What’s The 411 Episode 49: Kanye West; Instagram’s New Nudity Policy

Onika McLean, partner to Ericka Pittman in Bravo's reality TV series, The Singles Project, Guest Hosts

Kanye West, Netflix's Orange is the New Black, Instagram's new nudity policy are just some of the topics we're talking about on What's The 411 Episode 49.

What's Poppin Quick Takes

Call him King Kanye. Time Magazine has released its 100 Most Influential People and Kanye West topped this year's list. Also on the list is Kevin Hart, Laverne Cox, and Lee Daniels.

Netflix has renewed Orange Is The New Black for Season Four.

Rapper and actor Nelly was arrested recently on felony drug charges in Tennessee. He was released on $10,000 bail

Ten former Atlanta educators will receive prison time for their part in one of the biggest school cheating scandals in U.S. history. A total of 35 educators were indicted on charges stemming from racketeering to making false statements.

Univision TV's longest-running variety show Sabado Gigante bids adios after 53 years.

In memoriam, we remember:

• R&B great Percy Sledge has passed away at age 73. Sledge is known for his hit When A Man Loves A Woman.
• Good Times actor Ben Powers, has passed away. He was 64. Powers played Thelma's husband Keith Anderson
• Dr. Levi Watkins, Jr., a noted Johns Hopkins Hospital surgeon and civil rights activist, has died at age 70. He was the first surgeon to put an automatic heart defibrillator into a human. He also fought for black students to be admitted into medical schools
• Singer Johnny Kemp has died at age 56. Kemp is known for his hit Just Got Paid.

What's Poppin'

Chicago Mayor Rahm Emanuel is not happy with Spike Lee. He recently met with the filmmaker and urged him to change the title of his upcoming film. The title, Chiraq, is a nickname for Chicago often employed by rappers to highlight the violence in parts of the city.

Fox News is reporting that a planned concert by R&B/Hip-Hop artist Akon was cancelled in Kuwait. Conservative members of the parliament pressed for the cancellation saying that children need protection from "negative people".

Shelly Sterling, the wife of disgraced former L.A. Clippers owner, Donald Sterling, has won her court case against her husband's ex-girlfriend, V. Stiviano. Ms. Stiviano has been ordered to pay back 2.6 million dollars. The Washington Post reports that Stiviano also has to turn over the keys to a 1.8 million dollar duplex and $800,000 in cash to the Sterling Trust.

Under the Radar

Instagram had come under fire for allowing some nude photos to remain on its platform and removing others. The social media platform has revised its terms of service and now, no nude photos will be allowed except a breastfeeding mother or photos of woman post-mastectomy.

On The Carpet

On The Carpet is the UNCF and its CEO, Michael Lomax.

Last year, when the UNCF announced a gift of $25 million from the Koch Brothers as 'one of its largest gifts ever', several people took to twitter to express shock and anger. One person wrote:

"#UNCF literally 'sells their souls to the devil' accepting checks from the #koch brothers without knowing their evil history. Craziness".

Another tweet read:

#Koch donation to @UNCF tells children everywhere that money is first and integrity is unnecessary. Sends the wrong message. Period."

A little background on the Koch Brothers, according to the progressive Center For Media and Discovery, Charles Koch was once a member of the John Birch Society, a far-right group that so opposed the civil rights movement, that it declared the Rev. Martin Luther King, Jr., a communist.

Additionally, Charles Murray, author of the bell curve that depicts black and Latino people as innately intellectually inferior to white people was a guest speaker at a Koch retreat.

A very telling reaction to the Koch Brothers involvement with the UNCF is that the American Federation of State, County, and Municipal Employees (AFSCME), the largest predominately black labor union in the country, severed ties with UNCF because the UNCF accepted the Koch donation of $25 million.

What's in the Pipeline?

Rolling Stone is reporting that Snoop Dogg will produce an original family drama series with HBO. It is currently in production.

Blackfilm.com and WBLS is reporting that the cast is in place for the new Nat Turner biopic. The film will star Gabrielle Union, Nate Parker, Aja Naomi King (How To Get Away With Murder), Aunjanue Ellis, Colman Domingo, Dwight Henry, Roger Guenveur Smith, and Arnie Hammer. The film, entitled The Birth Of A Nation, is in response to the controversial 1915 film and it is currently in production.

Variety is reporting that actress Gugu Mbatha-Raw has joined the cast of the new Disney live-action film Beauty And The Beast. She will play Plumette the Feather Duster.

Former Destiny's Child, Latoya Luckett, has joined the cast of the upcoming NBC pilot Love Is A Four Letter Word.

Shondra Rhimes, Ava Duvernay, Debbie Allen, and Issa Rae will grace the cover of the May issue of Essence magazine.

Empire sensation Taraji P. Henson is working on a memoir. The book will be released in 2016.

Erica Campbell, with special guests Brian Courtney Wilson and the Allen AME Choir will perform live in concert at B.B. King's on May 2nd.

TV One will begin its 2015-2016 season with 8 new original series and 16 original movies beginning on May 9th.