Lindsay Lohan — who irritated an earlier ankle sprain this weekend shooting a video for "First" in Los Angeles, according to a label rep — recovered in time to make an appearance Monday night at Cartier's 25th anniversary celebration at its newly renovated boutique in Beverly Hills. Nicole Richie, Nicky Hilton, Sheryl Crow, Matt Dillon and Teri Hatcher also made the party. ...
Michael Jackson's current employees continue to try to bail him out, as his defense team on Tuesday (May 10) focused on what the Neverland Ranch's manager had to say. To refute earlier testimony from a security guard who had said there was a notation on the security logs not to let the accuser off the property, Joe Marcus explained that the order was due to the fact that the accuser and his brother did not have an adult with them. Marcus also testified that he was never ordered to hold the accusers' property against their will. On cross-examination, he admitted that both he and Jackson had special phones that allowed them to monitor the conversations of anyone else using Neverland phone lines. ...
Eminem's music label 8 Mile Style has agreed to an undisclosed financial settlement with Apple Computer Inc. in a lawsuit filed by the rapper in February 2004 over alleged copyright infringement, according to The Associated Press. The label accused Apple of using one of Eminem's songs in a television ad without the rapper's permission. The ads, which started running in June 2003, featured a young girl singing Eminem's "Lose Yourself" to promote Apple's iPod player and the iTunes music service. Although neither side would elaborate on the details, reps for both parties said the case was "amicably resolved." ... Usher will present Jermaine Dupri with the Golden Note Award at the ASCAP Pop Music Awards on Monday in Beverly Hills. Big Boi, Clay Aiken, Twista, Dashboard Confessional, J-Kwon, Sean Paul and producers the Matrix and John Shanks will also be on hand for the gala, which will also honor Neil Young. ...
Paris Hilton, who just launched her perfume in Europe, starting with select Sephora stores in France and England, has further plans for her scent line — she's looking to create cologne for men. Hilton is also now working with Parlux Fragrances to put out a makeup line. ... Britney Spears, no stranger to lawsuits, has another on her hands. Songwriter Steve Wallace filed suit in Indianapolis this week, claiming that Spears performed his song "Sometimes" without permission or compensation. He's also naming her record label and publishing company in the suit. ...
DMX failed to appear in court on May 3 for a paternity hearing after a DNA test proved the rapper was 99.9 percent likely the father of Davita Oden's 3-year-old daughter, Jada. Despite the results, X's lawyer asked the judge that another test be issued, but that request was denied. Oden's lawyer requested a warrant for the rapper's arrest since he failed to appear in court, but the judge opted to give the rapper one more chance to redeem himself, Oden's attorney said. DMX's next court date in the matter is set for June 9. ... Prior to a Lloyd Banks performance at Hartwick College in Oneonta, New York, two members of the rapper's entourage, identified as "Fuzy" and "Busy," allegedly raped a 17-year-old girl. According to Oneonta newspaper The Daily Star, the girl, whose identity has not been released, filed a complaint April 21 for sexual assault against the two men. She said they assaulted her in a dressing room before the concert. Oneonta Police Lieutenant Joseph Rosemond told the paper the incident is under investigation. Meanwhile, the girl's mother, who didn't give her name to help protect her daughter's identity, protested the incident by organizing students and community members to wear T-shirts with "She Said No!" on the front and "4-21-05" on the back. "She thought she was going backstage to meet the band," the woman told The Star. Banks' rep did not return calls for comment. ...
Last week, a group of Franz Ferdinand fans, concerned by frontman Alex Kapranos' high-and-tight studio haircut (think Maverick in "Top Gun") decided to band together and create an online petition demanding the singer grow his hair back. The plea, addressed to Kapranos "and/or his hairdresser," urges him to grow back his mop top (affectionately known as a "fringe") because it "symbolized a great many things to his fans — freedom, truth, beauty, justice — and he also had to push it attractively out of his eyes in order to see." So far, more than 840 folically obsessed Franz fans have signed the petition. And Kapranos has heard the masses — in his online journal at FranzFerdinand.co.uk, he wrote, "Bloody hell. There's an online petition for me to grow my fringe back. Er ... it's getting there." ...
The Pixies will again be offering fans a chance to buy official live recordings, this time from their 2005 U.S. tour, which kicks off May 26 in Portland, Oregon. The limited-edition discs can be ordered via PixiesDiscs.com. ... Slash will be featured in the upcoming TV campaign for X Games 11, which will be held August 4-7 in Los Angeles. The Velvet Revolver guitarist will be part of a choir that also includes extreme sports stars like Danny Way and Dave Mirra. ...
5.09.2005
Pregnancy is an excuse to pig out, according to Britney Spears. The singer posted on her Web site that she's excited about "eating for two" because "I get to eat lots and lots!" She's trying to balance her extra eating with trips to the gym and spa, she said. Spears also wrote that she's having fun putting together her reality show with husband Kevin Federline, "Britney and Kevin: Chaotic," which premieres May 17 at 9 p.m. on UPN. "The craziest things I've ever done have always been for the best," she wrote. "So much happened last year much too fast and I really wanted to take advantage of this opportunity to reflect on all of it. It's like my own therapy." ...
Actress Renée Zellweger married country singer Kenny Chesney on Monday (May 9) in a surprise ceremony on the island of St. John in the U.S. Virgin Islands, her publicist announced in a statement. Chesney, who had only recently been linked to Zellweger in the press, is not the first music star to woo the "Chicago" star, following in the footsteps of White Stripes rocker Jack White. ... Michael Jackson's defense started off strong last week, presenting testimony from former sleepover pals like Wade Robson and Brett Barnes, who said nothing happened when they shared the singer's bed. But on Monday, the defense turned to trying to debunk the testimony of those who had claimed otherwise. They started with former Neverland maid Adrian McManus, who had testified for the prosecution that she had seen Jackson acting inappropriately with various boys. Their strategy? Pit one housekeeper against another. Francine Contreras, who took the stand on Monday, tried to paint McManus as a bad employee who allegedly stole things from Jackson by taking clothes home with her. However, Contreras admitted on cross-examination that part of McManus' job was to take clothes home to iron them. ...
Gwen Stefani's latest project is clothing with a conscience — she's created a T-shirt via her L.A.M.B. line that benefits recovery efforts for tsunami victims. The tee reads "What Color Is Love?" (inspired by her song "Long Way to Go," about interracial relationships), and is available exclusively via Marie Claire magazine for $14.95, with all proceeds going to the relief group Duang Prateep Foundation. Stefani models the shirt on the June cover and says that the phrase on the shirt is a good message for the world. "The colors on the shirt are like a rainbow, and at the end of the rainbow, there's always sunshine," she told the mag. ... Ryan Cabrera is playing the June 4 prom for Whitehall High School near Allentown, Pennsylvania — because the homecoming queen asked him to. Senior Ashley Stokes had entered a contest at her local mall and promptly forgot about it, until the singer/songwriter announced his plans to the student body via a videotaped message last week. Stokes also won a free prom dress, a makeover, dinner with her date, a limo ride and a red-carpet entrance to her prom, as well as a picture with Cabrera to be published later in Seventeen magazine. ...
The Foo Fighters, Social Distortion and Kasabian are among the headliners for Live 105's annual BFD concert, taking place June 10 at Shoreline Amphitheater in Mountain View, California. Also on the bill are the Kaiser Chiefs, the Bravery, Sleater-Kinney, Alkaline Trio, Hot Hot Heat, Ash, Tegan & Sara, MxPx and a side project from the Foo Fighters called Jackson United. ... The Kaiser Chiefs have picked the follow-up to "I Predict a Riot"; "Oh My God" will be the band's next single in the U.S., hitting modern rock radio on June 14. The song was actually the band's first single in the U.K., as a demo on indie label Drowned in Sound in May of last year. Kaiser Chiefs re-recorded "Oh My God" for their debut album, Employment, with Stephen Street as producer. "The new version is terrific," singer Ricky Wilson told MTV News. "Although [keyboardist] Peanut and [drummer] Nick [Hodgson] did a very good job in Nick's flat on producing the first one, it's not as good. Sorry, boys. It's a lot better now and it sounds amazing and we think the single will now fulfill its true potential as the perfect song." "I don't think it's the perfect pop song," Hodgson countered. "I think we've still got to deliver that yet." "Yeah, we don't want to peak too early," Wilson said. ...
Hoobastank rang in Cinco de Mayo on Thursday by giving a private beachfront concert in the middle of the Caribbean, on a barge off Marina Cay, otherwise known as "CuervoNation," a small island off the coast of Tortola in the British Virgin Islands. The crowd included 300 radio contest winners as well as Melissa Joan Hart, Michael Clarke Duncan and Lisa and Brittany Gastineau. ... Ever dream of cracking jokes like Chris Rock? The comedian is offering six students the chance to learn directly from him and Comedy Central, via an eight-week internship, running from June 13 to August 5. "The old adage goes: 'If it don't work on the page, it don't work on the stage,' " Rock said in a statement. "Good writing is essential to a good joke, good sitcom or a good movie. ... Out of the exemplary tradition of groundbreaking writers such as James Baldwin, Toni Morrison and Ralph Ellison, it is comforting to know that we'll be training kids capable of writing 'Dodgeball.' " The internship program, in its first year, is being conducted with the help of a number of East Coast colleges, and there are plans to expand it to the West Coast in the future. ...
Ben Lee has enlisted a whole host of friends to sing on his upcoming mixtape project, called simply A Mix Tape. On deck are Kylie Minogue, the Eels, Gomez, Ash, Ben Folds and actress Zooey Deschanel. "I ran into Ben at a coffeehouse, and he was like, 'Oh, do you want to sing on my mixtape?' " Deschanel recalled. "And then he went and wrote a song in a style that he thought I would write a song." The result was a 1950s, Phil Spector-ish tune called "You're the Reason," on which she plays piano. Lee said that he'd write songs for different people's voices, if he knew their range and phrasing, or he'd just write songs that weren't "Ben Lee songs," and then try to imagine who the singer should be. "I'd wake up with some crazy idea, like, 'I want Alanis Morissette to sing this song,' " he said. "That wasn't going to happen, and then it was like, 'OK, well, what about Bob Mould? What about Har Mar Superstar?' So that's the concept." Har Mar does a track called "You're Delicious," while Neil Finn and Sean Lennon sing on a swirling psychedelic tune called "Protect Me From What I Want." ...
Nick Hornby is joining the band Marah on tour for two dates, opening the New York and Chicago shows with readings of unpublished essays specifically written for these performances. Each of the two pieces is about how Hornby, author of the books-turned-movies "Fever Pitch" and "High Fidelity," discovered a band or artist and how they impacted his life, with the band performing a song by the artist he writes about. Hornby's written past stories celebrating the Clash, Prince and the Faces. The New York show takes place June 5, while the Chicago show is set for June 11. ... The son of former Roxy Music singer Bryan Ferry, 22-year-old Otis Ferry, was arrested on Friday for lunging at British Prime Minster Tony Blair, according to an Associated Press report. The younger Ferry, a vocal advocate of foxhunting — a practice that was banned earlier this year after a lengthy debate — reportedly approached the just-re-elected Blair outside a gallery and shouted, "I've had enough of this government!" Ferry also charged the floor of the House of Commons in September during a foxhunting debate. ...
