Russell Simmons Interview Pulled From Revolt TV and Tidal After Backlash

Jem Aswad Senior Music EditorUPDATED: Malibu Entertainment, a company connected to Jay-Z’s Tidal streaming service, was among the businesses applying for and accepting Paycheck Protection Program loans for between $2 million and $5 million, according to documents released by the Small Business Administration and Treasury Department; a source close to the situation tells Variety the loan was for $2.1 million.

Jem Aswad Senior Music EditorKanye West backed off of his support for President Trump, claimed he had a bout with Covid-19 in February, talked at length — if vaguely — about his own presidential campaign, slammed presumptive Democratic nominee Joe Biden and plenty more in a sprawling four-hour interview with Forbes that published early Wednesday.

Halle Berry is apologizing after facing significant public criticism over her desire to play a transgender person in a new film.

Halle Berry caused quite the outrage on social media when she expressed interest in portraying a transgender male character in a new film. Furthermore, she is also in hot water for misgendering the said character! It all started with a new Instagram Live interview she did with hairstylist Christin Brown.

Dino-Ray Ramos Associate Editor/ReporterDuring an interview with hairstylist Christin Brown on Instagram Live, Halle Berry talked about a lot of things including her hair journey throughout her career and her upcoming directorial debut with Bruised. Then she spoke about a role that was pitched to her: a transgender man.

Jordan Moreau Halle Berry has pulled out of a role in an upcoming film in which she’d play a transgender character after facing backlash online.In an Instagram live interview on Friday, the actor said she had been preparing for the role, but had not been officially cast.“[It’s] a character where the woman is a trans character, so she’s a woman that transitioned into a man. She’s a character in a project I love that I might be doing,” Berry had said.

Jimmie Johnson will not be racing as planned this weekend after he tested positive for COVID-19 coronavirus.

Vanilla Ice will no longer be celebrating Independence Day like it’s the ’90s.

REVOLT TV and TIDAL are facing scrutiny after fans lambasted the companies for incorporating Russell Simmons in a new Drink Champs episode discussing the importance of Black Lives Matter. On Tuesday (June 24), author Sil Lai Abrams -- who accused Simmons of allegedly raping her in 1994 -- questioned TIDAL and REVOLT's decision to give the mogul a platform after multiple sexual assault allegations against him surfaced in 2018.

20 women.As of Tuesday evening, the episode, posted earlier in the day, no longer appears on Tidal or Revolt TV, which produces the podcast and video series, and most of the social media posts promoting the episode have been taken down. Representatives for Tidal did not have a comment when reached by TheWrap, and representatives for Revolt TV, founded by Sean Combs, did not immediately respond to TheWrap’s request for comment.Earlier in the day, “Drink Champs” co-host N.O.R.E.

Todd Spangler NY Digital EditorSnapchat has removed the app’s selfie filter — meant to celebrate Juneteenth — that asked users to “smile and break the chains” to unlock the augmented-reality animation.Representatives for Snap, the parent company of Snapchat, did not immediately provide comment.After the filter launched Friday morning, users began commenting on the odd way in which Snapchat was using the filter to “celebrate” Juneteenth.

Todd Spangler NY Digital EditorSnapchat has removed the app’s selfie filter — meant to celebrate Juneteenth — that asked users to “smile and break the chains” to unlock the augmented-reality animation.Representatives for Snap, the parent company of Snapchat, did not immediately provide comment.After the filter launched Friday morning, users began commenting on the odd way in which Snapchat was using the filter to “celebrate” Juneteenth.“This SnapChat #Juneteenth filter is…um…interesting,”