EURweb |
09-25-06 EUR ALL ON ONE PAGE
JALEEL WHITE TALKS ABOUT HIS INTERNET DEATH: Actor tells EUR the “annoying” rumor actually showed just how many lives he’s touched.
*Last June, someone generated a story about actor Jaleel White having committed suicide, attached the Associated Press’ name to it and sent it around cyberspace.
The story said White was pronounced dead on arrival at a Los Angeles hospital after paramedics were dispatched to his apartment and found him dead of “an apparent self-inflicted gunshot wound.”
White, known to millions as Steve Urkel on the sitcom “Family Matters,” tells EUR’s Lee Bailey that he was in New York City en route to a Sox/Yankees game when he first heard that he had died.
“It was incredibly annoying. What can I say, the Internet is the land of the great sucker punch,” laughs White. “It’s just unfortunate that people can do that to you and kind of hide behind anonymous names.”
To this day, the 29-year-old has no idea who was behind the Internet prank – “probably some Internet geeks” White believes – but he says there was one positive aspect to come out of the experience.
“I really discovered just how many people’s lives I’ve been able to touch, because my cell phone just blew up for the entire month of June,” he says. “Even though it was for a negative reason, it was very beautiful to see that.”
The UCLA grad says he’s still very much alive and doing quite well these days.
“My life is terrific, I have two loving parents, I have great friends, I live in the Santa Monica area of Calif., I’m a college graduate, I continue to work, make money and earn a living,” he says.
White says his absence from the public eye probably gave the rumor more legs than the usual celebrity death rumors, like the latest one surrounding R&B artist Teairra Marie – who is not dead, by the way.
“When they do it to people who, let’s say, don’t have a series on the air at that particular time, or a movie coming out, it just lends more credibility to whatever it is they were attempting to do,” White says of the rumor starters. “If you did it to Brad Pitt or someone like that, of course the engines of the studios releasing his next movie are gonna rev up tomorrow.”
White says he’s been busy making his paper as a screenwriter and just finished working on a pilot, not to mention two movies this year.
“So it’s not true!” White screams of his suicide.
PEOPLE MAG REPORTS OF WHITNEY’S ‘FINAL STRAW’: A certain ‘video vixen’ blamed, again, for the split.
*People magazine continues its coverage of the Bobby Brown/Whitney
Houston divorce with a relative of Brown insisting that troubles first began
to surface last fall, and that the “final straws” were reports of his affair
with former flame, Karrine Steffans.
The relative says of Bobby and Whitney: "The relationship just
spiraled out of control. They fought like cats and dogs. They would fight
about what to eat for dinner, about who wasn't cleaning out the dishwasher.
Stupid things. But they were always yelling."
According to the source, the couple’s 14-year-marriage suffered a
body blow in March when Brown’s sister Tina told the National Enquirer that
Whitney was a bonafide drug addict, and provided as proof pictures of the
singer’s alleged “drug den.”
Another source says the "final straws" involved recent reports of
Brown moving in with Karrine Steffans, who named Brown as a past lover in
her 2005 tell-all “Confessions of a Video Vixen.”
"I am not going to pretend that Bobby was a perfect husband – he's
not," Brown’s relative tells People. "But it's not like he just ran around
with anyone. The marriage was broken."
Victor "GV" Dugue, who is working on Brown's upcoming album, tells
People that this current rift between Bobby and Whitney may only amount to
another bump in their rocky road.
"Both of them are very emotional," he says. "They're arguing one
second; the next minute, they're laughing again."
MISS CLEO ADMITS SHE’S A LESBIAN: TV psychic comes out of the closet; fears backlash from black community.
*She once ruled late night TV on BET and other channels as Miss
Cleo, whose thick Jamaican-accented “Cahl me’now fahr your free tarot card
readin’” was widely imitated and is part of pop culture history.
The former informercial psychic, whose real name is Youree Dell
Cleomili Harris, has recently come out of the closet in an interview with
The Advocate magazine and admits that she is a lesbian. Harris says it was
her teen godson who finally convinced her to spill the beans.
“He and I started talking when he was concerned about coming out,”
she told the magazine. “He was 16. When he made the decision, I told him I’d
be there to support him 100 percent, and he embraced [coming out]
wholeheartedly. It’s a different vibe than when I was his age, being raised
Catholic in an all-girls boarding school. But he was afraid of nothing, and
I thought, I can’t be a hypocrite. This boy is going to force me to put my
money where my mouth is.”
Harris, whose informercials ran from the late 1990s through 2002,
said some members of her own family still didn’t know that she was a
lesbian. She anticipates some static regarding their reaction because of the
attitude surrounding homosexuality among blacks.
“The reason it’s scary is because in my personal experience, black
cultures throughout the world have a more difficult time accepting
homosexuality in their family,” she said. “I have family members who will be
shocked; they don’t know. I have some family members who are very close to
me, and they do know. But I’ve been afraid of the wrath, of the exile. When
I came out to a number of friends in the late ’80s I had a number of friends
who turned their backs on me and walked away.”
On the late-night infomercials, Miss Cleo said she was a mystical
shaman from Jamaica. But a Florida newspaper reported that she had been born
in Los Angeles. Harris simply says, “I am who I say I am,” and insists she
has Jamaican roots. She says she’s actually not a psychic but more of a
spiritual counselor or spiritual adviser.
‘SOUP’S’ ON FOR WEBSTAR AND YOUNG B: YouTube-spawned hit may turn Harlem anthem into marketing craze.
*Although the song has been heating up teen dance clubs in Harlem
since Easter, the rest of the country is just now getting a heaping spoonful
of DJ Webstar and Young B’s catchy single “Chicken Noodle Soup”…with a soda
on the side.
"I started out DJing and throwing parties in Harlem," says
19-year-old Webstar, born Troy Ryan, who produced the single rapped by
16-year-old Bianca "Young B" Dupree.
"I met Young B through my parties,” he tells Billboard. “She came
home one day just messing around and singing, ‘Chicken noodle soup,’ and it
sounded good. So we recorded it, and somehow it leaked out. So I just
started playing it at my parties, and the kids made up the dance."
Those kids started videotaping themselves doing the dance – which
involves arm-pumping and wobbling side to side – and placing the footage on
YouTube.com. The postings became so popular (over 1900 different clips are
featured) that Universal Records stepped to Webstar with a deal.
Last May, the DJ began spinning the record at such Harlem teen
venues as Skate Key and others. The following month, “Chicken Noodle Soup”
happened to be playing in the background while WQHT’s DJ Enuff was recording
his radio show live from Harlem's Rucker basketball court. Seeing the
crowd's visceral reaction to the song, Enuff asked Webstar for the record,
reports Billboard.
"The first week we played the song, the kids came to my party and put
the song on YouTube," Webstar says. "Over 40,000 people put it on MySpace,
YouTube and other video sites, and I guess that's how the song spread,
because Universal just went for radio adds a few days ago. And we came in
No. 2 for songs added to radio just behind Beyonce."
After Enuff began playing the record in his mixshow, other stations
in Atlanta and Houston picked up the track. Now "Chicken Noodle Soup" has
garnered 1,086 spins nationally and is No. 41 on the Hot R&B/Hip-Hop Songs
chart. Also, a remix is in the works featuring Chris Brown and Ludacris, and
the Cambell’s soup and Pepsi people have approached Webstar for branding
deals.
In early August, Universal Republic Records president Monte Lipman
signed Webstar to an artist deal for himself and Young B as well as a label
deal for his Scrilla Hill Records. "Webstar Presents ... Caught in the Web,"
an entire album pulled together in the last few weeks, drops Sept. 26.
Meanwhile, Young B's solo project is slated for first-quarter 2007.
COSBY CALLS FOR SLAVERY MUSEUM DONATIONS: Actor wants every American to put $8 on it.
*Entertainer Bill Cosby is requesting that every citizen of the
United States donate $8 to the building of a national slavery museum in
Fredricksburg, VA.
Mayor L. Douglas Wilder launched a campaign Friday to raise $100
million toward the $200 million construction of the facility, which would sit near
the Rappahannock River on the former battlefields of the Civil War. Cosby
joined Wilder in a teleconference Friday to call for some 300 million
Americans to give up 8 bucks each to the cause.
"The incentive is that they would join in with the rest of the United
States of America in saying yes, as an American, I gave $8 to help build
something that tells the story," said Cosby, while conceding that this kind
of campaign "generally fails badly."
"But I'm going to try again because I'm going to present this
national slavery museum as a jewel that's missing in a crown," he says.
Why $8 dollars?
"The figure 8, in shape, is both of the shackles, which is the symbol
of slavery," said Wilder, a former Virginia governor and the grandson of
slaves. "If you turn it on its side, it's the symbol of infinite freedom."
BYRON ALLEN: TV host rounds up comedians for roundtable
By Kenya M. Yarbrough
Starting today, a band of renegade comedians will wreck havoc on
television. TV host/Comedian Byron Allen will debut his show Comics
Unleashed on channels all over the world. Allen describes the show as
a comedy talk show, something like "The View," "The Best Damn Sports
Show," or "Politically Incorrect" except all of the guests are
comedians.
"’Comics Unleashed’ is basically comedians sitting around having
a good time," Allen said. "I’ve been doing stand-up comedy for about
31 years, and the best nights of my life have been hanging out with
other comedians before we went on stage or after we went on stage."
The entertainment entrepreneur tapes five of the daily half-hour
shows a day and has on the panels four or five comedians such as
Howie Mandel, George Wallace, Sinbad, Wayne Brady, Adam Corolla,
Carol Leifer, Tommy Davidson, and Robert Wahl.
"I give the other comedians an opportunity to shine," Allen said
of his goals for each show. "If I want to step in and do my thing,
that’s easy to do; and I have my monolog, but I really want the
comedians and comics to get in there and really feel comfortable. I
really want them to get off. It’s like a team. If all the players are
scoring and hitting, then you win the championship. My goal is to
make sure everyone gets in the game, everybody’s funny, that’s my
number one job."
Allen continued that the subject matter on the show is not
really planned, either. The comedians have no interest in knowing
what subjects host Allen may have for each show. Allen said that it
makes the show a lot more unpredictable.
"I try to talk to them about it, but they don’t want to talk
about the subject. They just say, ‘Bring up anything.’ So I just
bring it up and see what happens. I don’t know what’s going to
happen. We go out there and we’re basically in the moment," he
said. "It’s just like friends getting together. You don’t know what’s
going to happen when you get together with your friends; you just know
you’re going to have some laughs."
Though the show is made up only of comedians, and Allen
acknowledged that some comedians will make return trips to the show,
he assured that 'Comics Unleashed' could never get stale.
"The show is always going to evolve. The comedians [will start]
to really understand the format and it’s going constantly to evolve.
And then, the chemistry of the comedians are going to bring in
different things. "It’s going to be stronger each time," he said.
"A show like this is in need and long overdue. Where comedians
can get together and make people laugh and the world needs it more
than ever."
'Comics Unleashed' is syndicated in most major markets. Check
your local listings or www.es.tv for show clips, information, and
broadcast times in your area.
MARTIN LAWRENCE BEHIND NEW STAND-UP SERIES: Comic teams with Starz for uncensored comedy showcase.
*Martin Lawrence will executive produce a new stand-up comedy series
for Starz Entertainment channel called “1st Amendment Stand-Up,” billed as
“a showcase for some of the freshest young comedians.”
Set to premiere in the first quarter of 2007, the show will be
co-produced and hosted by stand-up Doug Williams.
"It is a dream come true for me to collaborate with Martin Lawrence,
a legendary comedian whose talent I've greatly admired," Williams says. "I'm
honored to be able to join forces with Starz and Martin as we prepare to
make history with the new generation of comedians."
“1st Amendment” is part of the first slate of original TV series
introduced by the company for the first quarter of 2007, joining the
provocative interview show “The Bronx Bunny,” and the original comedy series
“Head Case.”
MAN BEHIND OPRAH CAMPAIGN UNDETERRED: Teacher continues quest despite heat from her lawyers; plus TV star’s radio gig begins today.
*Patrick Crowe, the Kansas City man hoping to put Oprah Winfrey in
the White House by any means necessary, continues his campaign despite legal
threats from the talk show host’s lawyers.
Through his Web site, http://www.oprah08.net, the retired math
teacher is selling “Oprah for President” t-shirts and even offers a campaign
theme song and a call for volunteers.
But Winfrey is not comfortable with Crowe’s unofficial campaign and
has put her lawyers in attack mode. They are threatening to file a lawsuit
for copyright and trademark infringements if he doesn’t remove her picture
and stop selling a book about his efforts.
Crowe, however, will not be intimidated. His Web site remained up as
of Sunday, and he has been fielding requests for radio interviews, reports
the Associated Press.
"It has become increasingly serious to me," Crowe, who opposes the
Bush administration and its foreign policy, told The Kansas City Star for a
story Friday. "I know Oprah can do better than that."
Elsewhere in O’land, the mogul’s era on XM Satellite Radio launches
today on channel 156. A full schedule for the Oprah and Friends channel is
expected to be announced today at a press event in New York.
COCAINE IS A HELLUVA…DRINK?: New high-energy beverage actually named after the illegal drug; protests planned in Los Angeles.
*Last week, talk show host Ellen Degeneres showed her audience a
shiny new can of “Cocaine” – the latest addition to the high-energy drink
market – and swore over and over that the beverage wasn’t a joke the show
had made up. Turns out, she wasn’t kidding.
Sold only in Los Angeles and New York as of now, the drink is being
billed by its creator Jamie Kirby as a "legal alternative" to the drug of
the same name, reports London’s “Daily Mail,” and marketed to teens as "a
bit of fun."
"It's an energy drink, and it's a fun name. As soon as people look at
the can, they smile," Kirby said, adding that Cocaine is "350 percent
stronger than Red Bull" but that people do not experience the "sugar crash"
or jittery behavior that he says some of the other energy drinks can
produce.
Las Vegas-based Redux Beverages is behind the drink, which contains
280 milligrams of caffeine. According to the company's website, the only way
to get more caffeine per ounce is with an espresso.
Cue Najee Ali and his coalition of community leaders in Los Angeles,
who are calling for a national boycott of the drink and have pledged to
“shut down any store or business in South L.A. that attempts to sell the
Cocaine drink.”
"Cocaine use has killed, imprisoned, torn apart and devastated
countless members of our community,” says Ali in a statement. “The Cocaine
energy drink will have a terrible impact on impressionable children. We let
rapper Nelly’s Pimp Juice energy drink in the community without enough
protest and now Cocaine energy drink owners think they can come in also. We
have to be prepared to fight this Cocaine drink by any means necessary!”
Ali, executive director of Project Islamic H.O.P.E., is scheduled to
hold a press conference at 11 a.m. today in Leimert Park at 3415 W.43rd
Place (Crenshaw & Vernon).
KYM WHITLEY: Stand-up Stands-off
By Kenya M. Yarbrough
Comedian Kym Whitley has made a name for herself as the comedic
supporting actress. After all, she is a comedian. The Ohio native
stole the show in a number of TV shows and films including 'Martin,'
'The Parkers,' and who could forget her role as Suga in 'Next Friday?'
But now, the actress is trading in her stand-up mic for juicier parts
and transitioning into dramatic roles.
"I always want the challenge and I’m always looking for
something new to do," Whitley said of why she decided to make the
change. "Being a stand-up comic and doing comedy all your life, it’s
fun, but sometimes it gets simple and a little boring. So going
into another realm can be refreshing. It’s a new love, it’s exciting."
Whitley advised that people should definitely speak to the
things they want and tell people what they’re interested in. She said
that that’s how she got her first dramatic role, by letting industry-
ites know that she was looking to add to her repertoire. And after
finally breaking into drama, Whitley knew she had a few things to
learn.
"My first dramatic role was with Vanessa Bell Calloway for a
movie on BET. I played her best girlfriend. They met with me and
said, ‘You know, it’s drama.’ So I had to cry. I knew I wasn’t going
to be able to cry because I’m always laughing and joking. When it
came down to it, I had to concentrate, I had to be sad all day, and
I cried, but then I couldn’t stop crying.
Another way to score the roles you want? Have connections.
Whitley had a good friend who’d written an episode for the new fall
show 'Standoff.'
"A friend of mine who’s a director, named Craig Ross ('Cold
Case'), called me and said he had this script for a show
called ‘Standoff’ and asked me to come in for the major part. I had
to put it in God’s hands ‘cause they gave me 15 pages and I had to do
it in 30 minutes. Later, they called me and asked if I wanted the
part."
'Standoff' is a hostage negotiation show starring Ron Livingston.
"It’s pretty intense," she said of the show. "It was fun doing
it, though it was a lot of work. I definitely want to do more drama."
'Standoff' airs Tuesday nights at 9/8c on Fox. Whitley’s
episode 'The Accidental Negotiator,' written by Ross, airs tomorrow
night.
PRODUCERS OF GANG DOCS MAKE HEADLINES: ‘Fresno Uncensored’ filmmaker to stand trial; Kurtis Blow’s ‘Slippin’” No. 2 on Showtime.
*Lonnell “Nitti” Greene, the 29-year-old producer of a gang
documentary entitled “Fresno Uncensored,” is scheduled to stand trial on two
felony weapons charges for allegedly providing the guns seen in his film.
Cops say Greene gave his gangster subjects two assault weapons for
use in the film, a 91-minute DVD released in Fresno last year. “Fresno
Uncensored” centers mainly on the illegal activity of the gang members, who
show off guns, tattoos, smoke weed and mock police in front of Greene’s
cameras, reports AP.
"A great percentage of the video contains criminal acts," Fresno
police detective Ron Flowers testified Thursday in Fresno County Superior
Court. Greene and his business associate, Marshall Day, argue that the DVD
was made to highlight local hip-hop artists, not to promote gangs or
violence – though the DVD did show gang members.
Greene faces up to eight years in prison if convicted on the weapons
charges. He was being held in county jail Friday in lieu of $150,000 bail.
Meanwhile, rap veteran Kurtis Blow has brought big ratings to
Showtime thanks to his documentary “Slipin’ – Ten Years with the Bloods,”
which follows five members of the notorious L.A. street gang over the course
of a decade.
Its recent premiere on the pay cable channel ranked No. 2 for the
week and drew 290,000 viewers. Its Showtime On Demand debut was the 6th
most-watched non-adult title.
BRAD PITT ON ZAHARA’S HAIR: Plus, Madonna looking to adopt twins from
Africa?
*In discussing his Ethiopian daughter Zahara in the October issue of
Esquire magazine, actor Brad Pitt reportedly offers white parents advice on
how to care for the hair of a black child, based on his experiences with
“Z.”
“For white people who might be having a little trouble with
black-person hair, Carol’s Daughter is a fantastic hair product,” he says,
according to the product’s Web site. (See image here:
http://www.carolsdaughter.com/images/haircareforkids_innerpage_r4_c1.jpg)
We got it for Z. Now her hair has this beautiful luster. And it smells nice,
too.”
Zahara, adopted by Angelina Jolie and Pitt on July 6, 2005, was born
Tena Adam in Ethiopia on January 8, 2005. The celebrity couple picked her up
at a Wide Horizons For Children orphanage in Addis Ababa.
In other Africa-related adoption news, Madonna and her husband Guy
Ritchie are reportedly planning to adopt twins from an African orphanage in
poverty-stricken Malawi.
A source tells British newspaper The People: "Originally Madonna and
Guy planned to adopt only one child. But when they were told that might mean
breaking up a family unit they immediately said they would take siblings or
twins if that was the right thing to do. They want the children to be as
young as possible but are prepared to take kids up to the age of four. And
they are also willing to consider a child with special needs arising from
being abandoned in an orphanage."
EUR FILM REVIEW: Fearless (Huo Yuanjia)
Jet Li as Legendary Martial Arts Master in Chopsocky Costume Drama
by Kam Williams
*Huo Yuanjia (1868-1910) was the most famous, Chinese martial arts master at
the turn of the 20th Century. Still, he is probably best remembered for the
spiritually-oriented school he founded in Shanghai about seventy days before
he died. For that dojo would blossom into the Chin Woo Athletic Association,
a successful franchise which shared the guru's closely-guarded fighting
secrets with the general public, but with an emphasis on violence as a last
resort.
Fearless revisits the life and times of Huo Yuanjia, chronicling the
critical events which transformed the respected legend from a feared fighter
into a peace-loving patriot. In what has been billed as the last of his
career (I'll believe it when I don't see it), Jet Li stars, here, as the
beloved national hero.
Unfortunately, this historical drama is unlikely to find much of an audience
outside of Asia. First of all, the stunts are nowhere near as spectacular as
your typical Bruce Lee high attrition-rate adventure, nor as innovative as
that of Crouching Tiger, Hidden Dragon, because the special effects are
mostly old school instead of state-of-the-art. Plus, the costumes, here,
pale in comparison to Crouching Tiger's, as do the locations which lack the
latter's spellbinding cinematographic capture.
Even the basic plotline leaves a lot to be desired, as the story unfolds as
follows, in 25 words or less. Sickly, 98-pound weakling whips himself into a
lean, mean fighting machine to get even with the bullies who teased him only
to learn that revenge is not the answer, rather Chinese unity is.
This makes the Fearless more of a message movie designed for the mainland
than a karate chopsocky for consumption in the West, where a martial arts
movie needs to be about butt-kicking to generate much traction.
Good (2 stars)
Rated PG-13 for martial arts action.
In Japanese, Mandarin and English with subtitles.
Running time: 103 minutes
Studi Focus Features
MUSIC BITS: B.I.G. reward; Buju cancelled; Snoop works ‘Blue’; new
will.i.am; Commodores reunion; Refugee All Stars; gunfire at Jim Jones
concert.
*The city of Los Angeles has reinstated its $50,000 reward for any
information leading to the arrest and conviction of whoever killed the
Notorious B.I.G. nearly 10 years ago, reports KNBC. The late rapper, whose
real name was Christopher Wallace, was shot and killed as he left a party at
the Petersen Automotive Museum on March 9, 1997. His family alleges in a
wrongful death case against the city that rogue Los Angeles Police
Department officers, acting on behalf of Death Row Records mogul Marion
"Suge" Knight, were involved in the killing. A judge is scheduled to hear
arguments in the civil case on Feb. 27.
*A Buju Banton concert scheduled for Oct. 2 in Los Angeles was
cancelled in the wake of protests from gay rights groups who take issue with
his violent lyrics about homosexuals. After receiving angry e-mails and
phone calls from patrons, the Highland nightclub and restaurant decided
against inviting the controversial reggae star. "We felt it was the right
thing to do after doing some research on the matter," said general manager
Adam Manacker. Two of Banton's early songs, "Batty Rider" and "Boom Bye
Bye," celebrate the shooting of gay men.
*Dynamic duo Snoop Dogg and Dr. Dre have reunited for several tracks
on the Long Beach rapper’s upcoming album, "The Blue Carpet Treatment," due
Nov. 21 via Doggystyle/Geffen. According to Billboard, one of the songs will
be the set’s first single, “Imagine.” The lyrics discuss hypothetical
situations, such as life without hip hop. ("Imagine Russell [Simmons] still
struggling/no Def Jam," Dre raps) and if Tupac Shakur never died. Dre and
Snoop last collaborated in 2001. Other talent on “Blue Carpet” includes Nate
Dogg, Ne-Yo, R. Kelly, Stevie Wonder, the Game and Ice Cube.
*Black Eyed Peas member will.i.am is busy working on his first solo
album for a tentative December release. He’s also produced tracks for The
Game’s new album “Doctor’s Advocate,” due Nov. 14 via Interscope. Will says
of the Compton rapper: "He rolls with a different type of people. I was
nervous; I didn't know what to expect. But I got to know him in the studio,
and he had fun just like everyone else. He loves music just like I love
music. That was the bond and respect that we took from that studio session."
Will has also worked on new LPs from Nas and Snoop Dogg.
*During an interview last week with Sirius Satellite Radio, Lionel
Richie said a reunion of his old group The Commodores is being planned for
the near future. Performing six songs live for a studio audience on channel
51, Heart & Soul, Richie told the host: “I am prepared to tell you at this
time there is a reunion in the works.”
*Tuesday (9/26) marks the release of Sierra Leone's Refugee All Stars
debut album “Living Like a Refugee” (Anti Records), a blend of varied
elements including reggae, hip hop, soul and indigenous West African music.
Sierra Leone's Refugee All Stars literally met in a refugee camp in remote
Guinea, but an award-winning documentary film and a well-received tour of
summer festivals this year introduced them to the world. They’re set to tour
the U.S. this fall, beginning Oct 20 in Nashville. Click here for tour
dates: http://www.shorefire.com/artists/refugee/pr_refugee_09_14_06.html
*One person is dead and three are injured following a shooting after
a concert in Virginia by rapper Jim Jones. The incident took place around 2
a.m. Sept. 22 at the Miami Restaurant and Lounge in Virginia Beach, sources
tell allhiphop.com. "The shooting occurred when the club was clearing out,"
Virginia Beach Police media relations officer Margie Long told
AllHipHop.com. "We are still conducting interviews, because there were
numerous shooters. One victim died and the [other] victims suffered serious
injuries. One victim was flown out by helicopter to [a] local trauma
center."
FILM/TV BITS: ‘Grey’s,’ ‘CW’ ratings; wrong Glover; Murph & Mel; SAG’s Anne
Marie; ‘Tested’ wins Film Fest.
*In the first head to head battle between new episodes of “Grey’s
Anatomy” and “CSI,” McDreamy and company at Seattle Grace Hospital came out
on top with 25.4 million viewers, compared to 22.6 for the folks at the Las
Vegas Crime Lab, according to Nielsen Media Research. The CW network,
meanwhile, sashayed out the box Wednesday making a fierce first impression
in primetime. The two-hour season premiere of "America's Next Top Model”
delivered 5.3 million viewers, making the Tyra Banks-produced series the
most watched show among the CW’s target demo of adults 18-34. It was also
the show’s best premiere rating in the demo and its second-best viewership
in six cycles.
*Actor Danny Glover has made life miserable for a Washington
journalist with the same name. Following the Hollywood star’s appearance
with Venezuelan president Hugo Chavez last week, when the leader called
George Bush “an alcoholic and a sick man," folks have been e-mailing Glover
- the writer - with angry messages, reports the New York Post. On Beltway
Blogroll, the journalist writes: "Please, please, please, stop sending me
e-mails that read like this: 'I'm very ashamed of you. I have been a great
fan of yours. Danny, your actions are traderous! [sic] You should be ashamed
politically.' It was actor Danny Glover!"
*Eddie Murphy is finally admitting that he caught feelings for former
Spice Girl, Melanie “Mel B” Brown,” reports Contact Music. "I am madly in
love with Mel - but there are no wedding plans," the actor reportedly said
while speaking at a business meeting Friday in Beverly Hills. The couple
began dating three months ago. Murphy divorced his wife Nicole in April
after 13 years of marriage and five kids.
*Actress Anne-Marie Johnson, the first national vice president of
the Screen Actor’s Guild (SAG), was one of the 24 candidates voted to fill
about one-third of the union’s national board seats, notes the Hollywood
Reporter. Johnson and others were backed by the membership bloc known as
MembershipFirst. SAG holds elections for a portion of its 69-seat board
annually, with top officers elected every other year. Others winning board
seats include Justine Bateman, Elliott Gould, Joanna Cassidy, Robert Hays
and Diane Ladd.
*“The Tested,” a film about a black teen who struggles through high
school in a hostile environment, took home the top prize at the Los Angeles
International Film Festival earlier this month. During the days leading up
to his gang initiation, the protagonist, Dre (Michael Morris Jr.), attempts
to make peace with his negligent mother, console his younger sister and
accept what he's about to do – shoot a stranger in broad daylight. Written,
edited and directed by Russell Costanzo and produced by Melissa B. Miller,
the film was awarded "Best in Fest" and beat out 650 other short films,
making it eligible for an Academy Award nomination. “The Tested” is
scheduled to make its television broadcast debut on BET J at the end of the
month.
BLOGS & ‘BLOIDS: The latest internet and tabloid gossip on MiJac, Whitney,
Janet, Star, J.Lo and Naomi.
*A rep for Michael Jackson is denying reports in the Irish Daily
Mirror of the singer planning to open a leprechaun theme park in Ireland.
The tabloid quoted a source that claimed the pop star would invest hundreds
of thousands of dollars in the plan because he "loves the whole idea of
leprechauns and the magic and the myths of Ireland." Jackson’s camp called
the story “erroneous and ridiculous.”
*Star magazine quotes sources who claim that Whitney Houston’s
impending divorce from hubby Bobby Brown was done only to get her hovering
friends off her back and to get Brown’s attention. “Bobby told Whitney
during an emotional scene in which the tearful diva was pulling on his arm
and begging him to stay with her, that this time, the marriage was over for
good,” reported Star magazine. Brown returned to former girlfriend Karrine
Steffans as Houston began plotting how to get how to get him back, the
tabloid claims. “Whitney has had an irrational commitment to Bobby that
borders on obsessive,” a source said. “They are so intertwined and
co-dependent that Whitney has convinced herself that she can’t survive
without him.”
*Janet Jackson tells Britain’s Grazia magazine that her sex life
with boyfriend Jermine Dupri was on point, even when she was carrying around
those extra 68 pounds earlier this year. "Not once did he make me feel
uncomfortable,” she said. “He'd grab me, pull me around the stomach, look me
in the eyes and say, 'This needs love too!' I thought that was the sweetest
thing. I've never in my life had love that was so unconditional. My weight
never affected my sex life. Nothing changed, nothing!"
*The paparazzi caught up with Star Jones Reynolds Thursday as she
shopped at Beverly Hills stores Tory Burch and Sky on Robertson Blvd. As she
got into her convertible Chrysler, photographers jostled around her for
position, including video cameras from TMZ. She told them that they aren’t
shooting her from the “most attractive angle,” to which they responded,
“We’ll crop it.” See the footage here:
http://us.video.aol.com/video.index.adp?mode=1&pmmsid=1724707
*British newspaper The Sun claims Jennifer Lopez is undergoing
Invitro Fertilization to try and have a baby with husband Marc Anthony. The
tabloid says the 37-year-old singer/actress told other patients at an IVF
clinic at Cedars-Sinai Medical Center in Los Angeles that she’s anxious to
hear the pitter patter of little feet. "Jennifer said she wanted to have two
children. She said she'd recently started treatment and couldn't wait to
have a family," the source said.
*Naomi Campbell had a little situation on a Quantas flight Thursday.
According to the Sydney Daily Telegraph, the supermodel got ignorant with a
flight attendant after believing that airline employees had tipped off the
press about her arrival in Australia from Bangkok, Thailand. She reportedly
told the employee: “F*** off! I am never flying Qantas again!" Reporters
were actually at the terminal for another story when a passenger on her
flight told the media that she was about to come off the plane. The runway
diva said she was in Australia for a "private engagement ... a funeral,” the
tabloid reports.
EVENT CALENDAR: Silver Dollar Classic in L.A.; Hot 97’s Back2SchoolJam;
Zane’s Freak Dating in D.C.
*Snoop Dogg, MC Lyte and Whodini are booked for the Silver Dollar
Classic Weekend II in Los Angeles, a black college football event to be held
Sept. 29-30 at the Los Angeles Memorial Coliseum and Sports Arena, (3911 S.
Figueroa St.). The game between Morehouse College and Alcorn State will cap
off a weekend of events, including a Greek Step Show, Career and College
Expo, and Festival featuring more than 100 vendors. The “Battle of the
Bands” begins Friday with competition between local area high school
drumlines, a Step Show competition and the big showdown between the
110-member Morehouse “House of Funk” and the 200-member Alcorn State “Sounds of Dyn-O-mite” bands. Whodini and MC Lyte will perform. Doors open at 6 p.m. On Saturday, Sept. 30, the pre-game activities begin at 11 a.m. with a
Snoop Youth Football League (SYFL) exhibition game, with Snoop as head coach
for his league’s Pomona Steelers versus the league’s undefeated Compton
Vikings. The college football game follows at 2:15 p.m. Tickets are
available at www.ticketmaster.com, the Sports Arena box office, Inglewood
Tickets, Mid-City Records & Tapes and the African Marketplace in the Baldwin
Hills Crenshaw Mall. Band event tickets start at $25. Game tickets start
at $35. VIP tickets are available.
*Lloyd Banks, G-Unit, T.I., Yung Joc, Jim Jones, Dipset and DMX are
set to perform at Hot 97’s Back2SchoolJam '06 on Sept. 30 at New York’s
Nassau Coliseum. The pre-show, beginning at 6:30 p.m., will feature various
R&B and hip hop artists from Jive, J Records, Def Jam and Bad Boy
Entertainment. Rocsi of BET's “106 & Park” will host the evening and Hot
97's own Funk Master Flex will DJ the event. Tickets are on sale now at
www.Ticketmaster.com.
*Bestselling Author Zane was to celebrate her 40th birthday last
night in Washington D.C. with the launch of Heat Seekers/Freak Dating at
Zanzibar at the Waterfront (700 Water Street, S.W.). In Freak Dating,
participants engage in the traditional speed dating routine, but must wear a
mask and are only to discuss one subject—sex. The event is scheduled to be
held from 7 p.m. to midnight on the fourth Sunday of every month.
FARRAKHAN ANNOUNCES SERIOUS ILLNESS: N.O.I. leader asks followers to carry on in his absence.
*Minister Louis Farrakhan sent a letter to his Nation of Islam
followers this month admitting to a serious illness and urging the group to
continue on in his absence so that the movement "will live long after I and
we have gone," reports the Associated Press.
The 73-year-old said he began suffering pain earlier this year
similar to 1998, when he was diagnosed with prostate cancer and underwent
surgery. He said doctors discovered an ulcer in his anal area during a visit
to Cuba in March.
Since then, he has lost 35 pounds and suffered from "serious
infection and inflammation," Farrakhan said in his letter dated Sept. 11 and
published in the Nation of Islam's The Final Call newspaper.
Farrakhan said he will try his best to bounce back, "because I do not
believe my earthly work is done." He said he asked his executive board to
solve problems during his recovery.
In the letter, Farrakhan compared news of his illness to that of
Fidel Castro.
"While many rejoiced - believing and thinking that if Fidel Castro
and the Cuban Revolution expired they could move Cuba and the Revolution in
a new direction - his absence from the helm only proved that Cuba will not
fall apart over the absence or passing of their illustrious leader,"
Farrakhan wrote in the letter.
He also warned followers to be "ever watchful for any smart, crooked
deceiver and hypocrite who would create confusion over my present
condition."
Share and Bookmark |
 |
 |
 |
 |
 |
 |
 |
 |
