THIS WEEK
CBS Reportedly Paid $7M For Prince Harry And Meghan Markle Interview: CBS reportedly paid more than $7 million for the rights to air Oprah Winfrey’s highly-anticipated tell-all interview with Prince Harry and Duchess of Sussex Meghan Markle. The two-hour interview, set to air at 7 p.m. Sunday, cost the network a pretty penny — likely somewhere between $7 million and $9 million, the Wall Street Journal reported.
CBS bought the lucrative rights (the network is charging $325,000 for every 30 seconds of commercial time) from Winfrey’s Harpo Productions, and can also license the interview in international markets. A spokesman for the Sussexes’ told the Journal they were not paid for the interview. In a snippet of the interview teased on “CBS This Morning” Friday, Markle tells Winfrey she feels “liberated” to speak for herself after having to turn down the TV host’s initial request because she wasn’t “allowed” to talk to her then. The special is the couple’s first televised interview since they abruptly quit Buckingham Palace last year.
Beyonce Sings Tribute To 13-Year-Old Fan Who Died Of Brain Cancer: Beyonce paid homage to one of her fans who tragically died Friday after a two-year battle with brain cancer, and it was truly moving. Lyric Chanel‘s journey was chronicled by her family on Instagram. 600,000 people followed her, along with numerous celebs including Cardi B and, of course, Beyonce. TMZ reports…Things took a turn Wednesday when the family was told Lyric only had days to live. After her passing Friday, an account was posted in her honor — Go Gold for Childhood Cancer. Beyoncé connected with Lyric back in September. Lyric caught Bey’s attention after posting a video of her years earlier, singing Bey’s “Love On Top.” Beyonce’s tribute song features a montage of Lyric photos and videos … it’s a celebration of her life, showing her singing and dancing to a mashup of “Brown Skin Girl,” “Halo” and “Love On Top.” Notice how she switches out the word “baby” with “Lyric.” Click here or the photo to hear Beyonce’s tribute.
Sad News: Texas Rapper Chucky Trill Killed In Interstate Shooting In Georgia: A shooting on Interstate 85 in suburban Atlanta has claimed the life of a rising Texas rap artist, one of three interstate shootings in the metro area in two days, authorities said Saturday. Rapper Corey Detiege, who performed under the stage name Chucky Trill, died at an area hospital after Friday’s predawn shooting, police in suburban Gwinnett County said. A department spokesperson said someone pulled up beside Detiege’s car and opened fire around 3 a.m. Friday, Detiege, 33, was from Sugar Land, Texas. Police said the suspect fled and a motive in the slaying was unknown. Police gave no immediate description of the suspect’s vehicle and have made no arrest.
Big Sean Admits To Contemplating Suicide: Dr. Michael Eric Dyson has a new series premiering on Facebook Watch this week (March 3) called “One Question, One Mike,” which is part of Facebook Watch’s “We the Culture” programming, aimed at amplifying the voices of Black content creators. Guests this season will include Angela Rye, Al Sharpton, and Tamika Mallory among others. In the debut episode, Big Sean discusses his journey with mental health, sharing about past suicidal ideations while holding a gun. “I for sure contemplated suicide many times…planning it out to the point where I said, ‘If I do kill myself, my family will have this amount of money,” the Detroit native shared with Dr. Dyson. “I took the time off, canceled everything I was doing, sought therapy, connected with God more, spiritually grounded myself, and put myself first as a priority for the first time ever.”
The ‘Bachelor’s Chris Harrison Gave An Interesting Interview On GMA: Following his explosive interview with Rachel Lindsay and subsequently stepping away from The Bachelor franchise, Chris Harrison is speaking out for the first time. In an exclusive interview with Michael Strahan on Good Morning America, the longtime ‘Bachelor’ host addressed the comments he made defending current Bachelor contestant Rachael Kirkconnell, whose social media posts show her “liking” a photo containing a Confederate flag and attending an “Old South” plantation-themed party in 2018. “I am an imperfect man, I made a mistake and I own that,” Harrison said on GMA.
“I believe that mistake doesn’t reflect who I am 
or what I stand for. I am committed to progress, not just for myself, also for the franchise. And this is a franchise that has been a part of my life for the better part of 20 years and I love it.” In this new interview, Harrison walked back previous comments he made about Kirkconnell’s 2018 photos at an Old South antebellum party being fine in 2018, claiming “50 million people” attended similar parties that year. He continued to blame the “woke police” for taking issues with things people have done in the past, implying these actions only became “not a good look” in 2021.
When Michael Strahan pressed Harrison on whether there is a difference between Kirkconnell’s photos not being a good look in 2018 or 2021, Chris replied, “There is not. Antebellum parties are not OK. Past, present, future, knowing what that represents is unacceptable.” Michael Strahan says Chris Harrison gave a weak apology for his decision to defend racist behavior. “His apology is his apology, but it felt like I got nothing more than a surface response on any of this,” said Strahan, who grilled Harrison about comments he made in an earlier interview on “Extra.” He said contestant Rachael Kirkconnell deserved “a little grace, a little understanding.” “Obviously he’s a man who wants to clearly stay on the show,” Strahan added, “but only time will tell if there’s any meaning behind his words.”
SingleSketches
Conversations…
Jozzie: “No more sex for me unless I’m married. I’m tired of waking up with a man and we’ve both experienced something different emotionally. He’s won at play, and I’ve given my heart away.” Tara: “I’m through confiding in anyone ever. I told my best friend that her sister’s husband tried to seduce me, and she told her sister, who tried to run me over with a car.” MORE
The Dating Chronicles
The Wrong Impression
Tom was suspicious, but he didn’t say anything. He had met Donna shortly after his divorce. His experience with marriage had been a bad one and the pain of betrayal had driven him to bury his emotions so deep as to never see light again. Then he met Donna, whose spirit wiggled its way into the caverns of his heart and he was again a slave to love and all it called for. However, on this day, he felt betrayed again as he sat and listened to Donna whispering on the phone in the next room. She’d had a strange look on her face when she answered the door earlier as if he was the last person she wanted to see and he succeeded in suppressing his anger. MORE
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From The Male Room
“What Makes A
Woman Exciting!”
Are you exciting to be with? As you know, it takes more than a beautiful face and body. Here’s your chance to find out. If you can look at yourself in an objective fashion, look at the words in this quiz and write down the ones that fit you, and see if you match the answers given below by over 1200 men polled from around the country. No Peeking… MORE
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Dating With Children
The Yays And Nays
by Coco Diong
My friend Marisa will absolutely not date a guy who has children, whether they’re living with him or not. She uses the “child factor” to disqualify a guy on the spot. Her claim? “I don’t have children, and I’m not interested in dating men who do, nor do I want to compete for his attention.” It seems that there are a lot of opinions on this subject. Here are some I encountered when I decided to do this article. Gerald: 40 “There was a time when I refused to date women with children. Now, I assume some potential dating partners will have children from previous unions. Therefore, I must accept or reject the package as a whole. MORE
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Single Scenarios
Mentionable Moments
Leah– “I met him one night when I was stranded with a flat tire on a busy highway with no spare tire and a dead cell phone. He stopped to help and ended getting me a new tire that he put on the car and wouldn’t let me pay him. We’ve been together ever since, and if he doesn’t propose soon, I will.” Melia – “As a surprise, I quit my job and followed my boyfriend down to Texas because he said his job had transferred him there. I believed he loved me and that he would be pleased that I cared enough to not let distance separate us. But when I got there, I found out that he moved there to marry another woman.” MORE
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You Can Tell
It’s Over When…
by Jovan Tahale
See what this random survey of men and women revealed…
…“It only takes two minutes to say goodnight at the end of a date.” …“Kissing “hello” is no longer an automatic greeting.” …“That small bump on her cheek begins to look repulsive.” …“You’d rather watch CNN than take her out.” …“He keeps stealing glances at his watch while you’re on a date.” …“Her mispronounced words are no longer cute.” …“The scent of his cologne stops giving you goosebumps.” …“He winks at you across the table and it annoys you.” …“When the sound of her voice has the same effect as having someone scrape a blackboard.”…“Holding hands stops be. MORE
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Hits And Misses
On The Dating Scene
by Dani Stone
In the world of chasing romance, there are many encounters and experiences that would be categorized as hit and misses. Here are but a few. MISS – Melinda – “For our first date, this handsome charmer invited me to a function at his church, which I was super impressed with. He introduced me to his pastor as his future wife. I married him two months later, and had the marriage annulled a month later after I learned he was a registered sex offender.” HIT – Tonia – “He was a blind date and when I first saw him I was very disappointed. I viewed him as very unattractive, but as the evening wore on, his sense of humor and intellect completely won me over. By the end of the night, I was fascinated, and his looks were no longer relevant, and they’re still not. MORE
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The Singles Scene
by Sarah Smart
Q. I have serious admiration for a co-worker, and he walks around me like he doesn’t know I exist. I don’t think he’s interested because he won’t even look at me, but my friends have convinced me that there’s a strong possibility that he may be interested and afraid to acknowledge his interest. I’m writing you because I want to invite him to my friend’s party as my date, and I wanted your opinion. What would you do? MORE
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Never Been Married?
Read This!
by Cheryl Lakes
I personally know a number of women who are over 40 and have never married and are concerned about it. The majority are leading active lives, but still, wish to be married. For many, when they arrive in the forties and have never married, they would rather be considered divorced, than single. I ought to know because I was one of them. Two years ago, I was 40 and had never ever been engaged or in a serious relationship. I felt rejected, passed over, and discarded. At that time, I was involved with a guy I had been hoping would ask me to be his wife, but he ended up dumping me and asking someone else. MORE
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Celebrating Women’s History Month And The Women Who Made History
Roberta Flack (1937 – ) the singer-songwriter was born in Black Mountain, North Carolina, and is the only solo artist to win the Grammy Award for Record of the Year in two consecutive years: “The First Time Ever I Saw Your Face” won at the 1973 Grammys and “Killing Me Softly with His Song” won at the 1974 Grammy. Before becoming a professional singer-songwriter, Flack was a high school music teacher. Flack began singing professionally after being hired to perform regularly at Mr. Henry’s Restaurant, on Capitol Hill, Washington, DC in 1968. Jazz Great Les McCann discovered Flack singing and playing jazz in the nightclub. MORE