In 2018, Rihanna declined to perform at the Super Bowl due to the treatment of Colin Kaepernick by the NFL. This year, she accepted the invitation and slayed the Super Bowl LVII Halftime Show. In a Feb. 15 interview with British Vogue RiRi explained why she performed this year, “There’s things within that organization that I do not agree with at all, and I was not about to go and be of service to them in any way.” As far as what changed, she added, “There’s still a lot of mending to be done in my eyes, but it’s powerful to break those doors, and have representation at such a high, high level and a consistent level.”

“Two Super Bowls back-to-back,” she continued, referring to last year’s headliners, Dr. Dre, Snoop Dogg, Eminem, Mary J. Blige, and Kendrick Lamar, as a major development since she turned down the NFL in 2018, “you know, representing the urban community, globally. It is powerful. It sends a really strong message.” See excerpts from the epic performance above.

Social media was in shock when Taye Diggs’ character, Billy Baker, was killed off the CW series All American. In a conversation with TV Line, Diggs explained why left the show, “I was having a great time. It was just a feeling that I got [that I was ready to leave], and I just honored that feeling.” He also explained, “The easiest choice would have been for me to teach at some college, but then given the intensity of the relationships between me and my family, and me and the team, it would not make sense if I was still alive and wasn’t still in contact with these children of mine — these students, these young men that had such an influence on my life,”

On Valentine’s Day, iconic R&B singer Anita Baker kicked off her highly anticipated tour in Atlanta, Georgia, at the State Farm Arena. Appropriately titled The Songstress, a throwback to her 1983 solo debut album, it’s her first full tour since 1995. Usher surprised the audience and Baker when he made his way to the stage with roses. The two sang their duet of "Same Ole Love.” See the clip above.

The death of Rev. Dr. T. Anthony Spearman, a prominent civil rights leader and the former president of the North Carolina chapter of the NAACP from 2017 to 2021, has been ruled a suicide by the state medical examiner's office. According to WRAL, Spearman, 71, was found dead on July 19, 2022, in his Greensboro, North Carolina, home. An autopsy report revealed he died of a self-inflicted gunshot to his right temple. A .32-caliber handgun was also found. Back in July, Rev. Dr. William J. Barber II, another former North Carolina NAACP president, said about his passing, "I have lost a true brother in the struggle. North Carolina and the nation have lost a champion of justice and a beloved public servant. We have all lost a freedom fighter, a man deeply committed to justice, and a man of true faith."

On Feb. 15, Payton Gendron, a 19-year-old white supremacist who took the lives of ten Black people and wounded three others in a Buffalo grocery store in May 2022, was sentenced to life in prison. He is also facing the death penalty for 27 federal hate crimes, which he will still stand trial for later this year. Before the sentencing, during victim statements being read, a family member of one of the victims rushed toward Gendron who was hurried away by police. See the clip above.

The reality TV star, Deelishis, whose real name is Chandra Davis, is grieving the loss of her 19-year-old niece, Arielle Anderson, who was fatally shot in a mass shooting at Michigan State University on Monday night (Feb. 13). According to officials, Anderson, an MSU junior, was shot and killed when Anthony McRae, 42, began to walk through the East Lansing, Mich., campus firing a weapon, starting his rampage in Berkey Hall. Two others were killed and McRae died due to a self-inflicted gunshot wound. Deelishis took to social media to express her heartbreak and urged her followers to keep her family in their prayers, see above.

The sequel to the 2007 blockbuster I Am Legend, is officially in the works starring Will Smith and Michael B. Jordan. However, according to Deadline, the follow-up will not pick up where the original movie left; instead, it will use an alternate ending as its starting point where Will Smith's character survived. According to filmmaker and screenwriter Akiva Goldsman, the sequel will also take place years after the original film, which was released in 2007, Deadline reports. Viewers last saw Smith’s character die to protect two survivors, as well as a promising cure for the virus that plagued the world. If you snagged the DVD release, you would have seen the alternate ending to the film, where Smith doesn’t die and eventually escapes to freedom. The sequel does not have a release date.

On Feb. 1, Stanley Wilson Jr., a former defensive lineman with the Detroit Lions, collapsed and died at a mental health hospital, TMZ Sports reports. He was 40 years old. Wilson had been in police custody following a vandalism arrest but was declared mentally incompetent for trial, according to the news site. Law enforcement officials transferred him from county jail to the Metropolitan State Hospital in Los Angeles County for intake at the facility when he collapsed. No cause of death was immediately reported. Autopsy results are pending.