Selita + Kanye =...?

Hmmm... sowhat'sgoingonHERE?

For the last few weeks, Kanye West has been seen all over the place with Cayman's own Selita Ebanks - one of our favourite islandistas from long time.

The two have been papped at the U.S. Open, the New Yorkers for Children Gala and across the Atlantic in Paris last week for the Grazia Masquerade Ball.

Each time, they have looked very coupley - in fact, we daresay this is the smiliest stretch for Kanye since his mother passed - even during his long on-off stint with Amber Rose, his favoured photo expression seemed to be a screw face.

But! Selita has laughed off the obvious and increasing questions, saying Kanye is just "a great friend". Which it also could be - these pix could be the smiles of besties enjoying each other's company, not love-struck folks...

However Chicago entertainment blogger/reporter LaShonda Matlock begs to differ on ChicagoNow's Pop Buzz blog, reporting the two have been coupled up for a while now:

"His ex-girlfriend Amber Rose was very aware of his budding new relationship with Selita towards the end of their relationship. Kanye has been with Selita for over eight-months now. And Kanye's time in Hawaii was not alone, Selita was there."


The source goes on to state that "Selita seems to be a good fit for Kanye" and that "Amber was leaking gossip and rumors about him to the media for a price."

Sidebar - Amber "she'll do anything for the limelight" Rose was leaking stories about Kanye for money? Yuh lie! Shocked we are...

Anyhow, it remains to be seen what will emerge about these two but take a look at the pix for yourselves, islandistas.

REPOST: Mumma gone a foreign

As you know, sometimes we touch on some pretty serious topics here on Islandista and this one - a re-post of a piece which appeared on the very popular Clutch Magazine last week (www.clutchmag.com)  is definitely one that affects us as Caribbean mothers and daughters.  Read it and let me know your thoughts.

What do John Lee Malvo and Germaine Lindsay have in common?

The first and most obvious thing is that they were both teenaged mass murderers.
 Malvo was 17 years old when he joined John Allen Muhammad in the Beltway sniper attacks which terrorised the Washington D.C area back in 2002.

Lindsay was 19 years old when he blew himself up on a train travelling from King's Cross St. Pancras, killing 26 people, half the victims of the London 7/7 bombings in 2005.

A second, less obvious thing is that both Lindsay and Malvo are Jamaican-born – something that caused Jamaicans no end of shock and chagrin when those tragedies unfolded.

But perhaps the greatest similarity I see between these two is their mothers. By the time they committed their mass killings, both Malvo and Lindsay had been living away from their mothers for a number of years.
Malvo’s mother emigrated from Jamaica to Antigua and then on to the United States, leaving Malvo behind with Muhammad to take her chance in the USA.

Darren Sammy to tie the knot!

Photo credit: St. Lucia Star

From the St. Lucia Star, comes this tidbit that cricketer Darren Sammy is engaged to his girlfriend, fellow Lucian Cathy Daniel, a model and former Carnival queen.

The two are set to get married this weekend coming - but not in bel Sent Lisi!

The location is being kept a secret for now but the Star says Sammy and Daniel are expected to "wed in a lush Caribbean island straight out of heaven next weekend."

And clearly, even after years of of the relationship, Darren is still thoroughly in love with his bride to be. Just yesterday he tweeted:

"I'm enjoying a beautiful sunset with my miss universe"

Say it all together now ... awwwwwwww!

Congrats to the happy couple!

Alicia Keys ties the knot with Swizz Beatz!

A very preggers Alicia Keys got married to mega producer/sometime rapper Swizz Beats this weekend in the Mediterranean island of Corsica.

Her mom and her Jamaican dad (with whom she reconciled a few years back) walked her down the aisle. She wore a grecian-style Vera Wang that did wonders with her baby bump.

To be honest, it is hard to muster up as much enthusiasm for this one as other recent islandista celeb weddings - I'm sure islandistas know the full story behind their relationship... and the pic below with his eldest son Prince Nasir tells a thousand words ...

But what's done is done and she got him to tie the knot so there's no need to re-hash at the time of this happy occasion. And though people talk about karma (or in Alicia's case, sing about it), what goes around does not always come back around - sometimes the right woman or man can do wonders.

Best of luck to them.

Lala ties the knot!

Congrats to boricua Lala Vazquez, the former MTV VJ who finally tied the knot with her long time honey, Denver Nuggets baller Carmelo Anthony!

The ceremony took place yesterday in New York City at the posh Ciprianis Restaurant with a host of sports and entertainment celebs in attendance.

The day was a lonnng time in coming - the two were engaged since 2004 and she gave birth to their son Kiyan in 2007 but finally, Lala was able to put all those eternal fiancee jokes to rest once and for all - and she looked ecstatic!

Afterwards, she tweeted:

Best night of my entire life. Thank u to all my family and friends who shared tonight with me. I love u. I'm on cloud 9 right now...

Awww... bless!

Sanya Richards weds college sweetheart

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Islandista Sanya Richards married her college sweetheart, NY Giants football player Aaron Ross last Friday in Austin, Texas, where they first met at the University of Texas.

Being a real-real power couple (her, Olympic gold medallist, US record holder and World Champion, him Super Bowl winner), their wedding was featured in the New York Times' Vows section and was also on Entertainment Tonight and is also set to be featured in WEtv's Platinum Weddings, as we told you in an earlier post.



[caption id="attachment_2141" align="aligncenter" width="450" caption="Photo credit: Ben Sklar/New York Times"][/caption]


When yuh big, yuh large!

The NYT write-up was really cute with Ross talking about his excitement when he finally got to talk to Sanya, after eyeing her for a while.

Jourdan Dunn's boyfriend jailed

Sigh.

Why couldn't he just be a nice young man?

The news broke this weekend that Jourdan Dunn's boyfriend (and the father of her two month old son) has been jailed for three years for selling coke.

Weirdly enough his name is Jordan too - Jordan Cummings a 20 year old from  North London.

British tabloid The Sun broke the story, with one unnamed source saying of Cummings:

The police kicked down his front door when they arrested him.

He's well-known on the streets as a dealer. He's been dealing since he was a teenager, and makes about £1,000 a week. He and Jourdan are always out and have been together about five years - though I've never heard marriage mentioned.

Damn.

Sanya prepares for wedding day

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Jamaican-American track diva Sanya Richards is making the final preparations for her big day this Friday - which is both her 25th birthday and wedding day to New York Giants cornerback Aaron Ross.

On Friday just gone, Sanya tweeted this pic from Bridal Reflections on New York City's exclusive Fifth Avenue, where she was getting her final dress fitting.

She also tweeted another pic from her bachelorette weekend, specifically her spa day with the girls - nice!

[caption id="attachment_2064" align="aligncenter" width="300" caption="Photo credit: Sanya Richards/Twitter.com"][/caption]

The whole thing is being taped by WeTv's Platinum Weddings and indeed the nuptials for the Olympic gold medallist and World 400m Champion seem set to be platinum!

According to the New York Post, the wedding ceremony is going to be followed up by a dinner for 300 and then an after-party for 700!

Some of the guests include NY Giants past and present like Eli Manning and Michael Strahan, basketballer Dikembe Mutumbo and rappers Cam'Ron and The Game.

We here at Islandista wish the Jamaican golden girl all the best on her big day - enjoy!

DNA test shows Jah Cure's NOT the daddy

Sigh...

And so it has come to pass, nearly a year and a half after we first raised our eyebrows at the painful and foolish pronouncements of Jah Cure's alleged baby mother and known party girl, Gordene... and got blasted for it by Gordene's cyber friends, cousins and assorted supporters.

Turns out that Cure is NOT the father of Gordene's now 10 month old baby girl... which many suspected all along.

Cure released a statement yesterday, trying to quash the whole passa passa which had Jamaica in a tizzy for the last week or so,  saying:

There have been recent media reports about a DNA test result that involved Jah Cure. While not wishing to join the media circus that has ensued because of these revelations, Jah Cure wishes to outline a few facts and settle the matter once and for all.

Jah Cure has supported the mother throughout her pregnancy and had his father and manager be with her at the time of delivery in the US. His support for her throughout this period was unwavering.

Before the birth of the child Jah Cure requested a DNA test, a request which the mother refused. Despite this, Jah Cure continued to support the child and the mother.

Now that the DNA test has been done and it has been shown that he is not the father, Jah Cure wishes to move on. The fact is that the most important individual in this whole affair is the child and the longer that this continues the more damage is being done to the child. Jah Cure will not now abandon the child but wishes that the media respect the privacy of the parties as the child is indeed innocent and did not contribute to the mistakes of the adults involved."

What a ting...

There's not much more to add to that.

Except... what a shame. That a presumably intelligent girl (as we noted back in our original post, Gordene is an Andrews girl) would turn to such slack and desperate groupie tactics - and with a man fresh out of jail (and all that portends) too.

Fix up yu life, dear.

Destra welcomes her baby girl

Islandista and soca mummy Destra Garcia gave birth to her baby girl, Xaiya yesterday, almost exactly at full term.

The Express in Trinidad reported that the baby, who weighed in at 6 lbs and 15 oz, came a day earlier than her due date - wha kinda island baby little Xaiya is, being so prompt?!

Mother and child are doing well after a long labour for Miss Sassiness, who told the Express:

’It was everything I thought it would be. Now I have to learn how to be a good mum. She is so innocent. Right now she is just sleeping a lot.’

Congrats Destra and looking forward to seeing you back out next Carnival!

Ri-ri getting kissy with new man?

Can the choir say AMENNN?

[caption id="attachment_1897" align="alignleft" width="265" caption="Photo credit: SplashNewsOnline/TMZ.com"][/caption]

It seems after the annus horriblis of 2009, Rihanna is finally moving on in love  - in fact, in Combermerian style, she's moving up and on, since her new man, L.A. Dodgers baseball player Matt Kemp, definitely seems like an upgrade.

According to gossip sources, she has been spotted out with him on several occasions recently, including Christmas shopping and out at a comedy club.

And now today, they were photographed together heading out at L.A.X Airport and TMZ posted some blurry pics a while ago seemingly of them getting kissy. Plus Rihanna fan site Rihanna Daily has some snaps of them getting steamy in a hot tub.

Interestingly enough, within hours, pictures leaked of her ex Chris Brown looking couple-y with a chick that people are saying is new Guyanese-Canadian N.E.R.D. member Rhea.

So he's still into Caribbean (and more specifically part-Guyanese) chicks still then? Please, do leave out the islandistas.

More pics of Rihanna and her may be new boo under the cut.

Rachel Christie speaks out: 'So ashamed'

Two months after her nightclub brawl with Miss Manchester, Sara Jones over a man ended former Miss England Rachel Christie's reign, she is speaking out with her side of the story.

In an interview with the Daily Mail, Rachel, who will find out on January 11th whether she will be charged or not, does not seem to deny that she gave Miss Manchester a beat down but claims the two of them had beef which Sara started.

She says that it all started when she met the man in the centre of the brouhaha, reality tv contest, David 'Tornado' Mcintosh, at an event in August, where Sara was as well.

Rachel claims she "didn't know they were together" and that soon after David started "messaging and phoning" and she agreed to go out with him.

That was when everything kicked off, she told the Mail.

Anya Ayoung-Chee sex tape leaked

From the 'daaammmmmmn!' files - a sex video or rather videos (it's about up to part 7 or so now) apparently featuring Miss Trinidad & Tobago Universe 2008, Anya Ayoung-Chee and her reputed boyfriend, photographer Wyatt Gallery, has been leaked.

Some of the parts also apparently feature them getting busy with Miss Japan Universe 2008, Hiroko Mima, in some threesome action.

Damn!

It seems that Anya has gone underground - the Trinidad Express felt the need to point out that she was "not on hand" to hand over the crown to Miss Trinidad & Tobago 2009, Latoya Woods last week at the 2009 edition of the pageant.

You know what? We here at Islandista are no prudes. Whenever one of these sex vids pop up, the first thing the self-righteous and sanctimonious (who got the same video pon de replay non-stop) like to say is 'oh, she (always she eh? men does get off scott-free) ent had no right to do something so because dem videos does always get out. Is she fault for being foolish and hence I have the right to rewind and rewatch it constantly and stand in judgement.

Well, they don't say that last part cos who the hell admits they're a hypocrite? But you get our drift.

Look, adults have sex. And at 28, Anya is more than old enough to have sex with two other consenting adults and to push the envelope and get freaky if she wants to.

For our part, we're not going to judge her for that. Sex happens. Sex videos do, too.

So keep your chin up, Anya.

'When is it going to stop?' Rihanna gives details on assault

Really graphic and honestly... just sad details are coming out today from Rihanna's extensive interview on ABC with Diane Sawyer, which has ABC has been leaking in bits and pieces over the last two days.

She told Sawyer:

"It wasn't the same person that says I love you. It was not those... eyes. He had ... no soul in his eyes. Just blank. ...He was clearly blacked out. There was no person when I looked at him."

"All I kept thinking all the time: When is it going to stop? When it is going to stop?"

She also shot down the loose talk that it was anything like a fight in the Lamborghini that night - it was a beatdown.

Rachel Christie gives up Miss England crown after bar fight

Lawd. have. mercy.

De Christies could well sing the old calypso:

"Woe is me... shame and scandal in de family!"

This time, it's Rachel Christie, reigning Miss England and niece of former Olympic gold medallist Linford Christie, who's in scandal and passa passa, after being arrested for a nightclub brawl with Miss Manchester.

And apparently over this joker.

[caption id="attachment_1664" align="aligncenter" width="277" caption="Gladiator fighter Tornado"][/caption]




I'll let that marinate for a minute.

Yeah... I know... me too.

Ok, so the story such as it is right now is that Rachel, who was crowned the first black Miss England a few months back and was set to head to South Africa next month for the Miss World contest, has today 'given up' her crown.

The Miss England website had a statement from the organisers which read in part:

Due to the media attention following the allegations against her, Rachel Christie has now decided to withdraw from the Miss World competition and relinquish her Miss England crown. Rachel will concentrate on clearing her name and focus on training for the 2012 Olympics until this case is resolved."

According to media reports, Miss Manchester, Sara Jones, is the former girlfriend of Christie's boyfriend, David Mcintosh, aka Tornado, a fighter/personality on Sky1's Gladiators programme. Reports are that she flaunted a text message on her phone that was supposed to be from this Tornado fella (it sounds like a good kaiso name though doesn't it? He might need to add Mighty in front of it though).

Rachel then allegedly punched Jones in the face - nuff times.

Sigh.

I could bawl.

It's all over for Jamelia and Darren

More bad news on the Brit-islandista front.

After four years together, singer Jamelia and her footballer husband Darren Byfield are divorcing.

[caption id="attachment_1669" align="alignright" width="287" caption="Photo credit: Joel Ryan"][/caption]

Her rep announced it in a statement this week which read:

It is with regret that Jamelia and Darren Byfield today confirm they are splitting up and getting a divorce.
"No one else is involved. Their priority is naturally their two children."

Very short and to the point. Wonder if more will come out later on.

Interestingly enough, just two weeks ago, Jamelia was posing on the red carpet with 50 Cent at a movie premiere. (check pic at right)

We didn't think anything of it then... but now... well, clearly she was sending out a signal.

Rihanna speaks out

Rihanna has finally spoken out about her feelings about what went down earlier this year after she was beaten by her ex(?) boyfriend Chris Brown on the morning of the Grammy Awards.

She did an interview with Glamour magazine, which is set to come in their December issue - they dropped a preview of it today (no doubt to beat out ABC).

A few of the snippets:

On the photo of her being leaked.

It was humiliating; that is not a photo you would show to anybody. I felt completely taken advantage of. I felt like people were making it into a fun topic on the Internet, and it’s my life. I was disappointed, especially when I found out the photo was [supposedly leaked by] two women.

On the chaos immediately afterwards:

It has taught me so much. I felt like I went to sleep as Rihanna and woke up as Britney Spears. That was the level of media chaos that happened the next day. It was like, What, there are helicopters circling my house? There are 100 people in my cul-de-sac? What do you mean, I can’t go back home?

On what she wants her message to other young women suffering from domestic violence to be:

Domestic violence is a big secret. No kid goes around and lets people know their parents fight. Teenage girls can’t tell their parents that their boyfriend beat them up. You don’t dare let your neighbor know that you fight. It’s one of the things we [women] will hide, because it’s embarrassing. My story was broadcast all over the world for people to see, and they have followed every step of my recovery.

Our take on this?

We're glad she spoke. We really hope against hope that she is not being pressured to do so just to pub her album. That would be the rankest exploitation.

We know a lot of the ignorant commenters out there would like domestic violence to be a black or white issue, so they can justify their hatred/jealousy of Rihanna.

Preggers Jourdan Dunn walks for Jean Paul Gaultier

Even though she's six months' pregnant, Jourdan Dunn still made an appearance during Paris Fashion Week over the weekend - walking in the always hotly anticipated Jean Paul Gaultier show.

Dunn made an appearance in an outfit that was JPG-redux - a bronze conical bra a la Madonna in the 80s, but this time, updated with a belly pad for her  baby bump!

Check out the pics below.

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[caption id="attachment_1563" align="aligncenter" width="450" caption="Photo credit: Getty Images"][/caption]

Alexandra Burke in mum v. daughter row?

Awoah!

Fame ent always sweet.

Just ask Alexandra Burke.

The islandista winner of Britain's X-Factor is the cover girl in this month's issue of British Marie Claire. It's a major coup and she looks stunning, as the pics below show.



[caption id="attachment_1540" align="aligncenter" width="186" caption="Photo credit: Marie Claire"][/caption]


But she has also revealed that her new found fame (and there ain't no fame like British fame - the tabloids there are cra-zee) has taken a major toll on her family.

One, it has caused some tension or rather renewed tension (she left home at 16) between her and her mum Melissa Bell, former lead singer of Soul II Soul.

According to Alexandra:

"She had Soul II Soul but it didn't last as long as she wanted it to last.

'Then I get this big new show, I win it, and it's weird for her to see this.

'Although she's proud, it's like she wants to rewind time to when she was younger, when she didn't have kids. 

'I've never talked about this by the way. We're not a perfect family. Things p*** me off.'

Awahdisfadda?!

Mumma Melissa ent tekking dat. She struck back today, saying that Alex isn't even a success yet and explaining why Alex had to leave home when she was 16.

She told the Sunday Mirror:

"It's all very upsetting. And she's not even a success herself yet. I hope she is, but we don't even know how her follow-up single is going to do."

On the claims that Alexandra was put out when she was 16, Melissa says she had to lay down the law and that hard ears you won't hear, own way yuh gine feel.

"I have certain rules. In Caribbean families you have to respect your parents. She needed to experience life, to see if the grass is greener - and she did. I don't know where she went but the door was always open."

She doesn't entirely blame her girl for the shock interview though and puts some of the blame on the publicity machine.

"It's upsetting. I think her PR people are responsible. It's about getting sympathy votes."

Tami Chyn & Wayne Marshall tie the knot

[caption id="attachment_1522" align="aligncenter" width="360" caption="Photo credit: Karl Mclarty/Jamaica Observer"][/caption]

Dancehall couple Tami Chyn and Wayne Marshall got married at the Mona Lodge at UWI in Jamaica last weekend.

The two sing-jays were dress to puss backfoot (yu neva know islandista can chat patwa so eenh? ;) for the special occasion.

Tami bucked the white flouffy dress trend with a gorgeous gold coloured silk gown (the Jamaica observer called it 'metallic butter' boh) by family friend and  designer Dene Chung, which had a burst of gold and peacock organza on the  strap.

Wayne was dapper in a suit by one of Jamaica's leading menswear designers, Carlton Brown.

Even the bridesmaids had lovely dresses (which can be so rare for bridesmaids). They had some hot magenta coloured dresses (which perfectly matched Tessanne's hair actually) with slight variations on the design - Terrie's had a halter neck strap while Tessanne's was strapless.



Of course, there was singing - Wayne got singer Suzanne Couch to serenade his bride with Lifeline, while Tami's sisters Tessanne Chin and Terrie Williamson sang Songbird by Ava Cassidy, as their toast to the couple.

Congrats from Islandista to the happy couple!