Virginia School System Isn't Cancelling Dr. Seuss For Reading Across American Day; Just Not Emphasizing His Books

A school district in Virginia isn’t banning Dr. Seuss books for Reading Across America day, as previously reported. They’re just not emphasizing them after research into to the author’s past political cartoons.

“Research in recent years has revealed strong racial undertones in many books written/illustrated by Dr. Seuss,” Loudoun County Public Schools said in its statement, via CNN.

The school district revealed examples of racial undertones in his books, which include “anti-Japanese American political cartoons and cartoons depicting African Americans for sale captioned with offensive language.”

“Given this research, and LCPS’ focus on equity and culturally responsive instruction, LCPS provided this guidance to schools during the past couple of years to not connect Read Across America Day exclusively with Dr. Seuss’ birthday,” the statement concluded.

Reading Across America was established in 1998 and emphasized the importance of imagination and reading among young people. The day has long been tied to Dr. Seuss’s birthday on March 2.

Dr. Seuss, whose real name is Theodore Geisel, has a long history of publishing racist and anti-Semitic work before his children’s books became popular.

“The Cat’s Quizzer: Are YOU Smarter Than the Cat in the Hat?” and “If I Ran the Zoo” are two of his books that feature racism and have been part of studies in education.

The Virginia school system added to their statement that while Dr. Seuss’s books are still available in their libraries, his “books are no longer the emphasis of Read Across America Day in Loudoun County Public Schools.”

“We continue to encourage our young readers to read all types of books that are inclusive, diverse and reflective of our student community, not simply celebrate Dr. Seuss,” they added.

Reading Across America 2021 takes place tomorrow, Tuesday, March 2.

Click inside to see how fans are reacting to the Dr. Seuss news…More Here! »

Lamar Odom is slamming his ex-fiancée Sabrina Parr in a new interview.

The 41-year-old former basketball star opened up about his relationship with Sabrina, whom he was engaged to for a year, in a virtual interview on The Real on Monday (March 1).

Lamar says that Sabrina was “very deceitful” and alleged that she was “lying” to him while they were together.

“I used to really like, take her word for everything,” he added, “and she was like, really lying to me the whole time. But I guess she got what she wanted.”

Lamar also said that Sabrina and her “deceitful manager” were also working on a reality show about them behind his back.

“Her and her deceitful manager like, they supposed to drop this reality show, they didn’t even tell me that they were putting it out,” he said. “Who moves like that?”

He does admit that he “knew what I signed up for” but “I would think that when you were putting it out to the world, you would let me know.”

Lamar and Sabrina ended their relationship in November of 2020, but just a month later, they appeared to be back together.

Days after that though, Lamar made another claim against Sabrina. Here’s what it was…

Will Smith is opening up about his political ambitions and revealed if he’d be open to run for office one day.

In an interview on Crooked Media’s “Pod Save America” podcast, the 52-year-old actor spoke with Jon Favreau about his past comments about politics.

“You’ve talked, sometimes joked, about getting into politics,” Jon said. “What has made you think about entering politics and running, and what so far has prevented you from taking the leap?”

“I think for now I’ll let that office get cleaned up a little bit and then I’ll consider that at some point down the line,” he replied. “I don’t know, it’s like, I absolutely have an opinion, I’m optimistic, I’m hopeful, I believe in understanding between people and I believe in the possibility of harmony.”

Will added, “So, I will certainly do my part, whether it remains artistic or, or, at some point ventures into the political arena.”

Elsewhere in the interview, Will reflected on his experiences with racism, prejudice and discrimination.

This other celebrity has revealed his own political ambitions, too.

Demi Lovato didn’t mean to lose a lot of weight, but it accidentally happened while she was going through her journey of self-love.

The 28-year-old singer headed to Instagram to share her story with fans, and wrote about what happened.

“Accidentally lost weight,” she wrote. “I don’t count calories anymore. I don’t exercise anymore. I don’t restrict or purge. And I especially…don’t live my life accordingly to the diet culture.”

Demi added, “I’ve actually lost weight. This is a different experience but I feel full. Not of food but of divine wisdom and cosmic guidance.”

Shortly after her initial post, Demi posted another message, writing, “thank you body for your patience and faith in me [pink heart emoji].”

Demi is gearing up to star in a sitcom titled Hungry.

Gigi Hadid flashes a peace sign to photographers while out and about in Milan, Italy, ahead of fashion week kicking off on Sunday (February 28).

The 25-year-old new mom was joined by her younger sister, Bella Hadid, and their model friend Irina Shayk, as they left a business meeting and headed out for a bite to eat together with their bodyguards.

This marks the first time that Gigi has been away from her infant daughter, Khai Malik, who she shares with partner, Zayn Malik.

However, Gigi is keeping Khai close to her by wearing Khai‘s name on her necklace.

Milan Fashion Week officially kicked off last week, and Gigi, Bella and Irina are participating in Versace‘s event held later this week.

If you didn’t see, Gigi called out this false sighting on the famous DeuxMoi account.

45+ pictures inside of Gigi Hadid, Irina Shayk and Bella Hadid in Milan…

Quavo is set to make his feature film debut in Wash Me In The River alongside Robert De Niro, and in a new interview, had nothing but great things to say about the actor.

Speaking with Billboard, the Migos rapper shared that their first meeting was very chill.

“I said what’s up to him. I told him I said a line in one of my new songs about the trip I just took, and he was just like, ‘For real. M-I-G-O-S, right?’,” Quavo says.

He continued, “I was like, ‘Yeah, he’s finna go home and look me up.’ It was too hard. I couldn’t wait to tell my Mom dukes that I’m gonna be on the screen and kicked it with him. He’s a nice dude.”

Quavo also opened up about his character, who he says is a “ruthless gangster, ruthless killer named Coyote.”

“It’s just an honor to be on the screen with Robert De Niro, Jack Huston and John Malkovich,” he adds. “I’m just blessed and I can’t wait for y’all to see it. It’s a very action-packed movie. I had fun doing it. I stayed in Puerto Rico shooting for a whole month grinding. There was some long film days. Them film days are different. It’s like you’re shooting a video all day.”

This other musician will also be in the movie!

Britney Spears has shared a very rare photo on her Instagram with her sons, Sean and Jayden Federline.

The 39-year-old singer posted the new photo of her teenage sons along with a touching message of their bond.

“It’s so crazy how time flies …. My boys are so big now 👩‍👦‍👦 !!!!” she wrote. “I know … I know … it’s very hard for any mama especially a mama with boys seeing them grow up so fast !!!! Talk about enough to make you go to your knees … GEEZ !!!!”

Britney continued, “I’m extremely lucky because my two babies are such gentleman and so kind that I must have done something right 🙊 !!!!”

“I haven’t posted pictures of them for some time cause they’re at the age where they want to express their own identities and I totally get it …. But I went out of my way to make this cool edit 🌅 and guess what …. They’re finally letting me post it !!!” she shared. “Now I don’t feel left out anymore 😂😂😂 and I’m gonna go celebrate …. Oh shit I guess cool moms don’t do that … Ok I’ll just read a book instead 🤷🏼‍♀️📚🤣 !!!!”

Sean, 15, and Jayden, 14, live with their father, Kevin Federline, full time.

Just last year, Jayden made a rare statement about his mom and her future in music.

Recently, Kevin made a statement about the Framing Britney Spears documentary. Here’s what he said…