Michael Michele, the actress widely known for her roles in New Jack City, ER, and Dynasty, once made some strong claims against Eddie Murphy and she backed up her claims with a whopping $75 million lawsuit against him. It all went down in 1989, after Michele claims Eddie made sexual advances toward her, during the filming for the Murphy written/directed “Harlem Nights” film, in which she was originally casted for the role of  ‘Dominique LaRue’…before Jasmine Guy got it. See what both, Eddie Murphy and Michele said about this below….

Michele’s Harassment Allegations Against Murphy

Murphy originally chose Michael Michele for the “Harlem Nights” film, but she says she barely lasted two days one filming began, due to Murphy’s alleged flirtatious advances. She spoke with People Magazine, at that time, and gave her side of the story.

Via People: After signing a [Harlem Nights] contract for $27,500, Michele showed up for rehearsal at the Paramount lot. At first Murphy was cordial, says Michele, but by the second day, his attitude shifted. “I was sitting reading my script. Eddie taps me on my shoulder and says, ‘Bravo. You deserve an award for not even looking at me, Michael. Good. Real good.’ ” Michele says she laughed. “I wasn’t being unfriendly. I admired him.”

Through the rest of the run-through, she says, “he yells, ‘Speak up! Speak up! I can’t hear you!’—angrily.” Yet at the next rehearsal, April 7, Michele says Murphy “asked me out.” When he then tried to “fondle and caress” her, “I said no. He stormed off.” She soon heard that Murphy was boasting he’d fired her—a claim Paramount confirmed.

Her Rejection Of Severance Pay After Getting Fired

After being fired from Harlem Nights, it was reported that Michele was offered a healthy severance pay, but that she turned it down, even though many people around her thought she was crazy for doing so. Michele explained why she didn’t except the money:

Via People: Michele forfeited that pay by refusing to free Paramount of responsibility and [chose] to go up against the full weight of the Murphy marquee. She slapped him with a $75 million sexual harassment and breach of contract suit, alleging that his “attempt to attain a personal, sexual relationship” led to her firing and caused her “severe emotional and psychological damage.”

Eddie’s Shoots Down Michele’s Claims

Via People: Murphy…has called Michele’s charges “absurd and totally false. My integrity and professionalism are being attacked.” His [then] manager, Robert Wachs, [threatened] a counter-suit. “Women throw themselves at him,” says Wachs. “Why would he need to do this? Eddie felt her attitude was antagonistic. She did not fit into this movie’s healthy environment.”

Michele On Whether Or Not She Lied

After Murphy shot down her allegations, Michele responded with this:

“It’s the God’s honest truth and when the ball hits the fence, it’s my word against his. If he’s lying about it now, I guess he’ll have to lie about it in court too,” says Michele – viaPeople

Michael Michele On Why She Spoke Out About Lawsuit

At the time of her interview (in 1990), Michael Michele was asked why she chose to keep going with her lawsuit:

“Everyone thinks I should allow this to happen because it’s Eddie Murphy,” she says. “But if keeping a job means lowering yourself to the casting couch, then we’re in a bad place. And if having integrity, ethics and morals means never being able to work in the entertainment industry,” she adds, “then maybe I did choose the wrong profession.” -Michael Michele, via People

Where Michele Ended Up After Settlement

After Eddie fired Michele, she went to work at the Gap clothing store to make ends meet until she got the role on “New Jack City.” She and Eddie Murphy eventually settled out of court for an undisclosed amount of money, but it was probably a pretty penny she got paid because she made it clear that she was going for Eddie’s jugular with this lawsuit.

The post “New Jack City” Actress Revealed Why She Once Filed $75M Lawsuit Against Eddie Murphy appeared first on I Love Old School Music.

Michael Michele, the actress widely known for her role in New Jack City, once made some strong claims against Eddie Murphy and she backed up her claims with a whopping $75 million lawsuit against him. It all went down in 1989, after Michele claims Eddie made sexual advances toward her, during the filming for the Murphy written/directed “Harlem Nights” film, in which she was originally casted for the role of  ‘Dominique LaRue’…before Jasmine Guy got it. See what both, Eddie Murphy and Michele said about this below….

Michele’s Harassment Allegations Against Murphy

Murphy originally chose Michael Michele for the “Harlem Nights” film, but she says she barely lasted two days one filming began, due to Murphy’s alleged flirtatious advances. She spoke with People Magazine, at that time, and gave her side of the story.

Via People: After signing a [Harlem Nights] contract for $27,500, Michele showed up for rehearsal at the Paramount lot. At first Murphy was cordial, says Michele, but by the second day, his attitude shifted. “I was sitting reading my script. Eddie taps me on my shoulder and says, ‘Bravo. You deserve an award for not even looking at me, Michael. Good. Real good.’ ” Michele says she laughed. “I wasn’t being unfriendly. I admired him.”

Through the rest of the run-through, she says, “he yells, ‘Speak up! Speak up! I can’t hear you!’—angrily.” Yet at the next rehearsal, April 7, Michele says Murphy “asked me out.” When he then tried to “fondle and caress” her, “I said no. He stormed off.” She soon heard that Murphy was boasting he’d fired her—a claim Paramount confirmed.

Her Rejection Of Severance Pay After Getting Fired

After being fired from Harlem Nights, it was reported that Michele was offered a healthy severance pay, but that she turned it down, even though many people around her thought she was crazy for doing so. Michele explained why she didn’t except the money:

Via People: Michele forfeited that pay by refusing to free Paramount of responsibility and [chose] to go up against the full weight of the Murphy marquee. She slapped him with a $75 million sexual harassment and breach of contract suit, alleging that his “attempt to attain a personal, sexual relationship” led to her firing and caused her “severe emotional and psychological damage.”

Eddie’s Shoots Down Michele’s Claims

Via People: Murphy…has called Michele’s charges “absurd and totally false. My integrity and professionalism are being attacked.” His [then] manager, Robert Wachs, [threatened] a counter-suit. “Women throw themselves at him,” says Wachs. “Why would he need to do this? Eddie felt her attitude was antagonistic. She did not fit into this movie’s healthy environment.”

Michele On Whether Or Not She Lied

After Murphy shot down her allegations, Michele responded with this:

“It’s the God’s honest truth and when the ball hits the fence, it’s my word against his. If he’s lying about it now, I guess he’ll have to lie about it in court too,” says Michele – viaPeople

Michael Michele On Why She Spoke Out About Lawsuit

At the time of her interview (in 1990), Michael Michele was asked why she chose to keep going with her lawsuit:

“Everyone thinks I should allow this to happen because it’s Eddie Murphy,” she says. “But if keeping a job means lowering yourself to the casting couch, then we’re in a bad place. And if having integrity, ethics and morals means never being able to work in the entertainment industry,” she adds, “then maybe I did choose the wrong profession.” -Michael Michele, via People

Where Michele Ended Up After Settlement

After Eddie fired Michele, she went to work at the Gap clothing store to make ends meet until she got the role on “New Jack City.” She and Eddie Murphy eventually settled out of court for an undisclosed amount of money, but it was probably a pretty penny she got paid because she made it clear that she was going for Eddie’s jugular with this lawsuit.

The post “New Jack City” Actress Detailed Why She Once Filed $75Million Lawsuit Against Eddie Murphy appeared first on I Love Old School Music.

New Jack City!

We all know what’s going on with Chris Rock, Ice-T, and Wesley Snipes. They’ve all moved on with their careers in a major way. Chris Rock has done several movies and has his Netflix comedy special “Tamborine” out right now. (Not sure if I really like his special, but I digress). Wesley Snipes has done a ton of movies all while battling the IRS. In 2008, Snipes was sentenced to three years in prison for willful failure to file federal income tax returns. After his release from federal prison on April 2, 2013, he only did a few movies that were direct-to-video including, Spike Lee’s “Chi-raq”.

Back To The Scandalous Chick!”

So do you remember the scandalous character, “Uniqua?” She was “Gee Money’s” (Allen Payne) woman, who did him dirty by hooking up with his ‘CMB brother,’ “Nino Brown” (Wesley Snipes), behind his back. *In Gee Money’s voice* “CMB, we all we got!” My bad y’all, I couldn’t resist. Now back to “Uniqua,”…she did her thing in ’91, but we haven’t seen her much since…until now.

She didn’t have may words in the film. Actually I don’t remember any, but check out this beauty now, and see what she’s doing.

Hello Uniqua

Her name is Tracy Camilla Johns and she played the hell outta her “Uniqua” role.

You may also remember when she made her 1986 acting debut in Spike Lee’s She’s Gotta Have It. Yep, it was over 30 years ago that Spike Lee captivated audiences with his groundbreaking portrayal of a self-proclaimed “sex-positive, polyamorous pansexual,” named Nola Darling in She’s Gotta Have It. That was actress Tracy Camilla Johns, and she made her feature film debut as the carefree painter juggling three beaus: the mature Jamie Overstreet, the conceited Greer Childs and the eccentric Mars Blackmon. The movie has resonated with plenty of women because of its overall feminist tone and has since become a cult classic.

BAM!!!

Bam! Is this 1991 or 2018? Because looking at this photo of Tracy Camilla Johns today (above, left), it’s almost hard to tell. If it weren’t for the few strands of gray hair, her new pics would damn near look like a throwback (like the only below with Spike). At the age of 57, Tracy’s aging fine like wine and her sexy fine lines have only made her better with time.

Now in case you’re wondering, these photos are from Spike Lee, who released his Netflix remake of She’s Gotta Have It in recent years. As many of  you may know, the pretty lady on the right is actress, Dewana A. Wise, who played Tracy’s past role of “Nola Darling” in the film.

Spike posted these two photos last year when Tracy stopped by the set. He also revealed that Tracy and Dewana cried when they met each other for the first time on set.

What People Are Saying!

ps.s**: I’m still in love with the old Nola

kandyg****:  Skin is flawless!!

magnoliag*****: One of my favorite movies

mrs_lo******: Beautiful I love the movie can’t wait for the series to come out much support 😊😊

nikki_maddy****: Both beautiful 😘 loved the movie and can’t wait for the series

leswar****: Always wondered what happened to Tracy Camilla Johns.. Couldn’t find a freckin thing about her on the internet, until now. Thank you Spike!

pierreanth****: This is my all time favorite movie period !!! I was going to go out for the part of Jamie Overstreet in the reboot but my schedule wouldn’t permit but Man what a blessing I was in love with Nola Darling !!! Definitely relevant now !!! If your still looking for a theme song I have the perfect record for it !!!

kd***: Damn the Original Nola STILL fine as hell😍

carter_m****: Beautiful, breathtaking, I am soooo proud to be a black sista!

She’s Gotta Have It

Wise further elaborated on what the role and the movie meant to her at a recent press screening for the series, which Bustle attended. “I was a freshman at NYU when I first watched She’s Gotta Have It,” Wise said. “I was dating some dude who was like ‘you remind me of Nola Darling.’ So I watched it and I was like ‘okay, this situationship is over [laughs], but this movie is amazing.'”

According to Wise, the film and its honest portrayal of a black woman living her best life gave her permission “to explore herself and to move more fully” into the woman that she was to become. After landing the lead part, Wise says she was extremely excited because she thought of Nola as a role model and a role she desired to play ever since she began acting. “There are moments in culture that you can look back on and point to and say that ‘Oh wow that had a legit impact’,” Wise said. “That is Nola.”

Overall it’s always a beautiful thing to see an old school entertainer living healthy and well. Hopefully we’ll be seeing more of Tracy in the near future.

Random Fun Fact: Peep What Al B. Sure & Tracy Did Back In The Day

The above pic is from Al B.’s ‘Heartbreak Tour,’ when he performed at the Madison Square Garden, 1988. We don’t now if this was just a playful concert appearance, or if there was something more going on between them. But either way, based on where Al B.’s hand is placed, it looks like he wouldn’t have mind gettin’ it in right there on stage, LOL.

The post The ‘Scandalous’ Woman From “New Jack City” Is Even More Beautiful Now appeared first on I Love Old School Music.

Magic Johnson’s son, E.J. Johnson, has always managed to keep a smile on his face and be the life of the party, no matter if he was at a nightclub, on reality TV, or attending a Bar Mitzvah. But sadly, this past year crushed him to his core. The young Johnson turned 27 on June 4th and he decided to not only celebrate the blessing of turning another year, but also the near miracle of making it through the pain of recently losing his best friend under mysterious circumstances.

“The Most Painful & Difficult Year Of My Life”…

In a lengthy online birthday post, EJ shared several photos of himself shining, shining, shining, for the camera- in true EJ fashion- but he coupled his joy with his sorrow in the caption:

“Today I’m 27!” EJ first exclaimed. “This has certainly been the most painful and difficult year of my life as well as one of great growth power strength and beauty,” he confessed. “After losing the most important person in my life I wasn’t sure if I would be able to laugh smile or find joy again. But through all the darkness [and] uncertainty I put myself first. I found joy in searching my soul and nurturing my gifts and talents. I laughed with my friends and family who kept their hands on me during this process. I smiled when I had major personal breakthroughs and successes. I had to shed certain situations and people in order to get here but I’m better because of it.”

See How EJ’s Friend Suspiciously Died & Which Empire Actress Helped EJ Get Through>>>

The post Magic’s Son Dazzles On His Birthday, But Painfully Tells Why This Year Was So Tragic For Him appeared first on I Love Old School Music.

Rock-A-Bye Marriage

The early 90’s was a defining era for the beautiful, talented Vanessa Williams. She officially become a breakout movie star in 1991, as the gun totin’ hood chick in “New Jack City,” and she also became a wife in 1992, in a marriage that has lasted for 26 years…with a few unfortunate hiccups in between, but hey, things happen. She and her husband, Andre Wiseman, married in 1992, but in 2008, Vanessa filed for divorce. Apparently, they hashed things out at some point, because that first divorce filing was never finalized. However, as of today, she’s ready to say “Rock-A-Bye Baby” to her marriage again:

Via TMZ: The [first] divorce [filing] was dismissed, for some reason, in 2017 — possibly because she’d let it lapse. Court records show nothing was filed after her initial divorce petition. … According to the refiled docs, Vanessa is asking for joint physical and legal custody of their 14-year-old son.

https://www.instagram.com/p/BhanlF6AL3b/

Vanessa and Andre have two sons, but she’s only asking for joint custody of the 14 year old, because their other son is 21 years old.

https://www.instagram.com/p/BgMEe5FAUqr/

It’s very unfortunate they’re splitting after so long, but it seems they did all they could to make things work, even calling off that first divorce and holding off for another ten years. We wish them the best going forward. But on a side note, we canNOT talk about the soon-to-be-single Vanessa Williams, without giving her props on that fountain of youth she must’ve found…

https://www.instagram.com/p/BfWYEmHgVZ9/

She is aging in reverse these days, making 54 look like the new 24! Her body is bangin,’ skin is flawless, and she’s only gotten better with time. One of the secrets to her flawless skin and bangin’ physique is probably due to the fact that she lives a vegan lifestyle.

https://www.instagram.com/p/BfWU5l6g3kf/

Vanessa On Becoming “Keisha” For New Jack City”

In a prior interview, Vanessa explained what it was like transforming into “Keisha” and why it wasn’t a problem for her working with so many men on the “New Jack City” set:

“I grew up with brothers so I was used to being around all that male energy and I got to be the one chick who was their equal and not just a piece of tail. I also did a lot of work to toughen up, even though I grew up in ‘Do or Die’ Bed-Stuy, I grew up in the ‘Do’ section and was very, very protected and had to go inside before the street lights came on. I had a very protective style.

My preparation was modeling and emulating the tough folks I saw in my hood. Knowing what it was like and what the posture was like helped the character. I gave myself a back-story as to why this family meant so much to me, and what my emotional relationship was to Wesley’s character and everyone in CMB. It was like, “Am I my brother’s keeper? Yes. I am!” For the longest time, when ever we ran into each other, especially Mario [Van Peebles], that’s how we would greet each other. “Am I my brother’s keeper? Yes. I am.” It was an amazing time to cultivate as an actor. I had no idea that the movie would become such a cult classic that it has. I feel wonderful to be a part of it.”

The post “Rock-A-Bye Baby”- Vanessa Williams Divorcing Hubby Again & She’s Still Aging In Reverse appeared first on I Love Old School Music.

Watch The Video:

[kkjwplayer id=”0OtTcGL7-AsHO0UdD”]

Anywho, that was then, and this is now and Free is still around doing her thing. She’s gone from hosting a TV show, to radio, to hosting many events, and lending her celeb’ status to various causes that empower women, imprisoned minority men, etc….

https://www.instagram.com/p/BS355BdhIh-/

In the midst of Free doing her thing, she took a brief second to drop a bombshell of a revelation on her fans, which flew right under the radar a while back…but we caught it. She disclosed that she has a very famous female cousin whom we all know…at least if we’re true Old School movie/TV show lovers, we do. Her talented cuz’ started in the 80’s era and has continued to make a name for herself in film and television to this day. See who she is below…

WHO IS FREE’S FAMOUS CUZ’?

Bam!!! Free’s cousin is none other than former “Soul Food” actress, Vanessa Williams…or as many of us were first introduced to her, ‘Ms. Rockabye baby!’ from the classic film, “New Jack City!” Who woulda thought it, right?!!

Free and Vanessa both confirmed this after Free posted the below message Instagram about her cousin:

@missfreemarie: Congratulations to my cuz @nessawilliams1 the newest cast member of #daysofourlives on @nbcdays @nbctv !!!! Catch that #blackgirlmagic ⚡️ #itworks #family #vanessawilliams #wait are u gonna do love scenes ? Im telling Aunt Carolyn LOVE YOU #Keisha #rockabyebaby

And then she later had a brief convo’ with Vanessa in the comments section underneath her post…

Needless to say, fans were surprised and one even mentioned the obvious- that Free, now 50 years old;  and Vanessa, now 55, are both aging beautifully- a compliment that didn’t go unnoticed by Free. She thanked the commenter and attributed their ageless beauty to the strong genes in their fam’…

By the way, in case you didn’t catch that caption Free included in her IG post about her cousin (which has since been deleted), Vanessa’s latest gig is on the long running soap opera, “Days of Our Lives.” It’s always a beautiful thing to see an entertainer from back in the day, still being able to feed their fam,’ by doing what they love. Free and Vanessa keep doing what you do…we love it!

The post Free Revealed Who Her Famous Female Cousin Is & Surprised Everybody appeared first on I Love Old School Music.

Watch The Video:

[kkjwplayer id=”XgpPsoS4-AsHO0UdD”] 

“New Jack City” Director Revealed Confession Actor, Michael Wright, Made To Him

The year 2016 marked the 25th anniversary of the iconic 1991 classic, “New Jack City,” and to celebrate that, the writer of the film, Barry Michael Cooper,  revealed to Ambrosia For Heads, a few behind-the-scenes facts that we never knew. One of those facts is that the role that rapper, Ice T, played- the undercover cop, “Scotty”- was originally written specifically for Michael Wright. Here’s what Cooper explained about that:

Michael Cooper: “He [Michael Wright] was the original ‘Scotty.’ They gave it to Michael Wright. Mike said, ‘I can’t do that.’ Years later he said, ‘Barry, that was the worst mistake of my life, man.’ I said, ‘Naw. It just wasn’t the time.’ Later on [he and Wesley Snipes] played brothers in Sugar Hill. Ice-T came in. Dope rapper; I didn’t know how he was as an actor—’cause I didn’t count [Breakin’ II]. When he got on set, he’s another one that doubled down. He did a very, very good job, and has since turned to a very capable actor. He was fearless, man! That scene at the end when he said, ‘I wanna shoot you so bad my di*k is hard,’ I didn’t write that. That’s ad-lib. He came up with that!”

We could definitely see Wright nailing that cop role and it would have been a big contrast to his “Eddie King” character. Ice T did his thing with the ‘Scotty’ role, but Wright would have also brought that seasoned raw, street element to the role nonetheless. Ah well…although turning down the part was Michael Wright’s biggest regret, we all live and we learn…then keep it movin,’ just as Wright has done.

The post ‘Eddie King’ Actor From “Five Heartbeats” Revealed Surprising Biggest Regret Of His Career appeared first on I Love Old School Music.

[kkgallery kid=”3111” title=”Remember The Scandalous Chick In “NewJackCity?” Well Wait Til U See Her NOW!”]

The post OMG! Remember This Scandalous Chick In “NewJackCity?” Wait Til U SEE HER NOW appeared first on I Love Old School Music.

Okay first off let’s just let out a collective “Rock-a-bye baby” just for the fun of it. Only those who have seen New Jack City would know where that line came from. It’s been 25 years since New Jack City flooded the movie theaters and made it’s way toward being a true cult classic. That also means that actress, Vanessa A. Williams, should look and feel 25 years older, just like the rest of the world, but nope, when it comes to Mrs. Williams, that ain’t the case at all.

We had to do a double take when we saw recent shots of Vanessa at 52 years young and she is giving a whole new meaning to the term aging gracefully! Check her photos out below to see what we mean…
BAM!!! See what we’re talking about?!! Vanessa is sexy as hell! It’s like she’s the female version of “Benjamin Button” or something, because she has only gotten better with time.

Vanessa Williams and actress, Lupita Nyong’o…

Vanessa is married to her husband, Andre Wisemen, and they have two sons together.

Vanessa and her son at his college dorm…

One of the secrets to her flawless skin and bangin’ physique is probably due to the fact that she lives a vegan lifestyle.

Simply beautiful…

Aside from keeping her health in check, Vanessa has just filmed 5 episodes of the series, The Flash, and she recently spoke to BlackFilm about the 25th anniversary of New Jack City, her debut film.

On working with so many men in New Jack City:

I grew up with brothers so I was used to being around all that male energy and I got to be the one chick who was their equal and not just a piece of tail. I also did a lot of work to toughen up, even though I grew up in ‘Do or Die’ Bed-Stuy, I grew up in the ‘Do’ section and was very, very protected and had to go inside before the street lights came on. I had a very protective style.

My preparation was modeling and emulating the tough folks I saw in my hood. Knowing what it was like and what the posture was like helped the character. I gave myself a back-story as to why this family meant so much to me, and what my emotional relationship was to Wesley’s character and everyone in CMB. It was like, “Am I my brother’s keeper? Yes. I am!” For the longest time, when ever we ran into each other, especially Mario, that’s how we would greet each other. “Am I my brother’s keeper? Yes. I am.” It was an amazing time to cultivate as an actor. I had no idea that the movie would become such a cult classic that it has. I feel wonderful to be a part of it.

On her now infamous phrase, “Rock-a-bye baby”:

It’s going to be on my tombstone or something. People are still asking me to say it. New generations of people are seeing the movie. I remember a couple of basketball players who were in LA for a conference and they were like, “Say it, say it!” It was so cute. I feel really proud to be remembered in that way. The most quoted actress in a feature film and the award goes to….Vanessa Williams.

The post Wow See How “Keisha” From New Jack City’s Making 52 Look Like The New 22! appeared first on I Love Old School Music.

The little boy in this photo is a very well known actor who starred in the film, New Jack City. He went on to do many more movies after that and if you’re from the Old School, you know him well.

Test your Old School IQ and see if you got this one right…

The post Guess Who This “New Jack City” Baby Boy Is? appeared first on I Love Old School Music.