Kanye West crops up in a new video by fellow Chicago rapper Kid Sister that began making the rounds Monday. The clip for Kid Sister's "Pro Nails" was made for only $3,000 and directed by Ruben Fleischer (M.I.A., Dizzee Rascal). ... Does R. Kelly's exhausting "Trapped in the Closet" series still have you thirsting for more? If so, then there's some good news -- a new extras-heavy DVD for the series is dropping December 11. It will feature chapters 1-22 in their entirety; "chapter 12.5," a recap of the first 11; live performances of chapters 2 and 3; the MTV VMA performance of Chapter 12; Easter eggs; a DVD trivia game; and running commentary from Kelly. ...

Akon pleaded not guilty on Monday (December 3) to [article id="1575434"]charges[/article] of endangering the welfare of a minor and second-degree harassment during [article id="1575434"]a concert[/article] held over the summer in Fishkill, New York. The singer entered his plea in a Fishkill courtroom and his attorneys issued a statement, according to The Associated Press. "It was never Akon's intent to violate the law," the statement reportedly read. "This unfortunate incident was a spontaneous reaction during a live concert that Akon deeply regrets. We are confident that this matter will ultimately be resolved in a manner that does not in any way interfere with Akon's successful career." Akon allegedly threw a 15-year-old fan into the crowd during the show, which took place on June 3 and was caught on fans' cell phone cameras. ...

The man who [article id="1575477"]took hostages[/article] at Senator Hillary Clinton's campaign office in Rochester, New Hampshire, on Friday was arraigned on Monday. Leeland Eisenberg, 46, was ordered held with bail set at $500,000 on charges of kidnapping, criminal threatening and false reports of an explosive. He is also being held for a mental-health evaluation over the incident, for which he is accused of claiming to have an explosive device taped to his chest and holding five people hostage at the office. Prosecutors said Eisenberg's criminal record dates to 1978 and includes charges of burglary and rape. A public defender representing Eisenberg said his client regretted the disruption and was grateful police didn't shoot him, according to AP. Randy Hawkes said Eisenberg heard voices and last week saw a "movie in his head" that told him he had to "sacrifice himself" to bring attention to the issue of mental health. ...

Chamillionaire will appear on "Larry King Live" on Monday night to discuss Don Imus' recent return to radio. The program airs on CNN at 9 p.m. ET -- Cham's new disc, Mixtape Messiah 4, drops December 18. ... Ashley Tisdale got a nose job on Friday -- but not for cosmetic reasons, People reports. "Growing up I always knew I had a deviated septum on the right side of my nose which caused trouble breathing," the "High School Musical" star told People. "The older I got, the worse it got. I went to get it checked out, and the doctor told me the septum was 80 percent deviated and that I had two small fractures on my nose." Tisdale reiterated: "I didn't do this because I believe in plastic surgery. I did this to help my health. I literally almost could not breathe out of the right side of my nose. ... I want my fans to know the truth. I'm not someone who is going to act like I had nothing done. ... It's uncomfortable, and I hope this is the only time I ever have to go through something like this." ... Despite Britney Spears' myriad problems, she found time to celebrate her 26th birthday with Paris Hilton in Bel Air, California, on Saturday night, according to TMZ.com. ...

Led Zeppelin and Metallica on the same bill? Call it too good to be true, but that's what an e-mail published in industry commentator Bob Lefsetz's newsletter is reporting, Billboard.com reports. Speculation over potential Zep reunion gigs [article id="1570788"]has been rampant[/article] amid the reunited band's planned [article id="1573307"]December 10 show[/article] at London's O2 arena, including suggestions that it would be [article id="1574740"]touring next year with the Cult.[/article] ... Kid Rock has plotted his biggest concert outing yet, for next year. His Rock and Roll Revival Tour -- which will also host Run-DMC's Reverend Run among other friends -- starts January 25 in Evansville, Indiana. From there, Rock will hit Milwaukee, his Detroit hometown, St. Louis, Nashville, Atlanta and other cities before winding down the arena trek March 22 in Toledo, Ohio. ... The Postal Service's Jimmy Tamborello, the One AM Radio and others have contributed remixes to an untitled six-song EP the Silversun Pickups will debut December 11 on iTunes. The effort features new versions of the band's "Lazy Eye" and "Little Lovers So Polite." ... Just in case you needed another reason to go to Oslo, Norway, for the Nobel Peace Prize Concert, Kylie Minogue has been added to the bill. She will share the stage with Alicia Keys, KT Tunstall and others at the December 11 event, at which Al Gore and other [article id="1571757"]Nobel Prize-winning laureates[/article] on the Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change will be honored. ...

Evel Knievel just [article id="1575514"]passed away Friday,[/article] but already some people are trying to horn in on the late stuntman's estate, AP reports. Shelly Saltman -- a public-relations agent who was attacked in 1977 by a Knievel after the stuntman became enraged about a book wrote Saltman had written about him -- won $12.75 million in damages after filing suit decades ago. But the sum has still gone uncollected, and Saltman estimates it would now amount to more than $100 million. Knievel's son Kelly wouldn't comment on the dispute or discuss the size of his father's estate, AP reports. ... Natalie Maines certainly isn't shying away from taking a stand -- the outspoken Dixie Chick is coming to the aid of three men who have been convicted of murder and whose cases were portrayed in HBO's "Paradise Lost" documentaries. In a lengthy, detailed post on the group's Web site, she says, "I believe that three men have spent the past 13 years in prison for crimes they didn't commit," and goes on to explain their case's background. Maines says that, after watching one of the films, her "heart sank" when she discovered online that the men are still in prison. ...

Brad Pitt is trying to Make It Right in New Orleans -- the actor said in an interview on the "Today" show on Monday morning that he's planning for at least 150 eco-friendly houses to be built in the Lower Ninth Ward by the end of summer 2008. Pitt has pledged $5 million for the project and is campaigning for more donations. "Basically, $150,000 will get a family back in their home," he said. ... Jimmy Kimmel is no Carson Daly. While Daly recently crossed the [article id="1573641"]writers' strike[/article] picket lines and resumed production on his NBC late-night show, Kimmel's program is not only still observing the protest -- the host has quietly been paying entry-level production assistants, receptionists and other low-paid members of his staff, according to TMZ.com. ...

Classic rock will rule the day again at the Super Bowl on February 3, when Tom Petty and the Heartbreakers take the stage for the halftime show at University of Phoenix Stadium in Glendale, Arizona. The band is the latest in a line of old-school acts that have performed during the game over the past few years, including Prince, the Rolling Stones, Paul McCartney and U2. ... Once you've paid more than $3,300 for a bat-adorned coat once owned by Ozzy Osbourne, do you wear the thing out to a party? That's just one of the items that drew big bucks during a weekend auction of items from Sharon and Ozzy's closet, which raised more than $800,000 for the Sharon Osbourne Colon Cancer Foundation, according to Reuters. Among the other items sold were a pair of skull-adorned sneakers ($2,625), a pair of Ozzy's wire-rimmed sunglasses ($5,250), the beaded wire model of the Eiffel Tower seen in the family's kitchen on "The Osbournes" show ($10,000), Ozzy's floral Mary Rose Young tea cup ($1,625) and the family's custom pool table ($11,250). Bloomberg reported that the devil's head plaque that hung on the family's front door, expected to fetch $1,200, sold for $8,750, but a 2006 Bentley Continental Flying Spur that was expected to go for more than $160,000 got no bids, nor did a 1950 Oldsmobile Futuramic 88 Club Coupe once owned by romance author Danielle Steel that was thought to be worth $40,000-$50,000.

11.30.2007

Michael Jackson's Thriller, the best-selling album of all time, is getting big love in time for Valentine's Day. In celebration of the release's 25th anniversary, Epic/Legacy is revisiting it with a deluxe edition containing unreleased bonus tracks mixed by or featuring Kanye West, Akon, Will.I.Am and Jackson himself. Thriller was originally released November 30, 1982, and the new 25th Anniversary Edition, dropping February 12, will have eight extra cuts: a fresh Kanye remix of "Billie Jean"; Akon and Will.I.Am's new take on "Wanna Be Startin' Somethin' "; "The Girl Is Mine" and "P.Y.T." remixes by Will.I.Am; the rare unissued song "For All Time," a track from the original recording sessions that has been newly mixed and mastered by MJ; "Someone in the Dark"; "Carousel"; and the original "Billie Jean" demo. The set will also house a DVD with Jackson's Thriller short films, which have been digitally remastered -- "Thriller," "Beat It" and "Billie Jean" -- as well as his Emmy-nominated performance of the latter song on 1983's "Motown 25: Yesterday, Today, Forever" TV special. Lastly, it will also have an exclusive Jackson-penned greeting to his fans. While the Thriller deluxe edition doesn't drop until February, the Jackson action actually starts in December when he releases a new single and launches a new global-marketing campaign. ...

Kevin Federline's lawyer Mark Vincent Kaplan has subpoenaed Britney Spears' friend Sam Lufti in the ex-spouses' [article id="1573838"]child-custody case,[/article] according to People.com. The subpoena was reportedly served on November 7, but Lufti didn't appear at a Friday deposition that was rescheduled for January. Kaplan will request a court order to make sure Lufti attends the January session, the site said. People.com reported in late August that a car-ramming incident occurred when Federline's legal team attempted to serve Lufti with papers, and according to UsMagazine.com, Lutfi is scheduled to appear before the Los Angeles city attorney over the matter, which is being considered a "vehicle vandalism incident." The closed-door hearing will be held December 18. ... "The Tonight Show With Jay Leno" nonwriting staffers have been laid off due to the ongoing [article id="1573641"]writers' strike,[/article] according to TMZ.com. ...

Lindsay Lohan is finally finding time to return to her music career, according to People. The singer, whose last album was 2005's A Little More Personal (Raw), will reportedly start recording a new album for Motown within the next two weeks. She is also reportedly planning to shoot a cameo on "Ugly Betty" once the writers' strike ends. The mag also reports that LiLo has split with Riley Giles, the boyfriend she developed a relationship with[article id="1571340"]while in rehab[/article] at Utah's Cirque Lodge over the summer. according to People. ... The "High School Musical 2" soundtrack was the best-selling album of 2007 with 2.3 million copies sold -- the lowest figure yet by a year's top LP since SoundScan started keeping track of such sales in 1991. The sequel soundtrack beats its predecessor's previous mark -- the original "HSM" soundtrack, last year's best-selling disc, sold 3.7 million copies. Daughtry's self-titled album is the second-best-selling album of 2007. ...

Flo Rida -- a rapper hailing from, well, you know -- owes T-Pain a favor: The latter rapper's spot on Flo's new single, "Low," has helped boost the track into the top 10 on the Billboard Hot 100, and the song has been at the top of the iTunes chart for three consecutive weeks. But Pain isn't the only person lending Flo Rida their skills -- fellow Floridian Rick Ross and Trey Songz are also featured on his major-label debut, Mail on Sunday, with J.R. Rotem, the Runners and others helping out behind the boards. ... Reese Witherspoon is the highest-paid actress in Hollywood, earning $15 million to $20 million per movie, The Hollywood Reporter announced Friday (November 30). Angelina Jolie -- who reportedly made $8 million for "Beowolf" and $20 million for "Mr. & Mrs. Smith" -- comes in second, with Cameron Diaz, Nicole Kidman, Renée Zellweger, Sandra Bullock and Julia Roberts following behind. ...

Morrissey is suing NME after the English music mag failed to apologize for an article criticizing the former Smiths frontman's views on immigration. BBC News reports that a deadline to print a retraction on the piece expired on Thursday, and the singer's lawyers are starting legal proceedings against the magazine and its editor for what Morrissey's manager has deemed a "character assassination." A recent issue of the magazine quoted Morrissey as allegedly saying, "Although I don't have anything against people from other countries, the higher the influx into England the more the British identity disappears. So the price is enormous. ... If you travel to Germany, it's still absolutely Germany. If you travel to Sweden, it still has a Swedish identity. But travel to England and you have no idea where you are." The cover of the issue quoted Morrissey as saying, "The gates of England are flooded. The country's been thrown away." Morrissey, who has split his time between Rome and Los Angeles over the past decade, was reportedly responding to a question about whether he would ever return to live in the U.K. In a follow-up interview, NME reported that Morrissey clarified his earlier comment by saying, "It could be construed that the reason I wouldn't wish to live in England is the immigration explosion. And that's not true at all. ... There are other reasons why I would find England very difficult, such as the expense and the pressure." He also allegedly added that he didn't think his comments were inflammatory, but "a statement of fact." Morrissey's spokesperson said the singer had been misquoted and that critical parts of the interview were omitted. An NME spokesperson confirmed that legal action is pending but would not comment further. ...

Brand New, As Tall as Lions and the Receiving End of Sirens are converging for Triple Crown Records' 10th anniversary show, to be held December 17 at New York's Blender Theater at Gramercy. Proceeds from the show will go to the FealGood Foundation for 9/11 first responders and Shirts for a Cure. ... Band of Horses, who are cropping up on critics' albums-of-the-year lists left and right, will head out with a 20-date headlining trek starting January 20 in South Carolina, their home state. The jaunt will also end there, on February 12, with the group hitting Philadelphia, Boston, Cleveland, Nashville, Dallas and other cities along the way. ... From First to Last have joined the bill for next year's Take Action! Tour, which kicks off in February. Every Time I Die are still set to co-headline, although the other previously announced co-headliner, Escape the Fate, have dropped off the lineup. Hopeless/Sub City, which stages the fest, also announced that it has picked Do Something, a nonprofit that distributes weekly grants to young people looking to make a difference in their community, as the tour's charity.