Toya Wright Brothers - In Memory of Rudy & Josh Johnson (Footage Inside) Toya Wright at the ATL Premiere of "Growing Up Hip Hop" on January 5, 2016 in Atlanta, Georgia. Credit: Prince Williams/WireImage
Reality star Toya Wrights two brothers, Rudy and Josh Johnson, were shot and killed in New Orleans on Sunday, July 31, according to reports.
New Orleans police discovered two young men who had been shot multiple times inside a car in the citys 7th Ward shortly after midnight on Sunday morning. The victims were pronounced dead at the scene, according to the New Orleans Police Department.
Celebrity Deaths in 2016: Stars Weve Lost
Although officials have yet to confirm the identities of the men, Wrights family members confirmed that the victims were her two brothers, according to local news outlet NOLA.com.
The heartbreaking news comes just three days after Wright, 32, reportedly filed for divorce from her husband, Mickey Memphitz Wright, after five years of marriage. She was previously married to rapperLil Wayne, with whom she shares 17-year-old daughter Reginae, from February 2004 to January 2006.
"Marriage Boot Camp": Memphitz Explodes at Toya "Shut the F--k Up!" "Boot Camp": Tara Reid Dances on Table, Complains to Producer Tara Reid"s Boyfriend Says "She"s Train-Wrecking" Most Shocking Celebrity Deaths of All Time
Shortly after news broke about Wrights brothers, several stars took to social media to pay their condolences.
The Toya: A Family Affair alums frenemy K. Michelle tweeted a series of messages, writing, I would DM u but we blocked each other long ago. I just received word of ur loss. Even though weve never met my heart hurts 4u. Nobody deserves that type of pain. We may never be best friend but U are my sister in Christ. I pray for u and your whole family. Continue 2fight for 4ur healing. I understand sleepless nights,but the best thing is the sun comes up in the morning. No beef or hate in my heart 4 you. Only support and prayers up. Please know that G*d has a purpose on ur life. Stay strong.
Stars at Court
Hip-hop star Trina also sent her love to Wright, tweeting, Im praying for @ToyaWright her mom and her family during this horrible tragedy. My heart is heavy. Life is so short.
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Stephanie Whitfield, KHOU 6:35 PM. EST July 31, 2016
KATY, Texas Friends tell us a Katy couple was among those killed in the tragic hot air balloon crash in Lockhart on Saturday.
The husband and wife are Joe and Tresa Shafer Owens. A total of 16 people were killed in the crash that happened around 7:30 a.m.
A GoFundMepage has been set up on their behalf.
According to the fundraising page, Joe worked hard to provide for his family and was always willing to lend an extra hand to anyone in need.Tresa had a long time career at TigerLand Preschool and made an amazing difference in the lives of the hundreds of children she cared for, their families and also her co-workers and friends.
As of Sunday evening, more than $7,000 has been raised to help the family with funeral costs.
Howard County police chief talks about 2 deaths during Ellicott City flood
As soon as the water started rising up Tiber Alley in downtown Ellicott City, Matthew Milani owner of The Rumor Mill Fusion Bar & Restaurant started making adjustments.
First, it was small directives to his restaurant staff, without the guests knowing, to prepare for a shift to the second floor. Then, it was an announcement to the entire Saturday night dinner crowd that they would be heading upstairs.
Eventually, in the calmest voice he could muster and after counting the 47 guests and his eight staff members "a couple hundred times" to make sure all were accounted for Milani told everyone that they would have to evacuate.
And it wouldn"t be easy.
"We took them up a step ladder to the top of our walk-in, to a ladder, to the top of our roof, over a six foot privacy fence to the highest ground on St. Paul street that we could get to," Milani said.
One woman was pregnant, but she made it. Everyone did.
The waters that had forced the dramatic escape plan would go on to destroy much of the restaurant"s first floor.
"You see debris that was actually prep that you did earlier that night, containers that you fill up and use throughout service, all on the ground, silverware and glasses," Milani said. "The high water mark was about 6 1/2 feet inside."
On Sunday morning, the damage came further into focus: storefront after storefront destroyed; massive sink holes up and down the street; small businesses entirely gutted. Two people were killed.
Milani, heading into his 10th year owning the Rumor Mill, attributed their successful evacuation to teamwork.
"They knew what they had to do," he said of his staff, who he heaped with praise.
Donna Gozelanczyk, 62, and her husband Charles Gelso, 74, of Laurel, who were among the 47 guests, agreed.
"The wait staff was incredible," Gozelanczyk said Sunday morning. "They were so calm, helped us over the fence. I wasn"t at all scared last night, it was so organized."
She and her husband were back in town to see if they could find their car, which had been swept away in the flash flood.
They thought they saw it smashed into a shop farther east along the town"s Main Street than they had parked it but weren"t quite sure. It was all so surreal.
"I was fine until I got here," Gozelanczyk said, as emotion flooded her face.
For Milani, that emotion first came when he scaled the fence himself the last one out, after grabbing the insurance binder and cutting off the restaurant"s gas and electricity and his calm demeanor fell away.
"The tears just came," he said. "All your worldly possessions are gone. The way you pay your bills is gone. You"re watching it wash away."
He"s glad he kept it together as long as he did. And, he promises to be back.
"We have to make sure it"s safe before we can even start demolishing things or start throwing things away," he said. "It"s going to be a long road, but it"s going to be worth it."
You know what time it is? Time for Hollywood"s biggest stars to walk away with a brand-newsurfboard!
The 2016 Teen Choice Awardsare finally here and America"s favorite faces from movies, music and TV are heading to The Forum in Inglewood, Calif., for the star-studded awards show.
While tonight"s broadcast will feature performances from Flo Rida, Serayah, Charlie Puth and the cast of So You Think You Can Dance, viewers are also eagerly waiting to see if there favorite star won in their respective category. After all, the winners were all in the public"s hands who voted online for several weeks.
As John Cena and Victoria Justice host tonight"s show, we"ll be updating the winners throughout the night below. Stay turned to see who will be riding off into the sunset with a brand-new trophy.
Decade Award: Justin Timberlake
Story developing...more to come!
The 2016 Teen Choice Awards air Sunday night at 8 p.m. only on FOX.
The Weather Channel meteorologist Dave Schwartz has died after a long battle with cancer, according to the station. He was 63.
"It is with a heavy heart and great sadness to let you know that Dave Schwartz has passed away," the Weather Channel said in a statement on Facebook. "He was a fan and staff favorite because he so obviously loved what he did and had a unique ability to draw viewers into the fascinating world of weather.
"His passion for weather was contagious and inspired many to enter the field of meteorology. His passion and love of weather will never be forgotten, he will be greatly missed."
Schwartz had "beat cancer twice" before his death, according to the news station. Ten years ago, he was given one year to live after being diagnosed with pancreatic cancer and an unsuccessful procedure to remove a tumor, the station said. But after radiation and chemotherapy treatments and a second procedure, he was cancer free. Months later, his pancreatic cancer had returned, but he found a treatment and became cancer free once again.
But in 2015, he was diagnosed for a third time. And after taking some time off and receiving comments and messages of support from viewers, he addressed his battle with cancer on-air.
"I want to let you know the reason why I have lost 35 pounds in the last five months is that I am being treated for cancer," he said on World Cancer Day in February. "Stomach cancer, of all things for a foodie."
Schwartz went on to discuss his many battles with cancer, and encouraged cancer patients to seek out cancer-specialized centers and to not lose hope.
His colleagues at the station remember him as "the most creative personality to ever appear on The Weather Channel.
"Everything was genuine about this wonderful man," his longtime friend and colleague Jim Cantore said in a statement. "He was everybody"s friend and that"s what he really wanted to be. He made so many of us laugh, smile, and wish we were like him. He was so genuine and trustworthy things that come from the soul and cannot be taught ... I"m so thankful he was on our team doing what he loved till the end of his time."
Malia Obama Shows Off Her ASS At Lollapalooza 2016!! - The Breakfast Club
If we learned anything from the 1998 Disney movie My Date with the Presidents Daughter (we learned everything), its that the life of a teenager in the White House consists of Secret Service hijinks, daddy-daughter tensions and, of course,a personalized theme songyou cant stop singing 18 years later.
The eldest first daughter decided to eschew expectations of what her duties should be and skipped theDemocratic National Conventionto enjoy the Lollapalooza festival in Chicago instead.
Malia Obamawas spotted at the Cashmere Cat set on Thursday amid a crowd of concertgoers around the same time Hillary Clinton wasmaking history as the first woman to secure a major partys presidential nomination.
The Secret Service was also in attendance to ensure the 18-year-olds safety at the festival. One Twitter user snapped a team of agents dressed in matching plaid shirts and khaki pants at the venue.
Unfortunately, some Twitter users took the opportunity to blast Malia on social media for being A COMPLETELY NORMAL TEENAGER. Cause that worked out so well last time, right?
Thankfully, the sane side of Twitter quickly clapped back at the critics to remind everyone that its perfectly fine for Malia to go to a concert of her choosing, especially after almost eight years of being in the political spotlight.
Dj Khaled - Do You Mind Ft. Chris Brown - Nicki Minaj - August Alsina - Jeremih - Rick Ross - Future
To stare at a Rolls-Royce Wraith is to know it is the great misnomer of luxury cars. There is absolutely nothing wraith-like about the solid curves of DJ Khaleds gleaming white whip, which, on this Wednesday in midtown Manhattan, purrs up to the curb and slows gawping pedestrians in their tracks. The car is simultaneously impressive and a bit ridiculous, like Khaled himself. In his capacity as impresario, producer, DJ, artist and businessman, the 40-year-old is a power-node at the centre of hip-hops universe. Since his 2006 debut Listennn... the Album, Khaled has put out seven more albums, been Grammy-nominated for his track Im On One featuring Drake, Rick Ross and Lil Wayne, and worked with just about every other rapper you can think of.
Related: You smart, you loyal: how rap culture embraced the meme
Today, however, he is also known for being a living meme. Snapchat, the video-based social medium which remains bewildering to most people over the age of 21, has become Khaleds kingdom. On it, he broadcasts his days in real time, narrating scenes with catchphrases that are now rap lingua franca (Major key alert!; Another one!; I like that!). They evidence the banalities (breakfast) and extravagances (They dont want you on yachts!) of his lifestyle with inimitable, if unwitting comedy. Later, Khaled will tell me: My everyday language ends up just being contagious, you know what Im sayin?
Related: Hillary Clinton, Snapchat, selfies and the road to wooing millennials
Maybe thats because hes much like a motivational speaker, fond of inviting fans to ride wit me through the journey of more success. Today, on a full schedule of promo for his ninth studio album, Major Key, I get to do just that. At TV and web channel Music Choice, Khaled films the segment Wise Words, a stream of motivational messages delivered to camera. Music Choice has written him a script but it could just as well have used They Dont Want You To Win, an online quote generator that spews Khaled gems ad infinitum. In the green room, he plays back his Snaps after he makes them, his words recorded and replayed until it starts to feel like an echo chamber of bromidic brainwash.
In his tracks and on social media, Khaleds affirmations have the same all-caps hype-man urgency. Off camera, however, things are slower. Dressed in black sweatpants, hoodie and some heavy duty ice, he walks at a lilting shuffle, permanently engrossed in his phone. If someone says his name with enough force and conviction, h**l glance up and switch on a brief, dazed smile at whoever happens to be closest. In these moments he can appear faintly cross-eyed.
This is a ripe moment for slogan-spouting personalities who have levied buffoonery into bewildering heights of power consider, after all, the jokes-made-real of Boris Johnson or Donald Trump. Unlike them, though, Khaled knows what hes doing. Born Khaled bin Abdul Khaled to Palestinian parents in New Orleans, Khaled got his break on pirate radio in Miami, where hed broadcast until late, sleep on the floor for a few hours and then wake up and begin shouting into the mic again. His hustle remains just as relentless: he moved to New York last year for 12 months, just to get a verse from Jay Z for his recent single, I Got The Keys. Jay not only gave him two verses, but ended up directing the video, a montage of prison cells, stand-offs and a suited Jay, Khaled and Atlanta trap mainstay Future, shot in black and white. The biggest hip-hop star in the world is also now Khaleds manager.
Dj Khaled performs with Von Miller.Photograph: Rex
Related: Rick Ross: I aint trying to keep up with the trends
This shouldnt come as a shock. Khaleds newfound social media virality may rely on absurdity he once Snapped getting lost on a jetski while whizzing back from Rick Rosss private island; recently he announced that h**l Snapchat the birth of his child in November but his career is longstanding and legitimate. Still, hes not inclined to reflect on these contradictions. I just feel like Im a music man in full form, he shrugs, because my hands on not just making the music and being part of the creative, but also putting the music out. I do it all. And in a post-Kardashian world doing it all means a total assimilation of self and brand. For Khaled, theres scant difference between shilling gum on Snapchat and getting in the studio.
It connected, everything connected, he says, during our interview in the back of the Wraith, for much of which hes glued to the phone. Obviously Ill always be putting out great music and Ive been a hard-working mogul my whole career, but now with Snapchat, it just shone more light on everything were doing. Thats what we work hard for, a light for your greatness. Since hes on his phone anyway, I ask him if he feels like doing a Snap right now, in the back of the Wraith. He shrugs again, lifts his phone, and with that, several million followers witness their man voice his support for the worlds leading liberal newspaper: Guardian... LONDON BIG UP BLESS UP!
Our next stop is Sony, where a waiting French film crew stare morosely as Khaled begins making phone calls. He mutters a request for some water. I look over to his crew, but theyre so engrossed in arranging bottles of Khaled-endorsed cognac they dont hear him. Theres a stack of water bottles beside me. I hand him one. He takes it wordlessly, without looking up from his screen. When your life is being constantly relayed to millions of fans, theres little space for other interaction.
The moment the interviews over, Khaled is pacing about on the phone once more. You gotta taste this gum, its the most amazing gum! he evangelises. I imagine the person on the other end asks him if hes serious. No Im being real! Youre gonna love it! Back in the Wraith, he looks me in the eye and says, with passion: Everything you see me promote, I love it. If somebody thinks Im selling something, just know I only represent the best.
Khaleds positivity is unwavering and, ultimately, irresistible. He maintains that his Snapchat popularity derives from just being myself and it might be this lack of self-awareness that has made him so successful beyond social media. At his Major Key playback later, the guests revealed to be on the album are testament to that: Kendrick Lamar, Lil Wayne, Busta Rhymes, Nicki Minaj, 2 Chainz, Drake, Big Sean, Nas and heaps more jostle for space. A blazing, Betty-Wright sampling soul song called Holy Key, featuring virtuosic bars from Lamar, elicits particular awe.
Between tracks, the crowd emit Khaled catchphrases as if unconsciously: major key, someone murmurs approvingly, cloth talk (a Khaledism that roughly translates to wisdom thats going to tell you how to be successful) says another. Man and meme, it seems, are one and the same. On my way to leave, when I shake his hand and tell him Ive had fun, he looks at me with total blankness. I wonder if he knows Ive been within metres of him for the last eight hours. Maybe its only that Snapchat that makes it real.
