Foxy Brown was arrested at a Pembroke Pines, Florida, beauty-supply store on Thursday, The Miami Herald reports. Police said Brown -- who was booked on charges of battery and resisting arrest and was held overnight on $1,500 bond -- spat on and threw hair glue at Hayssam Ghoneim, an employee of Queen Beauty Supply, who asked the rapper to leave the store as it was closing for the night. Authorities tracked down Brown, who had left the shop by the time police responded to the store's 911 call, and asked her to return to the store as part of a criminal investigation. Brown refused, according to the report, and struggled with an officer. No injuries were listed on the police report, but Ghoneim plans to press charges, according to the Herald. The rapper was sentenced in October to three years probation and mandatory anger-management classes in connection with a 2004 altercation at a New York nail salon. ...

In other legal news, Nicole Richie was charged Friday (February 16) with misdemeanor driving under the influence, The Associated Press reports. The charges stem from her December 11 arrest after 911 callers reported her car heading in the wrong direction on a Los Angeles freeway. She was found alone in her SUV, stopped in a car-pool lane and was arrested after failing a field sobriety test. In addition to the single count, the case contains an allegation that Richie had a prior misdemeanor DUI conviction in June 2003. The California vehicle code specifies that if convicted of DUI twice within 10 years, a person can be sentenced to between 90 days and a year in jail; fined between $390 and $1,000; and have driving privileges suspended. The complaint alleges Richie was under the influence of an alcoholic beverage and an unspecified drug when she was arrested. Arraignment is scheduled for Wednesday. ...

Justin Timberlake is expanding his William Rast clothing line. The label's new collection for women will now include outerwear, dresses, silk tops and cashmere sweaters, while the new men's line will add outerwear, blazers and leather to the established denim collection. "To be affiliated with this clothing line means a lot to me," Timberlake said in a statement. "We are taking the William Rast label to the next level and will continue to deliver excellence." ... Don't set your TiVo for a Michael Jackson episode of "American Idol" just yet. According to "Idol" producer Nigel Lythgoe and a spokesperson for the singer, reports that Jackson will appear on the talent competition are inaccurate. "It's not true, is what I can say, just not true," Lythgoe said in an interview with Television Weekly. So what is really in store for "Idol" fans? The producer hinted that "the biggest thing that's happened to 'Idol' in five years" was a couple of weeks away, but would only explain that "it does include 'American Idol,' and it does include America." ...

A Los Angeles judge has granted 20th Century Fox's request to dismiss a lawsuit filed by two fraternity brothers featured in the film "Borat" on the grounds that the film is protected as free speech based on matters of public concern, according to The Hollywood Reporter. The suit, filed by two South Carolina students in November, alleged that the filmmakers provided the plaintiffs with alcohol and tricked them into making racist and sexist comments. The men sought damages, claiming their actions on camera caused embarrassment. An earlier motion by the plaintiffs to cut their scene from the film was denied. ... Ricky Martin headlined George W. Bush's presidential-inauguration ball back in 2001, but the singer has apparently changed his mind about the U.S. leader, delivering a one-finger salute while singing his name in the song "Asignatura Pendiente" at a concert in San Juan, Puerto Rico, last Friday. "My convictions of peace and life go beyond any government and political agenda," Martin explained in a e-mailed statement on Thursday, "and as long as I have a voice onstage and offstage, I will always condemn war and those who promulgate it." ...

Cameron Diaz has been awarded "substantial" damages from the publishers of The National Enquirer, according to an AP report. Diaz sued British-based American Media Inc. after the tabloid printed stories in May 2005 that the actress had been spotted in a "smooching session" with a married producer working on her MTV show "Trippin'." At the time, Diaz complained about the article, and photographs claiming to be evidence of the affair were removed from the Enquirer's Web site. The lawsuit has now been settled out of court, and the terms of the agreement are confidential. In a statement read in London's High Court on Friday, the magazine "apologized unreservedly" for making the claims, and "entirely accepts that the allegations were without foundation and ought never to have been published." ...

Federal agents removed boxes of belongings from the Orlando, Florida, home of Lou Pearlman, best known as the manager behind Backstreet Boys and 'NSYNC, on Thursday. AP reports that the former boy-band mogul, now a restaurateur who owns an entertainment complex in Orlando, has had three of his companies overtaken by a court-appointed receiver earlier this month. Florida's Office of Financial Regulation alleges that Pearlman has been milking millions from investors while running a bogus savings program for 15 years. ... The word karaoke may mean "empty orchestra" in Japanese, but a South Korean woman turned it into something quite substantial while setting a new world record this week. Picking up the mic to encourage her husband during his battle with a brain tumor, Kim Seok-ok, 52, sang for 59 hours and 48 minutes, exceeding the previous German record by 36 minutes. Afforded a five-minute break each hour, Seok-uk refused to sit while singing, claiming that true karaoke singers would never accept a chair. More than 1,000 songs later, she dropped to the floor a record-holder on Valentine's Day. "Life may be painful," Kim told AP, "but face the challenge." ...

Ian Astbury has announced that he'll no longer be working with Ray Manzarek and Robby Krieger of the Doors, and will instead focus all of his energies fronting his own band, the Cult. Astbury toured with the surviving members of the Doors, under the moniker Riders on the Storm, for the last four years, and just wrapped up a sold-out European tour. "I have decided to move on and focus on my own music and legacy," he said in a statement. "I have enjoyed performing and sharing the stage with Ray Manzarek and Robby Krieger immensely. I have learned a great deal from the both of them, and it certainly has expanded my abilities as a performer. This has been a difficult decision to make but I feel I would be holding them back as well as myself if I did not depart at this time." There's no word yet on what this means for the future of Riders on the Storm.

02.15.2007

Former WorldofBritney.com fan site webmaster Ruben Garay posted a message on his site ThatOtherBlog.com wondering about Britney Spears' ex-assistant Felicia Culotta. He got his answer -- the singer's former employee responded with a letter expressing concern that Brit's headed for a big fall. "We (as in her family and nearest and dearest -- all of whom are not on the payroll anymore!!) are doing everything in our power to get help for Britney," she wrote in the letter. Culotta, who has relocated to Mississippi, said she hopes that any drop is followed by a resurgence for Spears. "When she does indeed hit rock bottom, she'll stand up and walk away from this whole fiasco a new, confident, changed, career-driven Britney like we all knew and loved." A spokesperson for Spears' label, Jive Records, could not be reached for comment. ...

It looks like the NBA All-Star Game might not be the hottest event in Vegas this weekend. Heiress/ reality-TV star/ wannabe singer Paris Hilton will celebrate her birthday on Saturday at the Hard Rock Hotel and Casino in Sin City. Some of Hilton's famous friends -- including Fergie, Snoop Dogg, Nicole Richie and Fat Joe -- will help her blow out the candles, according to a press release. Also, one of her musically minded pals will perform a surprise concert for guests. ... Is there any reality in the rumor that Mariah Carey honored a request by producers to fly coach to the set of her drama "Tennessee" -- only she bought out the entire economy class to keep it to herself? "No, it's not true," Carey told MTV Europe. "That is probably one of those things that is going to haunt me for the rest of my life, but that would be pretty funny if somebody was stupid enough do that. I took my tour bus down because I wanted to be in the environment, like experience what it would be like to live in the area where we are filming and just go to real places to eat and meet people along the way and stuff like that." ...

Jennifer Lopez was presented with an Artist for Amnesty award in Berlin on Wednesday, honored by Amnesty International for her film "Bordertown," which chronicles the serial murders of women in Ciudad Juarez, on Mexico's border with the U.S. Amnesty International estimates that more than 400 women and girls have been killed in the area since 1993. Lopez, who produced "Bordertown" and stars as a journalist reporting on the killings, described the murders as "one of the world's most shocking and disturbing, underreported crimes against humanity" while accepting the award. The film premieres Thursday (February 16) at the Berlin International Film Festival. ...

The Arctic Monkeys were big winners at Wednesday night's Brit Awards in London, taking prizes for Best British Group and Album for their debut, Whatever People Say I Am, That's What I'm Not. The boys accepted their prizes at the British equivalent of the Grammys via video, dressed first as characters from "The Wizard of Oz" and then as members of the Village People. The Killers also bagged two awards, scoring the International Group trophy along with the International Album award for Sam's Town. Other winners included Justin Timberlake (International Male Solo Artist), Muse (British Live Act), Nelly Furtado (International Female Solo Artist), Oasis (Outstanding Contribution to Music) and Amy Winehouse (British Female Solo Artist). ...

What looks better than a pair of Grammys on the coffee table? A copy of the Sports Illustrated swimsuit edition next to them -- with your picture inside. Gnarls Barkley's Cee-Lo and Danger Mouse will score that rare double shot this week with inclusion of their pictorial with supermodel Jessica White in the annual bathing-suit edition of the magazine, which features Beyoncé on the cover. Kanye West and Panic! at the Disco are also included in the issue. (Check out Beyoncé's hot cover shot right here.) ...

The only thing stranger than the upcoming major motion picture about disgraced 1980s pop duo Milli Vanilli is that the living half of the duo, Fabrice Morvan, has signed off on the movie chronicling the extension-loving pair's fraudulent exploits. Variety magazine reports that Jeff Nathanson -- who wrote the Leonardo DiCaprio-starring scam-artist movie "Catch Me if You Can" -- will write and direct a film about the lip-synching group that lost their Best New Artist Grammy in 1990 when it was revealed that they hadn't sung on such hit records as "Girl You Know It's True." Morvan is on board with the project, as is the estate of former partner Rob Pilatus, who died of a drug overdose in 1998. "I've always been fascinated by the notion of fakes and frauds, and in this case, you had guys who pulled off the ultimate con, selling 30 million singles and 11 million albums and then becoming the biggest laughing-stocks of pop entertainment," Nathanson told Variety. ...

Leave it to the Queens of the Stone Age to find the most nonsensical way to announce the title of their new album. On their MySpace page, under the heading "I was at the Sizzler today," they detail an excursion to the "fast casual" establishment, complete with mentions of cheese bread and flatulent Frenchmen, when they casually drop that "the record is called Era Vulgaris. It's coming out in June." They then went on to post a number of song titles, including "Into the Hollow," "Misfit Love" and "Battery Acid," though they do add that those phrases "could be song titles. Or could not." A spokesperson for the band's label, Interscope Records, could not be reached for comment. ...

Grammy winner Joss Stone, who was also a presenter at the Brit Awards, told MTV Europe that she has "no idea" why she scored a golden trophy on Sunday. "I just sang a hook," she said of her contribution to Best R&B Performance by a Duo or Group With Vocals winner "Family Affair," by Sly and the Family Stone, which also featured John Legend and Van Hunt. "It was Randy Jackson who won the Grammy. He was the one who made the project." Stone says that when she found out about the win, she couldn't even share the excitement. "I called my mom, and she didn't pick up the phone. I was like, 'Mum, pick up the phone!' I left her a message." ...

Politically minded punkers Anti-Flag were forced to cut their Canadian tour short after bassist Chris Barker's sister and her boyfriend were killed. While Barker, known to fans as Chris #2, did not reveal details of their deaths, he did post a brief message on the band's MySpace page, which reads, "Of all the people I know, my sister was the most proud of our band. If you live in the Pittsburgh area you may have met her. It was not uncommon for her to strike up a conversation with anyone wearing an Anti-Flag pin, patch or T-shirt. She was anxious to meet anyone who was a member of the community. My sister had two beautiful children, who I'm sure will be just as curious and just as loving." ... Finnish goth metallers H.I.M. will enter Finnvox Studios in Helsinki later this month, with producers Tim Palmer (Sponge, Ned's Atomic Dustbin) and Hiili Hiilesmaa (Sepultura, Lordi) to begin tracking the follow-up to 2005's Dark Light. The new disc is due in July. ...

Guitar legend Carlos Santana branched out into women's footwear with Carlos by Carlos Santana in 2000, and now he's moving on to Mexican food. The first of his Maria Maria restaurants, named after the Grammy-winning 1999 hit, is scheduled to open in Walnut Creek, California, in April. Two additional Maria Maria restaurants are set to start operating in Northern California in May and June.