What inspired you to create Young, Black and Fabulous
Blog?
Natasha- Seeing that I'm a gossip-holic,
I've realized that much of the Hollywood gossip centers around the
usual suspects-Lindsay Lohan, Paris, Tara Reid, Jessica Simpson,
etc-all the blonde gossip hogs. Reading the tabloids becomes stale
really quickly when you only hear about the same people. And when
it comes to mentioning black celeb gossip, only Beyonce' and Janet
Jackson and Usher are covered. So after getting tired of writing
gossip columns and other gossip blogs about including more black
celebrities, I just decided to do it myself since they weren't listening.
I didn't have anything to lose when I first started…so why not try?
Plus, I couldn't find anything else out there that did what I wanted
to see…so I took it upon myself to kick things off in the most fabulous
way possible. I knew I couldn't be the only person interested in
black celebrity gossip.
What celebrities do you especially enjoy covering?
Natasha-I absolutely love
Beyonce', Kerri Washington, Kimberly Elise, Mariah (just because
there's always something to say about her), Sanaa Lathan, Reagan
Gomez-Preston, Lauryn Hill, Trina, and Eva Longoria. They are…for
the most part…the fab-trend setters of "Black Hollywood". Note I
didn't say "Black People". People tend to get those two confused.
To me, Black Hollywood is what is what the media and people make
it. There is no designated list of what is and isn't "Black Hollywood".
In any Black Entertainment focused magazine/website/media…non-black
people will be covered, i.e. Eminem, Fat Joe, Thalia, several biracial
celebs, etc. Despite its name, "Black Hollywood" is not and never
has been restricted to only the black celebs. I also love covering
Black Hollywood couples. I also have an interest in finding and
putting on blast those under the radar black celebs that many of
us don't hear much about. The only way Black Hollywood celebs will
get the media attention they deserve is if we Black Hollywood celebrity
lovers do it ourselves.
On top of all that, I just enjoy covering anyone who catches my
eye in both good and bad ways.
Have you received any negative backlash as a result of the site?
Any mean e-mail messages?
Natasha-Funny you should
ask. When I first started this I used to get criticism about how
not everyone covered is black, how a certain reader thinks I'm just
such a horrible person for criticizing their favorite celeb, or
that I'm just wrong and stupid about what I say about the celebs.
But I figure, hey, this is one of the first of its kind and therefore,
backlash and criticism is inevitable. It comes with the territory.
The same people criticizing me (which is few) are the same folks
not doing anything themselves and just always thought about starting
a Black Hollywood gossip blog. I haven't gotten any hate-mail/comments
in a while. But when I do, I shake it off and charge it to the game.
Haters never prosper.
What are your long term goals for the site?
Natasha-Originally there
were no long term goals. I only started this because I had some
free time on my hands since I was taking a semester off after I
graduated form undergrad. I was only doing it to pass time and to
add some type of newness and excitement into my life.
Now, I see how much, and just how many, people crave Black Hollywood
gossip. And now I'm getting several offers to write on other gossip
blogs and new gossip websites and columns in newsletters. It's shocking
and amazing. I would have never thought people would be feeling
this blog this much. As for the site itself, I just plan to continue
it as I have….and to use it as a tool of getting out the content
in a much bigger way. I want to get the site published on websites
like Essence and VIBE and The Source in the Entertainment sections.
I would love to be quoted in print in magazines/newspapers like
the NY Post, the Chicago Defender, King, Essence, and Ebony. Possibly
even getting a shout out from VH1's Best Week Ever. That show is
absolutely hilarious and inspires me to conduct this blog the way
I do. I'm having so much fun hosting his blog and I hope to get
my readership in the millions. I know more people want something
like this to read, so I'm going to work to get the name out even
more.
And making some change off selling ads on the site wouldn't hurt
either.
Have you been approached by a lot of advertisers yet? You reach
a real key audience I can see your blog being an advertisers dream?
Natasha-Wow. I hope advertisers
read your question. I've been approached by a few companies wanting
to advertise on the page and I have put them on. I would LOVE to
have more of that as there is plenty of space to advertise. And
like you said, such a special key audience who is often ignored
reads this blog. I think advertisers are starting to take notice
of that. Hopefully more will do so soon. Any and all companies are
free to contact me about advertising on the page. They won't be
disappointed.
You were recently displaced due to Hurricane Katrina. What was the
motivation behind just getting right back into the groove of things
with the blog so soon?
Natasha-This blog serves
as a "getaway" for me. I was disgusted and hurt by everything that
took place right after Katrina hit-from the thousands of people
left behind to not being able to talk to many of my friends to my
law school career being up in the air since my school is in New
Orleans-and it was all almost too much to handle. So instead of
getting even more upset sitting at home all day and watching the
news, I decided to work on the blog to get my mind off of things
and focus on something that wasn't taken from me. In retrospect,
I think it did me a lot of good. I also wanted to give others a
"getaway" because I know Katrina affected people worldwide…not just
Louisiana, Mississippi, and Alabama folks. Hopefully it served as
a way to get people's minds off all the going-ons, even if it was
just for a few minutes.
Any freebies started flying your way soon? I can really see a designer
or someone with a cool product sending you stuff in exchange for
a mention?
Natasha-Not really. I've
had a couple of people offer to send me their products to try. They
didn't explicitly ask me to include my review in the blog, but we
all know the deal. Aint nothing for free these days. I have absolutely
no problem talking up products I'm sent. Send all the freebies you
want people! They are all welcome here. You can get my contact info
from the blog if you're interested.
I think I read you were going to law school. Did you ever consider
a career in the entertainment industry?
Natasha-I am in law school.
I actually went only 1 week before Katrina hit. And if you know
anything about law school, you know getting acclimated to the overall
craziness of law school is the hardest part. So I do have an extra
difficult road ahead of me now that my Law School (Loyola School
of Law of New Orleans) has moved to Houston for this semester to
share facilities with the University of Houston Law School. We,
the students, have to get used to things all over again.
Actually, I've never thought about a career in the entertainment
industry until a few months ago. I was watching a show on MTV about
being a publicist and I was like "Man, these chicks suck at this
job. They are struggling to do the things that come naturally to
me. All they have to do is organize, keep up with celebrity gossip
and what's going on in Hollywood, plan parties, learn how to persuade
new artists to book you as their agent, and party it up. I would
wreck shop in this position."
I'm actually thinking about becoming a sports and entertainment
lawyer. It's more work than people believe, but I would thrive off
of working with entertainers and celebs, so I would work my butt
off no matter how hard the job is. Just something I'm thinking about.
Is this your first blog/website?
Natasha-This is definitely
my first website/blog. I'm learning as I go. In a way it could be
a disadvantage because so many of these big gossip blogs have actual
teams and companies hosting their sites. With YBF, it's just me
doing everything. And doing it without spending a dime. But I try
to focus on the advantages-I'm pretty fearless about what I'm writing
(even though my mom believes Janice Combs is gonna sue me one day)
and everything I write is truly from my mind and not from a think
tank, and it's much more personalized. I love leaning new things.
It keeps life fresh.
Here's something that's just for a little fun. Since you
write about all the hot black celebrities, which black celebrity
couple do you think will last the longest?
Natasha-What couple
do you see tying the knot next? I really wish couples would take
a note or two from Bigga (Beyonce and Jay-Z). The less you discuss
your coupledom, the more of a chance it has to last. We gossip
diggers will find out what we need to know regardless if the couple
discusses their relationship to the public or not. I think J-Lo
has learned her lesson after 3 tries and she's been with Marc
way longer than anyone's ever imagined. So I think those two couples
will actually last the longest. They've got the formula down to
a science. I have no clue who will tie the knot next. The most
random people get married on the DL without any notice to anyone.
Apparently getting married is when the coupledom goes down hill
in Hollywood anyway. Maybe none of them should tie the knot.
You can visit Natasha's blog at http://ybf.blogspot.com
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