Think Hilary Duff's just a goodie-two-shoes for the tween set? She ditches that too-sweet side in the new issue of Elle, taking on her critics in a cover story for the magazine's July issue. Asked about the fluffy nature of most of her films, she responds, "Um, are you saying my movies are crap?" Even if Elle doesn't, there's no denying the critics' response -- after all, The New York Times' Stephen Holden called her "talent-challenged." "He doesn't really fit the demographic," Duff replied. "So I could really care less. Look at me, and look at where he is -- sorry! Would he prefer that I take some super-adult role that is inappropriate so I would have no place to grow? ... Suppose the next thing I did was this super-edgy independent movie where I was pregnant or shooting up. What would that do to my fanbase?" She also has no love for the music critics and radio programmers who dismiss her pop music. "I feel like I do so much," she tells the mag. "And it strikes me that I don't hear myself on the radio. That critics don't really talk about my music. I mean, a song like 'Wake Up' is not for a 50-year-old man with arthritis who doesn't want to get out of bed" ([article id="1534014"]Click to see photos from Duff's Elle layout.[/article]). The July issue of Elle also features a peek at John Mayer's new album. ...

A retrial date of October 16 has been set for the wrongful-death suit filed by the family of Notorious B.I.G. against the city of Los Angeles. In a ruling on Thursday, Judge Florence-Marie Cooper reversed the position she stated last month, when the judge accused lawyers for Biggie's family of misleading the court by claiming that the Los Angeles Police Department and city attorneys withheld documents. Cooper said she now believes that no deception occurred and urged both parties to continue the information-sharing process leading up to the new trial date. ...

Jury selection is under way in the trial between the White Stripes and producer Jim Diamond, who says Jack and Meg White owe him royalties after he played an important role in the band's development. Diamond -- who owns Detroit's Ghetto Recorders studio -- is listed as co-producer on the Stripes' 1999 self-titled debut and as sound mixer on their 2000 album, De Stijl, and as such, argues that he helped develop their signature sound. The White Stripes deny Diamond's claims and have said in court documents that they paid him $35 an hour for their time at Ghetto Recorders. ...

With Radiohead's North American tour under way and Thom Yorke's "not-solo" album (The Eraser) due July 11, can fans ask for much more? Well, yes, apparently: Yorke will perform on "The Henry Rollins Show" on the Independent Film Channel July 15 at 10 p.m. ET (you know celebrity guest John C. Reilly is stoked). The show will repeat on the 20th at 11 p.m., while other upcoming performances include Dinosaur Jr. and Daniel Johnston. ... Omarion is almost done recording his new LP, slated for an August 22 release. The singer's record will be called 21, coinciding with his age, and the first single is named "Entourage." ...

Snow Patrol have been forced to postpone their entire U.S. summer tour after singer Gary Lightbody's throat specialist ordered the vocalist to rest his voice until mid-July, according to the band's spokesperson. Snow Patrol will reschedule all the dates in the previously announced cities for September 6-30, with the addition of shows in San Diego and Las Vegas on as-yet-unannounced dates. Tickets for canceled dates will be honored at the rescheduled shows. ... Musicians planning to spend their Monday (June 12) in New Jersey trying out for a place in Beyoncé's all-female backing band will now have to get to New York if they want to be heard. Auditions have been moved to Sony Music Studios in Manhattan, and will be held Monday from noon to 9 p.m. For more information on the auditions, which will also be held in Atlanta, Chicago, Houston and Burbank, California, visit Beyonce.com. ...

Velvet Revolver, who continue to work on their forthcoming second album, will take a break from the studio in late July for a pair of live appearances. Look for the Revolver to rock Kelseyville, California, on July 29 and Paso Robles, California on July 30. ... Mötley Crüe frontman Vince Neil will be opening a tattoo shop inside the Flamingo Casino and Resort in Las Vegas; construction on the shop begins next week. Neil told the Las Vegas Review-Journal that, as you might expect, his tattoo shop will have a "rock and roll vibe." A late summer opening is planned. ... Shinedown have been tapped as the opening act for the upcoming Godsmack and Rob Zombie tour, which kicks off on August 25 in Dallas, Texas, and runs through October 1 in Concord, California. ...

It's been about a decade since the release of Violent Demise: Last Days, Body Count's third and supposedly final release. But on August 1, Ice-T and his reunited band will issue a 12-track LP called Murder 4 Hire, which promises to be just as controversial as the band's 1992's self-titled debut -- the record that originally featured the infamous "Cop Killer" track. Ice-T, who plays a detective on "Law & Order: Special Victims Unit," kicks off Murder with "Invincible Gangsta," which contains the line, "F--- the cops." Look for the record to feature "In My Head," "Dirty Bomb" and "Down in the Bayou." ...

The son of late N.W.A rapper Eazy-E, Eric Wright Jr. -- better known as Lil' Eazy-E -- was arrested in Compton, California, Saturday night and charged with possession of a firearm, according to The Los Angeles Times. Lil' Eazy, 22, who released his first album, Prince of Compton, earlier this year, was driving a car that was pulled over for a traffic violation when police allegedly found a pistol on him. Two other unidentified people in the car were also arrested, one for possession of a handgun, the other for a probation violation. ... Dance-music artist Kevin Aviance, 38, was in stable condition in a New York City hospital over the weekend after being attacked by four people in what police are calling a hate crime. According to a Reuters report, Aviance, who has scored #1 hits on the Billboard dance chart with songs including "Da Da Din" and "Alive," was kicked and beaten early Saturday morning as he left a gay bar, attacked by four youths who called him "f----t." The singer suffered head trauma in the incident, which resulted in charges of hate crime assault and hate crime harassment for the four attackers, aged 16-20.

06.09.2006

Paris Hilton got into a minor fender-bender in Los Angeles Thursday after doing some shopping, The Associated Press reports. After video of the accident surfaced online, Hilton's publicist confirmed to AP Friday (June 9) that the heiress had backed her Range Rover into a parked car the day before. The publicist denied that Hilton left the scene without leaving her contact information, saying she instructed one of the parking attendants to "pass along" her info to the owner of the other car. "Paris is a very responsible and a very good driver," the publicist said. "She takes her driving seriously." No injures were reported. ...

The Chicago judge presiding over R. Kelly's child-pornography case admonished both sides at a Thursday hearing, during which he ruled that the sex tape at the heart of the charges against the singer could be shown in open court. Judge Vincent Gaughan has been pressing the defense and prosecution to commit to a summer trial date for the case -- which has been in the pretrial stage for four years -- but lawyers on both sides asked for more time to prepare and contact experts. "This is getting a little frustrating," Gaughan said. "The work isn't getting done." Gaughan also said he decided to allow the viewing of the tape, in which Kelly allegedly has sex with an underage girl, because "if there was no tape, we wouldn't have a case." Gaughan's ruling was surprising since both the prosecution and defense asked to limit the viewing of the tape to the judge, lawyers, jury and press, so as not to embarrass or further victimize the girl in the video (who is alleged to be 14 on the tape and is now 21). Meanwhile, a separate case involving that same tape is also moving forward, as Kelly gave a deposition last week in an invasion-of-privacy lawsuit from an of-age woman who sued the singer, alleging that he videotaped her without permission. ...

Madonna is facing yet another lawsuit, this time from a stagehand who was injured during her Re-Invention Tour stop at California's HP Pavilion at San Jose in 2004. Max Garcia claims in a suit filed Wednesday in Santa Clara County Court that a member of Madonna's crew rushed while loading equipment and failed to secure it properly, causing it to fall on him as they broke down the set after the show. Garcia's lawyer told MTV News that his client has been disabled for the past two years, unable to work because of back and spinal injuries, so they're seeking seven-figure monetary damages for lost wages (past and future) as well as medical costs. The case is scheduled for an October 17 management conference. At the same time, Madonna's got one less lawsuit to worry about. She and her Maverick Film Company were sued a year ago by two venture capitalists, Jim McClay and Barry Kohout, who claimed the Material Girl's company defaulted on a $100,000 loan. McClay and Kohout's lawyers at Jacobs Law Group just told MTV News that they've reached a "favorable" settlement that was "mutually acceptable." ...

Former Detroit Pistons forward Derrick Coleman is upset that he wasn't the only one promoting a Super Bowl weekend party featuring Nelly -- so he's suing a couple of Detroit promoters who claimed they would also have the rapper at a February 4 event. Coleman's company, Beyond the Arc Entertainment, filed suit this week in Detroit federal court against the Motown Music Festival and Strather and Associates (a real estate firm involved with promoting the competing party). Coleman claims that the promoters created confusion in the marketplace and he sold fewer tickets as a consequence. Coleman's Platinum Party event -- which Nelly's own Derrty Entertainment was also hosting -- took place at the Detroit Opera House, while the Motown Music Fest show was at the Masonic Temple that same night. Nelly made the first party, but was a no-show at the competing event. Coleman is accusing the other promoters of false advertising, and he's seeking $500,000 in damages, according to his rep. Strather and Associates had no comment. ...

She's addressed those wedding rumors and let you take a peek at her new baby, but now Angelina Jolie wants to put the focus back on what she's passionate about. The goodwill ambassador for the UN High Commissioner for Refugees is asking people to take time out on June 20 to think about those who've had the courage to persevere despite having to leave their homes behind. "For the millions of displaced persons around the world, please help keep their hope alive and remember World Refugee Day," Jolie said in an appeal recorded in Namibia in May. For more on World Refugee Day's message of hope, visit UNHCR.org. ... Ten years ago, Weezer released what would eventually be heralded as their emo classic, Pinkerton. Around that same time, singer Rivers Cuomo enrolled at Harvard. Cuomo finally received his Bachelor of Arts degree in English from Harvard University in Cambridge, Massachusetts, on Thursday, with PBS "NewsHour" anchor Jim Lehrer delivering the commencement speech. Topping off the excitement, Cuomo is getting married in 10 days. ...

Brittany Murphy might guest star on "Faster Kill Pussycat," the first single from Oakenfold's just-released A Lively Mind, but the "8 Mile"-er told Cosmopolitan magazine that the song isn't her recording debut. She's been making secret guest appearances on records for years, apparently, in addition to plugging away on her own debut, which she hopes to have out this fall. "I've worked on a lot of other people's albums anonymously -- a lot of rap, hip-hop and R&B stuff -- and I hear myself on the radio all the time," she told the magazine for its cover story. "I've just always kept it a secret and never taken credit because I wanted to learn how to work behind the microphone in a recording studio, and some of the singers don't even know it was me recording on their albums." That's because Murphy sang backup when they weren't in the studio and, as she points out, "My singing voice isn't like my speaking voice." ...

Pete Doherty is back in rehab, according to AP. After a bizarre incident in Germany involving a bloody syringe, the Babyshambles singer checked himself into a detox clinic in Portugal, his lawyer said in court Friday. Doherty was scheduled to appear at a hearing on the progress of his rehab treatment, which the court had ordered after he was arrested for drug possession. ... Stevie Wonder will participate in a 40-day observance of the Detroit riots, which broke out in the city 40 years ago, AP reports. Wonder will sing at Ford Field on July 26, 2007, along with gospel artist Kirk Franklin and other to-be-named performers. The five-day riots claimed 43 lives in 1967. And sadly, Wonder's mother, Lula Mae Hardaway, passed away in Los Angeles earlier this week. She was 76. ... Slayer have announced Christ Illusion as the title of their forthcoming record, which has bumped around a bit but is now slated for release on August 8. Expect to find "Consfearacy," "Jihad" and "Flesh Storm." ...

Canadian indie-rockers Broken Social Scene have shot a clip for their latest single, "Fire Eye'd Boy." While the video showcases their wacky side with a workout-based theme, more notably, the clip features Rush singer and Canuck icon Geddy Lee as one of the "American Idol"-like judges of their workout presentation (perhaps another dig at "Canadian Idol," which BSS slammed at the Juno Awards). The video also features singer Kevin Drew's grandmother. ... Lillix's second album, Inside the Hollow, is set to hit stores in August. Co-produced by Jeff Saltzman (the Killers) and James Michael (Alanis Morissette), the follow-up to Falling Uphill features "Blackout," "Sweet Temptation (Hollow)," "Wishing Well" and "Got Off Easy."