Chris Tucker owes the IRS a lot of money. Apparently he didn’t get the message that if you don’t your pay your taxes you will go to jail, I.E. Wesley Snipes, and Ron Isley. Tucker owes the IRS 11 million dollars despite earning 20 million dollars for Rush Hour 2 and 25 million for Rush Hour 3.
Jackson family matriarch Katherine Jackson has been busy promoting her new book Never Can Say Goodbye. She is also raising Michael Jackson’s three kids but sources say Katherine is not holding up well. Mom Katherine has been described as an emotional wreck. She is 80 years old and she is being pulled from all sides. There is hubby Joe Jackson who is still manipulating her, her grandkids, their mothers and her sons who still need her help financially. How much more can she take.
Changes are coming to the Real Housewives of Atlanta. Season three kicks off in September but some housewives are not going to make it. I hear Lisa Wu Hartwell will be let go during mid season. Filming is already going on without her. Hartwell is married to ex football player Ed Hartwell and she used to be married to singer Keith Sweat. In addition to cast changes look for plastic surgery, new cast members, relationship issues, and old antics. Lisa Wu Hartwell is probably being let go because she is the only one with a stable marriage.
Oprah Winfrey’s OWN cable channel will roll out with a limited launch in January. Then unveil a full scale launch later in the fall after she leaves her daytime TV show. Some of the highlights of the new network include Oscar winners Julia Roberts, Forest Whitaker, Goldie Hawn, Gabriel Bryne, and Mariel Hemingway producing documentaries. Oprah’s BFF Gayle King will be hosting a live interview show. Country sensation Shania Twain will be hosting a reality show and The Duchess of York Sarah Ferguson is getting a show too. Oprah will be doing specials for the channel.
Brian McKnight has been let off the hook. His former mistress tried to claim he was the father of her 14 year old son. McKnight had been ignoring the court orders and a judge claimed he had to pay his former mistress 400 thousand dollars in back child support. This made McKnight get a DNA test that proved he was not the father of this kid. His former mistress Miriam Lee was a woman he had been having an affair with since he was married. McKnight is no longer with the woman and his engaged to be married to another woman.
Producer Jermaine Dupri has been having a hard time letting go of former girlfriend Janet Jackson. Janet has moved on with a rich young Arab billionaire and friends say she is very happy. Dupri on the other hand is not doing well sources say he is depressed he doesn’t have Janet and he is no longer affiliated with a major record label. He has had to lay off most of his staff and his money is drying up so he can no longer afford extravagant spending sprees. Many people blame Dupri for almost ruining Janet’s career. The Superbowl fiasco which was his idea (a publicity stunt that went very wrong,) and disappointing album sales and a lack luster tour. Since leaving Dupri Janet has moved on and she has had recent success with her movies and her recent stint on American Idol and The Essence music festival. She is also in love, she didn’t want to hurt Dupri but she realized he had nothing to offer her. Dupri hasn’t been handling this situation well and his threats against bloggers who talk about him hasn’t helped. Janet has just wrapped up filming Tyler Perry latest project For Colored girls with Whoopi Goldberg, Macy Gray, Phylicia Rashad, Thandie Newton, Kerry Washington and Loretta Devine. The movie comes out in January.
No wedding bells for Alicia Keys and producer Swizz Beats. They are expecting their first child but details of her wedding are being kept under wraps. Keys recently parted ways with her longtime manager Jeff Robinson who has been with her from the start of her career. Sources say Robinson has been ripping her off financially and now she is relying on the advice of her future husband producer Swizz Beats to guide her career.
Singer Al Jarreau is doing better. Jarreau 70 collapsed on stage in France last week after experiencing breathing problems. He hopes to resume his European tour in a couple of weeks.
Singer Kem is back with a new project. Intimacy III is due out in a couple of weeks. The lead single Why Should You Stay is climbing the charts.
Lauryn Hill is prepping for a comeback. She is slowly making her way back onto the music scene. After the spectacular success of The Miseducation of Lauryn Hill she disappeared and when she did make appearances she looked crazy. Hill is the mother of five children and she has to support her family. Will she be able to have success this time around? In a recent interview Hill admitted to becoming dissatisfied with the music business and family members who she felt betrayed her. She was also involved in a crazy situation with her children’s father who was married to another woman while she had his kids. She is an amazing talent who can sing and act let’s hope she has a successful return.
Halle Berry is coming to the Simpsons. Berry will play herself in an episode that will kick off their 22nd season in September. In the season opener Bart and Homer win Academy Awards. Berry is currently in South Africa filming the movie Dark Tide and she is being accompanied by her baby daddy model Gabriel Aubrey. Berry has hired Aubrey take care of their daughter as the nanny. The two are trying to work out their differences for the sake of their daughter. Berry is taking care of his salary, food, and accommodations.
We remember Actor Carl Gordon who played the patriarch on the TV series Roc. He was 78 years old. We also remember Singer Al Goodman of Ray Goodman and Brown and The Moments. He was 67 and died while undergoing surgery to remove a tumor and he had a heart attack. The funeral will be held on Monday in Englewood, NJ. He leaves behind his wife of thirty-four years, five kids, and one grandchild. Ray Goodman and Brown and The Moments are best known for the hits Special Lady, Inside of You, and Love on a Two Way Street.
John Legend teams up with The Roots and Melanie Fiona for his new single Wake Up Everybody. This is the first single from the new album Wake Up which comes out in September.
Cincinnati will be the new football home of Terrell Owens. Owens 36 joined the Bengals after agreeing to a one year deal worth 2 million dollars. Owens will be playing with his VH1 reality show star partner Chad Ochocinco. Owens and Ochocinco both have reality shows on the VH1 Network. Owens made 6.5 million last year with Buffalo. He has previous stops with the 49ers, Eagles and Cowboys. Owens signed a two deal worth two million dollars and there is built in incentives worth another two million dollars.
Ron Isley has been spending a lot of time with the Queen of Soul Aretha Franklin. He has been joining her on her latest tour and they will be collaborating on his next album.
The NBC network is gearing up for some exciting new shows and they are bringing the hunks. Boris Kodjoe will be starring in the new show Undercover which will air on Wednesday nights. Blair Underwood will play the President of the United States in the new show The Event which airs on Monday nights. The show debuts September 20th.
Movies coming to DVD. Death at a Funeral with Martin Lawrence, Chris Rock, and Tracey Morgan comes out on August 10th. Iron Man 2 with Robert Downey Jr., and Don Cheadle comes out on September 28th.
Has Maxwell found love with Victoria’s Secret model Selita Eubanks? The two were spotted holding hands. At the beginning of the summer Eubanks was spotted with baseball’s Ryan Howard of the Philadelphia Phillies and she has also dated Nick Cannon.
Steve Harvey is coming to Philly! Friday August 13th he will be ding his morning show at the Center City K-mart at 9th and Market. Somebody is going to win a $500 dollar back to school shopping spree.
Congrats to Holly Robinson Peete she is getting a new daytime TV show on CBS. Peete will be joining a panel of women including Sharon Osborne.
Natalie Cole is preparing to write her second memoir. In her latest book Cole will detail her battle with Hepatitis C. She underwent a successful kidney transplant surgery. At the height of her illness Cole was on dialysis three times a week. Cole believes she contracted Hepatitis C because of her years of drug abuse. At the time of her kidney transplant Cole’s sister died of Cancer. In the book she will talk about that period in her life.
Actress Julia Pace Mitchell has joined the cast of the Young and The Restless. She plays the love interest of Malcolm. Mitchell’s parents are actors Judy Pace and Don Mitchell. In other Young and the Restless news doesn’t look for the return of actress Victoria Rowell who played the popular character Drucilla. Rowell has been tweeting about the hiring practices of the popular soap hinting that minorities don’t get a chance behind the scenes of the show.
Singer Angela Bofill is making a return to the public stage. Bofill suffered two devastating strokes in 2006 and 2007. She has no medical insurance and many wondered how she would make it. Bofill who is best known for the songs This Time I’ll Be Sweeter and I Try can no longer sing because the stroke damaged her vocal chords but she can speak and she has been appearing along with fellow musicians Phil Perry, Maysa and Norman Conners as they perform her songs.
Terrance Howard and Jennifer Hudson are on location in South Africa. They are filming the Winnie Mandela Story Hudson is playing Winnie and Howard plays Nelson Mandela.
Evander Holyfield’s 20 year old son was arrested last week in Atlanta on drug charges and driving with a suspended license. Earlier this year Holyfield’s wife Candy says the boxer attacked her in front of their children.
If you were a fan of The Hangover movie get ready for the sequel next year starring Bradley Cooper.
Holmes Lounge is back. Steve Holmes and crew are back in business with a new location 2029 Erieal Road in Blackwood, New Jersey. They got the sautéed crabs and seafood and they are open Thursday-Sunday takeout and delivery only.
Wesley Snipes is finally going to jail. After a ten year fight with the IRS Snipes will have to start serving a three year sentence for failing to file and pay taxes since 1998. Snipes has already given the government 15 million dollars but that did not sway a federal appeals court which ruled Snipes must serve his sentence. There is no word on when he will start serving that sentence. Prosecutors have reached their wits end and they want him in jail now.
Actor Michael Ealy has joined the cast of the CBS TV show The Good Wife. Ealy who used to date Halle Berry has a new movie with Chris Brown and Idris Elba coming out in late August, Takers.
Kevin Hart’s latest DVD Seriously Funny is out in stores. His latest movie Death at a Funeral with Chris Rock, Tracey Morgan and Martin Lawrence comes out on DVD August 10th. Martin Lawrence got married a couple of weeks ago to his longtime girlfriend the mother of his two youngest daughters. Lawrence was previously married to Patricia Smith, the current wife of Football great Emmitt Smith.
The 23rd Annual Soul Train Awards will air on November 28th.
Terry McMillan’s long awaited sequel to Waiting to Exhale called Getting to Happy arrives in bookstores September 7th.
Denzel Washington has signed on for the spy thriller Safe House as one of his future projects. Washington, who just a Tony Award for his Broadway performance in Fences, has a new movie called Unstoppable coming out in November.
Maxwell says he will have a new album by next winter, and Fantasia’s long awaited release Back to Me comes out late August.
Idris Elba is hot on the cover of Ebony magazine. His new movie Takers arrives in theatres on August 27th. Speaking of new movies, on August 20th, it’s the Lottery Ticket with Loretta Devine, Ice Cube, Bow Wow, Mike Epps & Terry Crews. Idris is also going to be the Honorary Chairperson along with Jimmy Rollins at this year’s Philly’s Men are Cooking. This event is Saturday November 27th more details coming later.
The Wachovia Center is undergoing another name change. By the fall the center will be renamed The Wells Fargo Center. The name change will happen before the start of the Sixers and Flyers’ seasons. The building opened in 1996 as the Corestates Center then it became The First Union Center. The building has been named The Wachovia Center since 2003.
The Steve Harvey Radio Show is coming to TV. The BET network will be airing The Steve Harvey Radio Show on their Centric network starting this fall. Also, get ready for the return of the TV show The Game. The cancelled CW comedy is being revived on the Bet network with the original cast.
WHAT’S THE UNDERGROUND BUZZ?!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!
This superstar singer has been in hiding. Could it be because she’s pregnant?
The Gatekeeper is back!!!!!!!!
Meetin' the Lalah-holics at the gate with hugs!!!
