In recent years the legendary Bill Cosby has ignited controversy over his comments about hip-hop, along with young blacks kids and the parents not raising them.

In a new post on Global Grind, Russell Simmons takes Cosby to task – arguing his words point to his own intolerance, and help fuel the longstanding generational divide among blacks.

Simmons wrote:

There are a lot of great entertainers who do great things. Bill Cosby is one of them. He has always used his voice to right what he thought was wrong. However, I believe that too often Mr. Cosby has wrongly placed the blame.

Bill Cosby is an example of someone from the older generation who has consistently blamed the poets and asked suffering community members to bear the full burden of guilt for the struggles that they endure. It is certainly not that he and the rest of the elders don’t care, because they do. In fact, their intentions are pure and good. All the things they say are actually true. What they don’t understand is that the young people who they criticize did not create their own realities. They did not create the crumbling education system that we school them in. They did not create the drug epidemic and drug wars that have resulted in a dysfunctional family structure. They did not create the health care crisis that does not treat them. They did not create the culture of violence that they fall victim to.

While it is true that each one of us can make a change at any moment, it is equally true that at every minute we are all doing the best we can. If you knew better, you would do better. Therefore, those who care and have resources could/should work to create the kind of support systems that could inspire change.

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Looks like Breezy’s setting up for the comeback!  According to MTV.com  Chris Brown is scheduled to headline Power 105.1’s Powerhouse concert in New Jersey on October 27th (that’ll be a nice break for him from his 180-day hard labor sentence in Virginia!). The show, which will also feature Fabolous, The Dream, Trey Songz, Keri Hilson and Mario, will be the first major promotional event that Chris has participated in to push his upcoming album Graffiti.  What do you think about the concert: is it too soon for Chris to be back on the scene or has he suffered enough?

From good news to bad news: rapper Eve told TheYBF.com that she permanently shut down her Fetish clothing line due to “legal reasons” and she also confirmed she has left her label Geffen Records. Ouch! Times may be hard or maybe Eve is just on to the next thing and focusing more on her acting interests. She’s in the upcoming Drew Barrymore and Ellen Page movie Whip It! and will be guest starring on the Fox TV show Glee for two episodes.

There might have been even more you missed from The 6th Annual VH1 Hip Hop Honors which was taped this week!  Apparently Russell Simmons was not at all happy with the show that show which commemorated the 25th anniversary of Def Jam Records. Rumor has it that Russell, who co-founded Def Jam, sent an email out to the show’s executive producer and called the show “incomplete at best.” He allegedly said that not having Jay-Z, Rihanna, Kanye, Damon Dash, LL Cool J, or Irv Gotti involved hurt the show and said that he wasn’t feeling having a comedian host (Tracy Morgan hosted the awards). The show is scheduled to air on October 13th on VH1 so set your DVRs and judge for yourself. In the meantime, have a great weekend! We’ll chat with you next week!

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Correct me if I’m wrong, but isn’t Russell Simmons always talking about being centered, joyful, peaceful and all of those other “woosah” related words?

If so, why was he acting saltier than a bottle of Lawry’s (shout out to T-Boz for the original celebrity endorsement) over his seating at a Charlotte Ronson’s show at New York Fashion Week?

An eyewitness told Radar Online:

“He flipped out over his seating. He thought his seat was given away and lost it on some poor staffer on the runway moments away from the show’s start.

‘When I walked in here, there was like 40 seats,’ Simmons was heard griping. ‘Now, there’s nothing. Where am I supposed to sit?’

When the girl didn’t reply promptly enough the hip-hop king, who preaches the benefit of the calming effect of his yoga prowess, angrily demanded, ‘Where’s your boss? Where’s the lady in charge? Who do I have to talk to? Come on now.’

After talking to the head seater of the show, Simmons was still not pacified, and let her have it. In the midst of the tirade the staffer asked him to ‘please calm down’ which prompted Simmons to fume ‘I am calm! I’m a calm person!’

He sounds about as calm as a knife fight.

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It’s real in these streets for celebrity fashion lines! Last month Jennifer Lopez’s clothing line Sweetface went bankrupt and now Kimora Lee Simmon’s line Baby Phat might be headed for the same fate.

The Wall Street Journal reported that Kellwood Co. – an apparel manufacturer who’s brand’s include Baby Phat, Fabulosity, Phat Farm, Vince, and Xoxo, among others – may have to file for Chapter 11 bankruptcy if they can’t come up with the money to pay a $140 million bond issue by Wednesday. Kellwood has over $500 million in debt and $800 million in annual sales and according to the report “the twin effects of a heavy debt load and a sharp drop in consumer spending have crushed the company’s financial results.”

Russell Simmons launched Phat Farm clothing in 1992, while his, then wife, model/designer Kimora Lee Simmons, started Baby Phat in 1999. Russell sold Phat Farm and Baby Phat to Kellwood in 2004 for $142 million in cash plus performance incentives (at least he cashed out before the hard times hit!) though Kimora retained her position as “principal creative arbiter” for Baby Phat.

So if it all falls down Kimora (and some 2,000 employees that Kellwood employs) might be out of a job and we may see the end of Baby Phat clothing. You mad?

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Russell Simmons sure is keeping busy in his old age! While his ex-wife Kimora Lee Simmons has been laying low being a new mom, Russell has been keeping a steady rotation of girlfriends on his arm. At least he keeps it pretty consistent: the 51-year-old rap mogul, who was just dating 23-year-old grapefruit heiress/swimsuit model Julie Henderson has now moved on to a new arm piece: 29-year-old French model Noemie Lenoir (you may recognize her from the pages of Victoria’s Secret catalouges and several Sports Illustrated Swimsuit issues).

Lenoir is recently divorced from soccer player Claude Makelele;  the two have a 4-year-old son (I can already smell a Brady Bunch-style MTV reality show if her tryst with Uncle Russie actually lasts longer than a month).

The new couple was caught locking lips for all the world (and paparazzi) to see, outside of Mr. West nightclub in New York last week, verifying the previous rumors that they were an item.

I’m not really sure how this man keeps pulling all of these model chicks (four guesses: money, money, money, money), but I guess he still knows how to spot talent.

Contributor: Carrie Blackshaw 

Should we pop champagne for Kimora Lee Simmons and Djimon Hounsou?

Looks like the twosome — and expectant parents – are married. Only problem? The nuptials may not be legally binding.

According to a source close to the pair, the couple got married over the summer on a transcontinental trip to Hounsou’s native Benin, Africa − but they couldn’t make it official here because Kimora was still technically married to Russell Simmons, and their union wasn’t disolved until earlier this year.

Here are the deets of the wedding, according to The New York Daily News: They both wore traditional dashikis, there were African drums, dancers and a hut. Kimora’s kids Aoki and Ming were there, too.

Reps for both Kimora and Djimon were not available for comment. We just want to know if there’s a registry.

Former model, future baby mama and former ex wife Kimora Lee is scoring $40,000 a month in child support from Russell Simmons.
The divorce between Lee, 33, and Russell Simmons, 51, has been finalized, and Simmons has agreed to pay child support for daughters, Ming and Aoki of $20,000 each per month until the girls turn 19, according to court papers filed Thursday in Los Angeles.

Lee also won sole legal and physical custody of the girls, with monitored visitation for Simmons.

“When the children are in [Simmons's] custody, they shall be accompanied at all times by a nanny and security person,” the filing reads.

Simmons also agreed to provide a new car, worth at least $60,000, for the children’s use, until they turn 16. The car will be replaced every three years, documents show.

The papers also outline a meticulous, seven-page agreement on Simmons’s visitation rights, giving him access to the girls every eighth week during their school year and on various holidays.

Dag. Some bold individual stole $15,000 worth of jewelry from hip-hop mogul Russell Simmons’ bling-bling business.

From the NY Post: Russell Simmons is out $15,000 after a suitcase full of his bling was swiped from a Bleecker Street apartment building. The case – which contained three diamond rings, a pendant, three sets of earrings and two bracelets from the Simmons Jewelry Company – was lifted early Saturday morning when an employee left it in a hallway for 30 minutes. “Crime-scene investigators were swarming the area,” said our spy. Police sources confirmed the incident, but a rep for Simmons Jewelry claimed the gems belonged to the employee, who must be very handsomely paid.

Employee left the case in the hallway, huh? Sounds like an inside job.