National Geographic

Weeks after he allegedly paid a $15M hush-money settlement to the four young men who accused him of sexual coercion, the wife of publicly anti-gay Bishop Eddie Long has reportedly moved out the house. Black Media Scoop has the dirt:

The latest bombshell has hit his home life. BMS has learned that Bishop Eddie Long’s wife, Vanessa allegedly packed up her bags and moved out of the $1.5million dollar home. Long married Vanessa Griffin in 1990. She worked on the Board of Directors for the Faith Academy. She also headed many ministries, mostly those dealing with women’s issues. They have 3 children together Edward, Jared, and Taylor. BMS has also learned that she allegedly took one of the children with her to stay at an undisclosed family members home! Our source says Vanessa allegedly agreed to stick by Long until the sex scandal drama was over and then she’d leave. This is Long’s second go around at the chapel of love. He married Dabara S. Houston in 1981 and they have one son together Eric Long.

It appears that Atlanta's Bishop Eddie Long has paid off the four young men who last year accused him of coercing them into totally gay homosexual sex. Long had regularly and viciously railed against LGBT people from his megachurch pulpit.

Barbara Marschalk, who represents New Birth Missionary Baptist Church and Long Fellows Youth Academy, said she anticipates " the lawsuits will be dismissed, with prejudice, by close of business tomorrow." B.J. Bernstein, who represents the four men who sued Long, New Birth and LongFellows, also confirmed the lawsuits had been settled. Neither side would comment further and settlement terms were unknown. According to Bernstein's office, neither she nor the plaintiffs -- Maurice Robinson, Jamal Parris, Anthony Flagg and Spencer LeGrande -- would be available for an interview "on this matter, now or in the future. "

VIDEO: Once again, here's Cadillac Kimberly's now-classic rant upon hearing the news last fall. Totally NSFW and totally hilarious.

The Atlanta Braves have suspended their pitching coach after he heckled fans at a San Francisco game by shouting, “Are you a homo couple or a threesome?" and then simulating anal sex with a baseball bat.

The Braves have placed pitching coach Roger McDowell on administrative leave while they continue to investigate allegations that he directed anti-gay slurs toward fans at San Francisco’s AT&T Park. The Braves announced that minor league pitching coordinator Dave Wallace would fill in during McDowell’s absence. Braves general manager Frank Wren is scheduled to meet with the media at 4:10 p.m. The last Brave to miss game action for inflammatory remarks was former closer John Rocker after his 1999 tirade in Sports Illustrated. Rocker was originally fined $20,000 by Major League Baseball and suspended for a month, but his sanctions were reduced to a $500 fine and a two-week suspension by an arbitrator. McDowell issued an apology on Wednesday, saying “I am deeply sorry that I responded to the heckling fans in San Francisco on Saturday. I apologize to everyone for my actions.”

Celebrity attorney Gloria Allred yesterday held a press conference with one of the witnesses, who was attending the game with his young daughters. When the witness complained to McDowell about his language, the coach allegedly waved the bat at him asking, "How much are your teeth worth?"

UPDATE: GLAAD says the Braves need to do more.

“It remains to be seen whether the Atlanta Braves will take real disciplinary action and send a clear message that there is no place for anti-gay remarks or violent threats in baseball,” said GLAAD President Jarrett Barrios. “The Braves and Major League Baseball should follow the NBA and WWE by speaking out in support of gay and lesbian baseball fans and players around the country, and by taking steps to make the sport a safe place for everyone.”

Ever since King & Spalding dropped their DOMA cases, word has been that their top hometown client Coca-Cola had some role in convincing them to pull out. Yesterday FRC president Tony Perkins hinted that Coke may be next on their shitlist. Via press release:

While this form of corporate terrorism may have paid off temporarily, even the press is chiding HRC for its own intolerance toward the legal process. But that doesn't faze homosexual activists. They were all too eager to take credit for their campaign of intimidation. "We did all of this, and we're proud to have done it," Sainz bragged. According to the email traffic, King & Spalding "was starting to hear from companies that... they might have to rethink their relationship with [the firm]."

Rumors are flying that one of those companies was Coca Cola. People closest to the story are suggesting that the soda king did most of the arm-twisting. "Sources... confirm that one of King & Spalding's top clients, Coca Cola, also based in Atlanta, directly intervened to press the firm to extricate itself from the case." A spokesman for the company refused to comment. But if the allegations are true, I guarantee that FRC won't hesitate to!

Film synopsis:

In Winner Takes All, self-involved but seductive beauty Ryker (Gavyn Michaels) convinces his two lovers (Hunter Lee Hughes and Adrian Quinonez) to fight over him. And we mean, really fight. Performance artist Ryker forces his self-appointed slave Simon (Alec Mapa) to convert his critically drubbed one man show into a fighting ring for the modern day duel between successful songwriter Brian (Hughes) and former champion fighter Ernesto (Quinonez).

To premiere at the Atlanta Film Festival.

"If you're a man. Come. And join us. Bring your friends." (Also: "Make sure you bring an offering worthy of the Lord.")

(Via - Rod 2.0)

According to the Atlanta Journal-Constitution, some of the undercover cops that took part in the now-infamous raid on the Atlanta Eagle had been drinking heavily in the bar before the raid began. Two of the cops are said to have downed "shot after shot of Jagermeister," including rounds bought for them by the bartender.

Three undercover officers were already in the Atlanta Eagle bar before the Sept. 10, 2009, raid started. At least two of them were drinking heavily, according to the bartender and the receipts they filed for the costs of their drinks. According to information gathered in the now-settled lawsuit, officer Bennie Bridges spent $60 of APD funds on May 21, 2009, and another $50 the night of the raid on Sept. 10, 2009. A second officer working undercover that evening, Jared Watkins, claimed $60 for drinks the night of the raid. The third officer inside the Eagle bar before the raid claimed he spent $10. According to records for those who were in the bar undercover on May 21, 2009, five officers, one of them a woman, each claimed they spent $5. Three others reported spending $10, $20 and $29. That was the night Bridges, the lead investigator, spent $60, according to information gathered to settle a federal lawsuit for $1.025 million and legal costs.

Spending $60 sounds like about eight or ten drinks, far far too many just to maintain the guise of being a customer. On the night of the raid, Eagle patrons and staffers said that officers threw them roughly to the filthy bar floor and then made mocking anti-gay slurs. The fictitious charges for public sex and drug possession were dismissed against most of those arrested, the others were found not guilty. And now they all get to split a million dollars of city money.

The police officer who led the ill-fated raid at the Atlanta Eagle has been arrested for DUI and possession of marijuana.

According to Cobb County Sheriff’s Office booking reports, Bennie Evett Bridges, 41, was stopped Thursday a little before 3 a.m. for speeding in excess of 100 miles per hour and Cobb Police officers subsequently charged him with possession of less than an ounce of marijuana as well as driving under the influence of alcohol. According to APD officials, Bridges is now on administrative leave with pay. Bridges is an investigator in the APD’s vice unit and he spearheaded the department’s investigation into claims that illicit sexual acts were being performed at the Atlanta Eagle in 2009.

RELATED: Nineteen customers and employees of the Atlanta Eagle reported that cops threw them to the filthy floor of the bar during the September 2009 raid and hurled anti-gay slurs at them as they lay there. All defendants were later found not guilty or had their charges dismissed. In December 2010 the city of Atlanta agreed to pay a $1M settlement to victims of the raid.

(Tipped by JMG reader Dan)

Remember when I told you about the financial scam being run out of Bishop Eddie Long's Atlanta mega-church? Yesterday he posted a video asking the operators of that Long-authorized scam to return one million dollars to his congregants. That way, presumably, they can turn the money over to its rightful owner, Bishop Eddie Long. The first comment on YouTube: "Hey Eddie Schlong, why don't you sell off those Lamborghinis, Rolls Royces, half of that jewelry and one or two of them damn condos and give the money to your parishioners?" The civil lawsuit filed by four young men who accuse Long of coercing them into sex is set to go to court on July 7th.

Pastor Ja'Von Crockett appeared on Atlanta television to let people know that he's no longer the fierce ball queen known as the Mother Cavalli. And he brought his "best friend" on the show for support.