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Starbucks will close 8,000 locations on May 29 to provide racial-bias training to about 175,000 workers. The announcement comes after two Black men were arrested while waiting for a friend at a Philadelphia location. (CNN)
Former First Lady Barbara Bush has passed away. Bush has been suffering failing health in recent days and had announced she would rest at home instead of in hospice care. Both former President George W. Bush and brother Jeb released statements with George calling his mother “a woman unlike any other who brought levity, love and literacy to millions.” Bush was 92. (The Guardian)
Cardi B has surpassed Beyoncé as the female artist with the most simultaneous Hot 100 entries. The news comes after her first album, Invasion Of Privacy, debuted at number one on the Billboard charts. (Billboard)
Prosecutors in the Bill Cosby retrial will present the jury with testimony from 2005 in which the comedian admits to giving quaaludes to women. Prosecutors say the testimony will help to establish a pattern of serial abuse. (The Associated Press)
In a discussion at Tina Brown’s ninth annual Women in the World Summit in New York, Terry Crews referred to masculinity as a “cult.” The actor told attendees during the panel, which discussed the #MeToo movement and included Joanna Coles and Lauren Duca, that at the center of masculinity was a “humanity issue” and that men often don’t see women as “all the way human.” (HuffPost)
The transgender daughter of a Trump nominee for U.S. Marshal for the Eastern District of Oklahoma says her father is unfit for the job after he called her a “freak in a dress.” Frank Coffman’s confirmation process has been sidelined after his daughter stepped forward to call out his transphobia. Bailey Coffman says her father told her she was “possessed by the devil” and accused her of being “corrupted by demons and society.” (BuzzFeed News)
J Cole has announced that he will be releasing a new album this Friday. The rapper’s last album, 4 Your Eyez Only, was released in 2016. This will be J Cole’s fifth studio album. (Twitter)
Trinidad and Tobago’s High Court has ruled that colonial-era laws criminalizing consensual sexual activity between same-sex adults are unconstitutional. The ruling comes after LGBTQ activist Jason Jones filed a lawsuit against the government of the Caribbean nation in February 2017 in order to nullify sections 13 and 16 of the country’s Sexual Offences Act, which covered same-sex acts. (HuffPost)
Idris Elba is set to executive produce and star in a new Netflix series, Turn Up Charlie. Elba will star as a struggling DJ and bachelor who lands one more chance at success after becoming the manny to his famous best friend’s terrible daughter. (Shadow and Act)
OWN has ordered two new shows from Will Packer. The network has picked up an unscripted series, Ready To Love and drama, Ambitions, from the mega-producer. Ready To Love is a dating series that will follow successful men and women looking for love, while Ambitions tells the story of a woman who’s recently relocated and hopes to revitalize her marriage while facing one of the most powerful and deceitful players in the city. (Deadline)
