Bob Duff, Hilary Duff and Sue Duff in 2003
Photo: Jean-Paul Aussenard/ Getty Images

Hilary and Haylie Duff's father, Bob Duff, was sentenced to 10 days in jail after he was found in contempt of court in Houston on Wednesday (August 28), according to the Houston Chronicle. The Duff parents were in a Harris County court to determine the fate of Hilary's 21st birthday party.

Hilary's mother, Susan Duff, wanted her ex-husband to contribute $25,000 to a birthday party and gift for the young star, the same amount he gave to Haylie, now 23, two years ago. Hilary turns 21 on September 28.

The sisters' mother claimed that the $10,000 her husband pays her in interim support each month is "not even enough to pay my own bills" and that she relies on Hilary, whom Bob's lawyer referred to as her "adult millionaire daughter," for financial support. She added that the actress is "emotionally upset by the abandonment of her father" and deserves "to have some kind of recognition for a young life well-lived."

When asked where her ex would get the money to afford the lavish party and gift she replied, "I know he's a millionaire, and he's got the funds."

During Bob's time on the stand, he agreed that Hilary should have the same gifts as her older sister. He was then ordered to pay $12,500 toward the party.

The real trouble came when he was found in contempt of court for violating an injunction against selling assets without court approval. He was ordered to pay the money he earned from selling stocks last month into a court repository — a total of $367,537.

His lawyer, Robert Piro, plans to file an appeal. When Susan saw her ex-husband being dragged away in handcuffs she was heard saying, "This isn't what I wanted."

• Hilary Duff
• Haylie Duff

Justin Timberlake and Timbaland on the set of "SexyBack"
Photo: Lalo Yasky/Jive Records

Beyoncé may be heating up the countdown on "TRL" with "Deja Vu," but a number of her fans say the new video has left them cold. More than 2,000 people have signed an online petition addressed to Beyoncé's label, Columbia Records, demanding a reshoot for the video. The petition requests the clip be taped again because, "This video is an underwhelming representation of the talent and quality of previous music-video projects of Ms. Knowles'." Included in the laundry list of offenses are a lack of theme, dizzying editing, over-the-top wardrobe choices and "unacceptable interactions" between B and her real-life beau, Jay-Z. Beyoncé's dance moves were also called into question by the petition, which labeled them "erratic, confusing and alarming at times." ...

Justin Timberlake doesn't talk to Britney Spears anymore, he told GQ for the mag's August cover story, but that doesn't mean he's not rooting for her. The two met while they were Mouseketeers — when Timberlake was 11 years old — and he said, "I was in love with her from the start. I was infatuated with her from the moment I saw her." But when the 21-year-old Timberlake split with the 20-year-old Spears, it hit him hard — and that's not surprising, he told GQ, "especially when you loved that person half your life." What hurt even more was that "she had a couple of opportunities to just sort of stick up for me, and she didn't," he said. "Which is fine. But at that time, you know, I fought back [with 'Cry Me a River']." Now that's he's moved on, Timberlake says it's a "distant thing," but he does feel bad for Spears when he sees how she's being treated by the media. "I wish her well, and I want to see her win," he told the mag. "I don't think you can ever count somebody like her out. Because she may appear one way, but she's very clever." Timberlake's latest video, "SexyBack" featuring Timbaland, will debut on MTV's "Making the Video" Tuesday at 4:30 p.m. ET/PT. ...

"7th Heaven" isn't about to lose Haylie Duff to "Hairspray," so the TV show that jump-started the careers of Ashlee Simpson and Jessica Biel is going to shoot scenes in New York to accommodate Duff's Broadway schedule. Though Duff's character, Sandy Jameson, features prominently in the first two episodes of the new season, she really only has to interact with one main character in the cast — so Tyler Hoechlin, who plays Martin Brewer, is preparing to fly to the Big Apple to shoot scenes on Mondays, Duff's day off. During those scenes, Duff's character will try to figure out her relationship with Martin as she prepares to go to seminary school. The 11th season of "7th Heaven" premieres September 25 at 8 p.m. on the CW. ... Jet's new album will be called Shine On and will hit stores on October 3, according to the band's label, Atlantic Records. "Put Your Money Where Your Mouth Is," the first single from the album, is scheduled to land on radio August 7. As is becoming of a band working on the follow-up to a multiplatinum debut, Jet wrote a majority of the material in studios around the world — including Barbados, Australia and, um, Massachusetts — and committed it to tape at producer Dave Sardy's Hillside Manor studio in Los Angeles. According to Atlantic, Jet are also planning to support Shine On with a whirlwind U.S. tour, tentatively scheduled to run from September 18 through October 6. ...

Metallica have been named to Blender magazine's list of "The 25 Biggest Wusses ... Ever!" The list, published in the magazine's July issue, "salutes the most awesomely wimpy musicians of all time." And why did Metallica make the cut? Because "the haircuts were lame and the anti-Napster crusade lamer," the magazine explained. Nick Lachey , the Cure's Robert Smith, Belle and Sebastian, Coldplay's Chris Martin and Kenny G also made the list, which was topped by mellow singer/songwriter James Taylor. ... Thursday, Rise Against and Billy Talent will hit the road together this fall, following the bands' stints on this summer's Warped Tour. So far, just seven dates have been booked — the first set for October 23 in Lake Buena Vista, Florida. Dates are scheduled through a November 7 stop in Seattle. ... Iron Maiden have rolled out the first 11 dates of their upcoming international tour — and lucky for us, eight of them are in the U.S. The trek, with Bullet for My Valentine opening on most dates, will kick off in Hartford, Connecticut, on October 4. The tour will then hit Boston (October 6); Camden, New Jersey (October 7); Long Island, New York (October 12); East Rutherford, New Jersey (October 13); Auburn Hills, Michigan (October 17); Rosemont, Illinois (October 18); and Irvine, California (October 21). Additional dates will be announced in the coming weeks. Maiden's forthcoming LP, A Matter of Life and Death, will hit stores September 5. ...

"To Be Loved," the first single from Papa Roach's forthcoming LP, The Paramour Sessions, is now streaming on the band's Web site. The Paramour Sessions is scheduled for release on September 12. ... This year's Ozzfest isn't just about the music — it's also about crowning the first Miss Ozzfest. Throughout the summer, fans have been voting on the many contestants in the running, and now, Playboy.com is getting involved. The site will present "The Girls of Ozzfest" over the coming weeks, posting nude photos and videos of the "sexy metal maidens from the summer's most extreme tour." .... You Hear It First veterans Far-Less will be playing the rest of the gigs on their To the End Tour with Roses Are Red drummer Mike Lasaponara, who'll be taking over for Ray Felts. The band said Felts will not be able to close out the tour "due to circumstances beyond our control." Far-Less — who will be on the road through August 6 with Roses Are Red, Bedlight for Blue Eyes and the Panic Division — will be contributing a song to the soundtrack of "The Santa Clause 3: Escape Clause," due to hit stores this fall. ... A week after parting ways with Roadrunner Records, Ill Niño have announced that they've signed with Cement Shoes Records. The band is currently in Los Angeles working on a five-song EP that will feature two new tracks and three covers. A fall release is planned. ...

Bright Eyes will issue a rarities album October 24 titled Noise Floor. The disc will feature singles, covers, tracks rescued from the cutting-room floor and collaborations recorded between 1998 and 2005. Look for the release to boast 16 tracks, including "Drunk Kid Catholic," "Soon You Will Be Leaving Your Man" and "When the Curious Girl Realizes She Is Under Glass Again." ... The Decemberists will release their fourth album, The Crane Wife, October 3. The 10-track LP was co-produced by Death Cab for Cutie guitarist Chris Walla and features singer/songwriter Laura Veirs on the track "Yankee Bayonet." The Washington state indie rockers will tour in support of Crane starting October 17 in Portland, Oregon, and the 26-date trek wraps up a month later on November 18 in Vancouver, British Columbia. ... After months of speculation, Microsoft officially announced that it plans to launch its own digital-music player and download service, according to the Los Angeles Times. "Under the Zune brand, we will deliver a family of hardware and software products, the first of which will be available this year," Microsoft spokesperson Chris Stephenson said in a statement. "We see a great opportunity to bring together technology and community to allow consumers to explore and discover music together." The new player is expected to have WiFi wireless networking capacity that will enable users to share their playlists and individual songs and a download service that would have variable pricing, a move rival Apple's iTunes has resisted. ...

Joey "JoJo" Garza, bassist for the Grammy-winning Texas band Los Lonely Boys, was arrested on charges of assault causing bodily injury and possession of less than 2 ounces of marijuana at an Austin, Texas, hotel on Saturday. The incident — in which Garza, 26, was accused of assaulting his fiancee — was simply a "misunderstanding," according to Carina Lyn, Garza's fiancee. "We were being too loud," she explained, according to The Associated Press. "We apologize to the hotel guests. JoJo and I are very much in love and we are planning to be married." The band was celebrating the release of its new album, Sacred, when a hotel guest reported a disturbance. ... Tina Fey is leaving "Saturday Night Live" after nine years. The "Weekend Update" co-anchor — who's poked fun at everyone from President Bush to Drew Barrymore from the news desk — announced that she's vacating her post at the sketch-comedy show to focus on her new duties as writer, producer and star of "30 Rock," explaining that she didn't want "either job to suffer." Fey, who joined "SNL" in 1997 and became head writer in 1999, is also taking "SNL" castmember Rachel Dratch with her to "30 Rock." "SNL" alumnus Tracy Morgan and frequent guest host Alec Baldwin will also star in Fey's new sitcom, which focuses on a sketch-comedy series — sound familiar? — and debuts October 11.

07.21.06

More than five months after postponing the remaining 10 dates of their Vertigo '06 Tour due to an undisclosed illness of a family member, U2 have finally rescheduled the tour and will be hitting Australia, New Zealand, Japan and Hawaii beginning on November 7 in Brisbane, Australia. According to the band's Web site, Kanye West will open shows in New Zealand and Australia, with the concluding December 9 date in Honolulu featuring Pearl Jam opening alongside Rocko and the Devils — the band led by U2's stage manager, Rocko Reedy. U2 also added three new shows at the Saitama Super Arena in Tokyo on November 29, 30 and December 4. ...

NBC announced Friday (July 21) that it will broadcast "Madonna: The Confessions Tour Live" in November. The two-hour special will be the first broadcast network performance by the singer and will be taped at London's Wembley Stadium this summer. ...

Hilary and Haylie Duff aren't going overboard with their cover of Madonna's "Material Girl," the song that inspired the sisters' upcoming "Material Girls" flick. "The song's going to be in the movie, but we're not going to release it as a single," Haylie said. "There's no time to shoot a video ... but we already recorded it, it'll be in the opening of the movie, and it'll be on a compilation coming out [(Lip Smackers Presents) Girl Next], but not as a single." ...

Police made five arrests Tuesday at the Ozzfest show at the Post-Gazette Pavilion in Pittsburgh, Observer-Reporter.com reports — a number that Hanover Township Police Chief Jim Geho says isn't bad given the hot weather and big crowd. Among the people arrested were William Solomon, 30, for head-butting Nicole Wilson, 27, in the parking lot. Solomon was charged with harassment and simple assault. Wilson, who suffered a contusion and swelling on the bridge of her nose, was also taken in for resisting arrest, disorderly conduct and public drunkenness after ignoring requests from police to stop cursing. Three other men were arrested after fighting on the venue's lawn with two other men and a woman, with one of the men suffering a severe head laceration. In all, police issued 252 citations for violations ranging from disorderly conduct to public drunkenness and underage drinking. ...

The release of "Casino Royale" is still four months off, but producers of the James Bond franchise have revealed that the next 007 film — which will also star new Bond Daniel Craig as the secret agent — will hit theaters May 2, 2008. ... MC Hammer's music catalog was sold to EverGreen Copyrights for $2.7 million, the company announced Thursday. The rapper lost his hold on the rights to his music when he filed for bankruptcy over a decade ago. ... They represent New Jersey, not Pittsburgh. And their frontman owns a team in the AFL, not the NFL. Still, Bon Jovi are performing Sunday at Pittsburgh's Heinz Stadium for the Steelers World Championship Celebration. The show is expected to include a video tribute to the Super Bowl champs, appearances by Pittsburgh Steelers players and the unveiling of the stadium's World Championship Column. Unionized stagehands have scheduled a strike vote for Saturday and plan to picket the event on Sunday if a strike is approved, but a Steelers spokesperson said the show will go on, the Pittsburgh Tribune-Review reports. ... The Mars Volta are streaming "Viscera Eyes," a tune from their upcoming LP Amputechture, on MarsVolta.com. ...

Steely Dan believe that the concept for the comedy "You, Me and Dupree" was lifted from "Cousin Dupree," a song about a depraved couch-surfer from their Grammy-dominating 2000 album Two Against Nature — so they've posted an open letter to Luke Wilson on their Web site. Yes, Luke, though it is Owen Wilson who stars in the film. Donald Fagen and Walter Becker warn in the post that Luke's "spaced out little bro is generating some major harsh-ass karma for himself" — they note in a postscript that they didn't realize Owen was older ("you seem a lot more mature somehow"). And the group has come up with a way for Owen to redeem himself: join Steely Dan onstage and tell "the audience and the band and the crew that he made a bad mistake and that he's sorry." ... Academy Award-nominated actor Jack Warden has died, AP reports. Warden appeared most recently in "The Replacements" and received Oscar nominations for his roles in "Shampoo" and "Heaven Can't Wait." He was 85. ...

Lyfe Jennings is headlining a New Orleans benefit concert at the city's Howlin' Wolf club on Friday. Robin Thicke, Urban Mystic and Cheri Dennis will also perform at the show in the "Bring 'Em Back" series with proceeds going to Habitat for Humanity's efforts to rebuild New Orleans. ... Matthew McConaughey took off in an Airstream trailer to spread the word about "Sahara," and now the actor is using another classic vehicle to send a message. His blue 1971 Corvette Stingray convertible is being auctioned off on eBay, with the proceeds donated to Hurricane Katrina and Rita recovery efforts through Oprah Winfrey's Angel Network. "I admire and enjoy this car," McConaghey said in a statement, "but it's a luxury that I'm willin' to relinquish at this point because I am fortunate enough to have everythin' I need, and the sale of it will help so many with the necessities in life." For more information on the auction, check out Oprah.com. ... Haley Joel Osment is recovering in a Pasadena, California, hospital following his Thursday car crash. The actor, who is expected to make a complete recovery, fractured a rib and hurt his shoulder in the collision and will remain hospitalized at least through Friday, The Associate Press reports. The Los Angeles County Sheriff Department suspects that alcohol may have played a role in the crash, a spokesperson told the Los Angeles Times. Osment's blood-test results are expected in two to three weeks.

• Get A Glimpse Of Beyonce's Morning In Exclusive Photos From "Giant" Magazine
• Justin Timberlake Live In London, 07.13.2006

• Beyoncé
• Justin Timberlake
• Haylie Duff
• Jet
• Metallica

Haylie Duff in "Hairspray" on Broadway
Photo: Scott Wintrow/Getty Images

NEW YORK — A lot of stars have tried their hands at Broadway, from Diddy in "A Raisin in the Sun" to Joey Fatone in "Rent" to Usher, who will be in "Chicago" next month. But the latest to make her debut is Haylie Duff, who's now playing Amber Von Tussle in "Hairspray." And we were with her every step of the way ...

(Check out photos from Haylie Duff's debut on Broadway.)

21 days until opening night: Haylie's moved to New York and is excited to find that the stage door to the Neil Simon Theatre is within walking distance of her new apartment — where she's living without younger sister Hilary for the first time. When she goes to the theater for her first day of rehearsal, conductor Jodie Moore asks her, "Are you usually an alto or a soprano?" "I don't even know," the actress admits. They sing a bit to figure it out, running through what will be one of Haylie's main numbers, "Mama, I'm a Big Girl Now." "This is what I sang in my audition actually," Haylie says. She knows the song but still needs a little help. "Really chew out the words," Moore suggests. "Maybe alto would be good for you." Moore gives her a tape with her notes on it to listen to for homework — too bad Haylie doesn't have a cassette recorder to play it on. "This is the age of the iPod, people," she jokes later.

Also on the agenda is meeting her castmates — her new family for the next few months, since Haylie will be in the show through October. Dance captain Rusty Mowery takes her on the tour, introducing her to "Hairspray" star Shannon Durig, who plays Tracy Turnblad, Amber's arch-rival. "You'll have so much fun being mean to me," Durig tells her. Haylie then gets a rare peek at Blake Hammond (Edna Turnblad) as he's transformed from a man to a woman. "You won't recognize him next time," Rusty tells her. "He'll have boobs and a wig." But the best advice comes from Darlene Love, who plays Motormouth Maybelle. "This is what we usually do back here in the dressing rooms," Love explains. "We run up and down to the bathroom — there's only one — and sometimes we don't have on anything, so look out the door to see if someone's coming before you make your dash." "You're going to have to tell me all your tricks!" Haylie says.

			Haylie In 'Hairspray' Head backstage with Duff, who makes her Broadway debut and moves Hilary to tears, on Overdrive

18 days until opening night: Now that she's had a few days to rehearse her voice, Haylie has to learn her steps. Dance captain Michelle Kittrell starts by teaching her the most choreographed number she needs to learn, "The Nicest Kids in Town." Haylie tries to keep up while Michelle shouts out dance steps and moves: "Wave!" "Shimmy!" "Hitchhiker!" "Potato!" "Baltimore slide!" "Accentuate the shoulders on the pony circles," Michelle tells her. "In my head, I'm counting, so it's three drags with the foot, right, and then on eight?" Haylie asks. "Drag, drag, drag, turn?" Reciting lines and lyrics from that part of the show, Michelle gives her cues: " 'Don't be silly, the TV's not color, it's black and white!' Keep your right arm up." "So out, out, in?" Haylie asks about her arm movements. "I have it, it's just remembering that I do it that way." After trying the choreography a few times, Haylie's worn out. "Wait, we've got to go back. I forgot about what I'm doing. I'm in overload now."

7 days until opening night: "Are you ready? Because we're not!" William Ivey Long, the costume designer for the show and Broadway vet of 25 years, says as he swings open the doors of the fitting room. "It's your final fitting, what do you think?" Haylie twirls in the bright yellow dress she wears for the show's finale (minus the bodice; that's still being worked on). "I love it, I love the belt!" William says, sitting down and looking up at her dress. "This is the exact angle of incidence, this is 10th row center. I did a test once." "So am I going to be flashing people?" she asks, lifting up the skirt. "I keep you from doing that by sitting here," William says. "That's how I notice the bottom needs to come up." Getting up, he pins her. "Is this for your meanest scene?" he asks. "She throws a fit, she throws the flowers, she crawls under the chair," Haylie says, and realizes, "How am I going to fit under a chair in this?" The dress is 4 to 5 feet wide, like she has multiple petticoats on underneath. "Can you get under the stool?" William suggests. "Can I? Should I?" "If it won't hurt the dress, it won't hurt you." "And it won't crinkle it?" "The layers are all plastic," he reveals. "It's a 12-layer cake!" she laughs.

Now that Haylie's learned her songs and dance moves, she has to try them out onstage for practice. This time she knows the steps but has a lot of questions about the blocking for "The Nicest Kids in Town." "So behind Corny [Collins]?" "So I have to wait until the music changes for that? All the way to 12? Do I have to make it to 12? All the way down to four? And I'm still even with her, right?" Michelle Kittrell pretends to be Brenda, another council member from the Corny Collins Show, and practices with her. "You're behind Link Larkin, Tammy is up here, so when you're going here, she's following you," Michelle explains. "And when you turn the corner, she's going behind you to get in the line, so that's why you have to step on four, you set the line." "When I turn, it confuses me," Haylie tells her.

4 days until opening night: It's Haylie's first dress rehearsal, her first time doing any of the songs or dances with anyone else in the company besides her instructors, and instead of asking questions or missing turns, she's going through it like a pro. She's the only one in costume, besides a fellow newcomer who's playing Link Larkin. "That was the first time I felt like I knew it," Haylie says. "I didn't feel like I missed too much. We only stopped a couple of times in that.

"With acting, you're learning it in the environment you're going to shoot it," Haylie explains. "And before this, I hadn't danced in a couple of years, so it was about getting my body back in that mode, and using muscles that you don't really realize you're using. It's like running at the gym: You're not using all the tiny muscles that you use when dancing, especially old-school dances. It's way different than going out dancing at a club."

Opening night: Thirty minutes before the show, everyone signs in and gets ready for the rush of performing live for a capacity crowd of 1,500. Haylie is a little overwhelmed to learn the crowd is almost double what she thought it would be, but she feels like the hard part was the dress rehearsal. "That made opening night a little more easy and relaxed."

Her sister Hilary shows up two minutes before the curtain rises and sits with their mother, aunt, uncle and assorted friends in the sixth row. "It was my first time seeing anything she's done for this, and I was bawling," Hilary admits during the afterparty at the Palm, for which the cast is not only celebrating Haylie's joining the company, but also the production's four-year anniversary. "I thought she saw me, I thought she was looking at me, so I was going, 'I love you!' " "I couldn't see anybody!" Haylie says. "I know how nervous she was coming up here, but it looked like she had done the show 20 times," Hilary says. "We're so proud." Haylie's overcome with emotions after having made a successful debut in front of her family: "I can't really think about what she just said, because I'll cry!"

• Haylie Duff's Debut In "Hairspray" On Broadway

• Haylie Duff

• Haylie Duff
• Haylie Duff/Hilary Duff

Haylie Duff in the January 2006 issue of <i>Maxim</i>
Photo: Maxim

Hilary Duff's big sister, Haylie, is working on becoming a star in her own right — she played a snotty student in "Napoleon Dynamite," she's a pregnant coed on "7th Heaven," and now she's trying to let her inner bad girl shine in the new issue of Maxim, on stands Thursday. Though she's posing in her lingerie, the elder Duff has a hard time revealing too much about herself, not exactly fessing up to any really bad behavior. That feud between the Duff sisters and Lindsay Lohan? Haylie says it's "very one-sided." She told the mag, "Hilary and I would read things or people would ask us about it, and we'd say, 'We're not those kinds of girls.' " Haylie also disputes Lindsay's claim that Haylie once hung up on her when she called to say she wanted to hang out and that she was sorry. "That totally did not happen," Haylie said. "Just because we're not in the same crowd doesn't mean I'd be mean to her." What will Haylie actually admit to? Well, she got a ticket for reckless driving once, and she cried to try and get out of it. ...

Don't start calling Christina Aguilera "Christina Bratman" — the newly married singer told "Access Hollywood" that she's keeping her maiden name, at least professionally. "Aguilera's definitely my stage name," she said. "But 'Mrs. B' has been the cute thing that my friends like to call me." Aguilera also told "Access," in an interview airing Wednesday (December 14), that she had "an amazing time" on her honeymoon, and she's "glowing" from planning the first Christmas that she and Jordan Bratman will spend together as husband and wife. ... Dave Chappelle's former manager, Mustafa Abuelhija, has filed suit against the funnyman in New York federal court claiming that Chappelle owes him more than $864,000. Abuelhija was Chappelle's personal manager from 2001 until he was fired in June, during which time he claims to have helped the star sign millions of dollars in contracts. He is suing for breach of contract, though he has no proof of a deal with Chappelle, because their management agreement was "never reduced to writing." ...

Rapper Terrence "Mad Dog" Moore, 36, was sentenced to life in prison without parole on Tuesday in the January 2004 shooting death of Amjed "AJ" Abdallah, the owner of a Detroit-area recording studio once used by Eminem. According to The Associated Press, Moore shot Abdallah and stole a mixing board because he thought he was being overcharged for studio time. ... Ricky Martin will play the Taj Majal in Agra, India, on February 25 to kick off the 8th Wonder of the World concert series. The 10-show series will take place bi-annually over a five-year period at such locations as the Eiffel Tower in Paris, the Coliseum in Rome, the Great Pyramid in Cairo, Egypt, and the Parthenon in Athens, Greece, and will benefit UNICEF's Unite for Children, Unite Against AIDS campaign, as well as YouthAIDS and the Ricky Martin Foundation. The next concert, at Beijing's Forbidden City, will take place September 2, 2006, while a concert at the Statue of Liberty in New York will close out the series in 2010. ...

Bobby Brown's not done yet — he's got one more episode of "Being Bobby Brown" to share, and just in time for the holidays. The extra episode will show Brown and wife Whitney Houston making last-minute preparations for a Christmas gathering in Atlanta — shopping, cooking, and trimming the tree — and what happens at the resulting party. "Being Bobby Brown: Christmas With the Browns" airs December 21 on Bravo at 11 p.m. ... The authorities in Kazakhstan aren't playing around anymore. After British comedian Sacha Baron Cohen (a.k.a. Ali G) jokingly reacted to the Central Asian nation's distaste for jokes he made at its expense at the MTV Europe Music Awards in Lisbon, Portugal, last month, the government-appointed organization that regulates Web sites with the .kz domain name suspended Cohen's borat.kz Web site. The site was down as of Wednesday. According to a Reuters report, the president of the Association of Kazakh IT companies said, "We've done this so he can't badmouth Kazakhstan under the .kz domain name." After the MTV show, Kazakhstan's Foreign Ministry said it suspected that Cohen was under "political" orders to denigrate the country. Cohen, who is Jewish, responded by posting a message on the Borat Web site that said, "I have no connection to Mr. Cohen and fully support my government's position to sue this Jew." ...

Three unreleased songs from the All-American Rejects — acoustic versions of "Move Along" and "Dirty Little Secret," as well as the B-side cut "Bite Back" — are available exclusively through iTunes, in the form of the Bite Back EP. ... Former WWE champion and Fozzy lead singer Chris Jericho has just signed a book deal to write his memoir. The book, called "A Lion's Tale," will focus on his formative years in the wrestling business. ...

Neil Young will be the keynote speaker at the next South by Southwest festival, taking place in Austin, Texas, March 15-19. He'll be joined by director Jonathan Demme, who'll be screening his musical portrait "Neil Young/ Heart of Gold," which documents Young's performances in Nashville earlier this year. ... Al Cabino, a self-described "sneaker activist," is fighting for your right to wear sneakers inspired by the film "Back to the Future Part II." An avid collector of rare kicks, Cabino recently launched an online petition demanding that Nike release a shoe modeled after the gray moonboots worn by Michael J. Fox in the 1989 movie. Nike originally created the sneakers for the film, but they were never made available to the public, something Cabino is hoping to change. So far he's collected more than 2,800 signatures from sneakerheads around the world, and though Nike has yet to comment on the issue, Cabino insists he's in it for the long haul. ...

12.13.2005

50 Cent isn't content to be a music and movie star — he also wants to be a movie producer. The rapper told MTV Europe that he's just completed a development deal to produce films. "When I come across a screenplay that's as exciting as my life story, then I will commit to it," he said. 50's already planning to turn his forthcoming G-Unit series of street fiction books into DVD films, if not theatrical releases, shortly after they are published in 2007. ... Meanwhile, 50 and Dr. Dre are facing a copyright-infringement suit, which was filed last week in Manhattan federal court in New York. Janine Gordon, who also goes by JahJah, claims that 50 and Dre borrowed from three of her songs ("Poppin' at Da Club," "Crazy Dreams" and "Hardcore") for The Massacre. ...

It's been more than four years since Moby ripped into Eminem over lyrics the clean-domed DJ deemed "homophobic and misogynistic," and though it appeared the feud was all but over, someone forgot to tell Moby. In a December 6 journal entry on his Web site, Moby again takes Em to task, writing about a recent murder trial in England in which an avid Eminem fan, Christopher Duncan, pleaded guilty to murdering his girlfriend and then stuffing her into a suitcase just hours after performing the rapper's songs in a London karaoke bar. "Now we find out that a British man who is obsessed with Eminem killed a woman with a metal baseball bat and stuffed her body into a suitcase," Moby wrote. "Maybe there's no connection, maybe there is. It's disgusting that we even have to ask that question. ... It's disgusting that people in the media have celebrated musicians who write lyrics that glorify misogyny and homophobia." ... Mike Shinoda will take his Fort Minor side project on the road next year, beginning January 28 in Minneapolis and wrapping up February 9 in Atlanta. Shinoda will be backed by a 10-piece band and will perform some Linkin Park tracks "Fort Minor style," according to his spokesperson. ...

Lindsay Lohan's parents reached a divorce settlement on Monday, ending a battle that started in January when Dina Lohan served Michael Lohan with divorce papers. Dina's lawyer said that "the matter has been resolved and an agreement signed," though he couldn't discuss the terms of the agreement per a gag order from the judge overseeing the case. During their very public battle, the Lohans shot a series of accusations at each other, with Dina claiming that her husband was abusive, and Michael calling her a liar and demanding a cut of his daughter's earnings. ... Travis Barker and No Doubt's Adrian Young are facing off to see who is the better drummer at Guitar Center's annual Drum Off in Los Angeles. The event, which will also feature Bad Religion, takes place January 14 at the Wiltern LG. ...

Members of Korn, Linkin Park, the Offspring, Pennywise, Bad Religion and Taking Back Sunday will all be hosting a week's worth of programming on "Hostile Takeover," a new program that will debut Friday on Sirius Satellite Radio's Faction channel. The hosts will play whatever tunes they like and take phone calls over the air. A definitive schedule is being worked out, but Pennywise are set to host the week of December 23 and Korn will take the week of January 6. ... Bob Dylan has signed on to DJ on XM Satellite Radio. He'll host a weekly hour-long radio show during which he'll spin records, interview guests, take e-mails and offer commentary on music. "A lot of my own songs have been played on the radio, but this is the first time I've ever been on the other side of the mic," Dylan said in a statement. The as-yet-untitled show will debut in March on XM's Deep Tracks (channel 40). ...

Jack Johnson, O.A.R. and Guster have donated rare or live tracks to Rock for Relief, a benefit compilation for Mercy Corps, which is providing relief to victims of the Indian Ocean tsunamis, hurricanes Katrina, Wilma and Rita and the earthquake in Pakistan. Tracks from Howie Day, Citizen Cope and Marc Broussard will also be included. ... Josh Kelley has a holiday gift up for grabs for all you big spenders out there. He is auctioning off a fan package on eBay (dubbed "the ultimate Josh Kelley experience") which will include a meet-and-greet with the singer/songwriter, backstage access before and after the show, a pass to his soundcheck, and the opportunity for you and three of your friends to sit onstage with him during his concert. The winner will also receive a signed Gibson Les Paul Electric Guitar valued at $1,200. Ninety percent of the proceeds go toward the Coalition on Donation, a nonprofit group of national organizations that urges people to donate life-saving organs and tissues to those in need. The auction ends Friday. ...

What do you get the iPod enthusiast who has everything? Well, underwear manufacturer Play's released its iBoxer, a button-fly boxer short that comes complete with a "front pocket which is perfect for holding your iPod" or cell phone. The undies are available in five colors and will set you back $22. Those who pick up two pairs will get three free song downloads from iTunes. ... Buckcherry will release Fifteen, their first album in four years, in the spring. They shot the video for the first track, called "Crazy Bitch," at the Key Club in Los Angeles with director Ulf Buddensieck. The song can be heard on their MySpace page at myspace.com/buckcherryworldwide. ...

• Haylie Duff
• Christina Aguilera
• The All-American Rejects

Haylie and Hilary Duff (file)
Photo: Amanda Edwards/Getty Images

Celebrity sisters Hilary and Haylie aren't spending a lot of time sitting around on their ... uh ... duffs.

Hilary Duff will follow up her gig as a presenter at the April 2 Nickelodeon Kids' Choice Awards by filling in for "The View" co-host Elisabeth Hasselbeck while the former "Survivor" contestant goes on maternity leave (see " 'Hilary Duff Is A Loser And A Chicken,' Harvard College Paper Says"). Then on the last weekend of April, she'll shoot a video for a still-untitled single that's expected to appear in her next film, "The Perfect Man."

In it, Hilary tries her best to set up her single mom, played by Heather Locklear, on a date. The movie is being directed by Mark Rosman, who was also behind the lens for Duff's "A Cinderella story" last year. The comedy is due in theaters June 22 (see "Wanna See Hilary Duff Act Like A Bitch? Here's Your Chance").

After that, Hilary's fans will have to wait until August, when a new album is due. Though it's scheduled to be a collection of hits, so far four new songs are slated to be featured, including the single she's about to make a video for.

With the sibs' Ice Breakers commercial already in the can and work on their joint film "Material Girls" under way, Haylie isn't getting much of a break either (see "Duff Sisters To Channel The Hiltons, And Possibly Madonna, For 'Material Girls'").

"I'm shooting 'I Remember' and doing 'Material Girls' and we're doing school," the exhausted elder sister said. The former is a thriller in which she stars with Jamie-Lynn DiScala ("The Sopranos"), Lori Petty ("A League of Their Own") and DJ Qualls ("Road Trip"). "And then I shoot a movie in Costa Rica called 'Surf Schools.' "

Haylie also contributed to the "Family Guy Live in Las Vegas" CD/DVD set that's due April 26, adding music and comic relief to television's crazy cartoon family the Griffins. With all of this, Haylie said her own album has taken a back seat. "I haven't really been working on it," she confessed. "We've been doing so many other things. When it's time to do it I want to really sit down and focus on it."

• Hilary Duff
• Haylie Duff

Haylie and Hilary Duff help celebrate McDonald's World Children's Day
Photo: Amanda Edwards/Getty Images

LOS ANGELES — Hilary and Haylie Duff had a blast covering "Our Lips Are Sealed," but remaking "Material Girl" is more up their alley.

"We grew up rocking out to Madonna when we were younger," Hilary said. "We would make up dances when we were little kids to her music. We feel honored to get to do this."

The sisters will record the Madonna classic for the soundtrack to "Material Girls," a comedy about sibling heiresses who lose their father's fortune in the wake of a scandal and are forced to fend for themselves (see "Duff Sisters To Channel The Hiltons, And Possibly Madonna, For 'Material Girls' ").

"We are so excited," Haylie said. "It's just a crazy script and crazy characters and really high energy and it's really funny. Their personalities are crazy and the outfits are going to be cool and hopefully it will have an interesting cast. There's a lot of little parts in there and hopefully we can get our friends to be in it as well."

The sisters in the movie are heiresses (named Persia and Tanzie, no less), but it's "not the story of [the Hiltons'] life or anything," Haylie said.

And speaking of Paris Hilton ...

"I knew you were going there, I knew it!" Haylie interrupted — "there" being the battle between Haylie and Paris over the rights to a song called "Screwed" that both have recorded (see "Leak Complicates Paris/ Haylie Fight Over Who Gets 'Screwed' ").

"I don't know, there's all sorts of stuff going on [with "Screwed"]," Haylie said, scooting around the question. "Right now we're still recording and writing. I didn't sign the papers with Hollywood Records [Hilary's label]. ... We're just working on some acting stuff right now and kind of deciding what we're going to do with the music."

Along with "Material Girls," which will film in January, Haylie is shooting the indie "Dishdogz." In a perfect world, she would also do a sequel to the surprise hit "Napoleon Dynamite," although there are no plans as of yet.

"A sequel would be awesome," she said. "It's my favorite movie. We threw a big Halloween party, a couple of my girlfriends and I, and people came dressed up as Napoleon and Pedro and Summer and I turned around and was like, 'Oh my God, you came dressed up as me!' It's kind of crazy."

Hilary and Haylie also just finished voicing "In Search of Santa," which will be released directly to video on November 23. In the animated movie, the sisters play penguin princesses, Crystal and Lucinda, who set out on a journey to find Santa Claus.

Hilary then has "The Perfect Man," with Heather Locklear and Chris Noth, hitting theaters around Valentine's Day.

The former "Lizzie McGuire" star also has a European tour in the works for the first part of 2005 and will hit the States in the summer. In the meantime, she's performing at several radio station-sponsored holiday shows and will drop the second single from her recently released self-titled album.

"I really want 'Weird' [to be the next single], I like that," Hilary said. "We haven't shot a video or anything yet, so I gotta hurry."

On Tuesday, Hilary and Haylie joined Clay Aiken, Randy Jackson and other celebrities in making cement handprints that are being auctioned off on eBay to benefit Ronald McDonald House Charities. The event was part of the third annual World Children's Day. (Click for photos of Hilary, Haylie and Clay at World Children's Day.)

"If you go in and get anything that's a value meal, anything with a number, 15 cents of that goes to a Ronald McDonald House charity," Hilary said. "It's so easy to give."

• Hilary Duff
• Haylie Duff

Haylie and Hilary Duff (file)
Photo: Getty Images

Hilary and Haylie Duff are living in a material world, and they are going to be material girls — in their first movie together, that is.

The famous sibs have already teamed up for one '80s cover for a film this year (the Go-Go's' 1981 classic "Our Lips Are Sealed" for the soundtrack to "A Cinderella Story"), and now they have their sights set on another: Madonna's 1984 hit "Material Girl" for the soundtrack to the like-named comedy "Material Girls," in which they'll co-star.

The Duffs will play sibling heiresses who lose their father's fortune in the wake of a scandal and are forced to fend for themselves in the real world. There are shades of the Hilton sisters not just in the setup, but also in their characters' improbable but distinctive names, Persia and Tanzie. This "riches-to-rags" tale originally attracted interest from Anne Hathaway and Lindsay Lohan.

Producers are currently deciding on a director, and the script is going through one more rewrite. The film is scheduled to begin shooting in January. As for that song the Duffs have in mind, thanks to the fact that the film is being produced by Madonna's Maverick Films, permission probably won't be much of a problem. However, reps for both sisters caution that as far as the cover of "Material Girl" is concerned, everything is still being negotiated, and nothing has been signed just yet.

In addition to their cover of "Our Lips Are Sealed," the Duff sisters have collaborated before, working on Hilary's albums together and touring as a package deal this past summer (see "Hilary Duff Shows A 'Girl Can Rock' — Safely — At New York Show"). While Hilary has the higher profile in the film world, Haylie received rave reviews as a popular high school brat in "Napoleon Dynamite" this summer.

• Hilary Duff
• Haylie Duff

Hilary Duff getting styled before the 2004 VMAs
Photo: Jason Nevader

MIAMI — What do you get when you stuff two stylists, a publicist, a magazine shoot, two TV shoots, two security guards, a makeup artist, two hairstylists, two dogs and a mom in one place? Hilary and Haylie Duff's very crowded room at the Palms Hotel in the hours leading up to the Video Music Awards.

While the Duff duo were getting ready for their red carpet arrival the afternoon of the awards (see "Instant Fashion Profile: Hilary, Haylie And Omarion Go From Naked To Natty"), their two-bedroom penthouse suite was swarmed with people assisting with that process. It's just that the process wasn't so simple.

The sitting area was filled with people who were there to write stories on the Duff girls, and their publicist was trying to adhere to a tight schedule, which had the sisters out the door by 4:45 p.m. Despite the fact that at 4:20 Hilary hadn't been able to eat and Haylie's hair wasn't finished yet, they posed for every shot, sat for every interview, and charmed everyone in the room at the same time.

While Hilary was posing for photos, she talked about bands with her makeup artist. While Haylie was getting her makeup done, she enthused about the idea of seeing Mary-Kate and Ashley Olsen at the awards, as well as her old pal Ashlee Simpson (see "Want Some Miami Heat? Check The Fashion On The VMA Red Carpet").

	Photos: Inside Hilary and Haylie's dressing room

Behind the scenes, the stylists took over one bedroom with wardrobe items. There were two racks of clothing (outfit options for the red carpet, the awards and the parties), at least 50 pairs of shoes from Gucci to Richard Tyler to Christian Louboutin, and so many accessories that they took up both beds and some shelf space as well. The stylist who pulled the clothes for the event was ironing, sewing, and mixing and matching jewelry to find the exact right look for each of the girls. The other bedroom was private and used for actual sleeping, though only the dogs were enjoying that luxury before the VMAs.

While Hilary was getting her makeup done, Haylie was checking out the catered food. After surveying the choices — fruit, seafood salad, chicken, salmon, mozzarella and tomato salad, and a whole table devoted only to desserts — Haylie popped some olives in her mouth and prepared a plate of food. "You guys have to eat the olives," she said while taking a bite of half a tuna sandwich, "or else I'm going to finish them." She then declared her love not only for the tempting olives, but also for peperoncini.

	Click for a behind-the-scenes look at Omarion’s and Hilary and Hayley Duff’s VMA getups

When it came time for Haylie's makeup, she turned up the Red Hot Chili Peppers on the iPod and passed along some grooming tips she'd picked up from all the makeup artists she's worked with, such as a warning against waxing your eyebrows: The skin above the eyes is so thin that when you keep tearing it off, it ages faster.

Later on the iPod, Hilary played the Smiths and the Postal Service and sang along to the latter's "Such Great Heights" while she layered on tons of antique gold necklaces in preparation for the show. As Haylie put on her vintage green and gold belt, she said, "I hope this is one of the things I get to keep."

	Go behind the scenes at the 2004 VMAs

By 4:30 p.m., one of the security guards gave five seconds to the remaining members of the press by literally counting to five and moving the girls to the next station. He and the publicist wanted people to pack it in so Hilary, Haylie, their mother, and their friends could enjoy 15 short minutes of alone time before the whole zoo began again.

For everything we've got on VMAs past and present, including news, features, photos and more, check out MTV.com's Video Music Awards area.

• Hilary Duff
• Haylie Duff

Paris Hilton's <I>Confessions of an Heiress</I>
Photo: Touchstone/Fireside

Despite the leak of Paris Hilton's version of the song "Screwed," Haylie Duff is plowing ahead with her plans to include her version of the song on her own upcoming debut album, since she procured the first rights to record and release the song from both of the songwriters and from their publisher, her rep said. There's no release date for either of the two fledgling singers' albums. ... Meanwhile, Hilton's book does have a release date — "Confessions of an Heiress: A Tongue-In-Chic Peek Behind the Pose" is due out via Simon and Schuster on September 7. ...

Rick James will be buried on Saturday at Forest Lawn Cemetery in Buffalo, New York, according to The Associated Press. A public viewing will be held from 11 a.m. to noon at St. John Baptist Church followed by a funeral service and burial. James passed away on Friday at his home in California. ... Lenny Kravitz, who earlier this month announced a fall tour to promote his album Baptism, is canceling the outing — for now — citing family matters as the reason. "I was really looking forward to getting out there to meet and play for my fans," Kravitz said in a statement Thursday (August 12). "Unfortunately, things come up in life that you cannot control. I hope my fans will understand and I will definitely make it up to them with these shows next year." Kravitz's 19-city tour was to begin September 11 in Atlantic City, New Jersey. ...

Christina Aguilera fans who bought VIP-ticket packages to her canceled summer tour but have yet to receive a refund take note — a hearing is being held in the matter, and the singer is inviting you to attend. Since the company that provided the ticket packages, FansRule, went bankrupt, the hearing is being held at the Bankruptcy Court in Worcester, Massachusetts, on Tuesday, during which the singer's lawyers will fight a motion that seeks to have the FansRule trustees' payment a higher priority than repayment to consumers. ... On August 27, Jay-Z will release the third shoe in his series of S. Carter kicks with Reebok — the S. Carter Basketball Mid. To celebrate the release, Jay will be doing a Footlocker in-store in Miami on August 30. ...

JoJo and Gavin DeGraw are joining a whole host of tennis stars (such as Serena Williams and Mandy Moore's ex Andy Roddick) to headline Arthur Ashe Kids' Day, an annual daylong festival of children's tennis activities. The event, the kickoff to the U.S. Open, will take place on August 28 at the USTA National Tennis Center in Flushing Meadows, New York, and will be hosted by Quddus of "TRL." ... Prior to their October tour with New Found Glory, Green Day are lining up a club tour to perform their new album, American Idiot, due September 21, in its entirety. So far, shows are scheduled for Los Angeles (September 16), Chicago (September 18), New York (September 21) and Toronto (September 24). ...

More dates for the Beastie Boys' fall tour have been announced. Tickets for shows in and around Los Angeles (September 13), Philadelphia (October 11) and Atlanta (October 15) go on sale this weekend. Meanwhile, a second San Francisco show (September 17) has been added after the first sold out. ... George Clinton pleaded no contest to two misdemeanor drug charges on Wednesday, according to The Associated Press. The rainbow-haired funk musician was arrested in December in Tallahassee, Florida, when he was found in his car with cocaine in his pocket and a glass pipe. Clinton has been sentenced to 200 hours of community service (he plans to teach free music-education courses) and two years of probation. ...

While Frank Black is making the rounds with the reunited Pixies, the singer is also working on dropping albums of his own. The two-CD Frank Black Francis, due this fall, compiles both pre-Pixies demos and new versions of Pixies tunes; while an album of new Black solo material that was recorded in Nashville is planned for the spring. ... Before Tommy Stinson was known as a member of Guns N' Roses and after he left the Replacements, he was in Perfect. The group's album, Seven Days a Week, never came out. But now, retitled to reflect the LP's troubled history (three labels and three release dates that never came), Once, Twice, Three Times a Maybe is finally hitting shelves, via Rykodisc, on September 14. ...

Queen of Soul Aretha Franklin has plans to start a record label called Aretha Records, on which she plans to release her future albums. Her next LP, a collection of duets, will be released by the new Sony/BMG conglomerate. ... Louisville, Kentucky, live-tronica quartet VHS or Beta will release their sophomore disc, Night on Fire, on September 21. The album will feature production work by Mocean Worker. ...

8.11.2004

The suit brought against Snoop Dogg by two Louisiana women who alleged that their images were used on the cover of the "Girls Gone Wild Doggy Style" tape without their permission has been settled. The women, who were 17 and 18 years old at the time the pictures were taken, according to The Associated Press, claimed that they were told by Mantra Films Inc. owner Joseph R. Francis that their photos would not be used in connection with the video. The terms of the settlement were approved on July 21, but have not been revealed. ...

Metallica are the subject of a "tribute night" to be held Friday by the Fresno Grizzlies, the AAA affiliate of baseball's San Francisco Giants. Grizzlies players will wear Metallica-themed jerseys, and the band's songs will be played between innings. The jerseys will later be auctioned off to benefit the Grizzlies' community fund. The team ran a similar Jimmy Buffett tribute night in May. ... Those searching for spiritual salvation at Target stores will have to look elsewhere. The monolithic chain store has stopped selling the Kabbalah red string bracelet, which retailed for $25.99 on its Web site. A representative at Target's guest relations division said the company received a number of phone calls and e-mails complaining about the product, but would not confirm that the objections were the reason for the product's removal. There is some good news: You can still purchase the ubiquitous red string at the Kabbalah Centre's official Web site, for just a penny more. ...

Founding member of the Kinks Dave Davies has been partially paralyzed by a stroke. According to The Associated Press, Davies collapsed on June 30 while promoting his new solo album, Bug. The guitarist, who is paralyzed on the right side of his body but has some feeling, will reportedly have to spend at least another month in the hospital. Doctors feel that with the help of physiotherapy, he will recover. ... Mandy Moore posted a new message on her Web site about how she's been writing more songs with her friend James (most likely James Renald, the writer of her single "Cry"), but feels like she's been slacking on getting her new album together. "I've been kind of a lazy bum recently," she wrote. "In between watching some wonderful films, hanging with some new friends and going to the occasional meeting, I've been writing a bunch ... and I'm really excited to find the right producer, band, and get working on the record for real." ...

Mariah Carey may have thought a plagiarism lawsuit against her was dismissed, but an appeals court has reinstated the suit, allowing two songwriters to sue her for her 1999 hit with Xscape, "Thank God I Found You." Songwriters Seth Swirsky and Warryn Campbell say "Thank God" is a retooling of their "One of Those Love Songs," a track they wrote for Xscape. ... Metal outfit Cradle of Filth will hit the road later this year on an MTV2-sponsored North American tour. Mudvayne will co-headline the trek. No word on the other bands that will join the tour, and dates and cities have not yet been announced. ...

Tanya Donelly plans to record her next album in front of a live studio audience at the end of the month. On August 27 and 28, the former member of Throwing Muses, the Breeders and Belly will record 10 songs at a performance in Bellow Falls, Vermont. Joining her will be members of the Dambuilders, Come, Buffalo Tom, Fuzzy and others. ... Actress-turned-rocker Juliette Lewis doesn't think KFC is finger-lickin' good — she's just sent a letter to the fast-food chain taking them to task for their treatment of animals, on behalf of PETA. "I was deeply disturbed to learn from my friends at PETA that KFC continues to permit outdated and cruel treatment of chickens by its suppliers," she wrote, urging the company to replace its current animal-handling methods with less-violent methods. ...

"Just Say No" advocate Nancy Reagan would be proud — the new album by Social Distortion, due September 28, is titled Sex, Love and Rock 'n' Roll. The LP's first single, "Reach for the Sky," recently surfaced at radio. ... James Brown has been busy getting all his memories in order for his upcoming autobiography. "I Feel Good: A Memoir of a Life of Soul" will hit bookshelves in January 2005. ... Grateful Dead bassist and blood-and-organ-donor advocate Phil Lesh will host a blood drive at New York Blood Center's Upper East Side headquarters on Saturday from 8 a.m. to 3 p.m. Lesh will sign posters and pose for photos with donors between 11 a.m. and 2 p.m. ...

• Haylie Duff
• Rick James
• Christina Aguilera
• Lenny Kravitz
• JoJo

Haylie Duff's Debut In "Hairspray" On Broadway

• Haylie Duff

Making the Video: Hilary and Haylie Duff "Our Lips Are Sealed"

• Hilary Duff
• Haylie Duff