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The NBA late Monday canceled the Atlanta Hawks' planned "Magic City Night" promotion after backlash, commissioner Adam Silver said.

Driving the news: The league pulled the plug just days after the team announced the idea and it quickly went viral online.

Catch up quick: The Atlanta Hawks announced the promotion on Feb. 26, tying a March 16 game to Atlanta's famous strip club Magic City. 

San Antonio Spurs center Luke Kornet publicly called on the team to cancel the event, arguing the NBA should avoid promoting a strip club.

The idea sparked heated debate online, with some fans calling it a celebration of Atlanta culture while others criticized the concept.

What they're saying: Silver said the league heard "significant concerns from a broad array of league stakeholders, including fans, partners and employees."

"I believe canceling this promotion is the right decision for the broader NBA community," Silver said.

The Hawks issued a statement saying they were "very disappointed" by the NBA's decision but would respect it.

"As a franchise, we remain committed to celebrating the best of Atlanta — with authenticity — in ways that continue to unite and bring us all together," the team said in a statement.

NBA cancels Hawks' Magic City Night after backlash

The NBA canceled the Atlanta Hawks' planned "Magic City Night" promotion days after the idea went viral and sparked backlash online.

NBA Commissioner Adam Silver announced the league would cancel the Hawks’ Magic City Night promotion. (Ryan Sirius Sun/Getty Images)

NBA Commissioner Adam Silver announced the league would cancel the Hawks' Magic City Night promotion. Photo: Ryan Sirius Sun/Getty Images

The NBA late Monday canceled the Atlanta Hawks&#x27; planned &quot;<a class="gtmContentClick" data-vars-link-text="Magic City" data-vars-click-url="https://www.axios.com/local/atlanta/2025/08/15/magic-city-documentary-debuts-today-on-starz" data-vars-content-id="1fd2b3af-e5ac-42f3-b04a-3764ba2cb1b3" data-vars-headline="NBA cancels Hawks&#x27; Magic City Night after backlash" data-vars-event-category="story" data-vars-sub-category="story" data-vars-item="in_content_link" href="https://www.axios.com/local/atlanta/2025/08/15/magic-city-documentary-debuts-today-on-starz" target="_self">Magic City</a> Night&quot; promotion after backlash, commissioner Adam Silver said.Driving the news: The league pulled the plug just days after the team announced the idea and it quickly went viral online.

Sports

Last week at Oreatha's At The Point, a man wanted to argue about who the real King of the South is — and T.I. wasn't on his list.

The big picture: It's not a matter of whether he's a king in rap. At 45, T.I. is showing what it actually means to carry that crown.

Defending his family's honor and being loved and defended by his family — all while carrying himself with dignity and pride.

Earlier this week on Ebro, Laura and Rosenberg's show, T.I. described his final album, Kill the King, as a metaphor for killing the ego.

Context: He said the idea originated from a conversation with Southern rap elders like Bun B, Big Boi, and Scarface when he first claimed the "King of the South" crown in the early 2000s, as Atlanta rap rose to industry prominence.

Big Boi, T.I. recalled, gave him a warning that stuck:

"Chess is like life. And the name of the game in chess is to kill the king."

The album will feature artists like Usher and Young Dro. He also mentioned recording new music with Anderson .Paak on a track produced by Dr. Dre. 

Zoom out: Tip sounded less like a rapper chasing a moment and more like a man whose life has outgrown the persona that first made him famous.

"You got grandkids?" they asked. "Four," he said. Seven kids, ages 9 to 29.

Rap may be where most of us met him, but the years since have revealed something bigger — a creative mind moving through film, business and stand-up comedy.

Zoom in: That perspective showed up even in the latest rap beef.

After unleashing multiple diss tracks in response to 50 Cent's memes, Tip framed it less as spectacle and more as a defense of his name, his family, and the city he represents.

It read as more personal than performative. He didn't present himself as perfect. He did the opposite.

At one point, he recited his federal inmate number and dared critics to pull the public record. Later, he spoke more plainly about prison as a hard teacher that forced him to outgrow the version of himself that stayed on edge.

"I'm still a man," he said. "God is perfect. I am not."

Between the lines: Tip has been making the podcast rounds lately, from the Ebro show to appearances across hip-hop media, including the Million Dollars Worth of Game crew and the Nightcap with Shannon Sharpe and Chad Ochocinco.

He's reflecting on fatherhood, legacy and the cost of carrying a crown for two decades — just as he gears up to release Kill the King. No release date has been announced.

The bottom line: For my new friend at Oretha's — to be king, you have to defend the throne.

Nightcap with Shannon Sharpe and Chad Ochocinco

T.I. sounds ready to move beyond the "King of the South" debate

Atlanta rapper T.I. reflects on legacy, family and his final album Kill the King as he moves beyond the decades-long "King of the South" debate.

T.I. attends the 57th NAACP Image Awards official BET dinner at Grand Venue on Feb. 27, 2026, in Los Angeles. (Photo by Paras Griffin/Getty Images for BET)

👋🏽 Delano here.Last week at Oreatha&#x27;s At The Point, a man wanted to argue about who the real <a class="gtmContentClick" data-vars-link-text="King of the South" data-vars-click-url="https://www.axios.com/local/atlanta/2023/11/03/the-south-got-something-to-say-film-review" data-vars-content-id="35a78f62-b327-4da6-bace-51de807e8a48" data-vars-headline="T.I. sounds ready to move beyond the &quot;King of the South&quot; debate" data-vars-event-category="story" data-vars-sub-category="story" data-vars-item="in_content_link" href="https://www.axios.com/local/atlanta/2023/11/03/the-south-got-something-to-say-film-review" target="_self">King of the South</a> is — and T.I. wasn&#x27;t on his list.The big picture: It&#x27;s not a matter of whether he&#x27;s a <a class="gtmContentClick" data-vars-link-text="king in rap" data-vars-click-url="https://www.axios.com/2023/08/11/hip-hop-50th-anniversay-dj-kool-business-popular-streaming" data-vars-content-id="35a78f62-b327-4da6-bace-51de807e8a48" data-vars-headline="T.I. sounds ready to move beyond the &quot;King of the South&quot; debate" data-vars-event-category="story" data-vars-sub-category="story" data-vars-item="in_content_link" href="https://www.axios.com/2023/08/11/hip-hop-50th-anniversay-dj-kool-business-popular-streaming" target="_self">king in rap</a>. At 45, T.I. is showing what it actually means to carry that crown.

Culture

The Black Effect Podcast Festival is coming back to Atlanta for its fourth year.

Why it matters: Atlanta is cementing its role as a national hub for Black media and culture and this festival puts the city at the center of the podcast boom.

Context: Podcasts are rapidly overtaking traditional radio in listening time, creating new opportunities for creators — and Atlanta is increasingly positioning itself as a hub for Black voices building audiences outside traditional media gatekeepers.

Podcasts accounted for 40% of spoken-word listening time in the U.S. last year, edging past AM/FM talk radio for the first time, according to Edison Research.

The event, founded in 2020 by Charlamagne Tha God and produced with iHeartMedia, will take place April 25 from noon to 8 p.m. at Pullman Yards.

Charlamagne and DJ Envy of "The Breakfast Club" will host alongside Loren LoRosa of "The Latest with Loren LoRosa" podcast. 

The day includes live podcast tapings, panels and networking for aspiring creators.

Tank, Jacquees, Tyler Watts and J. Valentine perform at the 2025 Black Effect Podcast Festival at Pullman Yards in Atlanta. Photo: Prince Williams/Getty Images

Between the lines: The festival doubles as a recruiting and visibility engine for the Black Effect Podcast Network, which Charlamagne has said he wants to grow into a long-term home for Black-owned shows.

What they're saying: "Each year we return to Atlanta with purpose and intention to amplify storytelling, champion community, and celebrate excellence in podcasting," said Charlamagne Tha God.

What to expect: Discussions will cover topics like AI, media development and the Gen-Z movement. Guests include "Reality With The King" host Carlos King and finance expert Ian Dunlap.

The festival also features a "Pitch Your Podcast" booth and a marketplace spotlighting Black-owned businesses.

If you go: Tickets go on sale March 12 at noon at blackeffect.com/podcastfestival.  

Black Effect Podcast Festival returns to Atlanta with Charlamagne Tha God

The Black Effect Podcast Festival returns to Atlanta on April 25 at Pullman Yards, hosted by Charlamagne Tha God and DJ Envy.

Charlamagne Tha God onstage at the 2025 Black Effect Podcast Festival at Pullman Yards in Atlanta. Photo: Prince Williams/Getty Images

The <a class="gtmContentClick" data-vars-link-text="Black Effect Podcast Festival" data-vars-click-url="https://blackeffect.com/podcastfestival/" data-vars-content-id="67b04ceb-5213-470b-83d0-dc19c1b0f161" data-vars-headline="Black Effect Podcast Festival returns to Atlanta with Charlamagne Tha God" data-vars-event-category="story" data-vars-sub-category="story" data-vars-item="in_content_link" href="https://blackeffect.com/podcastfestival/" target="_blank">Black Effect Podcast Festival</a> is coming back to Atlanta for its fourth year.Why it matters: Atlanta is cementing its role as a national hub for Black media and culture and this festival puts the city at the center of the podcast boom.

Things to Do

Atlanta leaders paused Tuesday to remember the Rev. Jesse Jackson, the civil rights icon whose decades of activism left a lasting imprint on the city.

The big picture: In a city that helped anchor the civil rights movement, Jackson's death felt personal — and leaders here were quick to connect his national legacy to Atlanta's own history of organizing and political power.

Catch up quick: News of Jackson's death at 84 reached Atlanta early Tuesday. Within hours, the city's political and clergy leadership were publicly honoring his influence.

Hours after the news broke, Mayor Andre Dickens opened a civil rights forum at The Gathering Spot with a moment of silence for the man he called "a real freedom fighter."

"We started off this morning with the sad news of the passing of the one and only Reverend Jesse Jackson — a real freedom fighter, someone who stood up for justice, freedom, liberation and opportunity for everyone," Dickens said.

Yes, and: Among those reflecting was Ambassador Andrew Young, the former Atlanta mayor and civil rights leader who worked alongside the Rev. Martin Luther King Jr. and later served as U.S. ambassador to the United Nations.

"Freedom is not free. It's something you have to organize to protect," he said.

Ambassador Andrew Young speaks during “When HIStory Was Watching” at The Gathering Spot in Atlanta on Feb. 17, as a 1968 photograph by civil rights photographer Ernest C. Withers is projected behind him. 

Behind him, a black-and-white image from 1968 showed armed military forces facing protesters — a reminder of the tensions that defined the civil rights era. Young gestured toward the screen and noted that without context the scene could feel contemporary.

"You don't know when that was or where it was," he said. "It could be Chicago. It could be Minneapolis. It could be Atlanta." 

After noting how easily the 1968 images could be mistaken for scenes from today, Young urged the audience not to treat the moment as a history lesson.

"We're not studying the past. We're creating the future." 

Zoom out: Jackson was a regular presence in Atlanta, meeting with leaders such as Young and Maynard Jackson and addressing national gatherings of Black elected officials.

Zoom in: Jackson's decades of organizing — from Operation PUSH to his historic presidential bids — resonated in Atlanta, a city that became both a cradle of the civil rights movement and a launching pad for Black political power. 

During his campaigns, Atlanta served as both a political hub and a symbolic ground zero for his calls for expanded representation and economic justice.

Jackson's imprint extended beyond City Hall and movement veterans to a younger generation of clergy.

"Rev. Jackson was my superhero," Georgia megachurch pastor Jamal Bryant said in a statement. "While other boys my age wanted to be Michael Jordan, I wanted to be Jesse Jackson."

Atlanta leaders honor Rev. Jesse Jackson as a "real freedom fighter"

Atlanta leaders including Mayor Andre Dickens and Ambassador Andrew Young honored Rev. Jesse Jackson with a moment of silence and reflections on his deep ties to the city and the civil rights movement.

The Rev. Jesse Jackson (right), then a Democratic presidential candidate, meets with then-Atlanta Mayor Andrew Young during the 1984 campaign — a moment linking two giants of the civil rights generation. (Photo by Jacques M. Chenet/CORBIS via Getty Images)

The Rev. Jesse Jackson (right), a Democratic presidential candidate, meets with Atlanta Mayor Andrew Young during the 1984 campaign — a moment linking two giants of the civil rights generation. (Photo by Jacques M. Chenet/CORBIS via Getty Images)

Atlanta leaders paused Tuesday to remember the Rev. Jesse Jackson, the civil rights icon whose decades of activism left a lasting imprint on the city.The big picture: In a city that helped anchor the civil rights movement, Jackson&#x27;s death felt personal — and leaders here were quick to connect his national legacy to Atlanta&#x27;s own history of organizing and political power.

News

Ted Turner, the CNN founder and philanthropist who turned Atlanta into a media powerhouse and whose swagger earned him the nickname "the Mouth of the South," has died at the age of 87.

Driving the news: Turner Enterprises, which manages the cable-TV pioneer's businesses and holdings, said Turner on surrounded by family. A cause of death was not released, but Turner had been battling Lewy body dementia since 2018.

CNN reported last year that Turner had been hospitalized due to pneumonia, but he was later moved to a rehabilitation facility where he recovered.

Catch up quick: Robert Edward "Ted" Turner's path to media moguldom began in his mid-20s when he turned around the family's struggling billboard business after his father died by suicide.

Turner had a talent for spotting undervalued and underappreciated assets early.

In 1970, he purchased a cheap UHF station, which became TBS, the launchpad for his media empire, CNN reports.

The "superstation's" satellite broadcast reached viewers across the country, giving Turner and his companies a vast audience.

In 1980, he launched CNN as the first 24-hour national cable news network. That channel went on to redefine how people consume news and information and provided real-time reporting for major global conflicts, Axios' Sara Fischer reports.

Zoom in: Turner himself invested heavily in Atlanta and eventually went on to buy the Braves and the Hawks.

His Downtown condo was above the Luckie Street location of Ted's Montana Grill, his restaurant chain, and he could walk to Hawks games.

Zoom out: Turner built his empire in Atlanta as civil rights leaders like Xernona Clayton shaped the city's power structure — together helping define modern Atlanta.

Turner named Hank Aaron to a front-office role with the Braves, one of the earliest such moves for a Black executive in Major League Baseball.

Fun facts: Turner owned more than 2 million acres of land in Kansas, Montana, Nebraska, New Mexico and South Dakota, making him one of the largest landowners in the U.S., according to his foundation.

In the late 1980s, he purchased Jim Crockett Promotions, which became the foundation of World Championship Wrestling under Turner Broadcasting. 

The professional wrestling company turned metro Atlanta into a home for many pro wrestling legends.

What's next: The family has planned a private service, a Turner Enterprises spokesperson said. A public memorial will follow at a later date.

Ted Turner, CNN founder who reshaped Atlanta, dies

From 24-hour cable news to the Braves, Turner's empire reshaped Atlanta's economy, culture and identity.

A man in a suit stands at a lectern on a podium in front of a columned building as a person wearing a white suit and a person in a military uniform sit in folding chairs behind him. A sign on the lectern says CNN.

Ted Turner speaks at the launch of CNN at his Techwood headquarters on June 1, 1980. Photo: Rick Diamond/Getty Images

Ted Turner, the CNN founder and philanthropist who turned Atlanta into a media powerhouse and whose swagger earned him the nickname &quot;the Mouth of the South,&quot; <a class="gtmContentClick" data-vars-link-text="has died" data-vars-click-url="https://www.axios.com/2026/05/06/cnn-founder-cable-pioneer-ted-turner" data-vars-content-id="fd058e52-e584-4c41-88b4-7ec92b16990e" data-vars-headline="Ted Turner, CNN founder who reshaped Atlanta, dies" data-vars-event-category="story" data-vars-sub-category="story" data-vars-item="in_content_link" href="https://www.axios.com/2026/05/06/cnn-founder-cable-pioneer-ted-turner" target="_self">has died</a> at the age of 87.Driving the news: Turner Enterprises, which manages the cable-TV pioneer&#x27;s businesses and holdings, <a class="gtmContentClick" data-vars-link-text="said" data-vars-click-url="https://www.tedturner.com/2026/05/philanthropist-environmentalist-and-cable-pioneer-ted-turner-passes-at-87/" data-vars-content-id="fd058e52-e584-4c41-88b4-7ec92b16990e" data-vars-headline="Ted Turner, CNN founder who reshaped Atlanta, dies" data-vars-event-category="story" data-vars-sub-category="story" data-vars-item="in_content_link" href="https://www.tedturner.com/2026/05/philanthropist-environmentalist-and-cable-pioneer-ted-turner-passes-at-87/" target="_blank">said</a> Turner on surrounded by family. A cause of death was not released, but Turner had been battling Lewy body dementia <a class="gtmContentClick" data-vars-link-text="since 2018" data-vars-click-url="https://www.cbsnews.com/news/ted-turner-reveals-hes-battling-lewy-body-dementia-in-exclusive-interview/" data-vars-content-id="fd058e52-e584-4c41-88b4-7ec92b16990e" data-vars-headline="Ted Turner, CNN founder who reshaped Atlanta, dies" data-vars-event-category="story" data-vars-sub-category="story" data-vars-item="in_content_link" href="https://www.cbsnews.com/news/ted-turner-reveals-hes-battling-lewy-body-dementia-in-exclusive-interview/" target="_blank">since 2018</a>.<ul><li>CNN <a class="gtmContentClick" data-vars-link-text="reported" data-vars-click-url="https://www.cnn.com/2025/01/06/us/ted-turner-cnn-founder-pneumonia/index.html" data-vars-content-id="fd058e52-e584-4c41-88b4-7ec92b16990e" data-vars-headline="Ted Turner, CNN founder who reshaped Atlanta, dies" data-vars-event-category="story" data-vars-sub-category="story" data-vars-item="in_content_link" href="https://www.cnn.com/2025/01/06/us/ted-turner-cnn-founder-pneumonia/index.html" target="_blank">reported</a> last year that Turner had been hospitalized due to pneumonia, but he was later moved to a rehabilitation facility where he recovered.</li></ul>

Delano Massey

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