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Read below to get a list of some of the most memorable quotes in support of marriage equality.

The Root reports:

Jay-Z:

“What people do in their own homes is their business, and you can choose to love whoever you love. That’s their business. It’s no different than discriminating against blacks. It’s discrimination, plain and simple.” May 2012

Will Smith:

“If anybody can find someone to love them and to help them through this difficult thing that we call life, I support that in any shape or form.” May 2012

Audra McDonald:

“I am a mom. I am an engaged lady — I am soon to be married. And I am someone that believes in marriage and in the freedom to marry.” May 2012

Michael Strahan:

“As a defensive end for the New York Giants, I always played the game tough but fair. It’s unfair to stop committed couples from getting married.”June 2011

Janet Jackson:

On President Obama’s endorsement of same-sex marriage: “He finally came around, didn’t he? He finally came around; good for him.” May 2012

Rep. John Lewis (D-Ga.):

“Today I think more than ever before, we have to speak up and speak out to end discrimination based on sexual orientation … It’s not the business of the federal government, it’s not the business of the state government, to tell two individuals that they cannot fall in love and get married … I fought too long and too hard against discrimination based on race and color not to stand up and fight and speak out against discrimination based on sexual orientation.”  January 2009

Russell Simmons:

“I am a proud supporter of gay marriage.” May 2012, Twitter

Patti LaBelle:

“I’ve never been with a woman, so I guess I’m straight, OK? But I’m straight enough to know the difference between right and wrong. I am straight enough to know that if you want to marry whoever you want to marry, you should be able to marry whoever you want to marry.” April 2009

Rev. Al Sharpton:

“As a Baptist minister, I don’t have the right to impose my views on anyone else. If committed gay and lesbian couples want to marry, that is their business; none of us should stand in their way.” February 2012

Rev. Jesse Jackson:

“[Obama's same-sex marriage endorsement] is a bold step in the right direction for equal protection under the law for all citizens … If the states had to vote on slavery, we would have lost the vote. If we had to vote on the right [for blacks] to vote, we would have lost that vote.” May 2012

Alicia Keys:

On President Obama’s endorsement of same-sex marriage: “Honestly, it’s about time! This is great news @BarackObama!!”  May 2012, Twitter

Tracy Morgan:

“I know how bad bullying can hurt. I was bullied when I was a kid. I’m sorry for [my homophobic rant]. I didn’t mean it. I never want to use my comedy to hurt anyone. My family knew what it was like to feel different. My brother was disabled, and I lost my father to AIDS in 1987 … Parents should support and love their kids no matter what. Gay people deserve the same right to be happy in this country as everyone else. Our laws should support that.” June 2011

Whoopi Goldberg:

“Really, darling, it’s a no-brainer. You know, I understand not everybody is for gay marriage. But if you’re not for gay marriage, don’t marry a gay person. That’s what I say.” November 2010

John Legend: “Very pleased the President spoke up for human rights and marriage equality today.” May 2012, Twitter

Rep. James Clyburn (D-S.C.):

“I, like the president, have evolved to a point of marriage equality. I have not always been there. I grew up in a parsonage, a fundamentalist-Christian parsonage, and I grew up with that indoctrination. And I have grown to the point that I believe that we have evolved to marriage equality … If we consider this to be a civil right — and I do — I don’t think civil rights ought to be left up to a state-by-state approach. I think that we should have a national policy on this.” May 2012

Tyra Banks:

“A fierce day for my gays and my prez @BarackObama — way 2 stand up 4 luv for ALL!” May 2012, Twitter

Though President Obama’s image has been tarnished some factions of the evangelical community, he’s clearly maintained his support in Hollywood without missing a beat.

Banks had enrolled at Harvard last year after dropping out of college at age 17 to pursue her modeling career.

UsWeekly reports:

“In order for my company to grow and be the best, and to reach these women, and to serve them, I needed the best,” the Bankable Productions CEO told CBS News in 2011. “So I went to the best.”

Banks, now 38, admitted that her decision to pursue higher education was met with skepticism at first. “When people have low expectations, you’re just constantly going, ‘Ta-da!’ And they’re like ‘Wow!’” she said. “It doesn’t take a lot to wow them.”

Read More At UsWeekly

Boston — Former Victoria Secret Angel and supermodel Tyra Banks is heading off to school–at Harvard University.

The 37 year-old model turned entrepreneur is enrolled in the Harvard Business School and is taking an executive education course geared towards entrepreneurs. According to reports from The Boston Herald, Banks has been seen all around Boston with her Wall Street investment baker boyfriend, John Utendahl.

Read more at Clutch

RELATED:

Tyra to release first novel “Modelland”

Tyra announces her show will end after current season

From SFWeekly.com:

San Francisco District Attorney Kamala Harris has been dealing with a storm of bad publicity lately, with revelations that her office’s felony trial conviction rates have dropped precipitously and that local prosecutors’ failure to disclose police officers’ criminal backgrounds could jeopardize past convictions.
But Harris now has one big feather to stick in her cap as she campaigns to be the state’s next attorney general: An endorsement from supermodel turned talk-show host Tyra Banks. In the May issue of — what else? — the online magazine Tyra, Banks praises the D.A. as “such a kind women [sic]” and touts, among other qualities, “her passion for the LGBT community.”

Click here to view photos:

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Click here to read more.

CLICK HERE to learn more about Kamala Devi Harris.

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From Gawker.com:

Retired-model-turned-Oprah-wannabe Tyra Banks is writing her first novel, Modelland. It will be part of a trilogy, since Random House signed her to a three-book deal. Oh, goodie! The details sound scary and fierce, like Tyra in a jumpsuit. The book takes place in a make-believe world called Modelland, “where ‘Intoxibellas’ are trained. Intoxibellas are drop-dead beautiful, kick-butt fierce and, yeah, maybe they have some powers too,” Tyra writes on her website.

Click here to read more.

RELATED:

Tyra Banks Asks If Gay Is The New Black

Tyra Is Prime-Time’s Top Earning Lady

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Start Gallery

From People.com:

After five seasons, two Daytime Emmy awards and too many girl-power episodes to count, Tyra Banks is announcing the end of The Tyra Show.

“This will be the last season of The Tyra Show,” Banks tells PEOPLE exclusively. “I’ve been loving having fun, coming into your living rooms, bedrooms, hair salons for the past 5 years.”

Start Gallery

Wrapping at the end of its fifth season in the spring of 2010, it will be lights out for the show that brought viewers memorable weave-exposing, cellulite-revealing and tear-jerking moments.

Banks will focus on the launch of Bankable Studios, a N.Y.-based film production company currently reviewing possible projects. Sticking to her mission, Banks aims to bring “positive images of women to the big screen,” says an industry insider.

“My next huge steps will allow me to reach more women and young girls to help us all feel as fierce as we truly are,” Banks says.

Click here to read more.

RELATED STORIES

Tyra Banks Is Prime-Time’s Top Earning Woman

Watch The Tyra Interview With Levi Johnston

From MSNBC.com:

There was a time when million-dollar paychecks were something of the norm among top television talent on Hollywood lots. Stars of hit TV shows from “Seinfeld” and “Friends” to “Mad about You” and “Frasier” walked away with at least this much on a per-episode basis.

But with growing options and irreversible digitalization, the days of big ratings and the paydays that come with them are a thing of the past. Add plummeting advertising revenue and it’s no surprise TV executives are taking a hard line on salaries. (Proof: “Law and Order: SVU’s” Mariska Hargitay and co-star Chris Meloni appeared dangerously close to losing their jobs as a bitter and protracted salary dispute raged on this past spring.) To compensate, the genre’s leading ladies are finding other ways — and mediums — to beef up their income.

In fact, thanks to increasingly diversified portfolios, the stars on our list of prime-time’s top-earning women collectively raked in an estimated $116 million between June 1, 2008, and June 1, 2009. (Earnings are calculated before taxes, management fees and other costs; voice-only actresses were omitted from the list.) In addition to starring roles on broadcast TV, many have found ways to pad their resumes and pocketbooks with film roles, production projects and endorsement deals.

Among them: “America’s Next Top Model’s” Tyra Banks, who lands atop our list with estimated earnings of $30 million during the 12-month period. The supermodel turned super-personality serves up her unscripted model competition series on the CW as well an eponymous daytime talk show (also on the CW) and frequent cameos (most recently, on “Gossip Girl”). Off camera, Banks acts as a producer on a host of shows, from ABC’s “True Beauty” to the CW’s since-canceled “Stylista.”

No. 2 Katherine Heigl banked an estimated $18 million over the course of the year, care of television, film and endorsement ventures. Though the outspoken actress has garnered critics with her controversial stances on roles in both “Grey’s Anatomy” (she famously withdrew from the Emmy competition last year, arguing her part didn’t warrant a nod) and “Knocked Up” (she blasted her career-launching film for being sexist), she remains a big draw on both the big and small screen. In fact, she’s one of few women who can carry a film, particularly impressive given her TV background.

To read more, click here.

Tyra Banks had guest on her show who says he had been through a gay exorcism. He is from a church called Manifested Glory Ministries in Connecticut. The church had previously posted a gay exorcism on YouTube.

Pt 2.

The first black fashion magazine cover didn’t appear until January 1965, 293 YEARS after the first fashion magazine began publication, when a sketch of Donyale Luna appeared on Harper’s Bazaar, she later was the first photographed black woman on the cover in March 1966 when she appeared on British Vogue. It was at that time that the doors were opening for black women in the fashion industry. Shortly after Donyale Luna did her magazine covers, Beverly Johnson and Naomi Campbell also appeared on fashion magazine covers. Today it seems like some of the most well known supermodels of the past are black: Tyra Banks, Iman, Naomi Campbell, Beverly Johnson, and Tyson Beckford (have to represent the men, too!), however there was still a long way to go for a strong black influence in the fashion industry.

Veronica Webb made history in 1992 when she was the first black woman picked up by a major cosmetics company, Revlon. This started a trend of make-up development to include all skin tones. Then, further steps were made in April 2008 when Lebron James became the first black male to grace a fashion magazine cover (not even Tyson had done this!). This cover was highly controversial though and some say it did little more than belittle black men. However, the fashion world was bouncing back when July of 2008 had two groundbreaking things. Toccara Jones became the first black plus sized woman on the cover of Vogue Italia and Vogue Italia also had the first ever All Black Issue, which sold out of print twice! It seemed like finally members of the black community were getting represented in fashion.

The Obamas Start Black Model Boom

All this history makes the events of June 12-20^th in Johannesburg, Africa that much more important. Those dates mark the first ever annual ARISE Africa Fashion Week. This is when fashion gets a black makeover. Dr. Precious Moloi-Motsepe, chairperson of African Fashion International, says, “At AFI (organizers of the Johannesburg, Cape Town and Durban Fashion Weeks), our mission is to take African fashion to the world. In fulfilling this mandate, I take enormous pleasure in launching the inaugural Arise Africa Fashion Week. This event affords the regions’ creative economy with a world-class opportunity to showcase to a global audience. This is the first step in ensuring that the region receives the benefit of its own creative intellectual property, history and culture.”  She also sees this as the “…triumph of fashion over ethnicity and cultural difference.”

With 51 designers from 21 countries participating, this is creating history. This is the very first African fashion week and it is set to become an annual event, travelling around Africa each year following the 2010 showcase. There is no doubt it will become the must-see event in the fashion calendar on this continent. Dr. Precious Moloi Motsepe says “Africa has long been a muse for the arts throughout the world, most recently in fashion, with the world’s top designers choosing to look towards African techniques, designs and materials to ensure that their collections appeal to a wider global audience.” ARISE Africa Fashion Week allows the world to see authentic African fashion, directly from the source.

Incomes In Africa To Drop For First Time In 15 Years

The importance of this show can especially be felt in Africa, where the economic downturn has had a large effect and also civil unrest still takes place in various countries. For Africa, this industry provides about $4.3 billion and accounts for 20 percent of the total formal sector employment in South Africa. The industry creates job opportunities and also provides people the opportunity to showcase their culture and heritage. The hope is that this financial addition to Africa can help stimulate change. The ARISE Africa Fashion Week seeks to unify all the fashion industries of Africa to create a powerful, unified African fashion industry.

With the importance these fashion weeks have on the fashion industry, we hope to see a new influence and a booming black influence on the fashion market. I know in the upcoming days we will have our eyes on what is shown there. This is history in the making and definitely something you won’t want to miss out on.

A Georgia man who told police he and Tyra Banks “had a thing together” was convicted Thursday of stalking the supermodel-turned-TV host.

Brady Green, 39, of Dublin, Ga., was convicted by Manhattan Criminal Court Judge James Burke, who heard the case without a jury, of stalking, harassment, criminal trespass and attempted aggravated harassment.

Green faces as many as 90 days in jail when he is sentenced on June 18. His lawyer said an appeal is planned.

Banks testified that she feared for her safety, and for that of her staff and family.

Authorities said Green, 39, repeatedly called Banks’ studio, showed up there, and sent her flowers and letters.

From Yesterday

Supermodel-turned-TV host Tyra Banks, facing the man accused of stalking her, testified Wednesday that she feared for her safety when she learned he had entered the New York City building where she tapes her show.

Banks, 35, said her staff would not let her leave the building on March 18, 2008, because defendant Brady Green, a stranger to her, had shown up.

“I was about to leave and a bunch of people from my staff were saying, like, ‘No, you can’t leave.’ They said he was in the building,” Banks testified.

Banks said that her staff had previously shown her Green’s photograph, told her he had threatened one of her employees and was “somebody I should watch out for.”

When police arrived, the former Sports Illustrated cover girl said, “I told them I was scared. I didn’t know what to do. How do I live my life when I leave this building? I had never experienced anything like this before.”

Police arrested Green, of Dublin, Ga., in a McDonald’s near Banks’ studio in Manhattan’s Chelsea section.

Police said he told them that he had come from Los Angeles on a bus to see Banks and that “we had a thing together.”

Green, 38, is on trial in Manhattan Criminal Court on misdemeanor charges of stalking, harassment and criminal trespass.

He is accused of repeatedly calling Banks’ studio, in addition to showing up there, and sending her flowers and letters.

Green faces as many as 90 days in jail if convicted by Judge James Burke, who is hearing the case without a jury.

Calm and smiling frequently as she testified, Banks said security “has changed significantly” around her and her workplaces because of Green.

She said that her company has hired more security staff and that her studio audiences are vetted more thoroughly.

Banks said she is now followed everywhere by security guards, even when she runs and exercises outdoors. She said that even though she is a public person, “I don’t live that kind of sheltered, protected life. I like to walk around.”

Assistant District Attorney Sean McMahon asked Banks whether Green’s behavior made her fearful.

“I don’t fear for my life,” the statuesque TV host said. “I fear for my safety. I fear for the safety of my staff and for my family. And I fear for the safety of people in my vicinity, who I’m with.”

On cross-examination, Green’s lawyer, Jeffrey Berman, portrayed his client as an overly zealous fan of talk shows in general and Banks in particular. He noted that Banks’ Web site encouraged fans to write to her.

Berman’s questions also stressed that Green never tried to contact Banks at her homes, never contacted her family and never asked her to marry him.

Green was expected to testify in his own defense later in the day.

Banks is executive producer and host of two popular TV shows, “America’s Next Top Model” and “The Tyra Banks Show.”

Model-turned-television personality Tyra Banks is due in court this week to testify against a Georgia man accused of following her from one side of the country to another.

Banks, host of TV’s “America’s Next Top Model,” is to testify in a Manhattan courtroom where Brady Green goes on trial on charges of stalking her.

Green, of Dublin, Ga., is accused of following Banks from coast to coast since January of last year. He was arrested in a McDonald’s near the Manhattan building where “The Tyra Banks Show” is taped after he tried to see her on March 18, 2008.

Green told police then, “I know her. She knows me. We’re good friends.” He said he “came by bus (from Los Angeles) to see her.”

“We had a thing together,” court papers quote Green as telling police. “I sent her flowers. I sent her cards. Should I plead no contest? I’ve got satellites watching me and recording us.”

Green, 38, has pleaded not guilty to stalking, harassment and criminal trespass. He faces up to 90 days in jail if convicted by Manhattan Criminal Court Judge James Burke, who is hearing the case without a jury.

Green has rejected several non-jail plea deals offered by the prosecution. If he had accepted the plea offers, Banks’ testimony would not have been necessary and he would not have seen her in court.

Burke scheduled the start of Green’s trial after a hearing in which he ruled that most statements the defendant made to police could be used as trial evidence.

Banks, 35, has to appear in court to testify she was alarmed and feared for her physical safety. This emotional distress is an element of the criminal charges against Green.

A criminal complaint filed when Green was arrested says building custodian Edward Troiano told police the defendant also had appeared at Banks’ Los Angeles studio “on multiple occasions” and asked to speak to her.

The complaint says Troiano reported Green had sent letters and flowers to Banks there and had tried to reach her there by telephone at least five times. Troiano also might testify at Green’s trial.

Brady Green turned up at television studios from coast to coast in search of Tyra Banks and said he and the supermodel “had a thing together.”

Now he may indeed see her — in a courtroom.

Green, of Dublin, Ga., is scheduled to go on trial Friday on charges of stalking and harassing the television talk-show host beginning in January 2008. He was arrested March 18, 2008, after he tried to see her at the Manhattan building where “The Tyra Banks Show” is taped.

“I know her. She knows me. We’re good friends,” he told police then, according to court documents.

He said he had come by bus to see her.

“We had a thing together,” Green told police. “I sent her flowers. I sent her cards. Should I plead no contest? I’ve got satellites watching me and recording us.”

Green has pleaded not guilty to stalking, criminal trespass and harassment. He has rejected several non-jail plea deals offered by prosecutors.

Manhattan Criminal Court Judge James Burke scheduled Green’s trial after ruling Thursday that most of Green’s statements to police could be used as evidence.

A criminal complaint filed when Green was arrested said building custodian Edward Troiano told police the defendant also had appeared at Banks’ Los Angeles studio multiple times and asked to speak to her.

Troiano said Green had sent letters and flowers to Banks there and had tried to reach her there by telephone at least five times, the complaint said.

Banks, a former Sports Illustrated swimsuit issue cover model, told police Green’s actions made her fear she was in danger, the complaint said. She is expected to testify at his trial.

A judge released Green after his arrest and warned him to leave Banks alone or face going to jail.

Green, 38, faces up to 90 days in jail if convicted of fourth-degree stalking.

Banks, 35, also hosts the CW reality show “America’s Next Top Model.”

From Tyrashow.com:

For the first time, Levi Johnston, the former fiancé of Alaska Governor Sarah Palin’s daughter Bristol, breaks his silence and sits down exclusively with the “Tyra Show.”

Levi talks about his relationship with Bristol, what it was like to be thrust into the spotlight at the Republican National Convention, and why his engagement with Bristol Palin ended. Levi shares intimate details about his relationship with Bristol, what he really thinks of Gov. Palin and what it’s like to be a teen father.

Watch him speak here!

PART 1

PART 2

Three people were arrested and six others hurt after bedlam broke out while they waited to audition for “America’s Next Top Model,” police said.

Police didn’t know what prompted the chaos involving hundreds of people Saturday outside the Park Central New York hotel in Manhattan. The panic left the street outside the hotel littered with shoes and clothing, according to news reports.

“It was pretty scary,” Jessica Paravati told WNYW-TV. She said she was caught up in a stampede after waiting on line overnight, hoping for a shot at stardom on the reality show.

Two women and a man were arrested on disorderly conduct charges, police said. Authorities also shut down the audition, saying it wasn’t properly organized.

Four injured people declined treatment, while two others were taken to a hospital, the fire department said. Their conditions weren’t immediately available.

The hotel’s phone rang unanswered. Representatives for The CW Network, which airs the show, released a statement saying it was working with authorities investigating the incident.

Watch the Video

50 Cent appeared on The Tyra Banks Show and discussed a wide range of topics, including Vivica Fox, Ja Rule, Barack Obama and his recent trouble with the mother of his shild, Shaniqua Tompkins.

Watch The Full Interview After The Jump