title: Jasmine Guy

text: Guy married Terrence Duckett in August 1998, and the couple had one child, a daughter named Imani, born in 1999. On April 8, 2008, "People" reported that Guy and Duckett were divorcing after ten years of marriage due to irreconcilable differences. Guy and her daughter subsequently took up residence in Guy's childhood hometown of Atlanta.


title: Brandon Teena

text: Brandon Teena (December 12, 1972 – December 31, 1993) was an American trans man who was raped and later, along with Phillip DeVine and Lisa Lambert, murdered in Humboldt, Nebraska by John Lotter and Tom Nissen. His life and death were the subject of the films "The Brandon Teena Story" and "Boys Don't Cry".


title: Brandon Teena

text: Teena's murder, along with that of Matthew Shepard nearly five years later, led to increased lobbying for hate crime laws in the United States.


title: Brandon Teena

text: Teena was born on December 12, 1972, in Lincoln, Nebraska, to JoAnn Brandon. His father died in a car accident in Lancaster County eight months before he was born, and he was raised by his mother. Teena and his older sister Tammy lived with their maternal grandmother in Lincoln, before they were reclaimed by their mother when Teena was three years old and Tammy was six. The family resided in the Pine Acre Mobile Home Park in northeast Lincoln. JoAnn received disability checks and worked as a clerk in a women's retail store in Lincoln to support the family. As young children, Teena and Tammy were sexually abused by their uncle for several years, and Teena sought counseling for this in 1991. JoAnn remarried once from 1975 to 1980. Teena's family described him as being a tomboy since early childhood; Teena began identifying as male during adolescence and dated a female student during this period. His mother rejected his male identity and continued referring to him as her daughter. On several occasions, Teena claimed to be intersex.


title: Brandon Teena

text: Teena and his sister attended St. Mary's Elementary School and Pius X High School in Lincoln, where some remembered Teena as being socially awkward. During his second year, Teena rejected Christianity after he protested to a priest at Pius X regarding Christian views on abstinence and homosexuality. He also began rebelling at school by violating the school dress-code policy to dress in a more masculine fashion. During the first semester of his senior year, a U.S. Army recruiter visited the high school, encouraging students to enlist in the armed forces. Teena enlisted in the United States Army shortly after his eighteenth birthday and hoped to serve a tour of duty in Operation Desert Shield. However, he failed the written entrance exam by listing his sex as male.


title: Brandon Teena

text: In December 1990, Teena went to Holiday Skate Park with his friends, binding his breasts, to pass as male. In the months nearing his high school graduation, Teena became unusually outgoing and was remembered by classmates as a "class clown." Teena also began skipping school and receiving failing grades and was expelled from Pius X High School in June 1991, three days before high school graduation.


title: Brandon Teena

text: In the summer of 1991, Teena began his first major relationship with Heather. Shortly after, Teena was first employed as a gas station attendant in an attempt to purchase a trailer home for himself and his girlfriend. However, his mother disapproved of the relationship and convinced her daughter to follow Teena to determine whether Teena's relationship with Heather was platonic or sexual.


title: Brandon Teena

text: In January 1992, Teena underwent a psychiatric evaluation, which concluded that Teena had a severe "sexual identity crisis". He was later taken to the Lancaster County Crisis Center to ensure that he was not suicidal. He was released from the center three days later and began attending therapy sessions, sometimes accompanied by his mother or sister. He was reluctant to discuss his sexuality during these sessions but revealed that he had been raped. The counseling sessions ended two weeks later.


title: Brandon Teena

text: In 1993, after some legal trouble, Teena moved to the Falls City region of Richardson County, Nebraska, where he presented as a man. He became friends with several residents. After moving into the home of Lisa Lambert, Teena began dating Lambert's friend, 18-year-old Lana Tisdel, and began associating with ex-convicts John L. Lotter (born May 31, 1971) and Marvin Thomas "Tom" Nissen (born October 22, 1971).


title: Brandon Teena

text: On December 19, 1993, Teena was arrested for forging checks; Tisdel used money from her father to pay Teena's bail. Because Teena was in the female section of the jail, Tisdel learned that he was transgender. When Tisdel later questioned Teena about his gender, he told her he was a hermaphrodite pursuing a sex change operation, and they continued dating. In a lawsuit regarding the film adaptation "Boys Don't Cry", this was disputed by Tisdel. Teena's arrest was posted in the local paper under his birth name and thereupon his acquaintances learned that he was assigned female at birth.


title: Brandon Teena

text: During a Christmas Eve party, Nissen and Lotter grabbed Teena and forced him to remove his pants, proving to Tisdel that Teena had a vulva. Tisdel looked only when forced to and said nothing. Lotter and Nissen later assaulted Teena and forced him into a car. They drove to an area by a meat-packing plant in Richardson County, where they assaulted and gang-raped him. They then returned to Nissen's home, where Teena was ordered to take a shower. Teena escaped from Nissen's bathroom by climbing out the window and going to Tisdel's house. He was convinced by Tisdel to file a police report, though Nissen and Lotter had warned Teena not to tell the police about the gang rape or they would "silence him permanently." Teena also went to the emergency room, where a standard rape kit was assembled but later lost. Sheriff Charles B. Laux questioned Teena about the rape; reportedly, he seemed especially interested in Teena's transgender status, to the point that Teena found his questions rude and unnecessary and refused to answer. Nissen and Lotter learned of the report and began searching for Teena. They did not find him, and three days later, the police questioned them. Sheriff Laux declined to have them arrested because "What kind of a person was she? The first few times we arrested her, she was putting herself off as a guy."


title: Brandon Teena

text: Around 1:00 a.m. on December 31, 1993, Nissen and Lotter drove to Lambert's house and broke in. They found Lambert in bed and demanded to know where Teena was. Lambert refused to tell them. Nissen searched and found Teena under the bed. The men asked Lambert if there was anyone else in the house, and she replied that Phillip DeVine, who at the time was dating Tisdel's sister, was staying with her. The duo then shot and killed DeVine, Lambert, and Teena in front of Lambert's toddler. Nissen later testified in court that he noticed that Teena was twitching, and asked Lotter for a knife, with which Nissen stabbed Teena in the chest, to ensure that he was dead. Nissen and Lotter then left, later being arrested and charged with murder.


title: Brandon Teena

text: Teena is buried in Lincoln Memorial Cemetery in Lincoln, Nebraska, his headstone inscribed with his birth name and the epitaph "daughter, sister, & friend".


title: Brandon Teena

text: Nissen accused Lotter of committing the murders. In exchange for a reduced sentence, Nissen admitted to being an accessory to the rape and murder. Nissen testified against Lotter and was sentenced to life in prison. Lotter denied the veracity of Nissen's testimony, and his testimony was discredited. The jury found Lotter guilty of murder and was sentenced to death. Lotter and Nissen both appealed their convictions. In September 2007, Nissen recanted his testimony against Lotter. He claimed that he was the only one to shoot Teena and that Lotter had not committed the murders. In 2009, Lotter's appeal, using Nissen's new testimony to assert a claim of innocence, was rejected by the Nebraska Supreme Court, which held that since—even under Nissen's revised testimony—both Lotter and Nissen were involved in the murder, the specific identity of the shooter was legally irrelevant. In August 2011, a three-judge panel of the Eighth U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals rejected John Lotter's appeal in a split decision. In October 2011, the Eighth Circuit rejected Lotter's request for a rehearing by the panel or the full Eighth Circuit "en banc". Lotter next petitioned the Supreme Court of the United States for a review of his case. The Supreme Court declined to review Lotter's case, denying his petition for writ of certiorari on March 19, 2012, and a further petition for rehearing on April 23, 2012, leaving his conviction to stand. On January 22, 2018, Lotter was denied a third appeal by the U.S. Supreme Court.


title: Brandon Teena

text: Because Teena had neither commenced hormone replacement therapy nor had gender confirmation surgery, he has sometimes mistakenly been identified as a lesbian by media reporters. However, some reported that Teena had stated that he planned to have sex reassignment surgery.


title: Brandon Teena

text: Following Lotter's sentencing in February 1996, "Saturday Night Live" ("SNL") aired a segment in which comedian Norm Macdonald joked: The comments were met with sharp criticism from trans and queer communities and organizations including The Transexual Menace, who threatened to picket "SNL" in the absence of an apology. Upon reviewing the show, NBC agreed the line was inappropriate and should not have aired, and said it would ensure that similar incidents would not happen in the future.


title: Brandon Teena

text: Joann Brandon sued Richardson County and Sheriff Laux for failing to prevent Teena's death and being an indirect cause. She won the case, which was heard in September 1999 in Falls City, and was awarded $80,000. District court judge Orville Coady reduced the amount by 85 percent based on the responsibility of Nissen and Lotter and by one percent for Brandon's alleged contributory negligence. This led to a remaining judgment of responsibility against Richardson County and Laux of $17,360.97. In 2001, the Nebraska Supreme Court reversed the reductions of the earlier award reinstating the full $80,000 award for "mental suffering", plus $6,223.20 for funeral costs. In October 2001, the same judge awarded the plaintiff an additional $12,000: $5,000 for wrongful death, and $7,000 for the intentional infliction of emotional distress. Laux was also criticized after the murder for his attitude toward Teena – at one point, Laux referred to Brandon as "it." After the case was over, Laux served as commissioner of Richardson County and later as part of his community's council before retiring as a school bus driver. He has refused to this day to speak about his actions in the case and swore at one reporter who contacted him for a story on the murder's twentieth anniversary.


title: Brandon Teena

text: In 1999, Teena became the subject of a biographical film entitled "Boys Don't Cry", directed by Kimberly Peirce and starring Hilary Swank as Teena and Chloë Sevigny as Tisdel. For their performances, Swank won, and Sevigny was nominated for an Academy Award. Tisdel sued the film's producers for unauthorized use of her name and likeness before the film's release. She claimed the film depicted her as "lazy, white trash, and a skanky snake". Tisdel also claimed that the film falsely portrayed that she continued the relationship with Teena after discovering that he was transgender. She eventually settled her lawsuit against the movie's distributor for an undisclosed sum.


title: Brandon Teena

text: JoAnn Brandon publicly objected to the media referring to her child as "he" and "Brandon." Following Hilary Swank's Oscar acceptance speech, JoAnn Brandon took offense at Swank for thanking "Brandon Teena" and referring to him as a man. "That set me off," said JoAnn Brandon. "She should not stand up there and thank my child. I get tired of people taking credit for what they don't know." However, in 2013, JoAnn told a reporter that she accepted Teena being referred to as transgender in the media. Although she was unhappy with how "Boys Don't Cry" portrayed the situation, she said about the film, "It gave them [gay and transgender advocates] a platform to voice their opinions, and I'm glad. There were a lot of people who didn't understand what it was [Teena] was going through. We've come a long way." When asked how the murder affects her life today, JoAnn replied, "I wonder how my life would be different if she was still with me. She would be such a joy to have around. She was always such a happy kid. I imagine her being a happy adult. And if being happy meant Teena living as a man, I would be fine with that."


title: Brandon Teena

text: "Brandon", an interactive web artwork created in 1998 by Shu Lea Cheang, was named for Brandon Teena. The artwork was commissioned by the Solomon R. Guggenheim Museum. Much of the site's content relates to Brandon's story.


title: Brandon Teena

text: The British duo Pet Shop Boys released a song titled "Girls Don't Cry" (a bonus track on UK issue of "I'm with Stupid") about Teena in 2006. Vancouver-based pop-punk band JPNSGRLS released the song "Brandon", off their debut 2014 album "Circulation", in memory of Brandon Teena.


title: Brandon Teena

text: In 2018, Donna Minkowitz, the journalist whose reporting on Teena's murder first brought the story to a wider audience, wrote a piece for the "Village Voice" in which she expressed her regret for not understanding transgender people when she wrote her original report.


title: Theropoda

text: Theropoda (; ), whose members are known as theropods, is a dinosaur clade that is characterized by hollow bones and three toes and claws on each limb. Theropods are generally classed as a group of saurischian dinosaurs. They were ancestrally carnivorous, although a number of theropod groups evolved to become herbivores and omnivores. Theropods first appeared during the Carnian age of the late Triassic period 231.4 million years ago (Ma) and included all the large terrestrial carnivores from the Early Jurassic until at least the close of the Cretaceous, about 66 Ma. In the Jurassic, birds evolved from small specialized coelurosaurian theropods, and are today represented by about 10,500 living species.


title: Theropoda

text: Theropods exhibit a wide range of diets, from insectivores to herbivores and carnivores. Strict carnivory has always been considered the ancestral diet for theropods as a group, and a wider variety of diets was historically considered a characteristic exclusive to the avian theropods (birds). However, discoveries in the late 20th and early 21st centuries showed that a variety of diets existed even in more basal lineages. All early finds of theropod fossils showed them to be primarily carnivorous. Fossilized specimens of early theropods known to scientists in the 19th and early 20th centuries all possessed sharp teeth with serrated edges for cutting flesh, and some specimens even showed direct evidence of predatory behavior. For example, a "Compsognathus longipes" fossil was found with a lizard in its stomach, and a "Velociraptor mongoliensis" specimen was found locked in combat with a "Protoceratops andrewsi" (a type of ornithischian dinosaur).


title: Theropoda

text: The first confirmed non-carnivorous fossil theropods found were the therizinosaurs, originally known as "segnosaurs". First thought to be prosauropods, these enigmatic dinosaurs were later proven to be highly specialized, herbivorous theropods. Therizinosaurs possessed large abdomens for processing plant food, and small heads with beaks and leaf-shaped teeth. Further study of maniraptoran theropods and their relationships showed that therizinosaurs were not the only early members of this group to abandon carnivory. Several other lineages of early maniraptorans show adaptations for an omnivorous diet, including seed-eating (some troodontids) and insect-eating (many avialans and alvarezsaurs). Oviraptorosaurs, ornithomimosaurs and advanced troodontids were likely omnivorous as well, and some early theropods (such as "Masiakasaurus knopfleri" and the spinosaurids) appear to have specialized in catching fish.


title: Theropoda

text: Diet is largely deduced by the tooth morphology, tooth marks on bones of the prey, and gut contents. Some theropods, such as "Baryonyx", "Lourinhanosaurus", ornithomimosaurs, and birds, are known to use gastroliths, or gizzard-stones.


title: Theropoda

text: The majority of theropod teeth are blade-like, with serration on the edges, called ziphodont. Others are pachydont or phyllodont depending on the shape of the tooth or denticles. The morphology of the teeth is distinct enough to tell the major families apart, which indicate different diet strategies. An investigation in July 2015 discovered that what appeared to be "cracks" in their teeth were actually folds that helped to prevent tooth breakage by strengthening individual serrations as they attacked their prey. The folds helped the teeth stay in place longer, especially as theropods evolved into larger sizes and had more force in their bite.


title: Theropoda

text: Mesozoic theropods were also very diverse in terms of skin texture and covering. Feathers or feather-like structures (filaments) are attested in most lineages of theropods (see feathered dinosaur). However, outside the coelurosaurs, feathers may have been confined to the young, smaller species, or limited parts of the animal. Many larger theropods had skin covered in small, bumpy scales. In some species, these were interspersed with larger scales with bony cores, or osteoderms. This type of skin is best known in the ceratosaur "Carnotaurus", which has been preserved with extensive skin impressions.


title: Theropoda

text: The coelurosaur lineages most distant from birds had feathers that were relatively short and composed of simple, possibly branching filaments. Simple filaments are also seen in therizinosaurs, which also possessed large, stiffened "quill"-like feathers. More fully feathered theropods, such as dromaeosaurids, usually retain scales only on the feet. Some species may have mixed feathers elsewhere on the body as well. "Scansoriopteryx" preserved scales near the underside of the tail, and "Juravenator" may have been predominantly scaly with some simple filaments interspersed. On the other hand, some theropods were completely covered with feathers, such as the troodontid "Anchiornis", which even had feathers on the feet and toes.


title: Theropoda

text: "Tyrannosaurus" was for many decades the largest known theropod and best known to the general public. Since its discovery, however, a number of other giant carnivorous dinosaurs have been described, including "Spinosaurus", "Carcharodontosaurus", and "Giganotosaurus". The original "Spinosaurus" specimens (as well as newer fossils described in 2006) support the idea that "Spinosaurus" is longer than "Tyrannosaurus", showing that "Spinosaurus" was possibly 3 meters longer than "Tyrannosaurus" though "Tyrannosaurus" could still be more massive than "Spinosaurus". Specimens such as Sue and are both estimated to be the heaviest theropods known to science. There is still no clear explanation for why these animals grew so heavy and bulky compared to the land predators that came before and after them.


title: Theropoda

text: The largest extant theropod is the common ostrich, up to 2.74 m (9 ft) tall and weighing between 90 and 130 kg (200 - 290 lb). The smallest non-avialan theropod known from adult specimens is the troodontid "Anchiornis huxleyi", at 110 grams in weight and 34 centimeters (1 ft) in length. When modern birds are included, the bee hummingbird "Mellisuga helenae" is smallest at 1.9 g and 5.5 cm (2.2 in) long.


title: Theropoda

text: Recent theories propose that theropod body size shrank continuously over a period of 50 million years, from an average of down to , eventually evolving into modern birds. This was based on evidence that theropods were the only dinosaurs to get continuously smaller, and that their skeletons changed four times as fast as those of other dinosaur species.


title: Theropoda

text: In order to estimate the growth rates of theropods, scientists need to calculate both age and body mass of a dinosaur. Both of these measures can only be calculated through fossilized bone and tissue, so regression analysis and extant animal growth rates as proxies are used to make predictions. Fossilized bones exhibit growth rings that appear as a result of growth or seasonal changes, which can be used to approximate age at the time of death. However, the amount of rings in a skeleton can vary from bone to bone, and old rings can also be lost at advanced age, so scientists need to properly control these two possibly confounding variables.


title: Theropoda

text: Body mass is harder to determine as bone mass only represents a small proportion of the total body mass of animals. One method is to measure the circumference of the femur, which in non-avian theropod dinosaurs has been shown to be a relatively proportional to quadrupedal mammals, and use this measurement as a function of body weight, as the proportions of long bones like the femur grow proportionately with body mass. The method of using extant animal bone proportion to body mass ratios to make predictions about extinct animals is known as the extant-scaling (ES) approach. A second method, known as the volumetric-density (VD) approach, uses full-scale models of skeletons to make inferences about potential mass. The ES approach is better for wide range studies including many specimens and doesn't require as much of a complete skeleton as the VD approach, but the VD approach allows scientists to better answer more physiological questions about the animal, such as locomotion and center of gravity.


title: Theropoda

text: The current consensus is that non-avian theropods didn't exhibit a group wide growth rate, but instead had varied rates depending on their size. However, all non-avian theropods had faster growth rates than extant reptiles, even when modern reptiles are scaled up to the large size of some non-avian theropods. As body mass increases, the relative growth rate also increases. This trend may be due to the need to reach the size required for reproductive maturity. For example, one of the smallest known theropods was "Microraptor zhaoianus," which had a body mass of 200 grams, grew at a rate of approximately .33 grams per day. A comparable reptile of the same size grows at half of this rate. The growth rates of medium-sized non-avian theropods (100–1000 kg) approximated those of precocial birds, which are much slower than altricial birds. Large theropods (1500–3500 kg) grew even faster, similar to rates displayed by eutherian mammals. The largest non-avian theropods, like "Tyrannosaurus rex" had similar growth dynamics to the largest living land animal today, the African elephant, which is characterized by a rapid period of growth until maturity, subsequently followed by slowing growth in adulthood.


title: Theropoda

text: As a hugely diverse group of animals, the posture adopted by theropods likely varied considerably between various lineages through time. All known theropods are bipedal, with the forelimbs reduced in length and specialized for a wide variety of tasks (see below). In modern birds, the body is typically held in a somewhat upright position, with the upper leg (femur) held parallel to the spine and with the forward force of locomotion generated at the knee. Scientists are not certain how far back in the theropod family tree this type of posture and locomotion extends.


title: Theropoda

text: Non-avian theropods were first recognized as bipedal during the 19th century, before their relationship to birds was widely accepted. During this period, theropods such as carnosaurs and tyrannosaurids were thought to have walked with vertical femurs and spines in an upright, nearly erect posture, using their long, muscular tails as additional support in a kangaroo-like tripodal stance. Beginning in the 1970s, biomechanical studies of extinct giant theropods cast doubt on this interpretation. Studies of limb bone articulation and the relative absence of trackway evidence for tail dragging suggested that, when walking, the giant, long-tailed theropods would have adopted a more horizontal posture with the tail held parallel to the ground. However, the orientation of the legs in these species while walking remains controversial. Some studies support a traditional vertically oriented femur, at least in the largest long-tailed theropods, while others suggest that the knee was normally strongly flexed in all theropods while walking, even giants like the tyrannosaurids. It is likely that a wide range of body postures, stances, and gaits existed in the many extinct theropod groups.


title: Theropoda

text: Although rare, complete casts of theropod endocrania are known from fossils. Theropod endocrania can also be reconstructed from preserved brain cases without damaging valuable specimens by using a computed tomography scan and 3D reconstruction software. These finds are of evolutionary significance because they help document the emergence of the neurology of modern birds from that of earlier reptiles. An increase in the proportion of the brain occupied by the cerebrum seems to have occurred with the advent of the Coelurosauria and "continued throughout the evolution of maniraptorans and early birds."


title: Theropoda

text: Studies show that theropods had very sensitive snouts. It is suggested they might have been used for temperature detection, feeding behavior, and wave detection.


title: Theropoda

text: Shortened forelimbs in relation to hind legs was a common trait among theropods, most notably in the abelisaurids (such as "Carnotaurus") and the tyrannosaurids (such as "Tyrannosaurus"). This trait was, however, not universal: spinosaurids had well developed forelimbs, as did many coelurosaurs. The relatively robust forelimbs of one genus, "Xuanhanosaurus", led Dong Zhiming to suggest that the animal might have been quadrupedal. However, this is no longer thought to be likely.


title: Theropoda

text: The hands are also very different among the different groups. The most common form among non-avian theropods is an appendage consisting of three fingers; the digits I, II and III (or possibly II, III and IV), with sharp claws. Some basal theropods (e.g. "Herrerasaurus", ) had four digits, and also a reduced metacarpal V. Ceratosaurians usually had four digits, while most tetanurans had three.


title: Theropoda

text: The forelimbs' scope of use is also believed to have also been different among different families. The spinosaurids could have used their powerful forelimbs to hold fish. Some small maniraptorans such as scansoriopterygids are believed to have used their forelimbs to climb in trees. The wings of modern birds are used primarily for flight, though they are adapted for other purposes in certain groups. For example, aquatic birds such as penguins use their wings as flippers.


title: Theropoda

text: Contrary to the way theropods have often been reconstructed in art and the popular media, the range of motion of theropod forelimbs was severely limited, especially compared with the forelimb dexterity of humans and other primates. Most notably, theropods and other bipedal saurischian dinosaurs (including the bipedal prosauropods) could not pronate their hands—that is, they could not rotate the forearm so that the palms faced the ground or backwards towards the legs. In humans, pronation is achieved by motion of the radius relative to the ulna (the two bones of the forearm). In saurischian dinosaurs, however, the end of the radius near the elbow was actually locked into a groove of the ulna, preventing any movement. Movement at the wrist was also limited in many species, forcing the entire forearm and hand to move as a single unit with little flexibility. In theropods and prosauropods, the only way for the palm to face the ground would have been by lateral splaying of the entire forelimb, as in a bird raising its wing.


title: Theropoda

text: In carnosaurs like "Acrocanthosaurus", the hand itself retained a relatively high degree of flexibility, with mobile fingers. This was also true of more basal theropods, such as herrerasaurs. Coelurosaurs showed a shift in the use of the forearm, with greater flexibility at the shoulder allowing the arm to be raised towards the horizontal plane, and to even greater degrees in flying birds. However, in coelurosaurs, such as ornithomimosaurs and especially dromaeosaurids, the hand itself had lost most flexibility, with highly inflexible fingers. Dromaeosaurids and other maniraptorans also showed increased mobility at the wrist not seen in other theropods, thanks to the presence of a specialized half-moon shaped wrist bone (the semi-lunate carpal) that allowed the whole hand to fold backward towards the forearm in the manner of modern birds.


title: Theropoda

text: In 2001, Ralph E. Molnar published a survey of pathologies in theropod dinosaur bone. He found pathological features in 21 genera from 10 families. Pathologies were found in theropods of all body size although they were less common in fossils of small theropods, although this may be an artifact of preservation. They are very widely represented throughout the different parts of theropod anatomy. The most common sites of preserved injury and disease in theropod dinosaurs are the ribs and tail vertebrae. Despite being abundant in ribs and vertebrae, injuries seem to be "absent... or very rare" on the bodies' primary weight supporting bones like the sacrum, femur, and tibia. The lack of preserved injuries in these bones suggests that they were selected by evolution for resistance to breakage. The least common sites of preserved injury are the cranium and forelimb, with injuries occurring in about equal frequency at each site. Most pathologies preserved in theropod fossils are the remains of injuries like fractures, pits, and punctures, often likely originating with bites. Some theropod paleopathologies seem to be evidence of infections, which tended to be confined only to small regions of the animal's body. Evidence for congenital malformities have also been found in theropod remains. Such discoveries can provide information useful for understanding the evolutionary history of the processes of biological development. Unusual fusions in cranial elements or asymmetries in the same are probably evidence that one is examining the fossils of an extremely old individual rather than a diseased one.


title: Theropoda

text: The trackway of a swimming theropod, the first in China of the ichnogenus named "Characichnos", was discovered at the Feitianshan Formation in Sichuan. These new swim tracks support the hypothesis that theropods were adapted to swimming and capable of traversing moderately deep water. Dinosaur swim tracks are considered to be rare trace fossils, and are among a class of vertebrate swim tracks that also include those of pterosaurs and crocodylomorphs. The study described and analyzed four complete natural molds of theropod foot prints that are now stored at the Huaxia Dinosaur Tracks Research and Development Center (HDT). These dinosaur footprints were in fact claw marks, which suggest that this theropod was swimming near the surface of a river and just the tips of its toes and claws could touch the bottom. The tracks indicate a coordinated, left-right, left-right progression, which supports the proposition that theropods were well-coordinated swimmers.


title: Theropoda

text: During the late Triassic, a number of primitive proto-theropod and theropod dinosaurs existed and evolved alongside each other.


title: Theropoda

text: The earliest and most primitive of the theropod dinosaurs were the carnivorous "Eodromaeus" and, possibly, the herrerasaurids of Argentina. The herrerasaurs existed during the early late Triassic (Late Carnian to Early Norian). They were found in North America and South America and possibly also India and Southern Africa. The herrerasaurs were characterised by a mosaic of primitive and advanced features. Some paleontologists have in the past considered the herrerasaurians to be members of Theropoda, while other theorized the group to be basal saurischians, and may even have evolved prior to the saurischian-ornithischian split. Cladistic analysis following the discovery of "Tawa", another Triassic dinosaur, suggests the herrerasaurs likely were early theropods.


title: Theropoda

text: The earliest and most primitive unambiguous theropods (or alternatively, "Eutheropoda"—'True Theropods') are the Coelophysoidea. The coelophysoids were a group of widely distributed, lightly built and potentially gregarious animals. They included small hunters like "Coelophysis" and "Camposaurus". These successful animals continued from the Late Carnian (early Late Triassic) through to the Toarcian (late Early Jurassic). Although in the early cladistic classifications they were included under the Ceratosauria and considered a side-branch of more advanced theropods, they may have been ancestral to all other theropods (which would make them a paraphyletic group).


title: Theropoda

text: The somewhat more advanced ceratosaurs (including "Ceratosaurus" and "Carnotaurus") appeared during the Early Jurassic and continued through to the Late Jurassic in Laurasia. They competed alongside their more anatomically advanced tetanuran relatives and—in the form of the abelisaur lineage—lasted to the end of the Cretaceous in Gondwana.


title: Theropoda

text: The Tetanurae are more specialised again than the ceratosaurs. They are subdivided into the basal Megalosauroidea (alternately Spinosauroidea) and the more derived Avetheropoda. Megalosauridae were primarily Middle Jurassic to Early Cretaceous predators, and their spinosaurid relatives' remains are mostly from Early and Middle Cretaceous rocks. Avetheropoda, as their name indicates, were more closely related to birds and are again divided into the Allosauroidea (the diverse carcharodontosaurs) and the Coelurosauria (a very large and diverse dinosaur group including the birds).


title: Theropoda

text: Thus, during the late Jurassic, there were no fewer than four distinct lineages of theropods—ceratosaurs, megalosaurs, allosaurs, and coelurosaurs—preying on the abundance of small and large herbivorous dinosaurs. All four groups survived into the Cretaceous, and three of those—the ceratosaurs, coelurosaurs, and allosaurs—survived to end of the period, where they were geographically separate, the ceratosaurs and allosaurs in Gondwana, and the coelurosaurs in Laurasia.


title: Theropoda

text: Of all the theropod groups, the coelurosaurs were by far the most diverse. Some coelurosaur groups that flourished during the Cretaceous were the tyrannosaurids (including "Tyrannosaurus"), the dromaeosaurids (including "Velociraptor" and "Deinonychus", which are remarkably similar in form to the oldest known bird, "Archaeopteryx"), the bird-like troodontids and oviraptorosaurs, the ornithomimosaurs (or "ostrich Dinosaurs"), the strange giant-clawed herbivorous therizinosaurs, and the avialans, which include modern birds and is the only dinosaur lineage to survive the Cretaceous–Paleogene extinction event. While the roots of these various groups are found in the Middle Jurassic, they only became abundant during the Early Cretaceous. A few palaeontologists, such as Gregory S. Paul, have suggested that some or all of these advanced theropods were actually descended from flying dinosaurs or proto-birds like "Archaeopteryx" that lost the ability to fly and returned to a terrestrial habitat.


title: Theropoda

text: The evolution of birds from other theropod dinosaurs has also been reported, with some of the linking features being the furcula (wishbone), pneumatized bones, brooding of the eggs, and (in coelurosaurs, at least) feathers.


title: Theropoda

text: O. C. Marsh coined the name Theropoda (meaning "beast feet") in 1881. Marsh initially named Theropoda as a suborder to include the family Allosauridae, but later expanded its scope, re-ranking it as an order to include a wide array of "carnivorous" dinosaur families, including Megalosauridae, Compsognathidae, Ornithomimidae, Plateosauridae and Anchisauridae (now known to be herbivorous sauropodomorphs) and Hallopodidae (subsequently revealed as relatives of crocodilians). Due to the scope of Marsh's Order Theropoda, it came to replace a previous taxonomic group that Marsh's rival E. D. Cope had created in 1866 for the carnivorous dinosaurs: Goniopoda ("angled feet").


title: Theropoda

text: By the early 20th century, some palaeontologists, such as Friedrich von Huene, no longer considered carnivorous dinosaurs to have formed a natural group. Huene abandoned the name "Theropoda", instead using Harry Seeley's Order Saurischia, which Huene divided into the suborders Coelurosauria and Pachypodosauria. Huene placed most of the small theropod groups into Coelurosauria, and the large theropods and prosauropods into Pachypodosauria, which he considered ancestral to the Sauropoda (prosauropods were still thought of as carnivorous at that time, owing to the incorrect association of rauisuchian skulls and teeth with prosauropod bodies, in animals such as "Teratosaurus"). Describing the first known dromaeosaurid ("Dromaeosaurus albertensis") in 1922, W. D. Matthew and Barnum Brown became the first paleontologists to exclude prosauropods from the carnivorous dinosaurs, and attempted to revive the name "Goniopoda" for that group, but other scientists did not accept either of these suggestions.


title: Theropoda

text: In 1956, "Theropoda" came back into use—as a taxon containing the carnivorous dinosaurs and their descendants—when Alfred Romer re-classified the Order Saurischia into two suborders, Theropoda and Sauropoda. This basic division has survived into modern palaeontology, with the exception of, again, the Prosauropoda, which Romer included as an infraorder of theropods. Romer also maintained a division between Coelurosauria and Carnosauria (which he also ranked as infraorders). This dichotomy was upset by the discovery of "Deinonychus" and "Deinocheirus" in 1969, neither of which could be classified easily as "carnosaurs" or "coelurosaurs". In light of these and other discoveries, by the late 1970s Rinchen Barsbold had created a new series of theropod infraorders: Coelurosauria, Deinonychosauria, Oviraptorosauria, Carnosauria, Ornithomimosauria, and Deinocheirosauria.


title: Theropoda

text: With the advent of cladistics and phylogenetic nomenclature in the 1980s, and their development in the 1990s and 2000s, a clearer picture of theropod relationships began to emerge. Jacques Gauthier named several major theropod groups in 1986, including the clade Tetanurae for one branch of a basic theropod split with another group, the Ceratosauria. As more information about the link between dinosaurs and birds came to light, the more bird-like theropods were grouped in the clade Maniraptora (also named by Gauthier in 1986). These new developments also came with a recognition among most scientists that birds arose directly from maniraptoran theropods and, on the abandonment of ranks in cladistic classification, with the re-evaluation of birds as a subset of theropod dinosaurs that survived the Mesozoic extinctions and lived into the present.


title: Theropoda

text: The following is a simplified classification of theropod groups based on their evolutionary relationships, and organized based on the list of Mesozoic dinosaur species provided by Holtz. A more detailed version can be found at dinosaur classification.


title: Theropoda

text: The following family tree illustrates a synthesis of the relationships of the major theropod groups based on various studies conducted in the 2010s.


title: Theropoda

text: A large study of early dinosaurs by Dr Matthew G. Baron, David Norman and Paul M. Barrett (2017) published in the journal "Nature" suggested that Theropoda is actually more closely related to Ornithischia, to which it formed the sister group within the clade Ornithoscelida. This new hypothesis also recovered Herrerasauridae as the sister group to Sauropodomorpha in the redefined Saurischia and suggested that the hypercarnivore morphologies that are observed in specimens of theropods and herrerasaurids were acquired convergently. However, this phylogeny remains controversial and additional work is being done to clarify these relationships.


title: Deandre Ayton

text: Deandre Edoneille Chidike Ayton (born July 23, 1998) is a Bahamian professional basketball player who plays for the Phoenix Suns of the National Basketball Association (NBA). He played for the Arizona Wildcats in the Pac-12 Conference in the 2017–18 season and was a consensus five-star prospect in the Class of 2017, as well as a McDonald's All-American. Ayton was selected with the first overall pick in the 2018 NBA draft by the Suns. He was named to the NBA All-Rookie First Team in 2019. In 2021, Ayton helped lead the Phoenix Suns to their first NBA Finals appearance since 1993.


title: Deandre Ayton

text: Ayton's father Edward Egerue is a Nigerian of Igbo descent, and his mother Andrea Chambers Ayton is of Jamaican and Bahamian heritage. Ayton moved from the Bahamas to San Diego, California to play high school basketball.


title: Deandre Ayton

text: Ayton attended Balboa School in California and started on the varsity basketball team for two years. As a sophomore in 2014–15, Ayton led Balboa to a 17–14 record, averaging 21 points, 16 rebounds and 6.9 blocks per game. He racked up double-doubles in 21 of 22 regular season games. That summer, he averaged 16.5 points, 13.5 rebounds and 2.2 blocks a game for Supreme Court AAU (California) on the Under Armour circuit.


title: Deandre Ayton

text: Ayton, now a junior in 2015–16, transferred to Hillcrest Prep Academy in Phoenix, Arizona to play out his last two years. During this high school year, he became teammates with another top-tier Class of 2017 player in 2018's #2 pick Marvin Bagley III. Throughout his junior year, Ayton averaged 29.2 points, 16.7 rebounds, 3.8 blocks per game.


title: Deandre Ayton

text: As a senior in 2016–17, Ayton led Hillcrest to a 33–6 record and national rankings across multiple outlets while averaging 26 points, 15 rebounds and 3.5 blocks. He led Hillcrest to a Grind Session World Championship, earning Finals MVP and season MVP. While representing the World Select team, Ayton played at the 2016 Nike Hoop Summit, chipping in with eight points to go along with seven rebounds.


title: Deandre Ayton

text: Ayton was considered one of the top prospects in the 2017 recruiting class by Scout.com, Rivals.com, and ESPN. He was rated as a five-star recruit and the No. 3 overall recruit and No. 1 center in the 2017 high school class. In 2015, he was ranked by Scout as the top prospect in all of high school in their "Ultimate 100" list. Ayton had narrowed his choices between three schools: Arizona, Kansas and Kentucky. On September 6, 2016, he committed to play for the Arizona Wildcats, and signed his letter of intent.


title: Deandre Ayton

text: Ayton made his debut with the University of Arizona on November 10, 2017, recording 19 points, 12 rebounds, and 3 blocks in a 101–67 win over the Northern Arizona Lumberjacks. His 19 points was 7th most for a freshman in an Arizona debut. Throughout his college career, he was used as a power forward instead of center; Dušan Ristić was Arizona's starting center instead. On December 9, 2017, Ayton recorded what was, at the time, a season-high 29 points and 18 rebounds in an 88–82 win over the Alabama Crimson Tide. On December 30, 2017, against the in-state rival Arizona State Sun Devils, he recorded 19 rebounds, which would be a season-high at the time. On January 20, 2018, against Stanford, he blocked 6 shots, which tied him for most in Arizona freshman single game history. He had also recorded 17 20-point games and 23 double-doubles through 34 games. However, while Ayton had some great successes during his freshman season, there were also controversies mired during his last few months there.


title: Deandre Ayton

text: On February 23, 2018, a reported FBI wiretap revealed Arizona's head coach, Sean Miller, allegedly talked with Christian Dawkins (a key figure involved in the 2017–18 NCAA Division I men's basketball corruption scandal) to discuss paying Ayton $100,000 to allow him to enter the university, with the monetary situation being dealt with directly to him. While Miller would not be coaching the next game a day later against Oregon (assistant coach Lorenzo Romar would replace Miller that night), Ayton would still be allowed to play that day as the starting center. In that game, Ayton would record 28 points, 18 rebounds, and 4 blocks in the overtime loss to Oregon. The wiretapped conversation reportedly occurred in 2016, when Ayton was still attending the Hillcrest Prep Academy. Later on October 11, 2018, a government official revealed a now-former Adidas consultant named T.J. Gassnola paid a currently unknown amount of money to Ayton's family via Christian Dawkins in order to attend some Adidas sponsored programs. On May 2, 2019, federal prosecutors played a wiretapped call from June 20, 2017 between Dawkins and former assistant coach Emanuel Richardson that Miller was paying Ayton $10,000 per month while enrolled at Arizona.


title: Deandre Ayton

text: On March 3, 2018, after their last regular season home game against California, where he'd record 26 points and a career-high 20 rebounds in a 66–54 win over California, head coach Sean Miller honored Ayton, as well as underclassmen Rawle Alkins and Allonzo Trier, with confirmations that they'd all be entering the 2018 NBA draft at the end of this season. On March 9, Ayton would record a career-high 32 points with 14 rebounds in a 78–67 overtime win against UCLA. He'd tie that career high for points the next day alongside grabbing 18 rebounds in the Pac-12 Championship game against USC, where the Wildcats won 75–61. Ayton would be named the Pac-12 Tournament's Most Outstanding Player during the event. At the end of the regular season, Ayton was named both the Pac-12's Player of the Year and Freshman of the Year, as well as become a member of the All-Pac-12 first team (in terms of both regular voting and voting through the Associated Press) and be named the winner of the Karl Malone Award. He was also voted a consensus first-team All-American. Furthermore, Ayton was one of three freshman to be a part of the All-American First Team, joining Marvin Bagley III and Trae Young for the most consensus freshmen First Team members in a season.


title: Deandre Ayton

text: Following Arizona's upset loss to the University at Buffalo in the Round of 64 of the 2018 NCAA men's basketball tournament, Ayton announced his intention to forgo his final three seasons of collegiate eligibility and declare for the 2018 NBA draft, where he was expected to be a top-tier lottery selection, if not the potential #1 draft pick. On April 26, 2018, Ayton announced he signed with agent Nima Namakian of BDA Sports.


title: Deandre Ayton

text: On June 21, 2018, the Phoenix Suns selected Ayton with the first overall pick in the 2018 NBA draft. He was the franchise's first No. 1 pick in their history. Never before had the player picked with the first overall selection gone to a team from the state where he played in high school and college before entering the NBA. Ayton joined the 2018 NBA Summer League Suns squad on July 1, 2018, signing his rookie-scale contract five days later. In his Summer League debut on July 6, Ayton recorded 10 points and 8 rebounds in a 92–85 win over the Dallas Mavericks. At the end of the event, Ayton averaged a double-double of 14.5 points and 10.5 rebounds in four games played and named a member of the All-Summer League Second Team. He also averaged 18.2 points, 9.8 rebounds, 2 blocks, 1.4 assists, and 0.8 steals per game in five games during the 2018 preseason with the Suns. Near the end of the preseason, he led all NBA players in points, rebounds, blocks, free-throws, and field goal attempts.


title: Deandre Ayton

text: Ayton made his NBA debut in the season opener on October 17, 2018 and earned a double-double with 18 points and 10 rebounds, as well as a season-high 6 assists, a steal, and a block with 36 minutes played as a starter in a 121–100 win over the Dallas Mavericks. It made Ayton the first player to record these stats in their debut game since Lew Alcindor in 1969, as well as the third player since Oscar Robertson in 1960. Five days later, Ayton recorded a double-double of 20 points and 14 rebounds (alongside 5 assists) in a 123–103 loss to the Golden State Warriors. On October 27, he recorded 24 points on near-perfect shooting (12/13 shots made) alongside 5 assists in a loss to the Memphis Grizzlies. He became the second rookie in 40 seasons (first being Adam Keefe) to score at least 12 shots with a 90% or higher field goal percentage. Six days later, Ayton recorded a double-double of 17 points and a season-high 18 rebounds in a 107–98 loss to the Toronto Raptors. Ayton later recorded a new career high of 33 points, alongside 14 rebounds, in a 122–118 loss to the Denver Nuggets on December 29. Through the first half of the season, Ayton started in every game for the Suns when he was healthy, save for one. On January 29, 2019, Ayton was named a member of the World Team for the Rising Stars Challenge in the 2019 NBA All-Star Weekend. On March 27, Ayton broke Alvan Adams' rookie record for most double-doubles recorded by a rookie in franchise history. However, Ayton sprained his left ankle three days later against the Memphis Grizzlies, ending his rookie season early. He became the third rookie in a decade to average a double-double in their rookie season, joining Blake Griffin and Karl-Anthony Towns. At the conclusion of the season, Ayton was named as one of three finalists for the NBA Rookie of the Year Award in the 2019 NBA Awards show. On May 21, Ayton was selected to the 2019 All-Rookie First Team.


title: Deandre Ayton

text: On October 24, 2019, after the 2019–20 season opener, Ayton was suspended for 25 games after testing positive for a diuretic, violating the league's anti-drug policy. He returned from his suspension on December 17 against the Los Angeles Clippers, putting up 18 points and 12 rebounds in a 120–99 loss. Ayton was later immediately sidelined for the next five games due to a sprained right ankle before returning again, this time coming off the bench, on December 30 in a 122–116 win over the Portland Trail Blazers. He returned as a starter proper, albeit as a power forward, on January 3, 2020 in a 120–112 win over the New York Knicks. After a few more games, Ayton became the team's starting center again on January 16. That night, he scored 26 points and grabbed a career-high 21 rebounds in a 121–98 win over the Knicks. He became the first Suns player since Steve Nash to put up a 20/20 kind of game for the team (first player since Amar'e Stoudemire in terms of points and rebounds specifically), as well as the youngest player to have 25+ points and 20+ rebounds in the Madison Square Garden. On January 28, Ayton scored a season-high 31 points in a 133–104 win over the Dallas Mavericks. Two days later, Ayton was announced to return to the Rising Stars Challenge for the World Team; he joined only Amar'e Stoudemire and Devin Booker as announced participants in the event for the Suns as both a rookie and sophomore, though he would not play due to a left ankle injury, eventually being replaced by Nicolò Melli. On February 8, Ayton scored 28 points and grabbed 19 rebounds in a loss to the Denver Nuggets. He became the quickest player in franchise history to reach 1,000 rebounds at 94 games, as well as the fourth-quickest player to reach 1,000 since 1992. Ayton later matched his performance of 28 points and 19 rebounds on February 22 in a 112–104 win over the Chicago Bulls. After getting an ankle injury on March 3 against the Toronto Raptors, Ayton returned to play in the resumed season's bubble games on July 31, getting 24 points (including 2/3 three-point shooting for his first professional three-pointers made) and 12 rebounds in a 125–112 win over the Washington Wizards. He started in 7 of the team's 8 games in the 2020 NBA Bubble to give them a perfect 8–0 record there, giving the Suns their first 8-game winning streak since the 2009–10 season, ending their regular season with a 34–39 record.


title: Deandre Ayton

text: After struggling on the offensive end earlier on in the season (focusing more on defense instead), Ayton would return from the team's three-game suspension (due to COVID-19 protocols in the middle of January) with back-to-back nights as the team's leading rebounder and scorer on January 18 and 20, 2021. In the January 20 game against the Houston Rockets, Ayton had 26 points, 17 rebounds, and a career-high 5 blocks in a 109–103 win on the road. He became the first Suns player since Shawn Marion in 2007 to put up at least 25 points, 15 rebounds, and 5 blocks in a single game, as well as the only other Suns player to do it in the last 30 seasons. Ayton would help Phoenix clinch their first playoff berth since 2010.


title: Deandre Ayton

text: On May 23, Ayton made his NBA playoff debut, scoring 21 points on 10-of-11 shooting, to go along with 16 rebounds, in a 99–90 victory in Game 1 of the First Round over the defending champion Los Angeles Lakers. In Game 2 of the Conference Finals, Ayton put up 24 points, alongside a buzzer-beating, game-winning alley-oop dunk, and 14 rebounds, in a 104–103 victory over the Los Angeles Clippers to take a 2–0 series lead. In Game 4 of the Conference Finals, Ayton put up 19 points, 22 rebounds and 4 blocks in a 84–80 victory over the Clippers. In Game 6 of the Conference Finals, Ayton put up 16 points and 17 rebounds in a 130–103 victory over the Clippers, to lead the Suns to the NBA Finals for the first time since 1993. In Game 1 of the NBA Finals against the Milwaukee Bucks, Ayton put up 22 points and 19 rebounds in a 118–105 win. The Suns went on to take a 2–0 series lead, but lost the series in 6 games.


title: Deandre Ayton

text: Ayton and the Phoenix Suns were unable to agree to a rookie extension before the season. On March 23, 2022, Ayton scored a career-high 35 points on 15-of-24 shooting from the field and grabbed 14 rebounds in a 125–116 win over the Minnesota Timberwolves. Ayton and the Suns finished the regular season with the league's best overall record at 64–18. On April 22, Ayton scored a playoff career-high 28 points, grabbed 17 rebounds and tied his playoff career-high with 3 steals in a 114–111 Game 3 win against the New Orleans Pelicans in the first round of the playoffs. On May 2, in Game 1 of the Western Conference Semifinals, Ayton logged 25 points and 8 rebounds in a 121–114 win over the Dallas Mavericks. The Suns jumped to a 2–0 lead in the series before losing in seven games.


title: Deandre Ayton

text: Unable to agree on a contract extension with the Phoenix Suns, Ayton became a restricted free agent in the offseason. On July 14, 2022, he signed a four-year, $133 million offer sheet with the Indiana Pacers, the largest in league history. The Suns quickly matched the Pacers offer. On July 18, 2022, Ayton signed the Suns' multi-year contract. On November 25, Ayton scored 28 points on 11-of-13 shooting from the field and grabbed 12 rebounds in a 108–102 win over the Detroit Pistons. In the next game, Ayton recorded 29 points and a season-high 21 rebounds in an 113–112 win over the Utah Jazz. He became the first player to have at least 28 points and 20 rebounds in a game for the Suns since Amar'e Stoudemire in 2007. On November 29, Ayton was named the NBA Western Conference Player of the Week for Week 6 (November 21–27), his first NBA Player of the Week award. He helped Phoenix secure an undefeated 3–0 week with averages of 23.7 points and 16.0 rebounds on 67.4% shooting from the field. The next day, Ayton scored a season-high 30 points along with 14 rebounds in a 132–113 win over the Chicago Bulls.


title: Deandre Ayton

text: Ayton is known for being a physically demanding center at 7 ’1” in shoes, with a weight of 250 pounds being reported during his rookie season with Phoenix. His wingspan has been projected to be at 7'5", while his vertical leap is slated to be at 43.5". He sees his game as something akin to Hakeem Olajuwon's (primarily with his footwork, which allows him to keep up with smaller players) with the competitive mentality of Kevin Garnett. ESPN analyst Jay Williams compared him to David Robinson and Anthony Davis.


title: Deandre Ayton

text: Ayton represented The Bahamas in the 2016 Centrobasket, the regional basketball championship of FIBA Americas for the Central American and Caribbean subzone where he averaged a tournament-leading 11.1 rebounds per game.


title: Deandre Ayton

text: In June 2018, it was announced he would be sponsored by Puma after the German company announced that they would be returning to the basketball market.


title: Deandre Ayton

text: In the days after Hurricane Dorian struck the Bahamas, Ayton donated $100,000 to various relief efforts and held a relief drive on September 10, 2019 to collect further supplies and donations to give to those affected by the hurricane.


title: Criminal Justice (Indian TV series)

text: Criminal Justice is an Indian Hindi-language crime thriller legal drama web series for Hotstar Specials, based on the 2008 British television series of the same name, written by Shridhar Raghavan and was directed by Tigmanshu Dhulia and Vishal Furia. Starring Pankaj Tripathi, Vikrant Massey, Jackie Shroff, Anupriya Goenka and Mita Vashisht in lead roles, the storyline follows the life of individuals on a gut-wrenching journey through the criminal justice system.


title: Criminal Justice (Indian TV series)

text: Criminal Justice was released through Hotstar on 5 April 2019. It received positive response from critics, praising the performances of the principal characters, Tripathi, Massey and Shroff respectively.


title: Criminal Justice (Indian TV series)

text: In February 2020, the makers announced for the second season, titled "", which was released through Disney+ Hotstar on 24 December 2020. "", the third season of the series, premiered on Disney+ Hotstar on 26 August 2022. It follows the murder case of a young celebrity.


title: Criminal Justice (Indian TV series)

text: Criminal Justice is a thriller series, starring Pankaj Tripathi, Vikrant Massey, Jackie Shroff, Anupriya Goenka, Mita Vashisht, Rucha Inamdar, Jagat Rawath, Rithuraj Singh, Tuhina Vora. The series focuses on how Aditya Sharma's (portrayed by Vikrant Massey) life changes after being falsely accused of murdering Sanaya Rath (portrayed by Madhurima Roy). The series is split into 10 episodes.


title: Criminal Justice (Indian TV series)

text: The series starts by introducing Aditya Sharma as a cab driver who comes from a middle-class family. He will have plans of meeting his friends at a pub after completing his work, but a foul-mouthed lady sits in his cab and keeps on changing location, because of which all his night plans become jeopardized, while talking to her they realize that they are alumni of the same college. The lady suffers from mood swings, so it can be easily come to know that she is a drug addict. The lady's name was later revealed to be Sanaya Rath.


title: Criminal Justice (Indian TV series)

text: Aditya gets caught in the police station itself when the neighbour who will be giving his statement happens to identify him as the murderer, the police inspector 'Raghu Salian’ (Pankaj Saraswat) and the others search him and they find the murder weapon (they at least assume it to be) with him. While interrogating, Madhav Mishra (Pankaj Tripathi) a street-smart advocate happens to mistake Aditya's case to be a drunk and driving case and tells Raghu Salian that he is Aditya's lawyer, he then realises that he will be handling a murder case and that's how his life changes. Madhav Mishra informs Aditya's parents about the crime and that Aditya has been accused of murdering and raping Sanaya Rath. Aditya is produced before the magistrate within 24 hours and he pleads not guilty, however, his request for bail is rejected by the Magistrate. Because of which he will be placed in Police custody for 14 days. Aditya agrees to do a narco test, and a selected portion of it is shown online. People start shaming the taxi services company where Aditya will be working. Aditya's brother-in-law (Gaurav Dwiwedi) soon starts getting harassed by recovery agents due to non-payment of loan. Aditya's sister (Rucha Inamdar) loses her job and the entire family becomes a victim of ridicule by the society. Raghu Salian is hell bent on proving that Aditya is the murderer. Mandira Mathur (Mita Vashisht), a Supreme Court advocate soon starts looking after Aditya's case, she starts representing Aditya and becomes the defence lawyer and Advocate Bhandarkar (Ninad Kamat) becomes the public prosecutor. She has a knack with her usage of words, she helps drop Aditya's charge on rape by proving that it was consensual, but however fails to get him an acquittal. Aditya is asked to sign a plea bargaining agreement (where if you plead guilty your sentence will be reduced), as all the evidences point towards him. Mandira Mathur drops the case and Nikhat (Anupriya Goenka), her assistant starts representing Aditya as she asks Aditya to listen to what his heart says, because of which Aditya pleads not guilty.


title: Criminal Justice (Indian TV series)

text: The series soon drifts into life spent by a convict in prison, this is where we can draw similarity between Criminal Justice Season 1 and Shawshank redemption, where you see Aditya slowly adapting to the prison environment, just like Andrew "Andy" Dufresne (Tim Robbins). He joins Mustafa (Jackie Shroff) and gang, after being rescued by Taklya (Tushar Gaware) when Layak Talukdar (Dibyendu Bhattacharya) tries to seduce him. The prison is entirely split into two groups, Layak's gang and Mustafa's gang. Aditya starts jelling with Mustafa and gang and in one of the episodes, Aditya is sent to Solitary confinement for 1 year along with Mustafa for being wrongfully caught for peddling drugs in the prison. And then the series focuses on how Aditya starts rebelling against Layak becoming like one of the member of Mustafa's gang. Meanwhile, Aditya's sister divorces her husband and battles for child custody, Aditya's father starts earning again to survive. But they are still left with hope that Aditya will get released from the prison one day.


title: Criminal Justice (Indian TV series)

text: Coming back to the case, Nikhat and Madhav start investigating the case together and they build a good rapport with each other. Nikhat, Madhav and Raghu Salian soon find out that Sanaya Rath is a drug addict, and she was a volunteer in LDFR, a drug rehabilitation centre, run by Naresh Lakani and his wife Kanika Lakani, a girl named Pallavi (ex-employee of LDFR) reveals that Naresh Lakani runs a racket of child prostitution by trading under privileged children. Sanaya wanted to reveal this secret to public and Kanika Lakani wanted to stop this from happening. In the end, Aditya fights with Layak and when he is about to kill him, Mustafa does it for him. Aditya is released from the prison. He comes out braver and better than what he was before going into prison.


title: Criminal Justice (Indian TV series)

text: In January 2018, Sameer Nair, CEO of Aditya Birla Group's content studio Applause Entertainment, collaborated with BBC Studios, in order to adapt their British series "Criminal Justice" and "The Office", for the Indian audiences. Sameer teamed up with Shridhar Raghavan, to pen the screenplay and dialogues for the Hindi adaptation. In April 2018, Tigmanshu Dhulia was announced as the director of the series, eventually marking his digital debut, and the makers signed Pankaj Tripathi, Vikrant Massey and Jackie Shroff to play the pivotal characters. It also marked Shroff's debut in a digital platform. Principal shoot of the series began on 28 April 2018 and was completed in January 2019, with filming mostly held in Mumbai. Vishal Furia served the credits for co-direction.


title: Criminal Justice (Indian TV series)

text: The series' digital distribution rights were brought by Hotstar. On 15 January 2019, the platform announced its foray to original content production exclusively for the service, with the shows release on its label called Hotstar Specials, was officially announced. The platform eventually collaborated with Applause Entertainment for releasing the show, along with the production house's four other shows in the first set of their original contents. The official trailer of the series was released on 28 March 2019. It was released on 5 April 2019, in Hindi and dubbed Tamil, Telugu, Malayalam, Kannada, Bengali and Marathi languages.


title: Criminal Justice (Indian TV series)

text: Archika Khurana of "The Times of India" gave three-and-a-half out of five stars stating "Criminal Justice walks us through a series of events that happen during remand, judicial custody, and hearings, is intriguing and engrossing for most parts." Sanjukta Sharma of "Scroll.in" opined ""Criminal Justice" works because of the story and its two central characters." Sana Farzeen writing for "The Indian Express" says, "Vikrant Massey stands out playing a young boy who suddenly finds himself in a grave situation. Pankaj Tripathi once again aces a character with dry humor, making you smirk at his witty lines." The critic recommends "Criminal Justice" for those who like crime-based dramas.


title: Criminal Justice (Indian TV series)

text: Rohan Naahar of "Hindustan Times" rates it with three-and-a-half out of five stars and feels that the series being a remake relies on its actors to do the heavy lifting. He opines, "Fortunately, Vikrant Massey, Pankaj Tripathi and especially Jackie Shroff, are tremendous." Udita Jhunjhunwala, reviewing for "The Quint" writes "Supporting cast members Saraswat, Rucha Inamdar and Gaurav Dwivedi (as Aditya’s sister and brother-in-law respectively) and Madhurima Roy as the murdered girl are the most convincing." Parmita Uniyal of "India Today" said that "[Jackie]'s performance is one of the high points of the series, something that stays with you," while also saying that "[The show] could have a stronger impact with shorter episodes, crisper editing and right twists and turns."


title: Criminal Justice (Indian TV series)

text: On 13 February 2020, Sameer Nair announced a second installment of "Criminal Justice", with Pankaj Saraswat, Raaj Gopal Iyer, Pankaj Tripathi, Anupriya Goenka, Mita Vashisht reprising their roles from their first season, whereas Jisshu Sengupta and Kirti Kulhari joined the new cast. The series was released through Disney+ Hotstar on 24 December 2020.


title: Criminal Justice (Indian TV series)

text: The third installment was released on 26th August 2022 with Pankaj Tripathi and Shweta Basu Prasad in the lead roles. Pankaj Tripathi and Khushboo Atre would be reprising their roles from previous 2 seasons, whereas Purab Kohli, Swastika Mukherjee, Adinath Kothare, Kalyanee Mulay, Aaditya Gupta, Deshna Dugad and Aatm Prakash Mishra are new addition to the cast.


title: Julia Ann

text: Julia Ann is an American pornographic actress and feature dancer. She is a member of the AVN Hall of Fame and the XRCO Hall of Fame.


title: Julia Ann

text: By age 18 Julia Ann started modeling, then became a professional mud wrestler in Hollywood before becoming one half of the popular touring strip club feature act "Blondage", with Janine Lindemulder, in the early 1990s. Their success led to their own issue of the Carnal Comics comic book title (which also published a Julia Ann solo comic, co-written by her), as well as offers to join the pornographic film industry.


title: Julia Ann

text: Julia Ann debuted in adult films in 1992 in Andrew Blake's "Hidden Obsessions", in a lesbian sex scene with Lindemulder. In the 1990s, Ann and Lindemulder performed for Vivid Video. She was under contract to Wicked Pictures in 2006, but in May 2007 she posted on the members section of her website that she had not renewed her contract with Wicked.


title: Julia Ann

text: Ann says she grew up around animals and developed a love for horses; she also took piano lessons and learned to swim "like a fish." At age 12 she moved to Idyllwild, California, where she attended a college-prep school before moving back to Los Angeles to live with her grandmother at age 17.


title: Foundations of Geopolitics

text: The Foundations of Geopolitics: The Geopolitical Future of Russia is a geopolitical book by Aleksandr Dugin. Its publication in 1997 was well received in Russia; it has had significant influence within the Russian military, police, and foreign policy elites, and has been used as a textbook in the Academy of the General Staff of the Russian military. Powerful Russian political figures subsequently took an interest in Dugin, a Russian political analyst who espouses an ultranationalist and neo-fascist ideology based on his idea of neo-Eurasianism, who has developed a close relationship with Russia's Academy of the General Staff.


title: Foundations of Geopolitics

text: Dugin credits General Nikolai Klokotov of the Academy of the General Staff as co-author and his main inspiration, though Klokotov denies this. Colonel General Leonid Ivashov, head of the International Department of the Russian Ministry of Defence, helped draft the book.


title: Foundations of Geopolitics

text: Klokotov stated that in the future the book would "serve as a mighty ideological foundation for preparing a new military command". Dugin has asserted that the book has been adopted as a textbook in many Russian educational institutions. Former speaker of the Russian State Duma, Gennadiy Seleznyov, for whom Dugin was adviser on geopolitics, "urged that Dugin's geopolitical doctrine be made a compulsory part of the school curriculum".


title: Foundations of Geopolitics

text: The book may have been influential in Vladimir Putin's foreign policy, which eventually led to the 2022 Russian invasion of Ukraine.


title: Foundations of Geopolitics

text: In "Foundations of Geopolitics", Dugin calls for the United States and Atlanticism to lose their influence in Eurasia, and for Russia to rebuild its influence through annexations and alliances. The book declares that "the battle for the world rule of Russians" has not ended and Russia remains "the staging area of a new anti-bourgeois, anti-American revolution". The Eurasian Empire will be constructed "on the fundamental principle of the common enemy: the rejection of Atlanticism, strategic control of the U.S., and the refusal to allow liberal values to dominate us."


title: Foundations of Geopolitics

text: Military operations play a relatively minor role. The textbook advocates a sophisticated program of subversion, destabilization, and disinformation spearheaded by the Russian special services. The operations should be assisted by a tough, hard-headed utilization of Russia's gas, oil, and natural resources to bully and pressure other countries. The book states that "the maximum task [of the future] is the 'Finlandization' of all of Europe".


title: Foundations of Geopolitics

text: The book emphasizes that Russia must spread anti-Americanism everywhere: "the main 'scapegoat' will be precisely the U.S."


title: Foundations of Geopolitics

text: Hoover Institution senior fellow John B. Dunlop stated that "the impact of this intended 'Eurasianist' textbook on key Russian elites testifies to the worrisome rise of neo-fascist ideas and sentiments during the late Yeltsin and the Putin period". Historian Timothy D. Snyder wrote in "The New York Review of Books" that "Foundations of Geopolitics" is influenced by the work of Carl Schmitt, a proponent of a conservative international order whose work influenced the Nazis. He also noted Dugin's key role in forwarding the ideologies of Eurasianism and National Bolshevism.


title: Foundations of Geopolitics

text: The book was described by "Foreign Policy" as "one of the most curious, impressive, and terrifying books to come out of Russia during the entire post-Soviet era", and "more sober than Dugin's previous books, better argued, and shorn of occult references, numerology, traditionalism and other eccentric metaphysics". In 2022, "Foreign Policy" also noted: "The recent invasion of Ukraine is a continuation of a Dugin-promoted strategy for weakening the international liberal order." According to Anton Shekhovtsov, the book's cover contains a depiction of a Chaos Star, a symbol that represents chaos magick in modern occult movements, and the use of the symbol aligns with Dugin's general interest in the occult and occult symbolism. After the publication of the book, Dugin has also used the symbol as the logo of his Eurasia Party.


title: Insidious: The Last Key

text: Insidious: The Last Key is a 2018 supernatural horror film directed by Adam Robitel and written by Leigh Whannell. It is produced by Jason Blum, Oren Peli, and James Wan. It is the fourth installment in the "Insidious" franchise, and the second in the chronology of the story running through the series. Starring Lin Shaye, Angus Sampson, Leigh Whannell, Spencer Locke, Caitlin Gerard, and Bruce Davison, the film follows parapsychologist Elise Rainier as she investigates a haunting in her childhood home.


title: Insidious: The Last Key

text: Talks for a fourth installment in the franchise began in June 2015, with Whannell saying the next film would take place shortly before the first film. In May 2016, it was announced that "Chapter 4" would have an October 2017 release date with Whannell writing, Blum, Peli and Wan producing, Robitel directing, and Shaye returning to reprise her role as Elise Rainier. Principal photography began in August 2016, and ended the following month.


title: Insidious: The Last Key

text: The film was released in the United States on January 5, 2018 by Universal Pictures. It grossed $167 million worldwide, the highest of the franchise, and received mixed reviews, with praise for Shaye's performance but some critics stating that the franchise had run its course. "" is scheduled to be released in 2023, to continue the storyline of the first two films.


title: Insidious: The Last Key

text: In 1953, Elise Rainier lives in Five Keys, New Mexico with her parents Audrey and Gerald and younger brother Christian. Elise and Christian encounter a ghost in their bedroom. Frightened, Christian looks for a whistle their mother gave him to call for help, but cannot find it. Gerald, furious, canes Elise and locks her in the basement. Elise opens a mysterious red doorway and is briefly possessed by a demonic spirit. Audrey is killed by the demon.


title: Insidious: The Last Key

text: Decades later in California in 2010, Elise works as a paranormal investigator with her colleagues Specs and Tucker. A man named Ted Garza calls, saying he's been experiencing paranormal activity at his house. Realizing it's her childhood home, Elise departs to help him. While investigating, she finds Christian's lost whistle, but it disappears again after she encounters a female spirit. Elise tells Specs and Tucker that she had seen the spirit before when she was a young girl. She had fled the house in fear of another beating from her father, abandoning Christian.


title: Insidious: The Last Key

text: Elise, Tucker, and Specs meet Melissa and Imogen, Christian's daughters. Christian is still furious at Elise for abandoning him. Hoping to repair their relationship, Elise hands Melissa a photo of the whistle, telling her to show it to Christian. Elise and Tucker discover a hidden room in the basement. Guided by the female spirit, they discover a young woman being held prisoner inside. Ted reveals that he is responsible. He locks the group in and tries to kill Specs. Specs kills Ted in self defense.


title: Insidious: The Last Key

text: After police clear the house, Christian and his daughters go inside to find the whistle. Melissa is attacked by the demon from Elise's past, known as "Key Face." Key Face sends her into a coma, with her consciousness now stuck in the spirit realm of "The Further."


title: Insidious: The Last Key

text: Trying to save Melissa, Elise searches the house and discovers hidden suitcases containing belongings of numerous other women who had been held prisoner, including the young woman she had seen as a girl. Elise realizes that like Ted, her father Gerald had also kidnapped women and held them in the secret room. The woman she saw as a girl, Anna, was actually alive then, not a ghost; she was later killed by Gerald. In the present, Elise is ambushed by Key Face and her spirit taken into the Further.


title: Insidious: The Last Key

text: Imogen, who possesses abilities like Elise's, enters The Further and is led by Anna's ghost into a prison realm where Key Face is holding all of the souls he has taken, including Melissa and Elise. Elise realizes Key Face had been controlling both Gerald and Ted, and feeds on the fear and hatred generated by the women they kidnapped. Key Face tries to coerce Elise into hurting her father's spirit as revenge for what he's done. Elise starts beating Gerald, but is stopped by Imogen and refuses to feed Key Face any more hatred. Key Face attacks Elise, but Gerald saves her before he is stabbed by Key Face, his spirit vanishing.


title: Insidious: The Last Key

text: Key Face stabs Melissa, causing her physical body to start dying. He attempts to possess Elise. Elise blows Christian's whistle, and Audrey's spirit arrives, vanquishing Key Face. They open a door and see a young boy, Dalton Lambert. Realizing they opened the wrong door, they leave the door open and find Melissa. Melissa's spirit returns to her body in the real world, saving her life. Elise makes amends with her mother's spirit and she and Imogen return to the real world and reunite with Christian. Christian forgives Elise.


title: Insidious: The Last Key

text: In her sleep, Elise has a dream about Dalton and a red-faced demon. She awakens and receives a call from Lorraine. Elise had , and now her grandson Dalton needs the same help, which Elise agrees to provide.


title: Insidious: The Last Key

text: Additionally, Ty Simpkins, Rose Byrne, Barbara Hershey, and Patrick Wilson reprise their roles as Dalton Lambert, Renai Lambert, Lorraine Lambert, and Josh Lambert, respectively, from the first two films, in archive footage.


title: Insidious: The Last Key

text: On May 16, 2016, it was announced that "Chapter 4" would have an October 20, 2017, release date with Whannell writing, Jason Blum, Oren Peli and James Wan producing, Adam Robitel directing, and Lin Shaye returning to reprise her role as Elise Rainier.


title: Insidious: The Last Key

text: "Insidious: The Last Key" was released on January 5, 2018. The film was then released a week later on January 12, 2018, in the United Kingdom.


title: Insidious: The Last Key

text: On August 29, 2017, it was announced via Universal Studios' Halloween Horror Nights that the film would be titled "Insidious: The Last Key". In October 2017, the first poster and two trailer were divulged via Universal and Sony Pictures Entertainment. The variant poster art for social media promotion was designed by American Artist Justin Paul.


title: Insidious: The Last Key

text: "Insidious: The Last Key" grossed $67.6 million in the United States and Canada, and $100.1 million in other territories, for a worldwide total of $167.9 million, against a production budget of $10 million. It is the highest grossing film in the franchise, surpassing the second installment's $161 million, and the first film of the series to gross $100 million overseas.


title: Insidious: The Last Key

text: In the United States and Canada, "Insidious: The Last Key" was released alongside the wide expansion of "Molly's Game", and was projected to gross $20–22 million from 3,116 theaters in its opening weekend. The film made $1.98 grossed from Thursday night previews, the highest preview total of the franchise. It went on to debut to $29.3 million for the weekend, finishing second at the box office behind holdover "" and marking the second-highest opening of the series and grossing, behind "".


title: Insidious: The Last Key

text: On review aggregator Rotten Tomatoes, the film holds an approval rating of , based on reviews, with an average rating of . The website's critical consensus reads, ""Insidious: The Last Key" offers franchise star Lin Shaye another welcome opportunity to take the lead, but her efforts aren't enough to rescue this uninspired sequel." On Metacritic, the film has a weighted average score of 49 out of 100, based on 23 critics, indicating "mixed or average reviews". Audiences polled by CinemaScore gave the film an average grade of "B−" on an A+ to F scale, the lowest score of the franchise.


title: Insidious: The Last Key

text: "Screen Rant"'s Sandy Schaefer scored the film 3/5 stars, stating ""Insidious: The Last Key" is a solid finale to the "Insidious" franchise that gives series lead Lin Shaye the chance to take a graceful final bow." Brent McKnight of the "Seattle Times" rated the film two stars, saying "Old horror franchises don't die, they unspool tepid, uninspired sequels in perpetuity. And with the fourth chapter, "Insidious: The Last Key", this saga is on a familiar path." Emily Yoshida of "New York Magazine" noted how "the fourth installment of Leigh Whannell's ghost-and-mediums horror series wraps up its own free-association illogic with an impenetrable tangle of woo-woo spirit-world mechanics and lingo", while John DeFore of "Hollywood Reporter" faulted the film's delivery of "the boos" as remaining "cheap and arbitrary."


title: Insidious: The Last Key

text: "Insidious: The Last Key" was released on Digital HD on March 20, 2018 and was released on DVD and Blu-ray on April 3, 2018, by Sony Pictures Home Entertainment.


title: Insidious: The Last Key

text: On October 29, 2020, it was announced that a sequel was in the works with Scott Teems writing the screenplay based on a story by Leigh Whannell and series star Patrick Wilson directing. It will focus on a grown-up Dalton, a role reprised by series star Ty Simpkins, as he heads off to college. It is set for July 7, 2023.


title: Roc-A-Fella Records

text: Roc-A-Fella Records was an American hip hop record label and music management company founded by record executives and entrepreneurs Shawn "Jay-Z" Carter, Damon "Dame" Dash, and Kareem "Biggs" Burke in 1994.


title: Roc-A-Fella Records

text: Roc-A-Fella Records was founded in 1994, after Jay-Z has been rejected by major record labels, beginning as an independent outlet for rapper Jay-Z's first album. After being turned down by several major labels, Carter, Dash and Burke started their own label through Priority Records, using money from the music videos provided by Payday Records due to their singles only deal. Though "Reasonable Doubt" didn't immediately earn commercial success, it spawned several hits, and earned Jay-Z a reputation in hip hop. Starting out as Roc-A-Fella's only artist, Jay-Z was supported by The Notorious B.I.G.'s producer DJ Clark Kent and Camp Lo's producer DJ Ski; affiliated rappers, Sauce Money, Jaz-O, and a young Memphis Bleek, though only Memphis Bleek would eventually sign with the label.


title: Roc-A-Fella Records

text: The snub, and a sample clearance issue with the Nas-sampling "Reasonable Doubt" song "Dead Presidents II," were elements that contributed to tension between Jay-Z and Nas. In 1997, Roc-A-Fella agreed to a 50/50 partnership and distribution deal with Def Jam Recordings. As such, the only release in 1997 was Jay-Z's second album, "In My Lifetime, Vol. 1", but Roc-A-Fella and Jay-Z saw increasing popularity, mainly due to a high-profile appearance by Jay on The Notorious B.I.G.'s posthumous "Life After Death", complete with Roc-A-Fella and Damon Dash references. While Memphis Bleek signed with Roc-A-Fella, Sauce Money chose to pursue a deal with Priority, and Jaz refrained from signing anywhere and provided production for only one song on "In My Lifetime, Vol. 1", "Rap Game/Crack Game." In 1998, Roc-A-Fella Records released the movie "Streets Is Watching" and the accompanying soundtrack; the film compiles various Jay-Z videos into a continuous story, and the album introduced more affiliated, future Roc-A-Fella Records acts Noreaga, M.O.P., and DJ Clue, as well as producer Irv Gotti and the short-lived group, Murder Inc. (namesake of Irv's record label, Murder Inc.).


title: Roc-A-Fella Records

text: Jay's 1998 album, "Vol. 2... Hard Knock Life", saw him largely depart from his previous entourage and venture forth with producers Swizz Beatz, Timbaland, The 45 King and Jermaine Dupri. "Vol. 2" spawned his first major hit, "Hard Knock Life", and became the label's first Platinum-RIAA certified release; it was the last Roc-A-Fella release to see appearances by Jaz-O or Sauce Money, and the first to feature new Roc artists Beanie Sigel and Amil. DJ Clue released the 1st of his collaboration-album-style series in "The Professional", which saw the first Roc-A-Fella appearance of Cam'ron; meanwhile, DJ Ski had, at the time, formed the production company Roc-A-Blok, although the company folded when Ski moved out of New York to take a break from music.


title: Roc-A-Fella Records

text: Though Da Ranjahz put in appearances on Memphis Bleek's 1st album, "Coming of Age", in 1999, they soon parted ways with Roc-A-Fella. Jay-Z's 1999 album "Vol. 3... Life and Times of S. Carter" continued Jay's new affiliations with then-popular producers; in 2000, the label saw a redefinition in both sound and roster. Jay-Z put out "" as a solo album. Originally intended to be a collaboration project, it nonetheless featured heavy appearances by Beanie Sigel, Amil, and Memphis Bleek, along with a Philly rapper Freeway guest spot that led to him being signed to Roc-A-Fella. Rather than return to Timbaland or Swizz Beatz for production, Jay selected beats from a new crop of producers: Kanye West, Bink, The Neptunes and Just Blaze. Each beat-smith would go on to become consistently involved in future Roc-A-Fella projects.


title: Roc-A-Fella Records

text: The new millennium saw Roc-A-Fella begin to expand beyond one figurehead artist. Although Jay-Z remained the label's prominent image—with the acclaimed release of "The Blueprint" and the closing of his trial for the 1999 stabbing of producer Lance Rivera—other Roc artists began to gain popularity and acceptance. In 2000, Beanie Sigel released "The Truth" and reached #5 on the Billboard charts, DJ Clue released "The Professional 2", and Memphis Bleek released "The Understanding". Although Clue and Beans's albums hit the top five on the Billboard charts, Bleek's album was in the top twenty. Nonetheless, all three albums were certified Gold by the RIAA. Amil's album, however, had lackluster sales. Jay-Z and Damon Dash began signing up new talent, including Cam'ron, Freeway, and several young Philadelphia rappers that were later compiled into the Freeway/Sigel-led group, State Property. During this time, Jay-Z and Beanie Sigel were embroiled in a feud with Ruff Ryders artists Jadakiss and DMX. Disses back and forth between Jay-Z and Jadakiss implied a conflict between Jay and former groupmate DMX, led to a full-on war of words between Sigel and Kiss, and eventually culminated in a diss by Beanie Sigel over Jada's hit "Put Your Hands Up," after which the rivalry faded.


title: Roc-A-Fella Records

text: Cam'ron put out his Roc-A-Fella debut "Come Home with Me" in 2002 to Platinum-RIAA certified status, and shortly after signed his group The Diplomats to Roc-A-Fella, as well. From 2002 to 2003, Damon Dash signed several artists in response to Jay-Z's talk of retirement after his 2002 album "". He signed M.O.P. and Ol' Dirty Bastard, gave Grafh a joint-venture deal, and attempted to sign Twista and Joe Budden. Twista never signed to Roc-A-Fella due to his deal with Atlantic Records. Roc-A-Fella experienced its height in product releases and overall popularity as a brand name during this period, seeing the release of State Property's "Chain Gang" albums, Juelz Santana's "From Me to U", Freeway's debut "Philadelphia Freeway", The Diplomats' group debut album "Diplomatic Immunity", Memphis Bleek's "M.A.D.E." and Jay-Z's alleged final album, "The Black Album". Rumors of friction between Carter and Dash became apparent; though denied by both camps at the time, problems involving Damon's media attention and Jay's alleged inaccessibility had been brewing since the music video shoot for "Big Pimpin'".


title: Roc-A-Fella Records

text: After Jay-Z's supposed last hurrah, it was revealed that he had accepted a position as CEO and President of Def Jam Recordings, and The Island Def Jam Music Group purchased the remaining 50 percent stake of Roc-A-Fella Records that IDJ didn't already own. Dash, poised to take greater control in the company, began heavily promoting artists Cam'ron, The Diplomats, State Property, Kanye West, and Twista. In 2004, Kanye West's album, "The College Dropout", became a huge commercial and critical success, selling multi-Platinum-RIAA certified sales, and Foxy Brown was signed and began work on her album, "Black Rose". The infamous 'split' between Dash, Carter, and Burke occurred when it was revealed the trio had sold their 50% interest in Roc-A-Fella to The Island Def Jam Music Group, making the label full owners. As President, Carter retained control of the Roc and his masters, ousting his 2 former partners. He later explained that he had offered to turn down the position and ownership for the masters to "Reasonable Doubt" alone:


title: Roc-A-Fella Records

text: As Dash and Burke set up their own fledgling record label, originally called "Roc4life" and later rechristened to "Dame Dash Music Group", each artist was offered their choice of labels. Memphis Bleek and Kanye West remained on Roc-A-Fella. The Diplomats opted to leave Roc-A-Fella in 2004 and remained on their Diplomat Records label and signed to Koch Records for distribution. Cam'Ron chose not to stay with either Dame Dash Music Group or Roc-A-Fella and instead stayed with Diplomat Records and signed with Asylum Records for distribution for his next few albums. Cam'ron was especially vocal in running a smear campaign against Jay-Z, claiming Jay-Z blocked him from an executive position Dash had offered him at Roc-A-Fella.


title: Roc-A-Fella Records

text: Beanie Sigel, then doing a year's incarceration on an attempted murder charge, put out his album "The B.Coming" on Dame Dash and Roc-A-Fella; this was accompanied by accusations from Dash that of all the members of State Property, only Oschino had gone to visit Sigel in prison. Though Beanie had initially chosen Dame Dash Music Group, the rest of the group refused, preferring to remain on Roc-A-Fella; in response, Beanie Sigel effectively put the group on hold, claiming disappointment in his groupmates. M.O.P. and Grafh also left Roc-A-Fella for Dame Dash Music Group, though both acts parted ways with Dash soon thereafter. Due to the 2004 death of Ol' Dirty Bastard, Dash also brought with him masters of the rapper's project and promises to release the album, "A Son Unique", though this never occurred.


title: Roc-A-Fella Records

text: Memphis Bleek and Kanye West released "534" and "Late Registration", respectively, in 2005, along with the Young Gunz' sophomore effort and Teairra Mari's debut, though only Kanye West's project saw significant sales. It was stated by Memphis Bleek that Cory Gunz had signed, but nothing materialized. By the end of the year, Dash had split his label from Def Jam and Jay-Z's role overseeing his project, after asking for more money and a bigger role in the company. Dame Dash Music Group left Def Jam and was subsequently dissolved.


title: Roc-A-Fella Records

text: In 2006, releases were largely limited to those of Roc-La-Familia, a Latino-geared label under Roc-A-Fella that followed the trend of Reggaeton. Hector "El Father" and N.O.R.E. both put out albums, and the label was home to New York rapper Tru Life, but has since folded. Jay-Z made his return that year with "Kingdom Come", to mixed reviews. He stepped down from his Def Jam position and put out a second album in 2007, "American Gangster", to more positive reviews and sales, along with Kanye West's "Graduation", Beanie Sigel's "The Solution", and Freeway's "Free at Last"; Kanye West's album sold multi-platinum to rave reviews. Freeway's project received acclaim but not major sales, and contained comments aimed at Kanye West and Just Blaze for not supplying production. He later amended his comments, stating he desired to work with Just Blaze but the producer hasn't reached out. This may have been due to Just Blaze's work on "American Gangster" and complications regarding his Atlantic-distributed label, Fort Knocks, and his artist Saigon.


title: Roc-A-Fella Records

text: The signing of Ruff Ryders artist Jadakiss, former rival to both Jay-Z and Beanie Sigel, also came in 2007, as did Uncle Murda. Foxy Brown was dropped from the label after 2 years, in light of a jail sentence. Though Young Chris and Peedi Crakk continued to appear on projects, neither seemed any closer to solo projects, and in 2008 Peedi Crakk announced that State Property had been dropped from the label. This was countered by Beanie Sigel's manager, who confirmed that Beanie Sigel and Freeway were still part of Roc-A-Fella. Young Chris also apparently signed as a solo artist. 2008 saw only the release of Kanye West's "808's & Heartbreak", garnering decent sales. It also brought repeated disses in songs and interviews from Peedi Crakk towards Jay-Z, claiming he held up his project on purpose, though he claims to have moved on. During that year, Jay-Z had inked a $150 million deal with Live Nation that included concerts, endorsements and recordings, and included a platform for him to launch his Roc Nation label. Uncle Murda left the label after a year and a half with no release, citing lack of executive interest after Jay-Z left Def Jam.


title: Roc-A-Fella Records

text: In March 2009, Freeway procured his release from Def Jam, claiming a need to explore his options; shortly, he announced his signing to Ca$h Money, while stating he would always respect Roc-A-Fella. Longtime signee Memphis Bleek also reported his departure from Def Jam, deciding not to travel to Roc Nation in favor of starting his own record label, but he is still very close with Roc-A-Fella. Additionally, Tru Life has been referred to as a "1 time [or past] affiliate" of Roc-A-Fella upon his turning himself in to authorities for his connection to a retaliatory stabbing. On May 21, 2009, Jay-Z had bought back his contract from Def Jam for an unprecedented $5,000,000 and started his deal with Live Nation.


title: Roc-A-Fella Records

text: Jadakiss briefly moved to Roc-A-Fella and released an album "The Last Kiss" before reuniting with Ruff Ryders. On May 3, 2010, Damon Dash relaunched Roc-A-Fella after nearly a year of inactivity with his 1st artist being former Young Money rapper Curren$y. Curren$y's third album, "Pilot Talk", was to be released under the newly relaunched Roc-A-Fella however, Curren$y stated in interviews with both "XXL" and "Complex" that the album would be released under Damon Dash's DD172 record label division, BluRoc Records and distributed through Def Jam. On August 8, 2011, Jay-Z and Kanye West, released a collaborative album titled "Watch the Throne", it was later revealed that Jay-Z was part of a short relaunched Roc-A-Fella, as the album was released on Roc-A-Fella, Roc Nation and Def Jam.


title: Roc-A-Fella Records

text: In September 2012 Tuff City, a record company; filed a lawsuit on the grounds of copyright infringement by Roc-A-Fella, seeking undisclosed damages. The complaint filed in federal court in Manhattan claims Roc-A-Fella and their parent Island Def Jam paid them a $62,500 license fee to sample Eddie Bo's "Hook and Sling, Part 1" in Kanye West's "Who Will Survive in America"?"" and "Lost in the World". Despite this, Tuff City says UMG and Roc-A-Fella "failed and refused to enter into written license agreements that accounted for their multiple other uses of ['Hook and Sling']". The unmentioned uses TufAmerica refers to are the "Lost in the World" video and the short film based on Kanye's "Runaway". Tuff City is represented by New York attorney Kelly Talcott. On June 16, 2013, Jay-Z announced with a tweet : "VII IV XIII Roc A Fella/Roc Nation", hinting a possible relaunch and revival of Roc-A-Fella and a possible merger with Roc Nation. However, it meant that Roc-A-Fella was only relaunched for the purpose of releasing his new album, "Magna Carta Holy Grail".


title: Roc-A-Fella Records

text: In June 2021, Roc-A-Fella sued its co-founder Damon Dash for attempting to auction off a non-fungible token representing the Jay-Z album Reasonable Doubt, due to Roc-A-Fella owning the rights to the album. In response, Dash claimed that he was not trying to sell the album, but his own share of the record label. On June 22, a restraining order prohibiting Dash from further selling the album was placed.


title: Roc-A-Fella Records

text: In 2002, Roc-A-Fella released through Lions Gate Entertainment, "State Property". The movie, while not the first for Dash, would be the start of ROC Films/Roc-A-Fella Films. The film studio would go on to release "Paid in Full" the same year and follow up in 2003 with "Paper Soldiers" and the hip-hop satire "Death of a Dynasty". In 2005, the sequel to the studios debut release would hit theatres "State Property 2", featuring rap stars such as Beanie Sigel and Damon Dash, who also produced and co-created the story. Cameo roles included musicians Kanye West, N.O.R.E, and Mariah Carey, and light heavyweight champion boxers Bernard Hopkins and Winky Wright. The list of films include:


title: Roc-A-Fella Records

text: Roc-La-Familia was founded in 2005 by (then) Roc-A-Fella & Def Jam President/CEO Shawn Carter. This sub-label was created to focus on signing international recording artists.