Def Jam executive VP Shakir Stewart reportedly committed suicide today (Nov. 1) in Atlanta, according to sources. No other details were available at deadline.

“L.A. Reid and all of us at Island Def Jam Music Group are deeply saddened by the passing of our dear friend and colleague Shakir Stewart,” read a statement sent from the label today. “Shakir was an amazing man in every sense of the word. A truly incredible friend and father who was an inspiration to not only our artists and employees, but to his family and the many people that had the privilege of counting him as a friend. Our hearts and prayers go out to his family at this very difficult time.”

Stewart succeeded Jay-Z at the top of the Def Jam ladder in June and also retained his duties as senior VP of A&R at Island Def Jam. The Oakland, Calif., native signed such artists as Rick Ross, Young Jeezy and newcomer Karina Pasian.

Stewart cut his teeth as a music executive at Hitco Music Publishing, where he was creative director and later senior VP of creative/GM and signed Beyonce Knowles.

Even before he gained a rep for promoting rap concerts during his Morehouse College days, Stewart was “the guy who was the head of passing out fliers at seven clubs a night, seven days a week in 20-degree weather,” he told Billboard this summer.

Stewart said at the time it was his goal to help develop “new, young executives … The hot executive who’s 21, 22 years old and has a serious passion for music and the desire to work 27 hours a day. That’s where I was at that time in my life. And that’s who I’m looking to mentor. I don’t see many people like that. Instead, I see a lot of kids who want to live the lifestyle but don’t want to put in the work and do what it takes.”

Billboard

We just lost one of the best African American comedians of this generation. Thanks for the laughs~R.I.P.

The Academy Award winning actor/director passed away this past weekend losing his battle with cancer.

Wasn’t New Line enough? Picturehouse and Warner Independent Pictures have joined New Line in Film Studio Heaven.   On Thursday both got dissolved as Time Warner  cites  “cost savings and elimination of redundancies” as the reason. You can read the whole article here.

Heath,

Thanks for the great films you have made in your short time here with us. You were taken away too soon.You will be missed.

Probably one of the hardest things to post about on a film blog. The happiness that the morning brought with the announcement of the Oscar nominations turned to sadness with this tragic news. Last night everyone either turned on the T.V. or logged on-line when news spread that actor Heath Ledger had died at his NYC apartment. Never in a million years would I have ever thought that I would turn on the T.V. and see this. I have been lost for words since last night. His death goes to show you that petty things don’t matter as we don’t know how long we have on this planet. Despite the constant rumors circulating, I do not believe he would intentionally end his life leaving behind his precious daughter. I do hope that the media and tabloids tone it down in respect to him because Heath always kept to himself and did not seek that type of fame. My prayers goes out to his family and little baby.

I will not be posting again, unless something else major happens until Friday, out of respect to Heath.