Diddy wants to be first black team owner

NEW YORK -- With racial tensions casting a pall over American football, rap mogul Diddy wants to buy the Carolina Panthers and become the first African American owner of an NFL team.

The New York rapper, estimated by Forbes magazine to be worth $820 million, voiced his interest as Panthers owner and founder Jerry Richardson stepped down in the wake of sexual harassment allegations.

"I would like to buy the @Panthers. Spread the word," tweeted Diddy, who is also known as Puff Daddy and whose real name is Sean Combs.

Kaepernick, a former quarterback for the San Francisco 49ers, began a movement of players kneeling rather than holding their hearts during the national anthem as a protest against police brutality and other racial injustices in the United States.


Kaepernick no longer has a job -- retaliation, his supporters say, for his outspoken politics -- and President Donald Trump has seized on the issue, demanding that owners punish athletes who do not stand for the anthem.

Amid Trump's attacks on the athletes, Curry, a history-making shooter for the Golden State Warriors, said he would not want to visit the White House with his NBA championship-winning team.

While more than two-thirds of players in the National Football League are black, only one team has an owner who is an ethnic minority -- the Jacksonville Jaguars, who are owned by Pakistani-born tycoon Shahid Khan.

Only one team in all of professional sports has a black owner -- the NBA's Charlotte Hornets, whose controling interest is held by basketball legend Michael Jordan.

Still, Diddy would face forbidding odds to buy the Panthers. The move would need approval from other NFL owners, some of whom might be loath to a deal that gives a role to Kaepernick.

The hard-living Diddy has also had his own share of controversy, including his arrest on weapons charges after a 1999 shooting at a New York club, although he was acquitted.

Diddy, 48, was ranked the world's top-paid celebrity on the last Forbes list in June, raking in $130 million in the previous year.

Outside of music, his business empire includes fashion lines and a stake in French-made Ciroc vodka.

source: news.abs-cbn.com

Sean Combs ousts Taylor Swift as highest-paid global entertainer

LOS ANGELES - Rapper and music producer Sean "Diddy" Combs was named the world's highest-paid entertainer on Monday, ousting pop singer Taylor Swift who fell to 49th place on the Forbes annual list.

Beyonce moved into the second spot with $105 million, courtesy of her best-selling "Lemonade" album and world tour, while British author J.K. Rowling ($95 million) moved back into the top three thanks largely to her "Harry Potter" spinoff movie franchise "Fantastic Beasts and Where to Find Them."

Combs, 47, earned an estimated $130 million in the 12 months ended June 1, 2017, Forbes said. It attributed the big payout to his Bad Boy Family Reunion Tour, earnings from his Sean John clothing line, and his partnership with Ciroc vodka.

Last year, Combs came in 22nd on the list in a year when Swift bested all-comers with $170 million after her best-selling "1989" album and world tour.

This year, the 27-year-old country singer-turned-pop star, with no new album or tour, saw her paycheck dip to $44 million, Forbes estimated.

Newcomers in 2017 include model Kylie Jenner, the 19-year-old half-sister of reality TV star Kim Kardashian, who earned $41 million, and U.S. radio and television personality Steve Harvey with $42.5 million

Forbes compiles the list estimating pre-tax earnings, before deducting fees for managers, based on data from Nielsen, touring trade publication Pollstar, movie database IMDB.com, and interviews with industry experts and celebrities themselves.

The world's top 100 celebrities earned a cumulative $5.1 billion - about the same as last year, Forbes said.

The full list can be seen on www.forbes.com/celebrities

source: news.abs-cbn.com

Diddy, Wahlberg bet $250K on Paquiao-Floyd fight

Hip-hop star Diddy and Hollywood actor Mark Wahlberg just put a lot of money on the line as they made a huge bet on the May 2 showdown between Manny Pacquiao and Floyd Mayweather Jr.

In an advertisement for the performance water company, AQUAHydrate, Diddy and Wahlberg are shown discussing the highly anticipated "Fight of the Century."

"Who you got in the fight?" Wahlberg asked.

Diddy picked up a "TMT" hat and announced: "I got Mayweather. Go with the Money Team, baby. Who you got?"

"Pacman," Wahlberg said.

The hip-hop mogul asked Wahlberg if he wanted to put $100,000 on the table, to which Wahlberg answered: "Why so little?", prompting Diddy to raise the stakes to $250,000.

Wahlberg, the star of the Academy Award-nominated film "The Fighter," is a huge boxing fan and visited Pacquiao earlier this month at the Wild Card Gym.

source: www.abs-cbnnews.com