Essay 108

MultiCultClassics Minutes presents the latest Hollywood scandal — plus scandals in Chicago, Raleigh, New York and more…

• An investigation failed to uncover any scandal involving American Idol judge Paula Abdul. Abdul had been accused of having sexual relations with Corey Clark, a former contestant. But lawyers could not substantiate the allegations. However, everyone is pretty convinced Clark had sex with Ryan Seacrest.

• Supercuts in Chicago, Illinois are super discriminatory, allegedly prohibiting employees from conversing in any language other than English. The hair salon chain is being sued by the Equal Employment Opportunity Commission, which is representing Hispanic stylists who were repeatedly reprimanded for speaking Spanish. Supercuts management probably feared customers might think the stylists were snickering at their cheap haircuts.

• Merab Morgan mimicked Morgan Spurlock, eating exclusively at Mickey D’s for 90 days. But the Raleigh, North Carolina mother of two wound up losing 37 pounds, dropping from 227 to 190. Wow, over 99 billion served with just one success story to hype. Ronald is probably bragging, “Eat your artery-clogged heart out, Subway’s Jared!”

• A California anti-illegal immigration group called Save Our State thought it had succeeded in connecting with Blacks when founder Joseph Turner was invited to speak at a Black community forum. But the invitation was rescinded when event officials visited the organization’s Website. The site features rants against Mexicans and headlines like, “Mexifornia — California is turning into a THIRD WORLD cesspool!” Turner expressed disappointment in being dissed, as he had hoped to gain Black support. “Sometimes I think I have a better pulse on what’s going on in the Black community than the Al Sharptons of the world,” he said. Fortunately, Sharpton could not be reached for comment.

• Do New York school kids learn enough about the “physical and psychological terrorism” against Africans in the slave trade? The Amistad Commission, a new panel created to determine the answers and even recommend revised books and studies, has been launched and signed into law by Governor George Pataki. The objectives include providing students with a greater understanding of slavery and highlighting the contributions slaves made to create America. Of course, the Amistad Commission has already inspired controversy and a boatload of detractors.