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Usher will be headed to the stage for MTV’s 2014 Video Music Awards. The star expressed his excitement about the upcoming performance saying, “Performing live is the purest form of musical expressing and I am damn happy to return to the VMA stage with new music.” Usher is gearing up to release his eighth album later this year which will feature hit single “Good Kisser.” The 2014 VMAs will air Sunday, August 24 at 9 p.m. EST. [Vibe]
President Obama kicked off a fundraising tour at the mansion of Spy Kids director Robert Rodriguez in Austin, Texas who rallied an A-List crowd willing to give $32,000 each to the Democratic National Committee. The event was the first of four events said to be aimed at gaining access to the deep pockets of the entertainment industry. The next stop is a fundraiser hosted by Shonda Rhimes and Kerry Washington with tickets ranging from $1,000 to $32,400 per guest. [Hollywood Reporter]
After making his way around the U.S. this summer, Jay Z will head back to his hometown of New York to headline the third annual Global Citizen Festival in Central Park. The goal of the outdoor concert is to raise awareness to combat extreme worldwide poverty. The Global Poverty project, the organization behind the festival requires fans to earn tickets by visiting the website and completing several awareness spreading tasks. A total of 48,000 tickets will be given out this year. After last year’s success, Jay Z volunteered to headline this year’s event. The concert will take place September 27 in New York City. [RollingStone]
Actress turned Fox commentator Stacey Dash recently commented on Kanye West’s rant at London’s Wireless Festival where he compared the paparazzi to rape. Dash retorted with an explosive comment saying, “For Kanye to say ‘rape,’ maybe he needs to spend some time on Rikers Island.” Her comments come after West told concert goers that even celebrities deserve a day off, “Sex is great when you and your partner are like, ‘Hey, this is what we both want to do.’ But if one of those people don’t want to do that…that’s called rape. That is called violation.” [NYDailyNews]