NEW YORK – October 23, 2007 – R&B diva Keyshia Cole is back and more compelling than ever in the second season of BET’s hit docu-drama KEYSHIA COLE 2: THE WAY IT IS. During this season, which premieres on Tuesday, October 30 at 10:30 PM*, Keyshia attempts to deal with all of her family drama while putting the finishing touches on her new CD, Just Like You.

In its inaugural season, the hit series was hailed by critics, including the New York Daily News, which said “[Keyshia Cole] is a refreshing revelation in a star’s life.” Vibe Magazine said, “… [W]ith the cameras rolling, music fans get a chance to witness Cole’s realness, which is ironically a rarity in reality TV,” and TV Guide said, “Ashlee who? There’s a new diva on the reality scene, only this one is mad talented instead of a lip-synching punch line.”

The first season of the top-rated Keyshia Cole: The Way It Is gave viewers insight into what it took for Keyshia to rise up from her troubled past as the daughter of a drug addict growing up in Oakland, Calif., to become a critically acclaimed, platinum-selling R&B superstar. This season, Keyshia has invited several members of her family to live in her multi-million dollar Atlanta mansion, including her mother, recently released from prison after serving three years for drug-related charges, and her sister, Neffie, who suffers from alcoholism. For her mother and sister it’s a lofty premise, until they realize that they have to play by her rules – one of which includes no men in the house.

“No company? Are we just going to look at each other? Are we in prison? We don’t get no conjugal visits?” Neffie complains.

“I still feel locked up,” says her mother Frankie. “That’s not a good way to feel, especially since I’m free. I don’t want to feel locked up, so I gotta do me.”

Keyshia soon questions whether her efforts to provide her family with such a cushy existence are really worth the toll it is taking on her personally. When she realizes that she cannot balance the pressures of her career with trying to help her mother and sister adapt to their new surroundings and sobriety, she seeks professional help.

KEYSHIA COLE 2: THE WAY IT IS is executive produced by James Dubose of Dubose Entertainment and BET.

For up-to-the-minute and archival press information including releases and photographs, visit BET’s press-only Web site at www.bet.com/pr.

Mark S.Allen from a Sacramento TV station apologizes to Janet Jackson and Tyler Perry after fans sent 19,000 emails protesting his crass behavior in an interview with them last week.

NEW YORK – (September 10, 2007) – Hip-hop culture and controversy have always made for familiar bedfellows. Yet, in the wake of the Imus controversy and in a year when the genre’s sales have tumbled, hip-hop finds itself under an exceptional amount of scrutiny and pressure – and the stakes have never been higher. BET NEWS takes a powerful and compelling look at the state of hip-hop today in a three-part series titled HIP HOP vs. AMERICA . Hosted by BET’s own Touré and Jeff Johnson, this special showcases a candid, heated forum that will allow audiences to hear the opinions of prominent leaders in the hip-hop industry, the political realm, academia and the Black church. Part I of HIP HOP vs. AMERICA premieres Tuesday, September 25 at 8:00 p.m. ET/PT on BET, with the second hour airing on Wednesday, September 26 at 8:00 p.m. ET/PT. The third episode with additional exclusive footage will be available on BET ON BLAST, the network’s broadband channel (www.bet.com/ontv), immediately following Part II’s airing.

This three-part special features a passionate, lively and opinionated debate that tackles many sensitive issues, including: hip-hop’s relationship with criminality and the streets, snitching, police profiling and brutality; the images of Black women in hip-hop; and the embarrassment, pride and confusion Blacks feel over hip-hop’s public airing of the community’s “dirty laundry.”

“The battle over hip-hop lyrics, images and values is the flashpoint of conflict and debate between almost every division within our community – between men and women, younger and older generations, between economic classes and educational backgrounds,” said Reginald Hudlin, President of Entertainment, BET. “Our special relationships with the most important Black thinkers, icons and leaders allow BET to deliver the most complete exploration of this topic on television. This is the first of many Town Halls that BET will convene to address the most pressing issues facing our community.”

“Generational gaps within the African American community have never been more prevalent when it comes to the hip-hop community,” said Selwyn Seyfu Hinds, executive producer, BET News. “The issues may ring familiar – sexism, violent lyrics, degrading words and images – but this time the debate is different given hip-hop’s complicated relationship with corporate America . This is why it was so important for BET to provide a forum for each voice to shed light on every angle of this issue.”

Hip-hop recording artists Nelly, T.I., Mike Jones, MC Lyte, Master P and the legendary Chuck D; top journalists Keith Boykin, Diane Weathers, Jeff Chang, Farai Chideya, Kim Osorio and New York Daily News columnist Stanley Crouch; filmmaker and cultural critic Nelson George; Judge Mablean Ephraim; former video vixens Melyssa Ford and Karrine Steffans; music executive Valeisha Butterfield; music video director Benny Boom; ministers Conrad Tillard, Pastor A. R. Bernard; professor Dr. Michael Eric Dyson; and Reverend Al Sharpton lead the lists of outspoken panelists who take the stage and share their point of view on hip-hop. Other influential voices heard on the show include hip-hop pioneer Russell Simmons, professor Cornel West and writer and activist Kevin Powell.