who gathered outside the courthouse shouted insults and “assassin” at the Knox entourage as they walked in to hear the verdict.
The family said Knox will appeal the verdict.
Knox and Sollecito were charged with murder and sexual assault in the slaying of Meredith Kercher more than two years ago. All three were studying in Perugia in Italy's central Umbria region at the time.
Meridith Kercher
Kercher's body was found in a pool of blood with her throat slit on Nov. 2, 2007, in the bedroom of the house she shared with Knox. Prosecutors contended the 21-year-old Leeds University student was murdered the previous night.
Kercher family lawyer Francesco Maresca called the verdict and sentence “satisfactory” for the family, but he acknowledged that the defendants’ loved ones were also pained.
“There is deep suffering on all sides,” Maresca said, adding that Kercher's family planned to hold a news conference late on Saturday.
Knox, who is from Seattle, and Sollecito, had been jailed since shortly after the slaying.
Raffaele Sollecito
Relatives and friends in Seattle clasped hands as they watched TV and waited for the verdict. Her uncle, Mick Huff, cried, "Oh God, no" when it was announced.
Other friends buried their faces in their hands and shook their heads.
"They didn't listen to the facts of the case," said Elisabeth Huff, Knox's grandmother. "All they did was listen to the media's lies."
Madison Paxton, a friend of Knox's, said: "They're convicting a made-up person. They they're convicting 'foxy Knoxy.' That's not Amanda."
In a statement, the family said: "We are extremely disappointed in the verdict rendered today against our daughter. ... It appears clear to us that the attacks on Amanda's character in much of the media and by the prosecution had a significant impact on the judges and jurors and apparently overshadowed the lack of evidence in the prosecution's case against her."
'Fumes of drugs'
The prosecutors contend on the night of the murder, Knox and Sollecito met at the apartment where Kercher and Knox lived. They say a fourth person was there, Rudy Hermann Guede, an Ivory Coast citizen who has been convicted in the murder and sentenced to 30 years in prison. Guede, who is appealing his conviction, says he was in the house the night of the murder but did not kill Kercher.
Rudy Guede
The prosecution says Knox and Kercher started arguing, and that Knox joined the two men in brutally attacking and sexually assaulting the Briton under "the fumes of drugs and possibly alcohol."
Throughout the trial, prosecutors depicted Knox as a promiscuous and manipulative she-devil whose personality clashed with her roommate's. They say Knox had grown to hate Kercher.
During the trial, the most intimate details of Knox's life were examined, from her lax hygiene — allegedly a point of contention with Kercher — to her sex life, even including a sex toy.
Knox said Kercher was a friend whose slaying shocked and saddened her.
Defense lawyers have described the American, who made the dean's list at the University of Washington, as a smart and cheerful woman, at one point even comparing her to film character Amelie, the innocent and dreamy girl in the 2001 French movie of the same title.
That is the film Knox and Sollecito say they were watching at his home on the night of the murder, where they say they smoked marijuana and had sex. Knox said she went home the next morning to find the door to the house open and Kercher dead.
The prosecution maintains that a 6 1/2-inch knife authorities found at Sollecito's house could be the murder weapon; they say Kercher's DNA was found on the blade and Knox's on the handle. However, defense lawyers argue the knife was too big to match Kercher's wounds and the amount of DNA collected was too small to determine with certainty whose it was.
'Violence is purposeless'
The defense maintained there was not enough evidence for a conviction and no clear motive.
However, prosecutor Manuela Comodi said violent crimes can lack a motive. "We live at a time where violence is purposeless," she told the jury.
Knox gave contradictory versions of the night of the slaying, saying at one point she was home and had to cover her ears to block out Kercher's screams and accusing a Congolese man of the killing. The man, Patrick Diya Lumumba, owns a pub in Perugia where Knox worked. He was jailed briefly but was later cleared and is seeking defamation damages from Knox.
Patrick Lumumba Diya
Knox later contended that police pressure led her to initially accuse an innocent man.
Looks like the Tila Tequila vs Rihanna Beef Is Officially On. Tila wasted no time firing back at RiRi after hearing her taking shots on the radio this morning. Peep what Tila has to say below.
From TilasHotSpotHIDDEN SECRETS REVEALED FROM INSIDE SOURCES: RIHANNA HAS HERPES!!!!!!!!!! OMGGGG!
Wow, I'm sorry girlfriend, but you were cool until u decided to open up your mouth about me so I have no choice. Everyone in the entertainment industry knows, you just do not f*ck with Tila Tequila and think you can get away with it! Even Perez Hilton knows that(that's another inside story I have about him & myself, but I will post about that in another blog).
So everyone, yes.....I heard from legit sources, that is the HUGE SECRET our prestine, perfect little Princess RiRi, the "IDOL" has been hiding from the media. A very close source of mine, who works in the same legal camp as Rihanna, has told me that the reason why Rihanna wasn't speaking out about the CHRIS BROWN incident is because there was a catch 22 in it. Rihanna has herpes, and....well......I don't wanna put anyone else on blast, but Rihanna has herpes and gave someone else herpes that she had slept with.
My sources are very legit, and they work in Rihanna's legal camp, and that is how I know! SO RIHANNA HAS HERPES, STD'S & WAS SCARED TO SPEAK OUT ABOUT IT CUZ SHE DIDN'T WANT THE WORLD TO KNOW THAT SHE HAS HERPES AND INFECTED SOMEONE ELSE WITH IT! BAD RIHANNA!
So while you cascade around town, acting like yo sh*t don't stink, and leading the media and your fans into thinking that you are a strong woman, and idol, well....it's a shame you had to trick them into thinking you are, because truth is, you're ruining other people's lives, infecting people with your STD's, and walking around getting praised and loving the sympathy, when really, in real life you are just a major b*tch who could give 2 shits about your fans and all the people who have been supporting you! Including myself! You dont even acknowledge your fans, you know, the people who got you famous??? Yes....those people. THE FANS! The ones that I, myself, acknowledge 247 all the time because if it weren't for my fans, I would not be here today! I love my fans, I don't lie to my fans to make them like me more, and everyone knows it. I have my flaws, but I put it out there, and I let my fans decide on whether they agree with the things I do or not. Im real, and I don't care what anyone has to say about me. All I do is mind my own business, and play with my fans.
But since you're still cascading around town like you're a prefect little princess, angel.....honey I hate to burst your bubbles.....but yes....yo sh*t really do stink, and even worse.....yo sh*t has STD's, known as HERPES, down in your private area.
So.....that's about it. Sorry I had to tell the world your DIRTY SECRET, but you left me no choice girlfriend. I knew about your secret for A VERY LONG TIME, but I never told anyone because that was not my business......but since you wanna play dirty with me......oh....you best believe I will give it to you good girlfriend! POW!
Rihanna has STD's and Herpes everyone! & that is the truth from my legit source that has told me. YIKES! So boys, be careful when u wanna tap that ass, cuz that ass will give your d*ck Herpes if you dont put 3 condoms over it! EWWW!
THE END!
Sincerely,
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Video After The JumpWho says real men don't cry? Allen Iverson, a sure fire Hall Of Famer and also one of the toughest players to ever play in the NBA let his emotions get the best of him during a press conference announcing his return to the Philadephia 76'ers. A.I. wanted the world to know that he came back to prove he still has what it takes to dominate the game.
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Vibe Reports
The Jigga Man is not the only MC with the skills to spit well into his golden years. While we wait for Q-Tip, Redman, and Ghostface Killah to cross the big 4-0 in 2010, here are five vets who prove they are not ready to go gentle into that good night.
Raekwon
Age: 41
O.G. Status: The Chef and Staten Island crew first warned the rap industry they were "nothing to fuck with" on their riveting 1993 debut Enter the Wu-Tang (36 Chambers). Two years later, Raekwon unleashed what many critics view as the most impactful solo album from a Wu-Tang Clan member--Only Built 4 Cuban Linx. The aftermath? Rae's cocaine-laced street lyricism took crime rhyme to daring, uncharted heights producing one of hip hop's true storied works.
Why He Shouldn't Hang Up The Mic Just Yet: Almost 15 years later, Rae proves that the long-delayed, but scarily focused and verbally relentless sequel Only Built For Cuban Linx... Pt. II was well-worth the wait. What took you so long?
Show & Prove: Raekwon keeps it grimy on "Surgical Gloves."
Rakim
Age: 41
O.G. Status: By the time Eric B & Rakim's 1986 game-changing Paid In Full dropped, the God MC had already re-imagined the course of hip hop, creating a complex rhyme cadence, elevated verbiage and a labyrinth-like flow that would be praised, dissected and followed by MC's for the next 20 plus years. Yeah, he was that good.
Why He Shouldn't Hang Up The Mic Just Yet: Because Rakim is not resting on his legacy as rap's most influential lyricist. On his third solo effort, The Seventh Seal, the Microphone Field still aspires to greatness, crafting layered, rewind-worthy lines (over somewhat lackluster production; but that's another story) that rappers half his age could only dream of.
Show & Prove: Rakim delivers the goods on "Satisfaction Guaranteed."
KRS-One
Age: 44
O.G. Status: Blastmaster helped give birth to gangsta rap (Boogie Down Productions' Criminal Minded, 1986); penned the most celebrated diss record of all-time not named "Ether" ("The Bridge Is Over"); made social consciousness cool (KRS led the all-star "Self Destruction" charity single in 1989 in response to rising violence in urban communities); and provided the template for hip hop longevity well into the '90s.
Why He Shouldn't Hang Up The Mic Just Yet: Listen to KRS-One's defiant collaboration with legendary Brooklyn spitter Buckshot (this year's confident Survival Skill) Does he sound like a man ready for his gold watch?
Show & Prove: KRS-One shuts down the BET 2009 Cypher.
Posdnuos
Age: 40
O.G. Status: After you ponder the staggering realization that De La Soul is currently celebrating the 20th Anniversary of their 1989 landmark introduction 3 Feet High And Rising (where did the time go?!!!), do yourself a favor and Google any verse from group member Posdnuos. What you will find is a criminally slept on talent who is as lyrically layered (and at times perplexing) as he is honest.
Why He Shouldn't Hang Up The Mic Just Yet: Check out De La's Nike-backed Are You In?--part of the athletic shoe giant's acclaimed Original Run series. Pos hasn't lost a step.
Show & Prove: Plug One makes you a believer on "Big Mouf."
LL Cool J
Age: 41
O.G. Status: His game-changing debut Radio launched hip hop's most storied label Def Jam. Twenty-five million albums later, LL is a bonafied music icon.
Why He Shouldn't Hang Up The Mic Just Yet: We can forgive him for his uneven Def Jam swan song Exit 13 (2008) after hearing a hungry LL on his mixtape The Return of the G.O.A.T. Hey, maybe he'll even find time to get back in the booth when he's not busy with his gig on CBS's NCIS: Los Angeles.
Show & Prove: LL goes in on "Laptop Gangstaz."
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Video After The JumpAfter all the allegations, affairs, and payoffs, something funny finally comes out of theTiger Woodscheating saga. HalfDayToday.comremixed Tiger's voice mail to one of his jump offs into a hilarious slow jam. Props to them for the lols.
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MTV Reports
Former Pretty Ricky singer Pleasure P has responded to child-molestation allegations against him that surfaced this week on an Atlanta blogger's personal Web site.
In the post, an anonymous reader sent a message claiming Pleasure P (real name Marcus Cooper) inappropriately touched younger family members; several documents alleged to come from a settlement were also posted on the site, as well as disparaging tweets from the daughter of the attorney who allegedly represented the singer.
The former Pretty Ricky star took to his personal site to issue a statement that staunchly refutes the accusations, calling them "100-percent false" and "vile."
The singer also denied knowing Ashley or Laura Goldstein, whom the Twitter updates were attributed to. Pleasure P said he was never represented by an attorney by the name of Goldstein.
"All of the recent rumors and accusations that are being circulated about me are 100-percent false," the statement reads. "They are disgusting and vile, and they are being spread by individuals with their own sick agendas. The purported documents that are also being circulated are forgeries. I have never met or known anyone by the name of 'AGoldstein' or Laura Goldstein or Ashley Goldstein, which I believe are fictitious names. I have never been represented by an attorney named Goldstein. For someone to go to such depths to assassinate my character and slander my good name is truly criminal. My attorneys are investigating this matter and will take all necessary and appropriate action to protect my name and reputation."
According to the allegations, the case against Pleasure P reportedly took place in 2004 and a settlement was later negotiated. The information in the blog also notes that the singer was instructed to attend counseling and perform community service. The anonymous tipster claims the singer never paid his legal bills and as a result, his attorney's assistant, also his daughter, tweeted about the court documents.
The news comes on the heels of Pleasure P receiving multiple Grammy nominations for his solo debut album, The Introduction of Marcus Cooper, released earlier this year.
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TMZ Reports
Sources tell TMZ Rachel Uchitel did not make any financial deal with Tiger Woods -- and there are two reasons she torpedoed her scheduled news conference yesterday -- fear and secrets.
Sources say in the wee hours of the morning yesterday, after many phone calls back and forth between Rachel, Tiger and their reps, Rachel decided not to come out fighting at a news conference. She walked away without taking a cent from Tiger Woods. One very connected source said, "This was absolutely not about money."
Sources say Rachel became "scared for her safety" because she knows so much about Tiger, his alleged affairs and a variety of other Woods matters. We're told Tiger confided in Rachel ... she knows specifics about "other women," as well as information about Tiger's marriage.
The sources were quick to point out, Rachel does not fear Tiger, as much as she fears all the other people caught in what is becoming a very large net.
Rachel, we're told, just wants to disappear for a while.
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Video After The JumpBallerStatus Reports
Nas was apparantly busted on a DUI charge back in September and was later released.
According to TMZ, the rapper (real name: Nasir Jones) was riding with his brother in Georgia in September, and was pulled over after police spotted his Cadillac Escalade truck driving erratically on the interstate.
During the routine stop, police smelled marijuana from inside the vehicle, and asked Nas to step out of the vehicle. He then performed a field sobriety test on Nas, which he failed and was subsequently arrested.
An arrest report said Nas had "droopy" eyes and was unable to fully complete several tasks, including standing on one leg.
The arresting officer described Nas at the time as having "redding of the conjunctiva in both eyes, rebound dilation in both eyes, a green tongue with raised taste buds, and his pulse was raised to 116 beats per minute."
He was taken to a nearby police station, where he was charged with one count of driving under the influence and released.
Nas reportedly admitted to smoking marijuana two hours prior to being pulled over. His brother (real name: Jabari Jones) was also arrested when police seized a bag of marijuana belonging to him.
While TMZ says he was cleared of the charges, other reports indicate that Nas is scheduled to appear in court at a future date.
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HipHopWired Reports
It's funny how perception does a full tailspin as a person becomes progressively famous. As an artist continues to get the embrace of the mainstream, especially those in Hip Hop , questions begin to arise as to how they were able to claim that success and there is even speculation that is business being dealt with evils.
Since “D'Evils,” Jay-Z has been heavily scrutinized by many that feel as though he looks at himself as God and as a member of a secret society that is trying to usher in a new world order.
Churches have been the venue for preachers to find “hidden message” within his music such as “Luficer” where he allegedly proclaims, ‘Murder, murder, Jesus, Jesus.
Pastor Claims Jay-Z Song "Lucifer" Has Demonic Message
The most recent attack is from a young youth pastor that made the claim that “Empire State of Mind” was telling people that they cannot depend on Jesus to save them.
Youth Pastor Calls Jay-Z Out For Dissing Jesus On "Empire State Of Mind"
Even the visual for “Run This Town” was interpreted by some as his imagery for the world once a new order is finally established, if it's not already in the process.
50 Cent recently spoke with Rolling Stone and made the statement that Jay-Z only looks for his own best interests and has a mentality as though he's above everyone else.
“He has a king complex, he thinks he's fucking Jesus, you know what I mean? This J-Hova shit."
Usually known for his subliminal shots instead of attacking a problem head on, the rapper has finally taken the direct approach to the latest to make the statement that he goes against God.
Back in 2006, hoping to finally dead the allegation, the rapper conducted an interview with radio host Egypt on New York's Power 105.1 to address the allegations that have been made against him.
At the time, a man known as Craig Lewis of EX Ministries developed a DVD titled, The Truth Behind Hip Hop, labeling Jay as a culprit in working with the devil.
“He should be arrested, seriously. My position is not unlike anyone else who ascends to the top of their field. That comes with the game. But that's crazy. That might be the craziest one I've had.”
Although not a man to find his way into the church to praise, he adds that he still maintains a relationship with God no matter what his particular opinion is on religion.
“Nah, I'm more spiritual that [having] organized religion. I have a personal relationship with God…I believe in karma, I believe in cause and effect…but religion, I have my opinions about religion.”
From throwing up the diamond signs, “symbolizing” pyramids to secret handshakes between himself and Nas to rumors of him being a Freemason, the rapper has been the poster child to what some would perceive as being a hidden evil consuming the Hip Hop world.
People feeling that he has the ability to fire Charlamagne Tha God and keep Chris Brown from performing are all indications of the fact that some look at Hov as having the power to have complete control over what goes on in music.
Jay-Z doesn't stand alone as being under fire of devil worship as rappers such as Snoop Dogg, Bone Thugs and DMX have allegedly negotiated with the force of darkness in order to make it in the music world.
Religion, an aspect of life meant to instill some sense of hope and a desire for a better life has been heavily misconstrued as time had progressed. How can a person find belief in something when others are so quick to shun the idea of individual beliefs and opinions?
Condemning an artist's success to embracing evil is what causes such a separation throughout the country and the world.
Lack of understanding and an unwillingness to comprehend difference is a weak trait to have an feed to others.
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Video After The JumpDailyFinance.com Reports
Count me among those who do not think highly of people who have extra-marital affairs. The "good news" is that society has a way of making people pay for such transgressions, especially if you are a guy who makes a hefty living hitting little white balls around grassy landscapes. In the case of Tiger Woods, whose middle-of-the-night car accident last week brought to light allegations that the golfer was involved in an affair, the payment is pretty steep.
Not only has Woods issued a public apology on his web site, but the The Daily Beast reports that he will pay his wife, Elin Nordegren, $5 million upfront and another $55 million to persuade her to stay in their marriage for another 24 months.
Like many couples with tens of millions of dollars in their bank accounts, Woods and Nordegren have a prenuptial agreement -- and a big one at that. US Weekly reports that the prenup is worth $300 million, but other news outlets say it's a more modest amount. Either way, Nordegren was already entitled to a nice chunk of change.
According to The Daily Beast, the pre-nuptial agreement they signed in October 2004 would award Nordegren $20 million just for sticking with Woods for 10 years. But now that allegations of affairs with two women -- Jaimee Grubbs and Rachel Uchitel-- are making headlines, it looks like that contract is being tossed out the window and the couple are negotiating new, more lucrative terms for Nordegren.
Instead of waiting until 2014 for her $20 million payday, Nordegren will only need to stay married to Tiger until October 2011 and by doing so, will get more than twice what she was entitled to under the original pre-nup, according to The Daily Beast. The new agreement would also pay Nordegren more if she stayed even longer -- a staggered schedule of payments over five years that could top $75 million.
Getting that grand sum of $80 million (the $5 million she's getting upfront, plus the $75 million in the new pre-nup), however, will require Nordegren to stay with Tiger for another seven years, show up with him at social events and in public as if they were still the perfect couple, and sign a nondisclosure form that will prevent her from ever telling her story.
From Tiger's perspective, this is probably a good deal. After all, $80 million is a mere 8% of his $1 billion in career earnings as calculated by Forbes. An earlier Forbes report indicates that Woods has won more than $80 million on the golf course. Annual prize money, Forbes says, accounts for under 15% of his income. Sponsorship deals with Nike (NKE), Accenture (ACN), AT&T (T), Gatorade, and Procter & Gamble's (PG) Gillette pay him at least $100 million a year.
For now, all these sponsors are sticking with him. The jury is still out on whether they would view a serial adulterer as a good image for their products and services over the longer term.
So if Tiger can pay $80 million to stay married to Nordegren and somehow buff his image back to where those sponsors will want to keep forking over the cash, it would be a good investment. Of course, Tiger would still need to keep winning golf tournaments.
Elin
Meanwhile, I wonder whether he thinks his extracurricular activities were worth the price he's paying in Nordegren's eyes.
Video After The Jump
From TrueCrimeReport.com
13-year-old Hope Witsell was like any other girl from the distant, rural suburbs of Tampa -- blond, perhaps a bit awkward and pimply, and desperately trying to make herself shine for the boy she was sweet on.
So, as 13-year-olds are prone to do, she made a very bad move. She sent the boy a picture of herself topless. As you can imagine, this didn't turn out so well.
Someone using the boy's phone intercepted the photo. And he naturally had to share this treasure with everyone else. Soon, the picture was not just a must-see at Beth Shields Middle School, but at surrounding schools as well...
It got Hope the attention she craved, but not in a good way. Her friends would surround her like body guards as she walked the hallways at school, trying to fend off the cruelty of classmates as they yelled "whore" and "slut."
"The hallways were not fun at that time," friend Lane James told the St. Petersburg Times. "She'd walk into class and somebody would say, 'Oh, here comes the slut.' "
The taunting no doubt got to the girl. "Tons of people talk about me behind my back and I hate it because they call me a whore!" she wrote in her diary. "And I can't be a whore. I'm too inexperienced. So secretly, TONS of people hate me."
Hope Witsell
School officials discovered the photo shortly after the spring semester ended. The A and B student would be suspended for the first week of the next school year, administrators told her parents. Mom and Dad responded by grounding her for the summer.
But she was allowed to attend a Future Farmers of America convention in Orlando. That's where Hope fell to stupid decision-making again. The boys staying across the hall badgered her for a photo of her boobs, and she eventually complied.
When school began this fall, administrators banned her from being a student adviser to the farm group. And Hope admitted to her parents that she was now being unmercifully ridiculed as the local skank.
In September, school counselors found that she'd been cutting herself. Unfortunately, these were paint-by-the-numbers education people. They did have her sign a "no-harm contract," agreeing to talk to an adult whenever she felt like cutting, but for some reason they didn't see fit to contact her parents.
"I'm done for sure now," Hope wrote in her diary the next day. "I can feel it in my stomach. I'm going to try and strangle myself. I hope it works."
Her mom went to Hope's bedroom that evening to kiss her goodnight. That's when she found Hope hanging from from the canopy of her bed, a pink scarf tied around her neck. She was rushed to a hospital, where she was pronounced dead.
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