Bruno Mars is just about the only person having an amazing last couple of months. He came into the year right after dropping his new album “24k Magic,” which is sitting comfortably atop the Billboard Charts currently with two singles in the Hot 100 and 2nd on the Top 200 albums. Back in October, he got to perform a dope set on SNL to promote the album drop. He also recently graced the stage at the 2017 Grammys not once, but twice getting to impersonate his idol, Prince. Not a bad way to start the year.
This week Bruno Mars announced he had something up his sleeves for us.
Just finished shootin it! I'm gonna edit it, take a bubble bath & then we party. Gimme 2 hours! Let the count down begin #TWILVIDEO
When certain fans say that they’d do anything for their favorite celebrity, we usually assume they mean, in a manner of speaking. But in the case of one Bruno Mars fan, that sentiment couldn’t be more serious.
Recently, a 63-year-old Texas woman was swindled out of $100,000 by a catfish pretending to be Bruno Mars.
Two Nigerians Arrested For Impersonating Singer, @BrunoMars To Defraud 68-year-old American Woman Of $100, 000 | Sahara Reporters The woman was duped out of $100,000 in a catfishing scam where she was led to believe she was dating pop star… READ MORE: https://t.co/WIouDuYoWCpic.twitter.com/0h65DQ9VA2
Yeah, folks. We’re serious. According to Houston authorities, an unnamed Texas woman sent multiple checks to her online lover–whom she believed to be Grammy-award-winning, multi-platinum artist, Bruno Mars.
According to legal documents, the woman created an Instagram page in 2018 in order to find “companionship”. She was soon thereafter contacted by another Instagram user who claimed to be Bruno Mars. The fraudster sent the woman what she believed was ample evidence–multiple texts and photos that “proved” he was on tour.
According to the Texas woman, she believed that her and Mars had “fallen in love” and developed a “meaningful relationship.” According to court documents, the Mars impersonator even promised to quit his 24k tour in order to be with her.
Once Catfish Bruno gained the woman’s trust, he asked her for $100,000 for “tour expenses.” And the woman complied.
First, the Bruno Mars imposter asked her for a $10,000 check via mail. When the woman sent that, the Mars imposter asked for an additional $90,000. The woman wrote that check as well.
The checks were sent to different accounts owned by two men: a man named Chinwendu Azuonwu and his accomplice, Basil Amadi.
It seems that at some point, the woman became aware that she was being scammed and then contacted the authorities. It was then that the police traced the bank accounts back to Azuonwu and Amadi. The men were then arrested and charged with multiple accounts of money laundering.
After the news broke about the Bruno Mars catfish, naturally, the internet had a few questions.
We get that this woman was lonely and in want of companionship, but there’s a line between desperation and delusion.
Many people were caught between pity and disbelief.
Omg, I feel so bad for her, but really? When does Bruno need money to tour?https://t.co/L6pN78PTh9
We understand that older people aren’t as tech-savvy, but some common sense would’ve told you that a multimillionaire doesn’t need money from a random lady in Texas.
Some people were calling for a deep-dive documentary, MTV “Catfish” style.
Ok, we’d 100% watch this. We want to know how faux-Bruno wooed her, how she convinced herself a rich celebrity needed money, and how she finally became savvy to the scam.
Another question being asked: who has a cool $100k just sitting around?
If she has $100k to give out, she can live perfectly fine.
And how did the scam artists know to target someone so rich?! We hope she the police were able to recover the money, otherwise this woman is going to have a tough retirement.
For those of you who thought the 2020 election was behind us, well hold on to your seats because what just may be the most consequential election ever is about to take place in Georgia.
And thanks to a team of dancers from Atlanta, we won’t soon forget just how important the upcoming special election is.
A team of female dancers are focused on turning out the vote for Georgia’s upcoming dual senate run offs.
“Atlanta strippers are trendsetters and have influenced an entire culture. To hear our views about the urgency to vote while we’re in our dance attire is an attention-grabber for sure.”https://t.co/PtFrF7B2dh
In the days following this year’s presidential election, Georgia went blue (voting for Joe Biden and Kamala Harris) for the first time since 1992. And the state saw record turnout, especially among Black and Brown voters. Much of this success is attributed to Stacey Abrams and other activists who helped register a record number of new voters.
Part of the success should also be given to a group of Atlanta strippers and dancers who made a viral get-out-the-vote ad aimed at persuading Black men to go to the polls. But with Georgia’s Senate races facing a runoff vote, the women say the work is far from done, and they are calling on young people to turn out once more.
These Atlanta dancers are hoping to reach an often overlooked electorate: Black men.
“Can’t make it rain if you’re locked up on some bullshit.”
Of men age 18-34, African Americans had the lowest turnout among any listed racial group of men during the 2016 presidential election in Cobb, DeKalb and Fulton counties, according to an analysis of the data. Men who identified as Native American had the lowest turnout for Gwinnett, and were followed by Black males.
In Fulton, 29 percent of registered young Black men voted in the 2016 presidential election. Compare that to 45 percent of young Hispanic and 52 percent of young White men in Fulton.
Barnes said she wanted to connect with those Black men who feel voting and its outcomes aren’t for them. And having grown up in the metro area, she knows strip clubs are a big part of the culture — including its massive influence on hip-hop.
Original Story published October 17, 2020:
These are wild times, y’all. We are facing the election of our lifetime and on the line is the rights of millions and the dignity of our nation. This means that everyone is getting mobilized and active to make sure that voters come out in full force on Nov. 3. One ad is catching everyone’s attention.
Get Your Booty To The Poll is using pole dancing to get people to do their duty and vote.
Director Angela Barnes wanted to do something that would catch everyone’s attention during the pandemic and to remind them to vote. Her idea was to get some of the best exotic dancers from Atlanta’s best gentlemen’s clubs to do a PSA about voting. After all, we have all been told several times that “sex sells.”
The ad is getting people talking.
Those ladies have a voice. Certain music was not for everyone but it spoke to those that it was intended for and this campaign is for those that partake in that lifestyle. We have a whole hooker in the White House and we are mad about strippers that pay taxes. It’s a big business
Some people are excited to see the ad targeting a specific group of people to vote. Others are offended that women are being objected in order to make the PSA. However, one this is for sure, the 3.4 million viewers on the tweet shows that the ad is getting everyone’s attention.
The Barnes wanted to target Black southern men, specifically in Georgia.
I wrote and directed a PSA enlisting Atlanta's finest pole dancers to encourage Black voters, specifically Black male…
According to her Facebook post, the video is intended to make sure that Black men in the south go out and vote. One key element in the video that the director points out is the use of ballots as dollar bills on the stage. That’s right. The cast and crew used ballots in place of dollar bills to really sell the idea of getting out to the polls to vote.
Some people are not convinced that the people who are mad are really mad.
It was actually a creative way to get out an important message 🤷🏾♂️ some of y’all acting fake mad like you were really upset to see some skin lol 🥴😂
It is a very creative way to get people’s attention, especially for voting. There are voting PSAs from almost every organization targeting almost every community. This one is clearly designed with specific people in mind and it seems to be doing its job. This is the viral content voting PSAs wish to be, tbh.
Barnes and the dancers are definitely doing their part to remind you to vote so do your part and get to the polls to vote (or vote by mail-in ballot).
The U.S. is facing a tough and very important election. The Trump administration is fighting to secure another term while Democrats are doing everything in their power to stop them. Communities of color have been the target of some of the administration’s most hateful and damaging legislation.
Get ready to vote. Register your friends. Bring them to the polls. The general election is on Nov. 3 and it is up to all of us to vote to see the policies we want.
