Lindsay Lohan responds to her dad's legal dramas in the April issue of W magazine, in which she says, "He doesn't even deserve my respect." The singer/actress disputes Michael Lohan's claims that he has a right to a share of her earnings, because "he didn't do anything for my career," she told the magazine. All he did, she said, was "go out and not come home at night and make my mom and me stay up and wonder where he was and then show up three days later. So I don't think he deserves anything." However, she's not immediately dismissive of his suggestion that their family star in a reality show. "As sick as it sounds, a reality show might help, actually," she told the magazine. "At least then people could get to the truth." ...

On day three of the Michael Jackson trial, former Jackson PR rep Ann Gabriel Kite testified on Wednesday to aspects of the conspiracy charge of keeping the accuser's family captive, saying that the crisis level the singer faced after the Martin Bashir documentary aired in February 2003 and when the 1993 case information was leaked on the Smoking Gun Web site was, on a scale of 1 to 10, a 25. "I felt it was beyond a disaster," she said. She said that one of the alleged co-conspirators, Marc Schaffel, called her sounding "extremely agitated" when the accuser and his family left Neverland, later calling her back, much calmer, to say that they had been "brought back to the ranch." Kite testified that a Jackson lawyer told her they didn't need to worry about the accuser's mother, "because they had her on tape and they were going to make her look like a crack whore," she said. ...

Bail for Static-X guitarist Tripp Eisen was set at a whopping $1 million on Monday. Eisen, who has been charged by authorities in California and New Jersey with kidnapping, sexual assault and endangering the welfare of a minor for his alleged sexual involvement with two underage girls he met online, was unable to post that amount, according to his attorney, Mark Werksman. Meanwhile, Lt. Kevin Rehmann -- in an interview with the Home News Tribune of East Brunswick, New Jersey -- confirmed that Eisen's legal headache could get more intense. Police are now exploring the guitarist's possible involvement with other underage girls. "We've confiscated several computers to examine them, to see if there are other victims," Rehmann told the paper. "We suspect there may be [more] in several other states." ...

Omarion -- who's already been on the big screen via "You Got Served" and "Fat Albert" -- has signed on for two new films. The first, called "The House," is a horror movie and will be helmed by his manager and "Served" director Chris Stokes when it starts shooting in April, according to the singer's label rep. The second film, "Soldiers," is the sequel to "You Got Served," and will also be directed by Stokes, but there's no start date on that project yet. ... Vivica A. Fox will be one of three judges giving 10 aspiring actresses an opportunity to fulfill their dreams in a new reality show called "The Starlet." The Hollywood boot-camp series will put the girls through acting classes and screen tests and, of course, they will face brutal criticism from the celebrity judges. The winner will land a role on "One Tree Hill" and a one-year management contract. The show premieres Sunday at 8 p.m. ET on the WB. ...

Who knew Avril Lavigne was such a prankster? It seems the Canadian pop-punker is already drawing up her plans for April Fools' Day. "I always get everybody good on April Fools'," Lavigne told MTV Europe. "Last April I called up my mum and told her I was pregnant." She also called her manager and told him she had been in a terrible accident and was in the emergency room with a broken nose and black eyes. Uh, funny. ... Faith Evans' Capitol Records debut, First Lady, will hit shelves on April 5. Guests on the record include Pharrell Williams and Pusha T from the Clipse; the Neptunes, Jermaine Dupri and Mario Winans helped produce the project. The 13-track album will feature the single "Again," a video for which has been shot by Chris Robinson (Alicia Keys, Jay-Z). ...

Tori Amos' new album, The Beekeeper, just debuted at #5 on the Billboard albums chart, and now she's hitting the road to keep those sales figures up. On April 1 in Clearwater, Florida, she'll kick off her Original Sinsuality Tour, which will feature just her and her piano. Oh, and balladeer Matt Nathanson, who will open all the dates. ... Mike Watt is heading to Europe in April to promote The Secondman's Middle Stand, his third solo album. When he gets back, the legendary punk bassist will team up once again with the reunited Iggy and the Stooges and start work on a new solo album of "little songs, no opera," he said in a statement. ...

More dates have been added to Erasure's upcoming North American tour. The 38-date trek kicks off on April 14 in New York and runs through June 4, when the band will wrap things up with a gig in Toronto. Elkland will be handling opening-act duties. Erasure's new album, Nightbird, is in stores now. ... Shelby Lynne's self-produced new album, Suit Yourself (May 24), features guest spots from Wallflowers guitarist Michael Ward and Tom Petty & the Heartbreakers keyboardist Benmont Tench. The bare-bones LP, recorded in living rooms and other intimate settings, includes a tribute to Johnny Cash called "Johnny Met June," recorded just moments after Lynne heard about the country icon's death. The singer will make her big-screen debut later this year playing the Man in Black's mother in the Cash biopic "Walk the Line." ...

03.01.2005

Coldplay will kick off their "biggest-ever world tour" on June 27 with a series of outdoor stadium shows in the U.K. According to a message sent out to subscribers at Coldplay.com, the band will be announcing further details of its tour in the coming weeks. For the first time, the group also publicly mentioned a release date -- or at least a release month -- for its still-untitled third album, writing that it would be released in June. ...

In day two of the Michael Jackson trial, journalist Martin Bashir tried to be excused from testifying, but his attempt failed when the judge decided he could choose which questions to answer or not. The prosecution played his documentary "Living With Michael Jackson," which the judge instructed the jurors to consider some parts of as evidence, other parts as hearsay. Jackson dabbed at his eyes during the playing of the documentary, and he threw up his hands seemingly in frustration during Bashir's testimony. Jackson's attorney also told jurors that Jackson would take the stand. ...

In a reunion slightly less likely than last year's Pixies capitulation, indie rock heroes Dinosaur Jr. will get together for the first time in 15 years to play the Fuji Rock Festival in Japan (July 29-31). Singer/guitarist J Mascis has reportedly ended his decade-plus feud with bassist Lou Barlow, and the pair are expected to rejoin drummer Murph for a string of summer theater and festival shows in Europe, tentatively followed by North American dates, according to a spokesperson at Merge Records, which is reissuing the band's first three albums on March 22. ... Red Hot Chili Peppers have written 35 songs for their next album and will hit the studio this month to record them. "We're so in love with the songs we wrote," singer Anthony Kiedis said. "We're working really hard." ...

Jennifer Lopez is now "enemy number one" for PETA, which plans to target the singer in a new campaign since her clothing line Sweetface uses so much fur. Animal-rights activists plan to storm her Times Square record singing at Virgin Records on Tuesday (March 1) by showing film footage of animals being skinned alive juxtaposed with images of J. Lo dressed in fur in her latest video. The footage was shot during an investigation of fur farms in China. "There is nothing remotely 'sweet' about the torture deaths of animals killed for fur," PETA's Dan Mathews said in a statement. ... Mötley Crüe will ring the closing bell at the New York Stock Exchange on Wednesday at 4 p.m. The rockers will arrive via choppers. ...

The upcoming flick "Batman Begins," which explains the origins of the elusive Bruce Wayne and other aspects of the iconic superhero, will hit screens on June 17 in both regular theaters and IMAX theaters. ... Singer/pianist John Legend will head to Miami this month to headline one of the three Sunset Sessions for the M3 Music Summit, a gathering that merges music, technology, art, fashion and multimedia. Legend will perform on March 24 at the Doubletree Surfcomber Hotel. ... The Recording Industry Association of America filed its latest round of copyright-infringement lawsuits on Monday, targeting 753 people it suspects of illegally distributing songs online. Since September 2003, the RIAA has sued 9,100 individuals and settled with more than 1,900, according to an RIAA spokesperson. ...

The estate of late Damageplan/ Pantera guitarist "Dimebag" Darrell Abbott will most likely be split right down the middle between his brother, Damageplan/ Pantera drummer Vinnie Paul, and his father, country and western songwriter Jerry Abbott, according to the Dallas-Fort Worth Star-Telegram. The Abbott family's lawyer, Steve McClure, told the paper Dimebag had no formal written will at the time of his death. This, however, has not fueled familial bickering over his assets, which were estimated at $700,000, McClure said; that total does not reflect Dimebag's music-publishing rights, a value yet to be determined. Paul will more than likely serve as the administrator of his slain brother's estate. Meanwhile, Paul appeared onstage with Disturbed and Anthrax during a benefit concert honoring Dimebag's memory in Chicago on February 23 -- the first time he performed since the onstage murder of his brother on December 8, 2004. ...

Alter Bridge, the band that's made up of old Creed boys plus singer Myles Kennedy, are set to headline the fifth Jägermeister Music Tour, kicking off in New York on March 29. The group will be joined by Chevelle tour alums Future Leaders of the World and Texas newcomers Submersed. ... Post-punk legends Gang of Four are heading out on a reunion tour of North America in May. The band -- singer Jon King, guitarist Andy Gill, bassist Dave Allen and drummer Hugo Burnham -- recently played a string of U.K. shows, the group's first since 1981. Following their May 1 date at the Coachella Festival in Indio, California, Gang of Four will play a pair of dates at the Fillmore in San Francisco May 2-3, then trek across the continent before winding down in Philadelphia on May 21. ...

Barenaked Ladies have finished the pilot for their sketch-comedy series for FOX. "It's us getting into strange situations, hijinks, we slap the stick occasionally," singer Steven Page said recently. The Ladies are also writing their next album as well as music for a production of Shakespeare's "As You Like It" at the Stratford Festival in Ontario, Canada. ... The Wonder Stuff are about to strut some new stuff -- the U.K. band, known for such bouncy alt rock hits as "The Size of a Cow," "Cartoon Boyfriend" and "Don't Let Me Down, Gently," is back with its first new studio album in 12 years, Escape From Rubbish Island, due out March 22. The group is also heading out on the road, starting April 4 in Asbury Park, New Jersey. The 23-date trek winds up May 8 in New York. ...