Connect with us

Published

on

A Los Angeles judge has sentenced the killer of rapper Nipsey Hussle to at least 60 years in prison.

Eric R Holder Jr, 33, had been found guilty of the 2019 murder of the Grammy-nominated hip hop artist.

The rapper, also 33, was shot outside the clothes shop he founded in the south Los Angeles area that both men grew up in.

Superior Court Judge H Clay Jacke II handed down a sentence of 60 years to life on Wednesday after the month-long trial. Holder was not eligible for the death penalty.

The jury also found Holder guilty of two counts of attempted voluntary manslaughter and two counts of assault with a firearm for gunfire that hit two other men at the scene who survived.

Judge Jacke sentenced Holder to 25 years to life for the murder, 25 more for a firearm sentencing enhancement and 10 for assault with a firearm.

Please use Chrome browser for a more accessible video player

April 2019: We must have stronger gun laws – Stevie Wonder

Jurors returned with the first-degree murder verdict after around six hours of deliberations.

The evidence against Holder was overwhelming with eyewitnesses and surveillance cameras from local businesses showing his arrival, the shooting and his departure.

Holders’s attorney also conceded during trial that he had shot Hussle.

2019 BET Awards - Show - Los Angeles, California, U.S., June 23, 2019 - DJ Khaled and John Legend (R) perform during a tribute to Nipsey Hussle. REUTERS/Mike Blake
Image:
DJ Khaled and John Legend perform a tribute to Nipsey Hussle at the 2019 BET Awards

Both Hussle, whose legal name is Ermias Asghedom, and Holder were rappers that had known each other for years growing up as members of the Rollin’ 60s in South LA.

But Holder did not experience the same success as Hussle, who would go on to find fame and critical acclaim in the music industry.

Read more:
Nipsey Hussle: Man found guilty of rapper’s murder
Nipsey Hussle funeral shooting: One dead and three hurt

Click to subscribe to Backstage wherever you get your podcasts

Actor Lauren London, who was Hussle’s partner, did not attend any part of the trial, nor did any of his relatives. None are expected to give victim impact statements.

A close friend of Hussle, Herman “Cowboy” Douglas, who was standing with him when he was killed told the court that his murder was a tremendous loss both for him personally and for the South Los Angeles community where the rapper was a business leader and an inspiration.

People watch the procession of a hearse of the late rapper Nipsey Hussle as it passes in front of The Marathon Clothing store, where Hussle was shot and killed last week, in Los Angeles, California, U.S., April 11, 2019. REUTERS/Patrick T. Fallon
Image:
The rapper’s hearse passed by the clothes shop he founded and was shot outside of in 2019

“Nipsey was my friend, he was like a son, he was like a dad,” Douglas said. “Our community right now, we lost everything, everything we worked for. One man’s mistake, one man’s action, messed up a whole community.”

Douglas added: “I don’t care what you give this guy. It ain’t about the time. I just want to know why. The world wants to know why. Why someone would do that?”

Holder’s attorney Aaron Jansen said he was “deeply disappointed” in the verdict, which he planned to appeal.

Continue Reading

Entertainment

Test your knowledge of 2024’s best memes, words and phrases with our quiz

Published

on

By

Test your knowledge of 2024's best memes, words and phrases with our quiz

The past 12 months have been the gift that’s kept on giving when it comes to newly-coined words and phrases entering our lexicon.

But how well do you know the terminology that’s been all over socials in 2024? Can you sort your brats from your clean girls?

Test your knowledge with our quiz below and let us know how you do!

Continue Reading

Entertainment

Dayle Haddon: Former Sports Illustrated model dies of suspected carbon monoxide poisoning

Published

on

By

Dayle Haddon: Former Sports Illustrated model dies of suspected carbon monoxide poisoning

Dayle Haddon – the actor, activist and former Sports Illustrated model – has died from what authorities believe was carbon monoxide poisoning.

Authorities found the 76-year-old dead in a second-floor bedroom on Friday morning after emergency dispatchers were notified about a person unconscious at the house in Solebury Township, Pennsylvania.

A 76-year-old man, later identified as Walter J Blucas, of Erie, is in a critical condition.

Responders detected a high level of carbon monoxide in the property.

Investigators believe the leak was caused by “a faulty flue and exhaust pipe on a gas heating system”.

As a model, Haddon appeared on the covers of Vogue, Cosmopolitan, Elle and Esquire in the 1970s and 1980s, as well as the 1973 Sports Illustrated swimsuit issue.

She also appeared in about two dozen films from the 1970s to 1990s, including 1994’s Bullets Over Broadway, starring John Cusack.

Haddon (Left) with Angela Merkel and Christine Lagarde (Right) during a meeting of the Gender Equality Advisory Council. Pic: Michael Kappeler/picture-alliance/dpa/AP Images
Image:
Haddon (left) with Angela Merkel and Christine Lagarde (right) during a meeting of the Gender Equality Advisory Council. Pic: AP

Haddon left modelling after giving birth to her daughter, Ryan, in the mid-1970s, but then had to re-enter the workforce after her husband’s 1991 death.

This time, she found the modelling industry far less friendly: “They said to me, ‘At 38, you’re not viable’,” Haddon told The New York Times in 2003.

Read more on Sky News:
Olivia Hussey, star of 1968 film Romeo and Juliet, dies at 73

Working for an advertising agency, she began reaching out to cosmetic companies, telling them there was a growing market to sell beauty products to aging baby boomers.

She eventually landed a contract with Clairol, followed by Estee Lauder and then L’Oreal, for which she promoted the company’s anti-aging products for more than a decade.

She also hosted beauty segments for CBS’s The Early Show.

In 2008, Haddon founded WomenOne, an organisation aimed at advancing educational opportunities for girls and women in marginalised communities, including in Rwanda, Haiti and Jordan.

Read more on Sky News:
Andrew Garfield on baking cookies and his mum’s perfume
Disabled musicians demand greater inclusivity

Haddon’s daughter, Ryan, said in a social media post that her mother was “everyone’s greatest champion. An inspiration to many”.

“A pure heart. A rich inner life. Touching so many lives. A life well lived. Rest in Light, Mom,” she said.

Continue Reading

Entertainment

Olivia Hussey, star of 1968 film Romeo and Juliet, dies at 73

Published

on

By

Olivia Hussey, star of 1968 film Romeo and Juliet, dies at 73

Actress Olivia Hussey, best known for playing Juliet in Franco Zeffirelli’s 1968 production of Romeo and Juliet, has died aged 73.

She died peacefully at her home in California, surrounded by her loved ones on Friday, according to a post shared on her official Instagram account.

The message, posted with a sunset photo of Hussey in her youth, paid tribute to “a remarkable person whose warmth, wisdom, and pure kindness touched the lives of all who knew her”.

It went on: “Olivia lived a life full of passion, love, and dedication to the arts, spirituality, and kindness towards animals”.

Calling her a “truly special soul”, her family said while her “immense loss” was grieved, they would also “celebrate Olivia’s enduring impact on our lives and the industry”.

Born in Buenos Aires in 1951 to an Argentinian father and English mother, Hussey returned to London aged seven with her mother and studied at the Italia Conti Academy drama school.

Spotted by Italian director Zeffirelli in a stage show of The Prime Of Miss Jean Brodie opposite Vanessa Redgrave, Hussey’s performance as Juliet aged just 15 made her a star and won her a Golden Globe.

Sixteen-year-old actor Leonard Whiting played her Romeo, with the pair going on to sue Paramount Pictures in 2022 for sexual abuse due to the Oscar-nominated movie’s nude scene.

(L-R) Franco Zeffirelli, Olivia Hussey and Leonard Whiting pictured in 1968. Pic: AP/Eustache Cardenas
Image:
(L-R) Franco Zeffirelli, Olivia Hussey and Leonard Whiting in 1968. Pic: AP/Eustache Cardenas

The case was dismissed by a judge the following year.

Hussey would work with Zeffirelli again, playing the Virgin Mary in the 1977 TV miniseries Jesus Of Nazareth.

Appearances in horrors including Black Christmas and Psycho prequel Psycho IV: The Beginning established Hussey as a scream queen over the years.

Other notable appearances included Hercule Poirot movie Death On The Nile and Mother Teresa biography Madre Teresa.

Read more:
Andrew Garfield on baking cookies and his mum’s perfume
Disabled musicians demand greater inclusivity

Hussey was reunited with Whiting in the 2015 British film Social Suicide, which was loosely based on Shakespeare‘s Romeo and Juliet.

Her daughter, actress India Eisley, played her on-screen daughter in the movie.

It was Hussey’s final screen role, according to IMDB.

Hussey leaves behind three children, Alex, Max, and India, her husband of 35 years David Glen Eisley, and grandson, Greyson.

Continue Reading

Trending