Go With The Flo

Riveting testimony on Aug. 30 in the R. Kelly sex trafficking trial which is ongoing in Brooklyn, New York, Federal Court, reportedly included testimony by the allegedly perverted crooner’s first male victim who told the prosecutor a story about a boxing ring that Kelly had in the garage of his mansion in Olympic, Illinois, a Chicago suburb.

“He snapped his fingers two times and a naked young lady came out from under the ring,” the man who identified himself as Louis, said, according to reports. His testimony continued with saying that Kelly commanded the woman to crawl over to him and perform a sex act. He then made the woman do the same to Louis, he testified. Louis met R. Kelly in 2006 at a McDonald’s he was working at in Markham, Illinois. McDonald’s is known for being Kelly’s favorite place to eat. Louis also told the court that he played basketball with Kelly — and had sex with him for one year.

Former boxer Michael Spinks from the U.S. holds his trophy after receiving recognition from the World Boxing Council at the “WBC’s Night of Champions Event” at Xcaret park’s in Cancun City, Mexico, Jan. 31, 2006.REUTERS/Victor Ruiz/File

The 5th Annual Atlantic City Boxing Hall of Fame event, which kicked off Aug. 20, was an action-packed weekend filled with interactive fan experiences, exhibits, meet and greets with boxing legends such as Michael Spinks, Ray Mercer, Tim Witherspoon, Junior “Poison” Jones and Iran Barkley. ACBHOF member Larry Holmes even dropped in to help Spinks celebrate his 65th birthday at Bourre Restaurant.

The weekend also included live amateur bouts, and the celebrity influencer packed Induction Ceremony on Sunday, Aug. 22, at the Hard Rock Hotel Casino in the Sound Waves Theater. The 2020 and 2021 inductees are Roy Jones Jr., Riddick Bowe, Pernell Whitaker, Al Cole, Ernest Bing, Tony Thornton Sr, Calvin Grove, Percy Richardson, Tommy Parks, Earl Morton, Steve Weisfeld, Ron Katz, Murad Muhammad, Marc Abrams, Al Bernstein, and Ms. Laoma Byrd, Felix Trinidad, Kelly Pavlik, Simon Brown, Ivan Robinson, Aaron Snowell, Joey Eye, Frank Cappuccino, Ed Kienan, and Nino Delbuno.

As always, Ray McCline, president of the Atlantic City Boxing Hall of Fame and Angela Crockett, communications director and honoree liaison, did a fantastic job of bringing the creme de la creme of the boxing world together.

Actor, writer, producer, director, and author Bill Duke, who currently stars in the crime thriller ‘No Sudden Move” streaming on HBO Max has launched the new digital platform YOUNITE Network out of his desire to inspire, entertain, educate, and inform a global audience with content. Ever the philanthropist, Bill Duke seeks to provide the next generation with empowering content that encourages them to achieve their individual greatness. Says Duke, “Our children deserve to live their dreams, not in spite of what we leave them but because of what we leave them, which is HOPE.”

The Broadway League (Charlotte St. Martin, President) has launched This Is Broadway, a historic initiative to welcome theater lovers back to Times Square in New York City following the industry’s 18-month shut down. Kicking off the campaign is a 2 1/2 minute anthemic short film that celebrates all of Broadway. With a voiceover by Oprah Winfrey, the film features stars including Lin-Manuel Miranda, Billy Porter, James Earl Jones and Denzel Washington, to name a few.