R&B crooner Johnny Gill is heading to court with the Four Seasons Hotel after they failed to protect him from a drunken, racist patron. Get the lawsuit deets inside and watch Russell Simmons face off against Don Lemon about hip hop and accountability.
"My My My" singer Johnny Gill is taking the Four Seasons Hotel to court after one of their drunken, racist patrons rubbed him the Right wrong way.
The incident allegedly went down on August 23, 2011 where Johnny says he was attacked in the Four Seasons Beverly Hills patio area by a drunk White patron who yelled racial slurs AND pushed him so hard that he got slammed against a heating lamp!
If you're wondering about any prior exchange that may have led to the altercation, Johnny places the blame squarely on the bartenders! Johnny does not know that man....but he knows the dude got pissy drunk and started acting out.
So what happens in Beverly Hills when a black man gets attacked by a white man? According to Johnny.....not a damn thing!
The case is heading to Superior Court where Johnny's paperwork alleges,
"Plaintiff is African American and this individual who uttered these racially charged negatives remarks was Caucasian.
"Plaintiff objected to these unsolicited remarks and when he did so, this individual pushed plaintiff with such force and intensity that plaintiff was thrust up against a heating lamp causing great bodily injury with resulting pain and suffering, major medical expenses and loss of earnings as plaintiff was unable to perform as an entertainer, plaintiff's extremely successful and lucrative chosen profession for over 20 years.
"At no time did defendant's security employees, staff or representative offer any assistance to plaintiff nor did any such intervene to protect plaintiff, prevent the individual from becoming inebriated and thus behaving in an unruly manner the result of which was the assault that was committed on plaintiff and the resulting injuries to plaintiff."
He's seeking $1 million dollars for negligence, failure to intervene, failure to exercise reasonable care, pain and suffering and medical expenses.
We hope he gets every penny if true. Can you imagine how quickly they would have intervened have some drunk black chick punched out Reese Witherspoon?
And on CNN........
In case you were under a rock, two black men who've both been on various people's "sh*t" list faced off against each other for a good cause.....ratings.
Folks have given CNN anchor Don Lemon the side-eye since he decided to defend Bill O’Reilly‘s assessment of the black community and blamed young Black teens for their own issues. Meanwhile, it's hard to look at Uncle Russell the same since we've learned that the idea of Harriet Tubman making a sex tape with her slave master merits a laugh and a chuckle.
So now....they're talking to each other. Airing out THEIR differences. In case you care, here are a few gems:
Russell on why he disagrees with Don Lemon's assessment of Black Youth:
Sometimes, if a black person that’s revered in the community that says something that’s — conservative, ” he explained, “and I think is part of a mindset that is hurtful to the community, people will say the problem with the black community — kids have their ass crack showing. The problem with the black community is they need education opportunities and need job opportunities. These realities are the ones we immediate to bring up and we are talking about uplifting our children.”
Russell on the biggest issue facing Black America:
“The greatest course of the destruction of the fabric of black community has been the prison industrial complex. If we go (to) school, and there’s no books and — teachers aren’t teaching, and the students are in a kind of situation where they don’t even have a gym class, they don’t have an art class,” he continued. “Without art, there is no way — you have to — exercise the creative muscles. That’s why we raise millions of dollar for the arts. Those are the kinds of things that we can do to change the condition that creates poetry and makes you uncomfortable.”
Don Lemon on his feelings about hip hop:
Don’t mistake my passion for not — that I don’t like hip-hop. I think it is an art. I think people like Jay-Z and Kanye West are great artists. Kids are dying every single minute and it is because, as you said, we had the responsibility or there are people being educated in prison culture. I think that helps perpetuate that education in prison culture. And I don’t understand why you can’t see that. “I want young black men, especially the people being killed, to be better, the industry to be better. That’s it.”
Watch the interview above.....
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Photos via Jason Merritt/Getty Images North America