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Whither WayoutTV?
1:47 PM, August 22, 2008Life is tough for fans of the comedian Damon Wayans. They're treated to short bursts of thecelebrity in the limelight, and then he disappears. There was "In Living Color," and then he wasgone after a few short years. Then the ABC sitcom "My Wife and Kids," which was eventuallyyanked.Earlier this year, fans learned that they might be able to see the actor's work whenever theywanted through WayOutTV.com, a website and YouTube channel that would feature videoshandpicked by Wayans. Some even featured him.The website hasn't been exactly beloved: Its "Abortion Man" video, which showed a superhero beating up a pregnant teenager to help her boyfriend, prompted outrage. YouTube reportedly pulled ads from Wayans' channel after the outcry. But still, it was a site created by a celebrity.Those don't die that quickly.Yet anyone trying to log on to WayOutTV.com recently would find the website gone, with noexplanation. Some fans protested in anger. Others rejoiced. GigaOm's online video site NewTeeVee, which called the idea of Wayans having his own video site "half-baked," reportsthat Wayans last signed on two months ago.Where are you Damon Wayans?Fear not, fans. According to Wayans' spokeswoman Yvette Shearer, the channel will return.Wayans is "retooling the site and adding new features," she said. He's also working on a new pilot for ABC, she said, so he's been pretty busy. "It will go back up, he just doesn't knowwhen."And so the roller coaster ride of Wayans fandom continues.-- Alana SemuelsWritten by
Liz Gannes
 Posted Sunday, August 17, 2008 at 11:00 AM PT
 
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Damon Wayans Makes His Way Off the Web
Damon Wayans launched an online sketch comedy site earlier this year with much fanfare,including a joint press release with YouTube and coverage on the wires. WayOutTV promised to be “
 In Living Color 
2.0,” with a stable of young writers and talent hand-picked and nurtured byWayans.
 
But the WayOutTV site has beentaken completely offline, and all the videos have been removed from YouTube.It’s unclear why that happened, though the original idea did seem a bit half-baked, with promisesof incubating shows from the drama, action and animation genres as well. And of course it wasyet another new tech venture fronted by a celebrity.Wayans’ YouTube channel reports he last signed in two months ago, and comments dating threeweeks back ask where the content went. We were unable to contact Damon Wayans to get hiscomment. A YouTube spokesperson said that individual content providers are in charge of their own channels.Wayans reportedly said at a conference that YouTube had guaranteed he would receive 60million impressions on his channel, though that was not confirmed.Wayans had come under fire this April for one video in particular on his YouTube channel called“Abortion Man” that depicted a superhero who came to the rescue of a teenage boy who hasgotten his girlfriend pregnant and beats her up. It attracted outraged criticism. YouTubereportedly pulled ads from the video after the outcry. That video, along with everything else, isno longer visible.
 
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Michigan State's Earvin "Magic" Johnson is introduced to the Los Angeles media by Lakers executive Jerry West onMay 16, 1979. The Lakers announced that they had reached an agreement with Johnson and he would become thefirst pick in the upcoming NBA draft. Johnson, a 6-foot-9 point guard, left Michigan State following his sophomoreseason, when he led the Spartans to the NCAA championship.Since retiring from basketball, he has built a business empire with roots in urban America. It pays to know thecommunity, he says.
http://www.latimes.com/business/la-fi-magic30-2008jun30,0,6126878.story
 From the Los Angeles Times
For Magic Johnson, the NBA was only halftime
Since retiring from basketball, he has built a business empire with roots in urban America. It pays to know the community, he says.By Mike Bresnahan and Greg JohnsonLos Angeles Times Staff WritersJune 30, 2008Earvin "Magic" Johnson announced his arrival as a businessman 13 years ago, when he took partin an unusual meeting with gang leaders from the Bloods and the Crips.At the time, Johnson was building a movie theater in Baldwin Hills. Would the gang members,Johnson asked, be kind enough not to shoot it up?"I just laid it out to them that I'm building this theater for the community," Johnson, the former Lakers basketball standout, recalled from his seventh-floor office in Beverly Hills. "You can'thave anything happen at this theater because we're going to hire your cousins, your mothers,your sons and daughters. You come in here and shoot up the place, it might be your ownrelatives inside."The theater stands peacefully to this day, largely untouched by violence. And these days,Johnson meets with corporate CEOs, institutional investors and elected officials nationwide whowant a piece of his growing collection of businesses and properties in 21 states.
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