Perez Hilton
Photo: Frazer Harrison/ WireImage

Charges against Black Eyed Peas manager Liborio Molina have been dropped by Canadian prosecutors in a case involving his assault on blogger Perez Hilton. According to the Canadian Press Association, the charges were dropped on Wednesday, and Molina issued an apology to Hilton (born Mario Lavandeira) for the incident that took place on June 22 outside a Toronto nightclub. Molina is alleged to have punched Hilton in the face after the openly gay celebrity gossip blogger used a homophobic slur against Will.I.Am.

As part of the agreement that ended the case, Molina agreed not to contact Hilton except through his lawyer, not to carry a weapon for 12 months, not to come within 100 meters of Cobra NightClub, where the incident took place, and to donate $500 to Toronto's Red Door Family Shelter.

"I apologize for what I did on June 22 of 2009, even though you engaged in highly offensive comments, including a homophobic slur to my clients, I acknowledge that these kinds of issues should not be resolved through a physical response," stated the apology read by Molina's lawyer outside the courthouse.

Hilton's lawyers balked at the wording of Molina's apology, but accepted it nonetheless. "Although accepting the fact that he shouldn't resort to violence, he attempted to say that there was a precipitating cause," Hilton's lawyer, Brian Greenspan, responded. "A sincere apology is a sincere apology."

In an e-mail to the Canadian Press, Hilton, who had not yet read the apology, said he was pleased with the outcome of the case. "I am happy that Liborio Molina has accepted responsibility for his violent actions," he wrote. "I look forward to reading his letter of apology, and he and Will.I.Am can look forward to reading my in-depth thoughts about that awful night in my new book."

The response was much more sedate than the heated rhetoric that flew back and forth between Hilton and Will.I.Am in the days following the alleged incident, when the pair exchanged insults in online posts and videos. Hilton filed a $25,000 civil suit against Molina, alleging battery and intentional infliction of emotional distress. In the suit, Hilton claims he is seeking to protect his rights to free speech and claims Molina attacked him because he made critical comments about the Black Eyed Peas' new album, The E.N.D. (Energy Never Dies).

• Black Eyed Peas

Fergie
Photo: Dimitrios Kambouris/WireImage for Avon

Until the demise of the Fame Kills Tour, Kanye West had been planning to hit the road with Lady Gaga, one of the gay-friendliest pop stars out there today. So it doesn't really come out of left field to have Fergie credit him, along with her cohorts in the Black Eyed Peas, for helping make the world of hip-hop a little more open to alternative lifestyles.

"They're completely gay-friendly. Are you kidding me? Look at how they dress!" she joked to The Advocate about the guys in her band. "Kanye West really did a great thing for hip-hop and made it very mixed and open."

As for her own sexuality, the singer says that although she's now married to actor Josh Duhamel, she has experimented with girls in the past. So when the time came for her to get flirty with a girl or two in the "I Gotta Feeling" video, she didn't flinch for a second. "Yes, it was [my idea to flirt with the girls]," she said. "That was fun because it was so naughty. It was a big tease, but it felt very natural."

Long before she was a pop star, Fergie got her start on a beloved children's show, "Kids Incorporated." She admits now that she made a few gay friends back then. "Oh, there were plenty on that show," she said. "But I don't want to out anyone, just in case."

Although Fergie seemed open to talking about most subjects, including her upcoming role in "Nine," the singer chose not to discuss an altercation between Peas manager Liborio "Polo" Molina and Perez Hilton in Toronto in June. She noted, though, that she was upset that night because Perez had been criticizing her music on his blog and that it had bothered her.

"When I see somebody I thought was my friend or starting to be my friend," she said, sighing, "when someone talks out of both sides of their mouth, it just makes me question their integrity."

• Fergie
• Kanye West
• Black Eyed Peas

U2's Bono and Black Eyed Peas' Fergie
Photo: Stephen Lovekin/ Getty Images

NEW YORK — For the second night in a row, Tom Hanks walked onstage at Madison Square Garden to do the introduction for the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame 25th Anniversary Concert, and for the second night in a row some of the greatest rock acts of all time shared the stage. Performances varied from classic hits to once-in-a-lifetime collaborations as Aretha Franklin, Jeff Beck, Metallica and U2 all brought out big-name guests.

Jerry Lee Lewis got things started again, this time performing "Great Balls Fire" and literally kicking down his seat before exiting to make way for the rest of the acts. Franklin took the stage in a red dress that was outshined only by the sound of her voice as she opened the night with "A Natural Woman." Her set included a collaboration with Annie Lennox and one with Lenny Kravitz, who added his voice to her classic hit "Think." When asked afterward how her duet with Lenny came about, she said it was due to his friendship with her son, who also happened to play lead guitar for her band that night.

Next, one of the all-time great guitar players performed as a replacement for a reportedly ailing Eric Clapton. This seemed fitting, since in the 1960s, Jeff Beck was Eric's bandmate in the Yardbirds with Jimmy Page. Jeff was inducted into the Rock and Roll Hall Of Fame this year, and on Friday night he reminded everyone why it was an honor that was well deserved. Sting, Buddy Guy and Billy Gibbons of ZZ Top each took a shot at matching their voice to Jeff's guitar, and each felt like a an experiment in music that went terribly right, especially when Beck and Gibbons recreated Jimmy Hendrix's masterpiece "Foxy Lady." No voice was needed for Jeff's final performance of the night, as he paid tribute to the Beatles with an instrumental version of "A Day in the Life." It was one worthy of the highest allowable score on "Beatles Rock Band."

	Rock And Roll Hall Of Fame 25th Anniversary Concert

Metallica brought more than just metal when they hit the stage. Starting off with "For Whom the Bell Tolls," the boys were then joined by Lou Reed, before succumbing to the Prince of Darkness himself, Ozzy Osbourne. Together they paid tribute to Black Sabbath by performing "Iron Man" and "Paranoid." Then things took an unexpected turn when Metallica teamed up with the Kinks frontman Ray Davies, giving a metal edge to the punk classic "You Really Got Me." Before calling it a night, the boys ended the show with one of their biggest hits of all time, "Enter Sandman." This had its own unexpected twist, as Yankee footage began to play on the monitors above them for no apparent reason. Then again, this is New York during the World Series.

The final and maybe biggest act of the second night at MSG was U2. First, they shared the stage with Bruce Springsteen and Patti Smith, performing "Because the Night," a song Bono said his band only wishes they could have written. His passion for the track became even more apparent when he decided to do it a second time because it was clean on the first take. Bruce stayed on for one more song, lending his voice to the classic U2 song "I Still Haven't Found What I'm Looking For." The next collaboration was one that included a much younger act, by Hall of Fame standards, when the Black Eyed Peas came out to sing "Where is the Love." Fergie stuck around when Mick Jagger came out to perform "Gimme Shelter." Mick and Bono kept the energy high, turning "Stuck in a Moment" into a duet. And finally, U2 performed "Beautiful Day," bringing the night to a beautiful end.

• Rock And Roll Hall Of Fame 25th Anniversary Concert

• U2
• Metallica
• Black Eyed Peas

Fergie
Photo: Dimitrios Kambouris/WireImage for Avon

Fergie performed songs from her 2006 solo album, The Duchess, at the Avon Foundation for Women Awards Gala in New York City on Tuesday night, but she doesn't have plans to work on new solo music anytime soon. She's still riding high on the success of the Black Eyed Peas latest release, The E.N.D., and the group's touring schedule is keeping her busy these days.

She wasn't too busy, however, to attend the gala to show her support for women who are fighting breast cancer and to help end domestic violence. "I'm performing my own songs, not Peas songs, 'cause I don't have the boys with me today," she told MTV News on the red carpet about performing at the event sans bandmates Will.I.Am., Taboo and apl.de.ap. "This is more about women."

She also explained that her performance was in no way a tease for an upcoming solo record. "Oh my gosh! I am so up to [the] top of my head in Peas land right now that I am not even thinking about another solo album right now. I'm knee deep in that and we're about to tour the world."

In addition to recently being approved as part-owner of the Miami Dolphins football team, Fergie will be appearing on the big screen in the Rob Marshall-directed musical Nine. She'll star alongside a who's who of Hollywood that includes Sophia Loren, Daniel Day-Lewis and Nicole Kidman. "It's a musical. It's wonderful," she said. "It's an art piece."

• Lauren Conrad, Fergie, More At 'Champions Who Change Women's Lives' Party

• Fergie
• Black Eyed Peas

Fergie
Photo: Hannah Mason/ WireImage

While conservative bloviator Rush Limbaugh is running into some stiff resistance in his bid to become one of the owners of the St. Louis Rams, the Black Eyed Peas' Fergie faced no such roadblocks in her quest to become a force in football as part-owner of the Miami Dolphins. According to SportingNews.com, NFL owners voted on Tuesday to approve her as the latest celebrity minority investor in the storied NFL franchise.

Though the Dolphins have yet to ink an official deal with the singer, as soon as she signs the papers with the team, she can become an investor. Dolphins owner Stephen Ross said he's had discussions with Fergie about the deal, but because the Peas are currently touring Australia, he's not yet gotten her signature.

Once the deal is ironed out, Fergie (born Stacy Ann Ferguson), 34, will join a roster of other celebrity investors in the Dolphins that includes singer Marc Anthony, tennis stars Venus and Serena Williams, flip-flop aficionado Jimmy Buffett and Latin music power couple Emilio and Gloria Estefan. It was not announced how big a stake Fergie, a California native, was purchasing in the team, but it probably won't be big enough to convince them to hire bandmate Will.I.Am.

All of the Dolphins' bold-name owners have bought very small portions of the team and have agreed to make appearances at the stadium during games as part of Ross' effort to attract a more diverse crowd. On Monday, Estefan teamed up with Hank Williams Jr. on a bilingual version of the Monday Night Football anthem, "Are You Ready for Some Football?" as part of the NFL's Hispanic Heritage Month celebration.

• Fergie
• Black Eyed Peas

Taylor Swift
Photo: Jeff Kravitz/ FilmMagic

The 2009 American Music Awards nominations were announced on Tuesday (October 13), and a diverse collection of artists will battle it out when the show airs live on Sunday, November 22 at 8 p.m. ET.

Country superstar Taylor Swift nabbed six total nods, while Michael Jackson secured five and Eminem received four. Three artists are nominated for each category.

	2009 AMA Nominees

Swift's nominations include Artist of the Year; Favorite Country Album (for Fearless); Favorite Female Pop or Rock Artist; and Favorite Female Country Artist. MJ was also recognized in the Pop or Rock Artist of Year category, Favorite Soul/R&B Male Artist and Favorite Soul/R&B Album (for Number Ones). Em's nominations include Artist of the Year; Favorite Male Pop or Rock Artist; Favorite Male Rap/Hip-Hop Artist; and Favorite Rap/Hip-Hop Album (for Relapse).

Rounding out the Artist of the Year category are Kings of Leon (one of three nods the group received) and Lady Gaga (one of three she received). Also receiving three nominations are T.I., Beyoncé and the Black Eyed Peas.

T.I. will face off against Eminem and Jay-Z for Favorite Rap/Hip-Hop Album, while Favorite Soul/R&B Album will pit Beyoncé against BEP and Jackson. For Favorite Female Artist, Pop/Rock, Gaga's competition is Beyoncé and Swift.

Robert Pattinson and Kristen Stewart's "Twilight" also was recognized and will battle against "Hannah Montana: The Movie" and "Hannah Montana 3" in the Favorite Soundtrack Album category.

Before the nominations were released, "American Idol" star Adam Lambert announced on Ryan Seacrest's radio show that he plans to perform at the AMAs, singing the first single from his still untitled debut album. Alicia Keys, Black Eyed Peas, Jennifer Lopez are also slated to perform on the show.

• 2009 American Music Award Nominees

• Taylor Swift
• Michael Jackson
• Eminem
• Jennifer Lopez
• Black Eyed Peas

Jay-Z's <i>The Blueprint 3</i>
Photo: Roc-A-Fella

Jay-Z has passed the King. With one of the biggest debut weeks of the year, Jigga's The Blueprint 3, the rapper's 11th #1 album on the Billboard 200, pushed him past Elvis Presley as the solo act with the most #1 albums in the chart's history. Jay did it by selling more than 476,000 copies of the disc according to figures provided by Nielsen SoundScan.

In the same week, the Beatles — the only act with more #1 albums at 19 — also storm back onto the charts with the reissuing of their remastered catalog. Though most Beatles albums are not eligible for the top 200 chart, which includes only releases from the past 18 months, a newly configured stereo box set lands at #15 on sales of 26,000 and the mono box set, Beatles in Mono, comes in at #40 on sales of 12,000. In total, Billboard reported that the Beatles catalog sold more than 626,000 copies, including the new reissues and older versions, a week after the catalog had moved a more modest 21,000 copies. The one-week total nearly equaled the year-to-date sales for the Beatles catalog (635,000).

The Beatles rule the Pop Catalog chart, with nine of the top 10 albums and 16 of the top 20. The biggest seller in the reissue series was 1969's Abbey Road (89,000), followed by the iconic Sgt. Pepper's Lonely Hearts Club Band (74,000), The Beatles (60,000), Rubber Soul (58,000), Revolver (46,000) and Help! (#7, 39,000).

Back on the 200 charts, Wu-Tang Clan's Raekwon notches a #4 debut for Only Built 4 Cuban Linx II (68,000), country duo Brooks and Dunn hit #5 with #1s ... and Then Some (55,000), and Boys Like Girls have the other top 10 debut at #8 with Love Drunk (41,000). The rest of the top 10 are: Miley Cyrus' Time of Our Lives EP (#2, 120,000), Whitney Houston's I Look To You (#3, 88,000, down 71 percent), Trey Songz' Ready (#6, 45,000), Black Eyed Peas' The E.N.D. (Energy Never Dies) (#7, 44,000), Kings of Leon's Only by the Night (#9, 40,000) and VMA bum-rush victim Taylor Swift's Fearless (#10, 33,000).

Reunited jam-band godheads Phish finish at #13 in the chart debut of their comeback album, Joy (29,000). Pitbull takes a hard dive in week two for his  Rebelution, dropping 16 spots to #24 (18,000, down 57 percent), followed by Chevelle, who fall 20 spots to #26 (16,000, down 65 percent) and Insane Clown Posse, who slip 39 spots in the second week for Bang! Pow! Boom! (12,000, down 77 percent).

The collector's edition of Jay-Z's Blueprint comes in at #30 (14,000). Indie faves Yo La Tengo slip in at #58 with Popular Songs (9,000), and They Might Be Giants hit #91 with their latest collection of kids' songs, Here Comes Science (6,000).

Next week, look out for the EP from Drake, as well as chart debuts from Muse and Kid Cudi.