Sept. 10, 2007

Bynum Bails

Prophetess Juanita Bynum is planning to divorce her abusive husband, Bishop Thomas Weeks, who beat the holy crap out of her in the hotel parking lot at the Renaissance Hotel in Atlanta. Bynum revealed her desire to end the marriage during a recent interview with Fox 5 Atlanta.

She said she gave her attorney permission to move forward with divorce proceedings. The 48-year-old preacher also confirmed that the incident wasn't the couple's first physical altercation. However, she pointed out that previous squabbles only included pushing and shoving. Bynum said her husband had never physically drawn back a fist and hit her.

"I lost somebody that I love very much. My love for Bishop Weeks … I don't think will ever die. My love for him, separating what have I experienced in that parking lot, I have enough love … it's so much I think I could marry him twice," the weeping evangelist told the interviewer.

Many tuned in last Tuesday to see Bynum make her return to 'Praise the Lord' on the Trinity Broadcasting Network (TBN), where gospel singer DeWayne Woods and part-time R&B star Tarralyn Ramsey were among the guests. Bynum addressed her ordeal during the broadcast, using very specific language when speaking about Weeks.

"If they are waiting on me to say something negative about my husband, I won't! Nobody can give me enough money," she said tearfully. "Because as long as he's my husband, I won't break the covenant. Because he's a man of God and God's going to get the glory out of his life. I wish him well, but God's going to get the glory."

I guess once the marriage is dissolved and the "covenant" is formally broken, perhaps then she'll have some things to say about the troubled bishop.

Bynum feels now that domestic violence has a face in her, her situation can help other women. "I decided in my mind that the minute when I made the decision that I was no longer a victim, I was an advocate," the emotional preacher said. "I began to feel God heal me. The minute I said, 'I am going through this for somebody else! This is not my battle! This is not my warfare! I'm in warfare for every woman all over the world that's ever been through this!' When that happened, my spirit changed [and] my mind changed. I didn't feel embarrassed anymore. That night, I stepped in purpose!"

Family Affair

Nationally syndicated radio personality Tom Joyner held his annual Tom Joyner Family Reunion in Orlando, Fla., over the Labor Day weekend. "The purpose of our Family Reunion is to bring together families for a fun-filled weekend of fellowship, information and entertainment," Joyner said about his family-themed weekend, while the morning show crew -- J. Anthony Brown, Sybil Wilkes, Myra J., Miss Dupree and yours truly -- joined him onstage.

The four-day gathering was held at the enormous Gaylord Palm Resort and activities were scheduled in three theme parks -- Disney's Animal Kingdom, Sea World and Universal Studios. "We started small, but now we're so big we couldn't just go to one park, we had to go to three," Joyner explained.

The Tom Joyner Family Reunion kicked off on Thursday with a chicken and waffles feast that featured performances by on-the-rise soul collective Hot Sauce, and newcomer husband-and-wife duo J. Torae. The next morning was The Sky Show, Joyner's live concert radio broadcast that featured performances by funk band Zapp, Morris Day & The Time and comedian Akitunde. There was also a pre-show concert sponsored by Orlando's Star 94.5 FM that featured Cheryl "Pepsi" Riley and Klymaxx.

That afternoon, the morning show crew rode in a Disney parade at Animal Kingdom. That evening, Doug E. Fresh performed at a party for teenagers, while D.L. Hughley and R&B singer Kem entertained the adults. "Now Master P wants to introduce rap with no cussing," Hughley said during his performance. "That ain't new. We already got that. It's called jazz."

Day three began with Joyner's wife, Donna Richardson Joyner, getting folks in shape with her 'Sweatin' in the Spirit' workout. That night, 'Just Jordan' star Lil' JJ hosted a party for the teenagers with performances by Omarion, Marques Houston and Bobby Valentino. (See Omarion perform his song 'Touch' here)Nickelodeon actors Daniel Curtis Lee and Chris Massey were also on hand to greet the concertgoers.

I spoke with Valentino, who talked candidly about the impact he wants to have on the music industry. "I'm going to be in the game for a while, so y'all go on ahead and come on with me," he told me. "R&B today is all about gimmicks and all that. I want to be one of those new young cats that really knows where R&B came from and I want to continue that legacy of R&B. No matter how many records I sell, I know, of course, the people who dance and do cartwheels are great entertainers and all of that, but where I come from is like real music. I want to continue that. That's all I know and that's all I do." (See Valentino's rendition of the Babyface classic, "Soon As I Get Home" here)

Lil' JJ revealed that he is branching into music. "When I first came out, I said I was gonna do it all. Standup, acting and do an album. I am doing a rap album. I'm working on it now, actually. It's going to be coming out, but it's not going to be a Nick Cannon album," he said about the one-time Nickelodeon talent, before adding: "I ain't hating! Nick's my dude! We work together a lot. But tell the truth, who has his albums?"

The adults partied to the sounds of the elements Earth Wind & Fire, and stepped while deejay Biz Markie spun records. (Check out EWF's encore performance here)

Making sure all of his events are "a party with a purpose," Joyner's Family Reunion included instructional seminars and author presentations by folks like Farrah Gray ('Reallionaire: Nine Steps to Becoming Rich from the Inside Out') and Valerie Burton ('Why Not You? Twenty-eight Days to Authentic Confidence').

The weekend culminated with the Sunday gospel show that was headlined by Rickey Smiley, featured a performance by Ty Tribbett & G.A. and was hosted by Dr. Bobby Jones. Guests concluded their experience by spending the day at Universal Studios, before attending the family movie night affair.

Buzzworthy

Sources tell me that Kelly Rowland has returned to the recording studio where she's recording some new tracks that her label plans to strip onto her CD, 'Ms. Kelly,' with intentions to re-release the album. The Destiny's Child singer released her sophomore solo record on July 3 to lackluster sales. The CD sold 83,700 copies in its first week despite the hit single, "Like This," which featured Eve. A rep for Rowland confirmed the plans. "We are planning to re-release the album later this fall," Columbia Records' Yvette Noel Schure told me via e-mail. Rowland's 2002 pop CD, 'Simply Deep,' was certified gold (500,000 units sold) in the United States and certified platinum (one million units sold) in the U.K.

'The Steve Harvey Show' actress Terri J. Vaughn recently got engaged to former Atlanta Falcons' defensive end Karon Riley. The 35-year-old star of 'Daddy's Little Girls' agreed to wed the 28-year-old Detroit-bred athlete after he proposed on a beach in Orlando, Fla. The couple is planning an intimate ceremony likely before the year's end. Vaughn, who also starred on UPN's 'All of Us,' was previously married to Derrick Carloina and the two have a 4-year-old son.

Don't look for Jerome Benton the next time you see Morris Day & The Time perform. After more than 26 years of performing with the R&B collective, Benton left the group after an apparent riff with Day over money. "Basically, Jerome wanted more money and Morris wasn't interested in paying it. Instead of talking to Jerome about it, he basically stopped communicating with him all together," said a source close to the situation. The group performed during the Tom Joyner Family Reunion and two new guys have replaced Benton in the act. Morris Day & The Time was formed in 1981 as a protégé of Prince. The group is also responsible for launching the careers of Jimmy Jam & Terry Lewis, who went from being group members to two of the music industry's most successful producers.

Can't Say Names ...

This Hollywood funnyman wasn't laughing when he pulled out a gun on the set of the movie he was filming. Said comic got upset when a fight scene with a fellow actor got too intense and responded by threatening to shoot his co-star. Cast and crew fled the set, fearing for their lives, and at press time, work had not resumed on the film.