Coolio performs at Riot Fest in Douglass Park on September 18, 2022 in Chicago, Illinois. (Photo by Barry Brecheisen/WireImage)
Posthumous Coolio Album
When the late rapper Coolio died suddenly in 2022, he had a new album in the works. Now that project, titled Long Live Coolio, is set to be released posthumously later this year with guest appearances from Ras Kass, Treach from Naughty By Nature and J-Dee from Da Lench Mob. The 11-track album is being pitched as a celebration of the legendary rapper's career, which took off in the 1990s with classic hits such as “Gangsta’s Paradise” and “Fantastic Voyage."
Southbox Raises $80 Million
The Atlanta-based media company Southbox Entertainment has raised a total of $80 million to greenlight new movie and TV projects, according to Deadline. The fundraising could have big implications for the industry, as the company is promising to spend a good portion on independent films with budgets of $5 million to $35 million. It's also likely that many of the projects will be developed in Georgia, where tax credits have helped spur a boom in production.
Sarah Silverman Sues OpenAI
Comedian Sarah Silverman is joining a class-action lawsuit against OpenAI and Meta alleging that both companies' large language models were trained using illegally-acquired data sets containing her work. Specifically, the suit claims that the companies tapped so-called “shadow library” websites such as Bibliotik, Library Genesis, Z-Library, which featured Silverman's copyright-protected work. Authors Christopher Golden and Richard Kadrey are also joining the lawsuit.
'Blacklist' Finale
The NBC show The Blacklist is ending its 10-year run with a two-hour-long finale. Star James Spader, who plays Raymond “Red” Reddington, told AP News the cast was grateful for the chance to take their time saying goodbye. He also noted that the show, which was mostly shot in New York City, went overseas to Spain for the finale.
Illinois State Senator Robert Martwick joins Cheddar News to discuss the new bill he co-sponsored allowing students in the state to take 5 mental health days without a doctor's note.
Jared C. Bass, senior director for Higher Education at the Center for American Progress, joins Cheddar News to discuss how schools are navigating the Omicron variant.
Sarah Kate Ellis, president and CEO of the advocacy group GLAAD, joined Cheddar to discuss the organization's Accelerating Acceptance report that examines how welcoming the general public is toward members of the LGBTQ+ community. Ellis noted that while visibility and representation is up in media, video games, and on social media, it has conversely opened the door for increased targeted harassment on the street, particularly for transgender and gender non-conforming people. "I go to the school board meetings, I hear the homophobia and the transphobia in-person, in real-time, and so, we're seeing that more and more at the local level across the country," Ellis said. "And we're going to see that play out in the midterm elections, especially the local elections."
Steve Patton, EY Americas Mobility Sector Leader, joins Cheddar News to discuss what can be done to speed up the adoption of EVs, and how infrastructure can be scaled up to support this transition.
New York Attorney General Letitia James is ramping up a civil investigation into The Trump Organization. The AG's office has subpoenaed Ivanka Trump and Donald Trump Jr. They have refused to comply with the subpoenas. Bradley Moss, national security attorney, joins Cheddar News to discuss the next steps in this investigation.
Colorado Gov. Jared Polis has officially reduced the 110-year prison sentence of truck driver Rogel Aguilera-Mederos to 10 years, calling the initial lengthy sentence “unjust.” Dan Gilleon, constitutional attorney at Gilleon Law Firm APC, joined Cheddar to discuss more.
LG announced its latest cooking appliances including its ThinQ Recipe service. The app allows people to choose from up to 10,000 recipes and have the ingredients delivered to their doorstep. LG Electronics executive Brandt Varner joins Cheddar News to talk about the products.
Former Brooklyn Borough President Eric Adams was sworn in as the newest Mayor of New York City. Adams is now expected to work on a number of issues such as crime and coronavirus. Erin Durkin,, reporter at PoliticoNY, joins Cheddar News to discuss more.
The six-month trial of Theranos founder Elizabeth Holmes has come to an end with the former tech startup star found guilty of four out of 11 counts of fraud. Michael S. Weinstein, Esq, chair of the white collar criminal defense practice at Cole Schotz, and former Department of Justice trial attorney, joined Cheddar News Wrap to discuss what happens next for the former mogul. "Do I think it's going to be more than five or seven years? Probably yes. I think that's probably a fair range at this point," he said about her potential prison sentence.