Breonna Taylor's Boyfriend's Defense Fund Got a $100k Boost from Tyler Perry

By Marie Solis  |  December 14, 2020 | 12:04am
CelebritiesDirt Bag
Breonna Taylor's Boyfriend's Defense Fund Got a $100k Boost from Tyler Perry
Photo:David Livingston (Getty Images)

Tyler Perry donated $100,000 to Kenneth Walker’s legal defense fund over the weekend, putting him well over his goal. TMZ reports that the donations came in four parts, sent through GoFundMe a few minutes apart.

Walker—Breonna Taylor’s boyfriend—started the GoFundMe after one of the three police officers involved in Taylor’s fatal shooting filed a lawsuit again him for assault and battery. The police officer, Sgt. Jonathan Mattingly, accused Walker of firing the shot that wounded his leg that night, which he said led him to fire back and discharge one of the shots that hit Taylor.

In the suit, Mattingly argued that he’s entitled to compensation from Walker for “medical treatment, trauma, physical pain and mental anguish,” according to the New York Times.

The lawsuit is obviously ridiculous, a transparent attempt to deflect blame for Taylor’s killing away from police and onto her boyfriend. Hopefully Perry’s donation helps Walker’s lawyer argue that effectively.

Ashanti has found a very long way to tell us that she has covid. In a 39-minute posted to Instagram on Saturday, the singer said she had to cancel her Verzuz battle with Keyshia Cole after getting a positive test result.

“Hey y’all, I can’t believe I’m saying this, but I tested positive for covid-19,” she said in the video. “Never in a million years did I think I would get covid.”

Ashanti said she was still ready to face off with Cole, and had been trying to find a way to do their showdown remotely—and had even been on the phone with Apple, which hosts the series, to make it happen—but that it wasn’t feasible in the end.

Unfortunately, the ill-fated timing of Ashanti’s covid diagnosis has made some people believe that she’s faking the virus, which, to me, is nuts. Nothing is worth faking coronavirus for, especially during a time when thousands of people in the U.S. are dying from it every day.

At the end of the video, Cole joins Ashanti on Instagram Live, telling her not to worry about canceling their Verzuz and to get well soon.

“Your health is more important than this,” Cole said. “We’re gonna make it happen.”