TAKEOFF HONORED BY FRIENDS & FAMILY AT ATLANTA MEMORIAL SERVICE
TakeOff has been laid to rest following a celebration of life that saw Quavo and Offset delivering emotional addresses to a crowd of 21,000 mourners.
Despite the rain in Atlanta on Friday morning (November 11), fans began gathering outside State Farm Arena as early as 9 a.m. — three hours ahead of the ceremony’s scheduled start — where a giant photo of TakeOff took up the venue’s LED display.
According to Variety, the full capacity crowd inside included former collaborators and friends including Gucci Mane, Rich The Kid, City Girls, CeeLo Green, YG, Murda Beatz, Mustard, Lil Yachty, Teyana Taylor, Russell Simmons. Cardi B, TakeOff’s cousin by marriage was also photographed ahead of the memorial service.
Members of the Quality Control Music staff were also on hand to pay their respects, including the label’s CEO Pierre “P” Thomas, who shared a photo ahead of the ceremony along with the caption, “When You Lose Someone You Love, You Gain An Angel To Look Over You As Life Goes On. #LLTakeOff.”
T-PAIN REVEALS HE USED TO CHARGE ARTISTS CARS FOR SONGS: ‘I HAD ENOUGH MONEY’
T-Pain has revealed there was a point in his career when he stopped asking artists for money in exchange for features, instead he would ask them for cars.
The Florida rapper-singer made the revelation during a recent episode of his Nappy Boy Radio podcast featuring Taylor Bennett. Pain explained that he would make arrangements for a rare car that he couldn’t get his hands on from an artist and he’d hop in the booth to bang out a verse or hook on their song.
“I started charging n-ggas cars for songs,” T-Pain said. “It came to a point where I had enough money and rappers was like, ‘We need a hook.’ Hey, look, it’s a ’72 Impala that I want. I don’t even want a new car, bro, go get me a old school and I’ll do this hook for you tonight.”
T-Pain didn’t get into specifics of cars he ended up trading for his AutoTuned verses and melodic hooks, but he added a few whips to his fleet.
D.C. attorney general files lawsuit against Daniel Snyder, Washington Commanders, NFL, Roger Goodell
D.C. Attorney General Karl Racine on Thursday sued the Washington Commanders, team owner Dan Snyder, the National Football League, and NFL Commissioner Roger Goodell for allegedly lying to D.C. fans about an investigation into workplace conduct and claims of sexual harassment, and doing so to protect the team and league’s image and ability to make money.
“You can’t lie to D.C. residents in order to protect your image and profits and get away with it,” said Racine at a press conference. “No one is above the law.”
The lawsuit stems from reporting by The Washington Post in 2020 on allegations of sexual harassment and a toxic workplace culture at the Washington Commanders. In the wake of the story, the team hired attorney Beth Wilkinson to conduct an investigation, which was later taken over by the NFL. The investigation’s findings, summarized publicly by the NFL in 2021, found that working conditions at the team had been “highly unprofessional” and that “numerous female employees reported having experienced sexual harassment and a general lack of respect in the workplace.”
The league said Snyder and the Commanders instituted new policies and hired new management, the NFL fined Snyder $10 million, and Snyder agreed to turn over day to day management of the team to his wife, Tanya Snyder. But an investigation by a House of Representatives committee later revealed that the NFL had given Snyder control over what information and documents from Wilkinson’s investigation could be publicly released, and also that Snyder had conducted a “shadow investigation” of accusers, former team employees, and journalists.
“This was all for show,” said Racine of the NFL’s investigation into workplace culture issues within the Commanders. “We were led to believe that Mr. Snyder would not interfere with the ‘independent’ investigation. He did. We were led to believe the public would not be left out of the process. We were. We were led to believe real change would happen. We’re still waiting. I ask, does any part of this investigation sound independent? Does any of this sound like accountability? Of course not. That’s why we’re suing.”
Racine’s lawsuit stems from D.C.’s broad Consumer Protection Act, which, among other provisions, prohibits businesses and merchants from lying to consumers. While the Commanders play in Maryland and are headquartered in Virginia, Racine said his civil lawsuit stems from the reality that many of the team’s paying fans are D.C. residents and that the team has marketed its links to the city, thus giving him standing to bring the legal action.
Racine, the city’s outgoing attorney general, is asking a D.C. judge to order the team, the league, and Snyder and Goodell to pay a fine of up to $5,000 for every misstatement made regarding the investigation. “That racks up pretty easy and exponentially,” he said. Racine is also seeking for Wilkinson’s full investigation to be released to the public.
In a statement, Commanders’ attorneys John Brownlee and Stuart Nash pledged to fight Racine’s lawsuit.
“Over two years ago, Dan and Tanya Snyder acknowledged that an unacceptable workplace culture had existed within their organization for several years and they have apologized many times for allowing that to happen. We agree with Racine on one thing: the public needs to know the truth. Although the lawsuit repeats a lot of innuendo, half-truths and lies, we welcome this opportunity to defend the organization — for the first time — in a court of law and to establish, once and for all, what is fact and what is fiction,” they said.
On Tuesday, the team preemptively released a statement accusing Racine of seeking “splashy headlines, based on offbeat legal theories, rather than doing the hard work of making the streets safe,” a reference to the August shooting in D.C. of rookie running back Brian Robinson Jr. The statement drew immediate criticisms, including from Robinson’s agent, prompting a separate statement from team president Jason Wright apologizing for the reference to the player’s shooting.
“It’s customary for bullies to try to bully victims… even public servants. I looked at that comment. It wasn’t surprising,” said Racine on Thursday about the team’s initial statement.
Racine’s lawsuit comes as Snyder and the Commanders remain under a harsh spotlight for workplace conduct issues as well as how the team is managed. Earlier this year, Virginia Attorney General Jason Miyares launched an investigation into allegations of financial impropriety under owner Snyder’s leadership — allegations first brought to light by the House committee’s probe into the franchise.
Snyder recently made headlines when he hired a bank to consider options for selling the team, in part or in whole. Since then the names of a number of possible buyers have emerged, from Amazon founder Jeff Bezos to media mogul Byron Allen. Despite the team’s history in the Washington region, few elected officials have been willing to work with Snyder and the Commanders on possibly relocating and building a new stadium, in large part because of the scandals and controversies he has found himself in over the years.
Speaking as a longtime fan of the franchise, Racine said he was left little recourse but to act.
“I am repulsed by the conduct, the idea of intimidating victims, the idea of trying to scare them into backing down,” he said. “It’s outrageous and it calls on all of us to what we can to bring accountability.”
