Kandi Burruss’s ex-fiance to be exhumed

The death of Real Housewives of Atlanta star Kandi Burruss’s ex-fiance A.J. Jewell in October is still inconclusive according to medical examiners. It was first reported that Jewell died after blunt force trauma to the head during a fight with another man in a strip club parking lot in Atlanta. But now medical examiners are claming that an underlying condition may have been the cause of Jewell’s death.

Georgia officials have agreed to exhume the body of Burruss’s ex-fiance in order to find a more conclusive cause of his death after a medical examiner reported that Jewell’s death may have been caused by sickle-cell anemia.

Yet the statements being made by the examiners doesn’t seem to be all in the family–relatives are pushing for a second autopsy because they do not believe that Jewell had sickle-cell anemia and they feel that something else may have been caused his death.

“I want the public to know my son did not have sickle cell disease, and I hope this next autopsy will prove that my son was murdered,” Rev. A.B. Jewell, Sr, father of A.J. said.

There are mixed views about the exhumation of Jewell’s body but the family seems to be in accordance about finding the truth behind the unexpected death.

“Whenever a family has to exhume the body of a loved one, it’s a difficult, difficult decision to make,” family spokesman Markel Hutchins said. “But I think it displays a great deal of courage and commitment on the part of this family toward truth and justice.”

According to Hutchins, the second autopsy should provide results within 2 weeks.

You Heard What?

Oprah Winfrey announced on her show Friday that she would be ending her nationally acclaimed televsion talk-show on September 9, 2011. The Queen of Talk claims that 25 years “felt right in her heart” and that she is ready to move on to pursue other activities in her career.

Oprah’s announcement may seem like a shock to many but it was slightly forseen. She hinted on Good Morning America back in September about the decision she has finally made: “I am literally in thoughtful prayer and consideration to continue to go ahead,” she had said. “You’ll be hearing about it before the end of the year.”

The question lies to what will happen to the daytime spot–does this mean that other talk show hosts will finally have the opportunity to shine or that the Oprah era will never really end? Many critics like Washington Posts’ Howard Kurtz belive that while some minds are already racing to fill the mental gap that will occur, it will not be easy to replace the life size personality and charsima that Oprah Winfrey brought America for over 20 years.

“She has this trust, this intimate connection with the audience because she talks about her own mistakes,” Kurtz said.  “I’m not sure Oprah can be replaced.”

“To me, gender is between your ears, not between your legs.” -Chaz Bono, Good Morning America

The battle of genders is on for many but not for Chaz Bono–he has definitely picked a side: team XY.

Cher’s son, born a female named Chastity, is officially going by the name Chaz now after an eigth month transformational journey to become a man. Chaz spoke for the first time on a Good Morning America interview about this tranformation and the meaning of gender to him.

“I’ve felt male as far back as I can remember,” Chaz told Chris Cuomo on the show. “As a child, it was really clear. I felt like a boy.”

The gender reassignment process is not easy, and it is one that takes up to four to five years to complete. Yet the transformation doesn’t have much to do with who you like, but who you think you are. Bono described on the show how gender sometime conflicts with self-identity.

“”Who you’re attracted to has nothing to do with gender identity. A lot of people find that really confusing, but they’re two completely different things. One is how you view yourself and how you feel, and the other one is who you’re attracted to.”

Happier than ever, Chaz will continue to be an advocate for transgenders and continue on with the process–even if it means letting America watch the transformation.

Quick Quota

Aussies were ticked off at the fact that Britney Spears chose not to sing live  at a recent concert in Australia. Angry fans demanded their money back because she was lip-synching.

Sightseeing

A letter from Ralph Lauren said, “We’re terminating your services because you don’t fit into the sample clothes that you need to wear.”

23 year-old model Filippa Hamilton claims that she had recently been let go by Ralph Lauren because she was too fat to fit into their clothing. She said that she considered the designer and his company her second family and had been working for Ralph Lauren since she was 15.

An extremely photoshopped ad of Hamilton has also sparked critique over the web–the photo shows a model whose head is bigger than her waist.

But the company denies that this was ever the reason in a their public statement:

For over 42 years we have built a brand based on quality, integrity and a wholesome American lifestyle. Filippa Hamilton is a beautiful and healthy woman that we have worked closely with for over 6 years and we consider her an important part of our imaging and branding. We regret that our relationship has ended as a result of her inability to meet the obligations under her contract with us. The image in question was mistakenly released and used in a department store in Japan and was not the approved image which ran in the U.S. We take full responsibility for allowing this image to run as this is completely inconsistent with our creative standards and brand values. This error has absolutely no connection to our relationship with Filippa Hamilton.

“Change will not come if we wait for some other person or some other time. We are the ones we’ve been waiting for. We are the change that we seek.” -President Barack Obama

No doubt he could have outdid someone in a race or a game of ball, but that wasn’t the case for Obama’s victory last week. The 44th President of the United States received the Nobel Peace Prize for his ability to inspire hope.

According to the five member Nobel Committee, Mr. Obama was awarded the prize for “his extraordinary efforts to strengthen international diplomacy and co-operation between peoples”. The President beat out 205 other nominees in the running including Zimbabwe’s prime minister.

President Obama doesn’t only get a pretty gold medal–the laureate also receives a diploma and $1.4 million.

Yet some people believe that he doesn’t warrant this award with his less than 1 year in office. What do you think? Sound off.

Sightseeing

Apparently our supermodel turned talk show host doesn’t need her weave to win attention. Tyra Banks claims that she is ditching her lace front wigs for the next season of her show. This fall Tyra claims that she will have her hair free and natural, not tied back in a ponytail or bunned up. She’s challenging her viewers as well.

“I’m very excited to finally bring my signature voice and comedy to late night television.” –Mo’Nique

The Queen sized comedian is ready to kick back and relax this fall with her first ever talk show: “The Mo’Nique Show”. But to catch her, you may have to roll back your bedtime. Mo’Nique will be the first African-American female in history to be featured on late night tv.BET will debut the show this fall starting October 5. The star is a regular and favorite to the network. Her most premiere work was done on UPN’s “The Parkers” in the 90s, which is frequently re-run on BET.

Quick Quota

Kim Kardashian and her NFL star boyfriend of two years Reggie Bush have broken up! The reason why? The couple appears to be suffering from their conflicitng schedules and different pursuits in life.

“Deep down we both always wanted the same thing: to have a family with a lot of children.” –Heidi Klum

The German supermodel and her rock star hubby are taking on a new feat–how about having a fourth baby together? Our question, is how does Heidi remain so beautiful through it all? The beautiful couple already have three kids that were born consecutively: Leni, age 4; Gunther, age 3; and Johan Riley, age 2. Heidi claims that the two of them always wanted a big family:  Klum has said, “Deep down we both always wanted the same thing: to have a family with a lot of children.”