OBAMA TAKES DAUGHTERS FOR ICE CREAM: President, Malia and Sasha motorcade to Alexandria's Dairy Godmother.
*President Obama and his daughters, Malia and Sasha, went on an ice cream run Saturday to The Dairy Godmother, a shop in Alexandria, VA that donates a dime from every "puppy pop" they sell to an animal charity.
Word of the outing was first delivered by the weekend White House pool reporter, then confirmed minutes with a Tweet from the shop itself.
"President Obama and his daughters just left," read the 4:19 p.m.
June 20 posting on The Dairy Godmother's Twitter page (twitter.com/dairygodmother). "Pres. had a hot fudge sundae and daughters had vanilla cone and brownie sundae with sprinkles."
Here's how the tweets came in from CBS' White House correspondent Mark Knoller. (Apparently, some of his Twitter followers, as well as followers of ABC's White House correspondent Jake Tapper when he broke the ice cream news to his tweeps, were upset that the President took his girls
to get ice cream while violence is erupting in Iran.)
• Obama and the girls are back at the WH after their quick outing for frozen custard.
• The Obama outing last 54 minutes. The Secret Service used the SUV instead of the limo for the pres and daughters.
• Surprised by the outrage at the ice cream outing. What is it you expect or want the US to do about Iran? Attack? War?
• You're gonna laff: Obama & the girls actually bought Frozen Puppy pops for
B flavors: pumpkin, peanut butter and yogurt… • Obama had vanilla frozen custard in a cup with hot fudge and toasted almonds. The girls went more elaborate. (more) • Sasha had a Brownie sundae: vanilla frozen yogurt, hot fudge, cherry, sprinkles and whipped cream (which she asked Dad to scrape off) • Malia had vanilla frozen custard in a waffle cone • Reports on the Obama's treats from Liz Davis, owner of The Dairy Godmother in Alexandria, Va, in business for 8 yrs.
BEYONCE THREATENED WITH LAWSUIT: NY club upset over cancelled appearance; singer releases statement blaming owner.
*Beyonce has been threatened with a $1 million lawsuit after pulling out of a scheduled appearance on Saturday at New York nightclub M2.
According to the New York Post's Page Six, owner Joey Morrissey agreed to pay her $200,000 for the Saturday gig. But the singer suddenly axed the appearance on Wednesday, with her reps claiming she was too busy preparing for her North American tour.
Her camp instead offered an hour-long personal appearance from the star at the club, but Morrissey claims he had already spent $100,000 preparing for the singer's show.
He tells Page Six, "They said they were too busy with the launching of the tour and that they wouldn't have time to do the kickoff party. We sold tables for thousands of dollars for the show, and spent $100,000 renting a soundboard and other equipment, as per their stipulations. What good does her showing up for an hour do me? They've been totally unwilling to agree to another show."
Morrissey is now threatening to file suit against Beyonce over the cancellation, claiming the club has suffered a "loss of reputation" in addition to his loss of cash.
In response, Beyonce's camp released the following statement saying they never signed a contract and she was only due to co-host the evening anyway.
The cancellation of the launch party for Beyonce's "I AM..." tour, first scheduled for this Saturday at M2, was a result of a breach of contract by the promoter. Beyonce never had a contract with the club itself and no one in her camp dealt directly with the venue. The superstar was never scheduled to perform but was to serve as a co-host and introduce singer/songwriter Solange's performance. Patrons were falsely promised a performance by Beyonce.
• Two concertgoers, in arenas on each stop of Beyonce's US leg of the "I AM..." World Tour, will receive a special gift. She features the same Dereon handbag and sunglasses as part of her wardrobe during the concert and will give them away to two lucky fans at each tour stop who participate in the "Text to Win a Dereon Handbag and Sunglasses" contest. Fulfillment of the prize to the winners will take place after each show of the "I AM..." summer tour.
AUNT VIV HATES HER SOME 'FRESH PRINCE': Janet Hubert's forthcoming tell-all describes Will Smith as a jealous diva.
*Star magazine is reporting that Will Smith is being put on full blast in a new book by the original actress who played his mother in "The Fresh Prince of Bel-Air."
Janet Hubert, who starred as Aunt Vivian on the NBC sitcom until she was fired in 1993 and replaced by Daphne Maxwell Reid, alleges in her upcoming tell-all that the "I Am Legend" lead sabotaged any actor on the series who received more attention than him.
"Smith had people around him who made sure no one outshone him,"
Hubert wrote in "Perfection Is Not a Sitcom Mom," due in early 2010. "I was happy to see Don Cheadle become the quality actor that he is, and often wondered how he made it past one episode, as Hilary's boyfriend, being such a fierce actor. No one could be on 'The Tonight Show,' that first season, except Will. And I mean no one."
Hubert's book also attempts to set the record straight about being fired from the show.
"I chronicle the sudden change of [Vivian's] character like a 'CSI'
episode, detailing the plot, the murder, the funeral and the trial, with actual deposition material taken by a team of nine attorneys," the actress explains on her official Web site.
The 53-year-old also describes in vivid detail the fateful phone conversation during which she learned her part was being recast.
"The windows were open, so my neighbors probably heard me scream,"
she writes. "Time of death: approximately 3 p.m. The real Vivian Banks was murdered."
According to Star magazine, Will previously addressed this controversy in 1993 during an interview with The Atlanta Journal. "I can say straight up that Janet wanted the show to be 'The Aunt Viv of Bel-Air'
show," he said. "She's mad now, but she's been mad all along. She said once, 'I've been in the business for 10 years and this snotty-nosed punk comes along and gets a show.' No matter what, to her I'm just the Antichrist."
TAMEKA FOSTER MAKES A 'TWAUX' PAS: Usher's estranged wife accidentally sends private Twitter message meant for Star Jones to all of her followers.
*AOL's Jawn Murray wrote about Usher's soon-to-be ex-wife Tameka Foster Raymond committing a Twitter faux pas that accidentally exposed how she really feels about her divorce lawyer Randall M. Kessler.
"On Wednesday, Foster performed a notorious twitter snafu when she inadvertently posted a message to Star Jones on her public page instead of sending it as a private direct message," Murray wrote in BV Voices.
"@starjonesesq my lawyer= horrible. Need the name/number of a good one in Atlanta," Foster submitted to the former co-host of 'The View'
publicly on Twitter.
Recognizing her mistake -- the 38-year-old, mother of five immediately posted another tweet asking: "Please delete this...it was a DM mistake. Not for ppl to see. I'm sorry."
Kessler is the lawyer who told The Associated Press last week that Tameka was a "faithful wife and loving mother," but declined to comment about Usher's conduct during the marriage.
He also told People.com that he and his client will respond to the divorce filing in a "timely manner," adding, "We were hoping this case would be resolved privately, but since Usher filed it publicly we will have to respond."
Kessler added to E!, "She's trying her best to take the high road and not attack him."
PRESIDENT BACK DOING STAND UP: Obama gets his clown on at Radio and Television Correspondents' Dinner.
*President Obama had jokes Friday night at the Radio and Television Correspondents' Association's 65th annual dinner, held at the Washington Convention center in Washington D.C.
The black-tie affair saw No. 44 deliver his second standup comedy routine in just over a month.
"I wanna express my appreciation for the opportunity to tell jokes that weren't funny enough for me to use when we did this five weeks ago," he said, referring to his set at the White House Correspondents Dinner (WHCD) held on May 9.
The "I’m a PC" guy from Apple's Mac commercials, John Hodgman, was the night's featured performer, and Grammy Award-winning female a cappella group Sweet Honey in the Rock was also part of the lineup, but it was Obama's standup bit that has generated the most headlines from the dinner, which he noted was still much better than the more celeb-packed WHCD in early spring.
"Why hang out with celebrities when I can spend time with people who make me one?" Obama joked.
He called NBC's two-part "Inside the Obama White House"
(http://www.examiner.com/x-8357-DC-TV-Examiner~y2009m5d28-NBCs-White-House-t
akeover-begins) special his favorite new show ("There's just something compelling about the main character.") but called host Brian Williams "a terrible houseguest."
"He put an empty milk carton back in the fridge, leaves his wet towels all over the Roosevelt room," Obama joked. "We're pretty sure he clogged the toilet and didn't tell anybody."
Obama said Wolf Blitzer's "Situation Room" on CNN is better than his own, and the White House has even tried to adopt some of the network's futuristic technology introduced during Obama's election night coverage. He also said that despite the White House's best efforts, they "have not been able to generate the bandwidth necessary to turn Larry Summers into a hologram."
And of course, the fly scandal didn't go without mention.
"I'm pleased that in our quest to reform the health care system, I have gained the support of the American Medical Association," said the President. "It proves true the old expression that it's easier to catch flies with honey. And if honey doesn't work, feel free to use an open palm and a swift, downward wrist motion."
The president also managed to namedrop "I'm A Celebrity…Get Me Out of Here," telling the crowd "that's how I feel right now"; and broke news of ABC's idea for a White House-themed reality show titled "Dancing With the Czars."
He wrapped on a serious note, thanking the radio and television journalists for "reporting the news as it happens and history as it's made."
"With a handheld camera or a mic, or now even a cell phone or a blog, you bring the truth to people and allow people to bring the truth to the world," said Obama. "We're seeing that now as history is unfolding in the sounds and images broadcast from Iran over the last week."
USHER IN NEW 'GOT MILK' AD: Singer dons a milk moustache for latest campaign.
*Usher may not have a marriage anymore, but he's definitely "got milk."
The singer, currently divorcing his wife Tameka Foster-Raymond, is the latest celeb to star in the Body By Milk ad campaign, which photographs its famous subjects with a milk moustache.
To be a player in Hollywood, he tells People.com, "You've got to do things like win Oscars and Grammys, but you're nothing if you don't have a milk ad!"
The 30-year-old shot the ad in Las Vegas while he was recording tracks for his new album. "I would throw on a suit to go to the studio, to get in the mood," he tells People.
The campaign was "a lot of fun," he adds. As for the finished product, Ursh says the photo in the ad "makes me look taller."
J-HUD'S FIANCÉ IS OFFICIALLY A PRO-WRESTLER: Watch David Otunga's professional debut bout in Florida.
*Jennifer Hudson's fiancé has finally made his pro-wrestling debut.
David Otunga, who first became famous as Punk from VH1's "I Love New York," stepped into the ring in Florida Wednesday under his pro moniker Dawson Alexander, Esq. – a nod to his law degree from Harvard University.
The bout against Troy Jackman was for Florida Championship Wrestling, a farm system for the WWE. According to RadarOnline, commentator/wrestling legend Dusty Rhodes hinted that reps pro-wrestling organization were at the match scouting the high-profile ring rookie.
Not only was J-Hud watching from the audience, but so were folks from TMZ.com, People magazine and Star magazine.
Hudson and Otunga are reportedly expecting their first child together.
'WE NEED FATHERS TO STEP UP' SAYS OBAMA: President writes an open letter to daddies on Father's Day.
*Two days before the inauguration, Parade published a letter from Barack Obama to his daughters about what he hoped for them and all the children of America. The letter attracted international attention.
For Father's Day, the magazine asked the President to reflect on what fatherhood means to him.
As the father of two young girls who have shown such poise, humor, and patience in the unconventional life into which they have been thrust, I mark this Father’s Day—our first in the White House—with a deep sense of gratitude. One of the greatest benefits of being President is that I now live right above the office. I see my girls off to school nearly every morning and have dinner with them nearly every night. It is a welcome change after so many years out on the campaign trail and commuting between Chicago and Capitol Hill.
But I observe this Father’s Day not just as a father grateful to be present in my daughters’ lives but also as a son who grew up without a father in my own life. My father left my family when I was 2 years old, and I knew him mainly from the letters he wrote and the stories my family told.
And while I was lucky to have two wonderful grandparents who poured everything they had into helping my mother raise my sister and me, I still felt the weight of his absence throughout my childhood.
As an adult, working as a community organizer and later as a legislator, I would often walk through the streets of Chicago’s South Side and see boys marked by that same absence—boys without supervision or direction or anyone to help them as they struggled to grow into men. I identified with their frustration and disengagement—with their sense of having been let down.
In many ways, I came to understand the importance of fatherhood through its absence—both in my life and in the lives of others. I came to understand that the hole a man leaves when he abandons his responsibility to his children is one that no government can fill. We can do everything possible to provide good jobs and good schools and safe streets for our kids, but it will never be enough to fully make up the difference.
That is why we need fathers to step up, to realize that their job does not end at conception; that what makes you a man is not the ability to have a child but the courage to raise one.
Continue reading Obama's Father's Day message here:
http://www.parade.com/export/sites/default/news/2009/06/barack-obama-we-need
-fathers-to-step-up.html
COMMON, LATIFAH HAVE THE 'WRIGHT' STUFF: Pair cast in sports romancer for Fox Searchlight.
*Fox Searchlight has tapped two rapper-turned-actors, Common and Queen Latifah, for a sports-themed romantic film titled "Just Wright."
Directed by Sanaa Hamri, the film revolves around a sports trainer who finds herself falling in love with a professional basketball player while rehabilitating him from a career-threatening injury.
Paula Patton ("Deja Vu," "Precious") has also been cast.
Latifah, Shakim Compere and Debra Martin Chase are producing from a script by Michael Elliot. Shooting starts in mid-July in New York for a release next year.
JIBJAB SPOOFS OBAMA TO HIS FACE: Comedy site's first Obama administration satire video premieres at RTCA dinner in Washington.
*The latest video from comedy Web site JibJab, which depicts the President as a superhero saving the planet from its myriad of ills, made its world premiere Friday night as the President looked on – and laughed.
"He's Barack Obama," billed by JibJab as its first satire of the Obama administration, was presented Friday evening at the 65th Annual Radio and Television Correspondents' Dinner at the Washington Convention Center.
The 2-minute clip shows the Commander-in-Chief with oversized ears and in a spandex superhero suit single-handedly saving the economy, attacking global warming, bringing together Muslims and Jews and more - all to the American Civil War song, "When Johnny Comes Marching Home," done heavy metal style.
OPRAH TAKES ENTIRE STAFF ON CRUISE: Plus, talk show host visits her S.A.
school to attend her students' arts festival.
*The Chicago Sun-Times is reporting that Oprah Winfrey is again footing the bill for her entire Harpo staff and their families to join her on vacation – this time on a Mediterranean cruise.
Winfrey and her staff were due to leave Chicago on Saturday and set sail to Spain, Italy, Turkey, Greece and Malta. She is covering transportation, food, drinks and activities at port stops, reported the newspaper's Oprah blog.
According to Chicago-based Best Travel, a cruise like the one Winfrey is taking her staff on costs about $5,400 a person.
In 2005, Winfrey celebrated the end of her "Wildest Dreams" season by surprising her staff with an all-expenses-paid trip to Hawaii.
Elsewhere in Oprahworld, the talk show host was in South Africa on Friday watching some students from her girls school perform as part of a weeklong festival, in which the girls took part in acting, photography and fashion design workshops.
Winfrey was particularly moved after one young girl recited an essay she wrote describing her poverty-stricken family and her desire to win a Nobel Peace Prize.
"I am moved by the stories," Winfrey told The Associated Press. "When you think about these little girls three years ago carrying buckets of water on their heads and with no running water. Now they are talking about going to Harvard and winning a Nobel Peace Prize."
"I am moved by the fact that I have a vision for them and it now feels like they have embodied that vision for themselves. They are living the dream," she said.
British actress Thandie Newton, who played Winfrey's ghost-daughter in the film "Beloved," taught acting classes to the young pupils.
"Their tenacity, their enthusiasm, their ability has just surpassed all of my expectations, I have had an amazing time," she said.
The lavish $40 million Oprah Winfrey Leadership Academy for Girls was opened in 2007, the fulfillment of a promise Winfrey made to Nelson Mandela and aims to give girls from poor backgrounds a quality education.
MADONNA'S NEW DAUGHTER LEAVES MALAWI: Mercy James put on a plane to London Saturday with three chaperones.
*Madonna's new adopted daughter has flown out of her native Malawi on a private jet to London to start her new life, an airport employee and a person familiar with Madonna's adoption proceedings told the AP Saturday.
The airport employee, speaking on condition of anonymity because he was not authorized to discuss the matter, said 3-year-old Chifundo "Mercy"
James left late Friday en route to London, with a stop in neighboring South Africa. The girl, the second child Madonna has adopted from Malawi, was reportedly accompanied on the flight by a nanny, a child nurse and a third aide.
The person familiar with the adoption, who also was not authorized to discuss the matter publicly, said Mercy should have reached London on Saturday morning.
Malawi's highest court had granted the adoption June 12, overturning an April lower court ruling that Madonna had not spent enough time in Malawi to be given a child. The high court said the first judge had imposed too narrow a definition of residency, and lauded Madonna for her work with children in a poor country where half a million have lost a parent to AIDS.
Madonna met Mercy in 2006 at Kondanani Children's Village, an orphanage in Bvumbwe, just south of Blantyre. It was the same year she began the process of adopting David, whom she found at another orphanage in central Malawi.
The girl's 18-year-old mother was unmarried and died soon after she gave birth. Since Madonna moved to adopt the girl, a dispute has arisen between the girl's maternal relatives, who agreed to the adoption, and a man who says he is the father and wants to care for the girl himself, but acknowledged he had never seen Mercy.
MORGAN FREEMAN LAWSUIT GIVEN DEADLINE: Judge wants proposals from both parties by mid-July.
*Actor Morgan Freeman and the woman suing him over a car wreck were given a deadline of July 15 to submit settlement proposals to the court, reports the Associated Press.
Demaris Meyer claims the 72-year-old Oscar-winner was negligent when the car he was driving ran off the side of a rural Mississippi highway in August. Meyer was a passenger in the car when it flipped several times. Both of them were seriously injured.
Freeman's attorney has said in court papers that Meyer shares blame for the accident.
U.S. Magistrate S. Allan Alexander has scheduled a July 29 conference on the case in U.S. District Court in Oxford.
Last week, the National Enquirer reported that Freeman has been having an affair for the past 10 years with his 27-year-old step-granddaughter, E'Dena Hines – the granddaughter of Morgan's first wife, Jeanette Adair Bradshaw.
The tabloid quoted an unnamed source who says their relationship began when she was a teen and not only contributed to his split from Myrna, his wife of 25 years, but also led to the breakup with his longtime mistress, former schoolteacher Mary Joyce Hays.
OBAMA CALLS TITLE-WINNING COACHES: Phil Jackson of NBA's Lakers and Dan Bylsma of NHL's Penguins congratulated.
*President Barack Obama put in calls last week to a couple of title-winning coaches - Phil Jackson of the NBA's Los Angeles Lakers and Dan Bylsma of the NHL's Pittsburgh Penguins.
The Commander-in-Chief, an avid basketball fan, picked the Lakers to win in six games over the Orlando Magic. But the team only needed five for Jackson to earn his record 10th NBA championship as a coach.
"I told him that sometimes when you're a lefty you've got to go right to shoot the ball," Jackson told the AP Friday, joking about the southpaw president's technique.
The White House says Obama discussed the Lakers' triangle offense — maybe getting some pointers for his own pickup games. Obama has been a Jackson fan since Jackson coached the Michael Jordan-led Chicago Bulls.
"We talked about coming to the White House and the possibility of doing it. Then we talked about some basketball things and he obviously wanted to congratulate us on a great season," Jackson said at the Lakers'
practice facility in suburban Los Angeles.
The coach said he wants to visit the White House either before the season starts in late October or during the season when the Lakers play in the area.
Obama on Thursday also congratulated the Penguins for winning hockey's Stanley Cup in seven games over the Detroit Red Wings. Obama said Pittsburgh fans may be getting spoiled — the Penguins' title follows the Pittsburgh Steelers' Super Bowl victory in February.
SERENA GIVES VENUS WIMBLEDON PROPS: Younger sis says she rules the grass court game. Plus, sisters rank among world's highest-paid players.
*As the Williams sisters begin their run for a Wimbledon title this week, Serena Williams is already calling her sister Venus the best grass-court player of her generation.
The siblings own seven of the last nine women's singles titles at Wimbledon, but it is Venus, with five victories compared to Serena's two, who has reigned supreme on the lawns of the All England Club. If Venus can win her third successive title she will become the first woman since Steffi Graf to complete a hat-trick of Wimbledon crowns.
But even if Venus never wins another match at Wimbledon, Serena, who was beaten by her sister in last year's final, insists she is already firmly established as the best on grass in the last 20 years.
"I think she has proven herself to be the best grass court player in our generation," Serena said, according to the Associated Press. "She has an amazing serve and I think that helps a lot. She has an amazing return and she's really fast. She has long arms, so she just gets everything back.
"It's hard playing a player like that, especially on the grass when it's, you know, a faster surface and you have that much less time to react.
"She's an extremely smart player as well, so she's always thinking and knowing what to do."
In other Williams sisters news, both were named among the top four highest paid female athletes in the world, according to Forbes. In fact, all four happen to hail from the tennis circuit: Maria Sharapova (Russia) is No.
1, followed by Serena and Venus at 2 and 3 respectively, and newly retired Justine Henin (Belgium) at No. 4.
NEW RELEASES COMING FROM DEATH ROW: New deal comes with new albums, DVDs and previously-unreleased songs.
*WIDEawake, the Canada-based development company that acquired the assets of Death Row Records earlier this year, just signed a deal with music publisher EverGreen to become the worldwide administration company of the legendary rap label.
EverGreen owns the catalogs of 2 Live Crew, Third Eye Blind, MC Hammer, Tupac Shakur and others.
As part of a long-term arrangement, EverGreen will administer and handle licensing for all of the compositions and master recordings in the Death Row catalog, as well as the processing of all mechanical and performance royalties in the catalog, reports Billboard.com.
With the new joint venture, WIDEawake extends EverGreen's rights to market, promote and collect royalties on all the copyrights and master recordings in the Death Row catalog, including more than 10,000 released and unreleased songs by such artists as Tupac, Dr. Dre, Snoop Dogg and Tha Dogg Pound, Kurupt, Daz Dillinger and Nate Dogg, to list a few. It also includes never-before released albums by Crooked I, Lisa "Left Eye" Lopes, RBX, The Lady of Rage, Warren G, K-Solo, Danny Boy and DJ Quick, among others.
In addition, Death Row is expected to generate a number of new releases in the near future, like a new album of unreleased Tupac material to commemorate the rapper's June 2010 birthday. The as-yet-untitled album will be distributed by E-1 stateside and EMI overseas.
Other forthcoming releases include a collector's edition rerelease of "The Chronic Re-Lit," slated for a Sept. 1, 2009 street date. The album will feature four bonus tracks - all unreleased master from Death Row - plus a DVD with never before seen video footage of Dr. Dre and other artists.
WIDEawake/Death Row will also release several box sets this holiday season, including a four CD collection of previously unreleased Death Row master recordings, never before seen images and video footage.
FOREST WHITAKER IN PSYCHOLOGICAL THRILLER: Actor joins Adrien Brody and Elijah Wood for remake of Germany's 'Das Experiment.'
*Forest Whitaker, Adrien Brody, Elijah Wood and Cam Gigandet will star in "The Experiment," a remake of the German psychological thriller "Das Experiment" for Inferno Entertainment and Magnet Media Group.
The original film centered on a group of ordinary men recruited to take on the roles of guards and prisoners as part of a research study and examined how the effects of assigned roles, power and control affected the participants.
Brody will portray the de facto leader of the prisoners while Whitaker will play a guard who's corrupted by the power he's given, reports Variety.
"Prison Break" creator Paul Scheuring is directing from his screenplay. Filming begins in Iowa next month.
Whitaker, meanwhile, stars in the upcoming "Where the Wild Things Are," "Repossession Mambo" and "My Own Love Song." He's also set to star in, direct and co-write the Louis Armstrong biopic "What a Wonderful World."
BOBB'E J. THOMPSON IN TALENT HOLDING DEAL: Reveille swoops teen actor with plans for a sitcom.
*Bobb'e J. Thompson, the 13-year-old actor currently starring in "Land of the Lost" and opposite Eddie Murphy in "Imagine That," has signed a talent holding deal with Reveille, which aims to put him in his own sitcom.
The young star is also a semi-regular on NBC's "30 Rock," playing the son of Tracy Morgan's character.
He earned a breakthrough performance nomination at the MTV Movie Awards for his character Ronnie in "Role Models." And he's set to host the Cartoon Network series "Bobb'e Says," which is described as an "America's Funniest Home Videos" for kids.
"Bobb'e J. Thompson is an up-and-coming actor with outstanding comedic talent," said Reveille managing director Howard T. Owens.
NEW REALITY SHOW FOR SCOTT STORCH: Troubled producer inks pact with Bunim/Murray
*Producer Scott Storch has signed a deal with reality show giants Bunin/Murray for his own reality show.
The series, according to a press release, will document him "making hit records with all of the hottest acts in the industry while opening the door to the hot and trendy Miami music scene.
"Also, it will capture Mr. Storch's ups and downs in the volatile music business," which in recent months has included arrest warrants, tax troubles and money problems.
David Weintraub, one of the show's executive producers, said, "This is a monumental moment to see a producer of his caliber let the cameras into his world and see how hit records are made. A lot of people have tried to get Scott to open up the curtain to this process but have never been successful."
JOHN LEGEND PADS 'EVOLVER' TOUR: Dates now extend into early fall.
*A bunch of new dates have been added to the tail end of John Legend's forthcoming summer tour backing his latest studio album, "Evolver."
The trek gets underway June 27 in Muskegon, MI and has several new shows on the West Coast, including appearances in San Diego (9/16) and Las Vegas (6/18), as well as a few concerts in the Midwest and Texas.
With the additions, the number of cities Legend will visit on the trek has swelled to more than 50. Details are included below.
June 2009
27 - Muskegon, MI - Heritage Landing
28 - Milwaukee, WI - Marcus Amphitheater 30 - St. Louis, MO - Fabulous Fox Theatre
July 2009
2 - Robinsonville, MS - Harrah's Event Center at Harrah's Casino Tunica
3 - New Orleans, LA - Louisiana Superdome
5 - Atlanta, GA - Chastain Park Amphitheatre
8 - Fort Myers, FL - Barbara B. Mann Performing Arts Hall
9 - Hollywood, FL - Seminole Hard Rock Live
11 - North Charleston, SC - North Charleston Performing Arts Center
12 - Cary, NC - Koka Booth Amohitheatre at Regency Park
14 - Portsmouth, VA - Ntelos Wireless Pavilion
15 - Charlottesville, VA - Charlottesville Pavilion
17 - Columbia, MD - Merriweather Post Pavilion
18 - Albany, NY - Palace Theatre
19 - Hollywood, FL - Seminole Hard Rock Live 20, 21 - Highland Park, IL - Ravinia Festival at Ravinia Park
22 - Prior Lake, MN - Mystic Lake Casino Hotel
24 - Elizabeth, IN - Horseshoe Southern Indiana
25 - Windsor, Ontario - Caesars Windsor The Colosseum
28 - Indianapolis, IN - Murat Theatre
29 - Charleston, WV - Clay Center for the Arts & Sciences
31 - Cincinnati, OH - Paul Brown Stadium
August 2009
1 - Cleveland, OH - The Nautica Pavilion
3 - West Homestead, PA - Riverplex Amphitheatre at Sandcastle
5 - Philadelphia, PA - Mann Center for the Performing Arts
7 - Boston, MA - Bank of America Pavilion
8 - Mashantucket, CT - MGM Grand Theater 10 - Canandaigua, NY - Constellation Brands-Marvin Sands Performing Arts Center
12 - Red Bank, NJ - Count Basie Theatre
13 - New York, NY - Madison Square Garden Arena
15 - Philadelphia, PA - Mann Center for the Performing Arts
17 - Montreal, Quebec - Metropolis
18 - Orillia, Ontario - Casino Rama Entertainment Centre
21 - Omaha, NE - Orpheum Theatre
22 - Kansas City, MO - Ameristar Hotel & Casino
24 - Tulsa, OK - SpiritBank Event Center
28 - Woodinville, WA - Chateau Ste. Michelle Winery
29 - Goldendale, WA - Maryhill Winery Amphitheater
September 2009
1, 2 - Los Angeles, CA - Greek Theatre
4 - West Sacramento, CA - Raley Field
5 - Santa Barbara, CA - Santa Barbara Bowl
6 - Berkeley, CA - Greek Theatre
10 - Kahului, HI - Castle Theater
12 - Honolulu, HI - Neal S. Blaisdell Concert Hall
15 - Friant, CA - Table Mountain Casino
16 - San Diego, CA - Humprhey's Concerts by the Bay
18 - Las Vegas, NV - Red Rock Casino Resort & Spa 20 - Tucson, AZ - Tucson Music Hall
25 - Biloxi, MS - Beau Rivage Theatre
28 - Salina, KS - Stiefel Theatre for the Performing Arts 30 - Houston, TX - Verizon Wireless Theater
October 2009
2 - Austin, TX - Zilker Park
ITTY BITTY BITS: Riley, Lattimore wash feet of homeless; BET & Yahoo team; Faison to teach on 'Scrubs.'
*Teddy Riley, Kenny Lattimore and Essence Atkins are among a number of stars set to join the ASHÉ Foundation on June 24 as they wash the feet of the displaced on Los Angeles' Skid Row and place new socks and adequate shoes on their feet in the courtyard of The Midnight Mission (601 S. San Pedro St.) from 1 p.m. to 5 p.m. Ananda Lewis and Howard Hewett are also on board. ASHÉ founder Dion Fearon launched the organization in March 2008 because of a passion to provide sensible shoes for millions of children orphaned by AIDS in African nations. ASHE gathers and distributes shoes, clothing, other necessities, and provides other services to aid the
disadvantaged and underprivileged children of African nations.
*BET and Yahoo! Music are coming together for a content and promotional partnership in support of the BET Awards '09. Yahoo! Music will showcase for its users originally produced BET video segments in conjunction with this year's telecast, including host Jamie Foxx, and performers Beyonce and Jay-Z. Yahoo! Music will also offer its users access to exclusive red carpet photography from the BET Awards '09 and post-show video content. The ceremony will take place on Sunday, June 28 at 8 p.m. at the Shrine Auditorium in Los Angeles.
*TV Guide is reporting that the upcoming ninth season of ABC's "Scrubs" will be completely retooled – as Donald Faison's character, Donald Turk, will join Dr. Cox to teach at a medical school. Gone is the show's star Zach Braff and its Sacred Heart hospital setting. Creator Bill Lawrence told Entertainment Weekly that now and then, students will visit Sacred Heart — where they might run into such original cast members as Braff, Sarah Chalke, Judy Reyes and Ken Jenkins, who will all return as guests throughout the season.
CBC, NAACP AT ODDS OVER SLAVERY APOLOGY: Congressional Black Caucus has issue with disclaimer in the resolution; civil rights org doesn't.
*The Congressional Black Caucus may have some reservations about the U.S. Senate's support of a resolution offering a formal apology for slavery, but the NAACP is rather pleased with the effort.
The Senate passed a resolution Thursday calling on the U.S. to apologize officially for the enslavement and segregation of millions of blacks and to acknowledge "the fundamental injustice, brutality, and inhumanity of slavery and Jim Crow laws.'
The resolution, sponsored with little fanfare by Sen. Tom Harkin, D-Iowa, passed on a voice vote. It now moves to the House of Representatives, where several members of the Congressional Black Caucus have expressed concerns about a disclaimer that states that "nothing in this resolution authorizes or supports any claim against the United States; or serves as a settlement of any claim against the United States.'
The CBC members think that the disclaimer is an attempt to stave off reparations claims from the descendants of slaves. Congressional Black Caucus Chair Barbara Lee, D-Calif., said her organization is studying the language of Harkin's resolution.
Rep. Bennie Thompson, D-Miss, said 'Putting in a disclaimer takes away from the meaning of an apology. A number of us are prepared to vote against it in its present form. There are several members of the Progressive Caucus who feel the same way.'
The NAACP, meanwhile, is in favor of the apology – as is. The head of the NAACP released a statement that applauds the action by senators and calls on the House to follow suit.
“The apology for slavery and the era of Jim Crow segregation is long overdue and is the first step toward healing the wounds of African-American men and women throughout this country,” said NAACP President and CEO Benjamin Todd Jealous.
NAACP’s Hilary O. Shelton, vice president for advocacy, said the resolution “creates a watershed opportunity for Americans of all races, ethnicity and national origins to better understand the historic racial challenges of our nation and work together to craft a solution to the remnants of racism still lingering in our society.”
EUR FILM REVIEW: DJ Spooky’s Rebirth of a Nation
DJ Does Hip-Hop Remix of Birth of a Nation
Film Review by Kam Williams
*Listen, if it’s okay in the world of pop music for DJs to remix snippets of classic songs in order to rap over them, why shouldn’t a hip-hop era filmmaker be able to do the same thing with an old movie, especially if its copyright is expired and its now part of the public domain?
That’s precisely what we’re dealing with in the case of Rebirth of a Nation, a sophisticated overhaul of D.W. Griffith’s Birth of a Nation.
That controversial silent flick from 1915 is frequently credited with setting the tone for the persistence of lynchings and other forms of oppression and intimidation of blacks during the 20th Century up until the triumph of the Civil Rights Movement.
Where the original movie was unabashedly racist, filmmaker Paul Miller, aka DJ Spooky, now cleverly turns that tribute to intolerance on its head by adding his own running commentary exposing Griffith’s bigoted agenda.
Spooky explains how he had manipulated reality via an array of images designed to distort the truth. For example, there’s a Mammy in the movie still serving her master who calls a free African-American arriving on the plantation “black trash” before kicking him in the butt with, “Dem free [N-words] f’um de N’of sho’ crazy.”
Generally, Griffith depicted any blacks who weren’t subservient to whites as savages in need of taming by any means necessary. Hence, his championing the Ku Klux Klan’s coming to the defense of Caucasian females whom he suggested were suddenly damsels-in-distress due to lascivious emancipated blacks celebrating the legalization of mixed marriages.
As augmented by DJ Spooky’s rectifying voiceover, I found myself actually enjoying Griffith’s creepy picture for the first time. Ironically, if this remix has a mild failing, it’s in its subdued, ethereal soundtrack, which plays more like a Philip Glass modern classical score than the urban-oriented fare one might expect ala Puffy, Common, DMX or 50 Cent.
Can Spooky’s version of Gone with the Wind be far behind, edited so that Rhett Butler and the rest of the Rebels get exactly what they deserve?
Excellent (4 stars)
Unrated
Running time: 107 minutes
Studi Starz Productions
DJ Spooky’s Rebirth of a Nation will be showing in Manhattan at the Museum of Modern Art on June 22nd at 7 PM, on June 24th at 7 PM, on June 25th at 4 Pm and on June 26th at 7PM. To purchase tickets, visit:
http://www.moma.org/visit/calendar/tickets or call: (212) 708-9400
If you’re too far away to attend a screening, you can order a DVD of the film here: http://www.amazon.com/Spookys-Rebirth-Nation-David-Harrington/dp/B001DHXSYE/ref=sr_1_2?ie=UTF8&s=dvd&qid=1245522295&sr=8-2
To see an excerpt from DJ Spooky’s Rebirth of a Nation, visit: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=3ljIq0lz0qY
EUR MOTIVATIONAL NOTE
"I am not discouraged, because every wrong attempt discarded is another step forward." — Thomas A. Edison
CELEBRITY BIRTHDAYS
June 22: Actor Donald Faison ("Scrubs") is 35.
WEBSITE OF THE WEEK
Orijin Magazine is designed to connect all African descendants, sharing each other's culture and history through entertainment: music, fashion, lifestyle, sports, etc. www.orijin-ent.com
Submit your favorite Web site to us along with a 15-20 word (or less) description to info@eurweb.com.
BLACK HISTORY
June 22, 1937: Boxer Joe Louis defeated James J. “Cinderella Man”
Braddock to become the heavyweight champion. (source: www.BlackFacts.com)