Akon Reveals Reason He Turned Down The Chance To Sign Drake

Kate Middleton and Prince William continue to show their support for Ukraine as they took a trip to the Ukrainian Cultural Centre in London Wednesday.  The royal couple made the surprise visit to hear about efforts to support Ukrainians in the U.K. and across Europe.

During the conversation, Nicki also revealed her surprise when she discovered her brain tumour had disappeared.The BBC host underwent surgery to remove the tumour in 2019, but only part of it could be extracted safely.She told host Kate: “Back in October I was having my yearly scan with my fantastic consultant, who knows that I adore him."I tell him regularly in front of my husband how much I adore him and the NHS that looked after me and continue to look after me so well."And he rang me, and I was standing in a field, because now we do phone appointments, we don't do it face to face.”Nicki added: "So he rang me with my latest scans, and I was standing in a field and the Escape to the Country crew were moved away."I knew I was getting the call, so they moved away, and they gave me some privacy and I'm looking at all these pigs."Nicki admitted she broke down after hearing the update, and still gets emotional now when talking about the moment.

Louise Minchin, 53, has sat down for a candid chat on her podcast, Push Your Peak, with Strictly Come Dancing star Karen Hauer, 39.The pair discussed a range of personal and work-related subjects, including Karen’s dedication to her job.Louise also discussed her favourite Strictly pairing with the Latin dance specialist.The BBC Breakfast presenter appeared to snub her co-star Dan Walker, who took part in the last season of the hit BBC One show.Louise confessed that her “all-time favourite” dance couple had been Karen with TV personality Jamie Laing.She asked Karen: “Final question for me, who’s your favourite Strictly partner?”Karen said: “Oh, you’re naughty! They are all my favourite. Who do you think?”Louise responded: “My all-time favourite: you and Jamie Laing.”Karen admitted: “I love Jamie.

Dan Walker, 44, has called on his social media followers to be “accurate” and “kind” when speaking about the “really horrible” news of Ukraine.The BBC Breakfast presenter had taken to his Instagram Story to reply to questions from some of his 272,000 followers.One of the people sending in their enquiries asked him how he remained “positive” on television “when what’s happening in Ukraine is so upsetting”.In a lengthy message, Dan explained: “The news is really horrible at the moment.“I try and imagine I’m a viewer.“I think that gives you a good handle on when it gets too much, when you need a break, when you need a reset, when you need a breath.“I also think it’s real life, it’s happening, it’s not that far away and people are suffering.“Be careful, be accurate, be kind.”Last week Dan came under fire after apologising over a Ukrainian guest swearing on BBC Breakfast when she became overcome with emotion.The presenter had been discussing Russia’s invasion of Ukraine with Ukrainian singer Maria Burmaka when she dropped the F-bomb as she denounced Russian President Vladimir Putin.Dan immediately apologised to viewers, telling Maria: “Maria, I understand the depth of feeling but I have to apologise to our viewers."The guest soon realised her mistake and put her hands over her mouth and thanked the presenters for being on the show.However, the moment did not sit right with many viewers, who criticised Dan’s lack of “sensitivity”.The broadcaster even saw his name trend on Twitter with social media users divided over his reaction to the swear word.Twitter user JayneMcCubbinTV shared her outrage as she found out the reason why Dan was trending.She wrote: “This is so sad.

Piers Morgan, 56, has once again taken to Twitter to condemn Russian President Vladmir Putin as he continues to "slaughter" Ukrainians.The former Good Morning Britain presenter has called for the world to stand up to Putin, along with leaders with "the guts to do it".Piers posted a series of tweets this evening in response to distressing pictures from Ukraine.Journalist Olga Tokairiuk took to Twitter to post pictures of pregnant Ukrainian women "covered in blood", along with pictures of dead bodies being put into mass graves.In response, Piers said in view of his 7.9 million followers: "FFS. How can we ignore this? (sic)"The world must stand up to Putin, and we need leaders with the guts to do it."He also took to Twitter to comment on a video showing Russian troops directly targeting a maternity hospital, full of women and children.In response, Piers said: "This is so f*****g disgusting."Putin's a genocidal monster deliberately slaughtering women & babies."At what point do we stop watching him commit these sickening war crimes and do something to stop him?"Our cowardly inaction is shameful & pathetic." (sic)Many social media users took to the comments of both posts to express their sadness on what is happening in Ukraine.Deanyemery said: "For once I agree with you @PiersMorgan."All those arguing against action as it would cause WW3 are just delaying the inevitable."Putin will not step down unless he makes some serious gains.

EXCLUSIVE: The Good Fight is getting another high-profile cast addition. Emmy winner André Braugher, coming off an eight-season run on Brooklyn Nine-Nine, is set as a series regular in the upcoming sixth season of the Paramount+ legal drama. Now in production, The Good Fight is slated to return this summer on the streaming service.

The Dr. Oz Show spinoff The Good Dish has been canceled after one partial season in national syndication, sources tell Deadline. The Good Dish replaced the long-running The Dr. Oz Show, which ended on January 14 amid host Mehmed Oz’s Senate run in Pennsylvania.

A small number of UK troops have defied orders and may have gone to Ukraine to help fight against the Russian invasion, the British Army stated tonight.

respect him or detest him, few figures have been quite as famous — or polarizing — in modern Hollywood than Tom Cruise. As one of the greatest movie icons of the past three decades, he has ascended to the throne of glory and infamy in equal measure. Possessing a nearly infinite sense of bravado, his ego, sex appeal and charisma has brought him the attention of the entire world.

Kim Kardashian has finally spoken out on her relationship with boyfriend Pete Davidson, whom she has been dating since last year. The 41 year old billionaire was opening up about all the exciting things ahead on Hulu's new The Kardashians series. But as she chatted about how much viewers can expect to see of the sisters' recent love life developments, Kim was the only one to really give details.

Travis Scott has pledged a whopping $5 million in community-focused initiatives.The program just kicked off today with $1 million in scholarships for students at Historically Black Colleges and Universities. Backed by the “Portland” rapper, the Waymon Webster Scholarship Fund will provide $10,000 grants to seniors with GPAs of at least 3.5 who risk not graduating due to financial adversity. The scholarship will help 100 students cross the finish line and earn diplomas, according to the press release.“My grandfather was an educator who made a difference in thousands of young lives throughout his life,” Scott said in a statement.

Dragons' Den star Steven Bartlett has reportedly been scolded by the BBC for breaking their strict sponsorship rules.The 29 year old plugged the jewellers Craftd on an instalment of the show before taking to social media to showcase items from the brand's range - something that is prohibited by the television broadcaster. BBC has now removed the clip of The Diary of the CEO podcast host wearing the jewellery brand on the business show and, according to The Sun, is said to have been barred from wearing the items again if his contract is renewed. "We have clear guidelines around talent's commercial activity while working with us.

Coronation Street's Lydia Chambers star Rebecca Ryan has finished filming with the hit ITV soap amid her sinister Adam and Sarah Barlow storyline. Only recently, Lydia, who has been making Adam's life hell and scheming for weeks to get revenge, was confronted by his wife Sarah as she asked whether they were having an affair.To which Lydia, who has been creating fake evidence and clues to support her lie, pretended that she was in a relationship with Adam, leaving Sarah heartbroken.

Princess Diana's wedding dress designer has opened up on how she really felt about the giant frilly gown as the late royal prepared to tie the knot to Prince Charles on her big day in 1981.The bold and statement-making dress was designed by husband and wife duo Elizabeth and David Emanuel. Becoming one of the most iconic frocks in royal history, Lady Diana Spencer's moment was hugely overshadowed by the incredibly dramatic pouffy fabric she was wearing.

Iconic! Scarlett Johansson rocked Juicy Couture tracksuits, little body con dresses and, most notably, a leopard-print mini in her 2013 movie Don Jon. And get this: the inspiration behind her character Barbara’s fashion is an unnamed cast member of The Real Housewives of New Jersey. 

Thankful for the memories. Dylan O’Brien explained the reason behind his “difficult decision” not to return for the upcoming Teen Wolf movie.

Zack Sharf “Turning Red” cast members spoke up in support of the new Pixar film and its universality following a controversial review for the animated movie that was published by CinemaBlend. The review was pulled offline after being called “sexist,” “racist” and more by members of the press. CinemaBlend managing director Sean O’Connell wrote the review, saying that the film’s appeal was limited because it’s set in the Asian community of Toronto.“I recognized the humor in the film, but connected with none of it.

Ethan Shanfeld K-pop fans are anxiously awaiting BTS’ return to South Korea this week for three concerts at the Jamsil Olympic Stadium in Seoul. However, the BTS Army will have to curb its enthusiasm, as clapping, shouting and standing up are strictly prohibited per government COVID protocols.BTS’ management company Big Hit Music said in a statement, “Cheering loudly, yelling, chanting and standing up during ‘BTS Permission To Dance On Stage – Seoul’ is strictly prohibited according to government guidelines.”Instead, the company will be providing concert attendees with clappers to emulate crowd noise.

Amazon stock rose 7% in after-hours trading after the tech company announced a 20-for-1 stock split and a $10 billion share buyback authorization.

Shirley Ju Akon may be best known for his catalog of hits like “Lonely” and “I Wanna Love You,” but he’s run a parallel career as a record executive, signing Lady Gaga to his KonLive label via Interscope (the two have since parted ways) and his Konvict Muzik imprint, which was founded in 2004 and over the years has included T-Pain, rapper Kardinal Offishall, singer Kat Deluna and many others — and nearly included Drake, but Akon actually passed on signing him.Akon recently revealed in a VladTV interview he had to the chance to sign Drizzy back in 2005, but passed because “Drake sounded more like Eminem.”“Kardinal Offishall brought him [Drake] to me in 2005, I think it was, or 2004,” Akon recalled.

Akon has revealed that he turned down the chance to sign Drake in the mid-2000s, because he thought he “sounded like Eminem“.In a new interview with VladTV, Akon spoke about how he was sent a Drake demo ahead of the release of his breakout single, ‘Best I Ever Had’.“[Canadian rapper] Kardinal Offishall brought him to me back in like 2005 I think it was,” Akon explained. “Or was it ’04? It was right before ‘Best I Ever Had’ blew up because it was like more mixtape-ish.“And at the time, believe it or not, Drake sounded more like Eminem.