Story
Vice Media Disowns Co-Founder Gavin McInnes That Also Started Proud Boys
The Proud Boys have been in the news quite a bit this past week.
The far-right group was named during the first round of debates for the 2020 presidential election, in which Donald Trump hesitated to condemn similar groups and asked the Proud Boys to “stand back and stand by.”
The group was founded by one of the three founders for Vice magazine, Gavin McInnes. His ties to the company were cut in 2008 following an interview with The New York Times in which he was quoted as saying, “I love being white and I think it’s something to be very proud of. I don’t want our culture diluted. We need to close the borders now and let everyone assimilate to a Western, white, English-speaking way of life.”
Elijah Nouvelage/Getty Images
“I’m sure we’re all still trying to make some sense of what was said in last night’s U.S. Presidential debate, but I wanted to write to you to make one thing clear: Gavin McInnes has no affiliation with VICE,” Vice Media CEO Nancy Dubuc said in a leaked email to staff following Trump’s invocation of the Proud Boys. “While the legacy of his role in founding the company swirls up from time to time – I want you all to be assured that any association he had with the company ended more than a decade ago in 2008. What he did after that – including founding the Proud Boys in 2016 – had nothing to do with VICE, our values or our people.”
CNN reports that McInnes “quit [the Proud Boys] in 2018, but [filed a 2019 lawsuit against] the Southern Poverty Law Center for designating the organization a hate group”. In a statement given to CNN by McInnes, he categorically denied that the group is a racist or white supremacist group.
In any case, McInnes seems unbothered by Dubuc’s comments.
“I created that brand and defined the content from its inception to when I left in 2008,” he told CNN. “My pithy irreverence still haunts it like Banquo’s ghost.”
[via]
Story
DJ Akademiks questions if Lil Durk will get bond as the racketeering case goes on
Lil Durk’s legal battle is about to take another big step, and DJ Akademiks is already sharing his expectations for what could go down when the rapper returns to court in November.
Durk is in custody, awaiting his next VICAR case in which authorities say he was running a criminal enterprise. His next trial was set for October 5, but recent developments have called into question when those proceedings will occur.
Durk’s murder for hire trial recently resulted in a not guilty verdict in November. Regardless of that outcome, he remains in custody because the separate racketeering related charges remain unresolved. Durk’s attorneys have asked for the new hearing and have been ordered to appear by U.S. Probation and Pretrial Services, which also must submit a fresh bail report.
Against that backdrop, legal commentator Bradford Cohen had previously suggested Durk could eventually get bond. That view ties in with Durk’s not-guilty verdict in the earlier case, and the argument that the outcome could make it harder to sustain the remaining allegations.
DJ Akademiks sees things a bit differently. In a recent livestream, Akademiks predicted that Durk would not get a bond at the Nov. hearing. He believes the charges will stick and cites the seriousness of the allegations in the VICAR case as his reasoning. He also doesn’t appear to expect the rapper to be released from jail anytime soon as the case moves forward.
Akademiks’ prediction concerns the bond hearing, not Durk’s chances at trial. Durk’s legal situation remains unresolved for now. His recent acquittal has altered the circumstances of his arrest, but the separate racketeering case still looms over the rapper as both sides prepare for the next phase.
Celebrity
DJ Akademiks Resurrects 2015 Drake vs. Meek Mill Beef With Alleged Nicki Minaj Backstory
DJ Akademiks is digging up hip-hop history buried for 10 years as he offers his supposed explanation for how the Drake/Meek Mill feud came to a head in 2015. The back-and-forth between Akademiks and Meek Mill has resurfaced the conversation. Akademiks returned to the long-running Drake-Meek beef on his stream last night, saying a comment by Nicki Minaj had something to do with what happened between the two rappers.
According to Akademiks, Meek and Minaj were shopping at a designer fashion store when they got to the register. He says that when Meek told her he didn’t have the cash to pay for Minaj, she allegedly told him he would never be Drake. Akademiks also claims Minaj left the store on her own, and then Meek went on X, and what happened next started the infamous feud with Drake.
The account remains an allegation, not a confirmed explanation. The information provided has not been independently verified, and ultimately only those involved, including Minaj and Meek Mill, could confirm the story’s authenticity.
Read more : Chrisean Rock Wins Boxing Match, But Second Round Forfeit Leaves Her Frustrated
The beef between Drake and Meek Mill started in 2015 and has become a staple in hip-hop conversation. Meek struggled after the fallout, while the beef became a defining moment in Drake’s career. However, the two eventually made up and collaborated on “Going Bad,” signaling a return to a more cooperative relationship despite the rivalry’s tension.
Now that Akademiks and Meek are throwing shots again, the events of 2015 are back in the conversation. By reflecting on the feud, Akademiks has added another possible piece of context to a story that has been a hot topic in hip-hop for years.
Whether his version of events is what actually happened, however, remains unresolved. Currently, the designer-store story isn’t factual, but it is Akademiks’ version of the events surrounding the beef.
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