Showing posts with label celebs in court. Show all posts
Showing posts with label celebs in court. Show all posts

Sunday, August 24, 2008

ATLANTA WOMAN FILES RESTRAINING ORDER AGAINST NBA PLAYER SHAQUILLE O'NEAL.

Last week Shaquille O'Neal's wife Shaunie publicly announced that she and her husband, who were on the verge of divorce, had decided to nix their divorce proceedings and continue their marriage. I wonder what was Shaunie's reaction when she learned that a Alexis Miller, an Atlanta-based rapper who goes by the stage name MaryJane, filed a restraining order against Shaq for allegedly stalking her after she ended their romantic relationship last month. According to court documents Alexis claimed that Shaq 'threatened to hurt her' and 'harassed' her over the phone with his heavy-ass breathing. For some reason, I can believe it. Dude looks like he snores even when he's wide awake. Anyhoo, court papers also claim that Shaq 'threatened to blackball her from the recording industry by paying established artists....$50,000 each for their agreement to refuse to perform or record with her in the future..." and that Shaq sent her "an unsolicited vulgar and offensive illustration of a man physically restraining a woman while forcing her to engage in sexual intercourse with him."

Now, for me, what really puts the hole in the boat is an email including in the court documents. If I'm not mistaken, Shaq did receive a formal education, right? If so, then why did an email he sent to her read like this: "I dnt no who the fuk u think u dealin wit u will neva be heard from one phone call is all I gotta make no try me. Sho me." That's a damn shame.

In the meantime, under terms of the restraining order, O'Neal, who has known Miller for the last 18 months, is prohibited from having any contact or even coming within 200 yards of Miller or her 19-month-old son. He's also scheduled to appear before a judge on Sept. 4.

Photo courtesy of TMZ.com
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Monday, July 28, 2008

LIL KIM & FOXY BROWN BOTH SUED BY PUBLISHING COMPANY FOR FAILING TO DELIVER POST-JAIL BID MEMOIRS.


Former friends-turned-rivals Lil Kim and Foxy Brown have more in common than spending time behind bars, rapping about their designer clothes and the sexual tricks they play on men. They're also become known for taking money for work they have yet to produce. Brown and Kim may soon find themselves side by side in courtroom over a new lawsuit filed by book publisher Simon & Schuster. Last week, Simon & Schuster filed two separate lawsuits in Manhattan Supreme Court yesterday (July 25), accusing both rappers of failing to deliver books for the company. The lawsuit claims Lil Kim of accepted a $40k advance for an untitled book that was to be finished by 2004. Brown also pocketed a cool $75k for an autobiography titled Broken Silence, yet neither rapper delivered a finished book to Simon & Schuster. Both rappers spent time incarcerated and both claimed to be writing books during their stays in prison.

Lil Kim served a year and one day in a Philadelphia prison for lying under oath about a shootout, while Foxy Brown served eight months in prison for repeatedly violating the terms of her probation.
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Monday, June 23, 2008

BRANDY'S MOM, SONJA NORWOOD TO FACE KIM KARDASHIAN IN COURT OVER UNAUTHORIZED CREDIT CARD CHARGES; TRIAL DATE SET.


Socialite Kim Kardashian, her sisters Kim, Kourtney and Khloe, and their brother Robert Jr. have been ordered to stand trial in a lawsuit brought by Sonja Norwood, the mother of Kim K's ex-boyfriend Ray-J. The case is scheduled to begin on Feb. 17, 2009, according to E! Online. The Kardashians were accused of spending $120,000 in unauthorized charges on Norwood's American Express card in 2006 and 2007, when Kim was dating Ray-J and working as a stylist for his sister, R&B star Brandy. The famous Kardashian siblings, who have their own E! reality series Keeping Up with the Kardashians, have denied, "generally and specifically," every allegation in Norwood's suit, saying they had her permission to make the purchases. Norwood is seeking complete compensation for the charges, plus 10 percent interest. A final status conference has also been set for Feb. 11.

I bet we won't see this lil situation on an upcoming episode of Keeping Up with the Kardashians.

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Friday, June 13, 2008

R. KELLY FOUND NOT GUILTY ON 14 COUNTS OF CHILD PORNOGRAPHY + FANS (YOUNG & OLD) REACTIONS TO THE VERDICT.


Michael Jackson got off. O.J. got off; and now R. Kelly has acquitted of 14 counts of child pornography. Is there anyone out there who is are really surprised at this outcome? I told myself I wouldn't post anything news regarding Chester's molestation trial until a verdict was reached. However, I didn't think it would come so soon...I also didn't think the jury would find him not guilty; especially when there was proof-positive evidence (that the jury viewed with their own eyes)of the singer incriminating himself on tape. And now six years after being charged with making and starring in a child porn video, R&B superstar R. Kelly was found not guilty today by a Cook County jury and walked away a free man. Jurors deliberated for about three hours Thursday and part of today before reaching their verdict. The jury cleared him on all 14 counts filed against him. As the first "not guilty" was read, Kelly dipped his head and kept it bowed during the entire reading of the 14-count verdict. When the reading was completed, he took a baby blue handkerchief from his pocket and dabbed the tears streaming down his face. He then bear-hugged his defense attorneys. Kelly, who did not testify during his trial, faced up to 15 years in an Illinois prison. After the verdict, one of his attorneys, Sam Adam Jr., described his client as deeply religious. “When they read the verdict you got to see the real Robert Kelly,” Adam Jr. said. “He sat there and he was crying. He was thanking God. He was saying ‘Thank you Jesus, Thank you Jesus’ after each count. He is not the man there doing those things to that woman.” Asked who was on the tape if it wasn’t Kelly, Adam Jr. said: “If you find that out, let us know.”

When word of the verdict spread through the courthouse at 26th and California, some Cook County deputies as well as lawyers walking through the building's first floor hallways cheered. Outside the courthouse, a huge roar came up from about 75 waiting Kelly supporters. "I love him!" one woman shouted as Kelly left the building moments after the verdict was read. "I love him! Get that on camera!" Kelly did not comment to reporters but a Kelly spokesman said the singer wanted to thank his fans "who stuck by him and supported him with such love. And most of all, he wants to thank God for giving him the strength to get through this." Of course. Outside the courthouse, Chicago's Leshi Agee, 25, shouted, "We love you!'' to Kelly as the singer left in a black SUV. "He looks so good,'' said Agee. "Bye, baby.'' Agee, who came with her three children between the ages of 10 months and five years, said, "I knew he ain't done it because he ain't that type of person. They was hating on him. He proved everybody wrong.''

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Fourteen-year-old Kewan Mackey said, "I knew he ain't do it. I knew he was going to win. Money makes the world go around.'' Nicole Jones, 16, came down to the courthouse with 15-year-old sister Neshay Jones to support Kelly. They said they have avidly followed the case. "I think this whole situation was about money," Nicole said. "I think he's innocent."

The case centered on a 27-minute videotape anonymously sent to Chicago Sun-Times pop music critic Jim DeRogatis in 2002. Prosecutors said Kelly videotaped himself having sex with -- and urinating upon -- his underage goddaughter. In closing arguments, the state said more than a dozen witnesses identified the alleged victim as being on the tape. Prosecutors also said there was no doubt that Kelly is the man on the tape and that the video was made in his Lake View basement some time between 1998 and 2000. Defense attorneys keyed in on the fact that the victim, now an adult, has denied she's the one on the tape. They noted that Kelly's goddaughter is a "sweet, nice young lady," and certainly wouldn't have accepted cash for sex, as the girl in the tape is shown doing.

Of the 12 jurors, nine were men and three were women; eight were white and four were black. They included the wife of a Baptist preacher from Kelly's Chicago-area hometown, Olympia Fields, as well as a compliance officer for a Chicago investment firm and a man in his 60s who emigrated from then-Communist Romania nearly 40 years ago. Defense attorney Ed Genson praised the jurors as well as Judge Vincent Gaughan for their work during the trial -- and noted the length of the case. "I've gone from middle aged to senior citizen," Genson said. Jurors who spoke to the media at the Cook County courthouse at 26th and California after today’s verdict said that no juror caved just because they were tired of being sequestered and wanted to go home. “All of us wanted to go home, but we knew — like the judge said the first day — we had to do our duty,” said one female juror, who declined to be identified by name.

One juror who initially voted to convict R. Kelly said he was convinced the man seen on a sex tape, which prosecutors said was Kelly with his underage goddaughter, was indeed Kelly. But after discussions about the defense arguments that prosecutors had not proven the girl’s identity, the juror decided that prosecutors had not proven Kelly’s guilt in the child porn case beyond a reasonable doubt. Reporters told the jurors some details the jurors were not allowed to hear in court — that Kelly had married aspiring actress Aaliyah Haughton when she was 15 years old; that three girls had filed lawsuits against him claiming he lured them into sexual relationships when they were underage; and that other girls had threatened similar suits but settled out of court.

Asked by reporters if that evidence would have changed their minds, one male juror said “I would have had to work harder [to vote for acquittal].’’ Added a female juror, “If they had presented it, who knows what we would have done.’’ But jurors said they believed it was their task just to consider the case at hand: Was it R. Kelly and his goddaughter on the tape?

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Monday, June 2, 2008

LIL MAMA ON WHY HER FIRST TIME MEETING R. KELLY WAS FROM AFAR & WHY SHE CLAIMS TO HAVE SO MUCH RESPECT FOR HIM.

YOU READ IT HERE FIRST!


"I met R. Kelly. I was in Chicago at a basketball game and I was performing, and he was on the floor with the basketball players, and I was performing all around the gym and all the basketball players were just looking at me, and R. Kelly was tapping on them like, 'Yo, who's that young girl? She's crazy!' And I was just rapping all hard and crazy. After I finished, they all gave me my props. He chose to stay really far away, because of the rumors and stuff like that, but he really showed his respect, and he's a classic Chester Molester. I got respect for that guy."

--Rapper Lil Mama dishing the details about 'meeting' R. Kelly for the first time (from afar) and why he chose to keep his distance from her. Lil Mama, next time you see him, whether it's from a distance or face to face, run in the opposite direction as fast as you can! Then again, since you're just 18-years-old, you may be a little too long in the tooth to tickle The Pissy Pied Piper's fancy. That's real talk too. Oh, and for the record, I added in the Chester Molester part....which is why it's struck out.

And again, you read it here first!
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Friday, May 30, 2008

DMX'S BABY MAMA WILL HAVE TO WAIT A BIT LONGER FOR HER $1.5 MILLION DEFAMATION CHECK.

Monique Wayne (click on pic to the left to see its full image), the single mother of rapper DMX's illegitimate child will have to wait a little while longer for that $1.5 million judgment she was awarded after filing a defamation suit against the Ruff Ryder who swears up and down and all around that he was raped by Wayne. Last week, Prince George's County Circuit Judge Thomas Smith ruled that DMX (whose real name is Earl Simmons) was not properly served with court papers in the case filed against him by Monique Wayne. After an August 2003 encounter with Simmons, Wayne gave birth to a son by the rapper in April 2004. In a 2006 Sister 2 Sister magazine interview DMX said he was raped while he was sleeping. Wayne, who was not mentioned by name in the story, denied the claim and filed a defamation of character suit, citing "severe emotional distress" as a result of the interview. During a court hearing earlier this year, Wayne said she awoke to find Simmons on top of her, which led to consensual sex. She said she filed the lawsuit because "he lied to the whole world on me" about what happened. The January hearing resulted in Wayne being awarded $1.5 million after Simmons failed to appear.

Attorneys for DMX challenged that claim, saying Wayne failed to properly serve him with lawsuit papers and that the rapper was unaware of the case against him. X's lawyer William "Hassan" Murphy III said the Yonkers MC "looks forward to proving Wayne's allegations to be wrong" if the case continues.

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Tuesday, May 13, 2008

PROSECUTORS TO WEED OUT & ELIMINATE R. KELLY FANS AS POTENTIAL JURORS.

Don't expect a jury full of the golden-haired Chester MolesterR. Kelly's fans to determine the fate of the singer who has been charged with several child pornography charges. R. Kelly reportedly showed little emotion Monday and occasionally leaned over to speak with his lawyers as jury selection for his child pornography trial continued in Chicago. According to the Associated Press, the judge and attorneys questioned 150 potential jurors yesterday, asking about their previous knowledge of allegations against the high profile R&B superstar. Steve Cron, a defense lawyer from Santa Monica, Calif., who has practiced for 35 years, tells the AP that it's unlikely the defense could pack the jury with R. Kelly fans, because "the prosecution should be successful in excluding them," he said. Prosecutors may seek well-educated jurors, which could help their cause if they call technical experts to speak about the videotape, he said. The girl believed to be on the videotape, who is now 23, will reportedly testify that it wasn't her. And Kelly's lawyers — including prominent Chicago attorney Ed Genson — haven't conceded that it's Kelly in the video.

On the first day of the trial Friday, Cook County Circuit Judge Vincent Gaughan addressed the potential jurors. "As you know, this is a high-profile case," he said, according to court transcripts. "And if you don't know, God love you. You're probably the only person on Earth that doesn't."

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Monday, May 12, 2008

FOXY BROWN PLEADS GUILTY TO ASSAULT CHARGE; SENTENCED TO TIME SERVED.

Foxy Brown has pleaded guilty to a misdemeanor charge of menacing in a case where she attacked a woman with a Blackberry mobile device. The rapper pleaded out in Brooklyn Criminal Court today (May 8) and a 2007 felony assault charge was tossed out, according to TMZ.com. The rapper was sentenced to time served and offered letter of apology. Arlene Raymond may attempt to sue Brown in a civil suit, but no legal action has been confirmed. Brown was sentenced to time served and a letter of apology was submitted to the court.

Now that she’s also pled out of her Florida case, the legal radar has more or less clear Brown. Brown has no court dates in the near future.

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Thursday, April 24, 2008

*UPDATED* WESLEY SNIPES SENTENCED TO 3 YEARS IN PRISON ON TAX CHARGES; CO-DEFENDANT GETS 10 YEARS BEHIND BARS.

I guess the 'good luck' message I wished for Wesley was in vain. According to the Associated Press, Snipes called on famous friends to vouch for him, highlighted his clean criminal record and even wrote the government $5 million in checks — all in an effort to convince a judge that his conviction on tax charges should cost him nothing more than home detention and some public service announcements. None of it worked. The "Blade" actor was ordered to do hard time. Snipes was sentenced to three years in prison Thursday for failing to file tax returns, the maximum penalty — and a victory for prosecutors who sought to make an example of the action star. Snipes' lawyers had spent much of the day in court offering dozens of letters from family members, friends — even fellow actors Woody Harrelson and Denzel Washington — attesting to his good character. His attorneys recommended he be given home detention and ordered to make public service announcements because his three convictions were all misdemeanors and the actor had no previous criminal record.

Snipes apologized while reading from a written statement for his "costly mistakes," but never mentioned the word taxes. "I am an idealistic, naive, passionate, truth-seeking, spiritually motivated artist, unschooled in the science of law and finance," Snipes said. He said his wealth and celebrity attracted "wolves and jackals like flies are attracted to meat." He called himself "well-intentioned, but miseducated." Snipes surprised the court before Hodges handed down the sentence by offering the government three checks totaling $5 million in unpaid taxes over several years, money the government first denied but then accepted. Prosecutors called it "grandstanding" to avoid jail time, and a mere down payment on the actor's still-undetermined multi-million dollar tax bill.

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Co-defendants Douglas P. Rosile and Eddie Ray Kahn were convicted on both those counts. Kahn, who refused to defend himself in court, was sentenced to 10 years, while Rosile received 54 months. Both will serve three years of supervised release. Snipes will serve one year of supervised release. Snipes and Rosile remain free and will be notified when they are to surrender to authorities. Defense attorney Carmen Hernandez signaled in court that Snipes would pursue an appeal.

Wesley Snipes has enlisted a couple of his celebrity friends--Denzel Washington and Judge Joe Brown--in order to drum up support in hopes of getting a lighter sentence (if any at all...which I highly doubt due to the fact that Johnnie Cochran done gone on to glory) at his tax invasion sentencing which will be held today (Thursday, April 24). Thirty-one character references were submitted by Snipes' legal team, according to Ocala, Fla's Star-Banner newspaper. The letters are written to Senior U.S. District Judge William Terrell Hodges, who is scheduled to sentence Snipes today on three counts of willfully failing to file tax returns. Snipes faces up to three years in jail and possibly $5 million or more in fines. His legal team hopes letters from Washington, Brown, Woody Harrelson and others will encourage the judge to go easy. "Wesley is like a tree - a mighty oak," Washington wrote in his letter to the judge, adding he has known the actor for 20 years. "Many who know him have witnessed the fruit of his labors, have sat in his shade and even been protected by his presence. I am proud of him, proud to call him a fellow thespian and most importantly, proud to call him a friend."

Good luck, homey.

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Wednesday, April 23, 2008

FOXY BROWN COMMITS A BIG NO-NO: ATTEMPTS TO NEGOTIATE A PLEA DEAL WITH FLORIDA STATE ATTORNEYS WITHOUT HER LAWYER.

Don't you just hate it when people do stupid sh!t? Foxy Brown hasn't been home for jail for a week, and yet she's already inching herself back into her old ways. The same old ways she claims to have left behind Rikers prison walls in order to 'embrace her maturation' and 'foster her growth.' If her Tuesday (April 21) courtdate is any indication, Foxy still has a lot more maturing to do. The rapper showed up in a Broward county courtroom for a status hearing for assault charges stemming from a February 2007 altercation at a beauty supply store, without her lawyer and proceeded to make an attempt at negotiating a plea deal with the state attorney. It was this move that led to her lawyer resigning himself from her case. And can you blame him? How in the hell do you think that trying to negotiate with the prosecutors ON YOUR OWN will make your legal situation better? Especially when you just got out of prison?

I guess the prayers she made at a New York church the other day weren't in vain because the judge in her case gave her two weeks to find a new attorney and to return to court on May 8th. She better be thankful the judge has given her more time to seek legal counsel...something she wouldn't have had to do if she had conversed with first lawyer on what strategy they would use to get her a decent plea deal. The girl goes to prison for 8 months, gets out and all of a sudden she think knows everything there is to know about the judicial system. Somebody better tell her she can't be bringing her jailhouse-lawyer teachings into the real world.

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Foxy was arrested in Pembroke Pines in Broward County after allegedly throwing hair glue at a beauty supply store employee last year. Police claim she became angry after being asked to leave the store since it was closing. Brown was also charged with resisting an officer with violence, battery and struggling with an officer on the scene. After posting bond, Foxy was permitted to return to New York and later wound up in trouble with the law again. Foxy was already on probation for assaulting two manicurists in a Manhattan salon in 2004. She was warned by a judge in March 2007 that she would be sent to prison for a year if she got into any trouble with the law. Five months after the warning, Foxy was sentenced and incarcerated (Sept. 7) for assaulting her neighbor, Arleen Raymond.

Brooklyn's Don Diva is scheduled to be released on May 13.

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Friday, April 11, 2008

COULD LUKE CAMPBELL BE THE NEXT CELEB JAILED FOR NON-PAYMENT OF CHILD SUPPORT? RAPPER OWES OVER $38 GRAND TO 20-YEAR-OLD DAUGHTER.

I'm telling yall, if I have to post another story about some A, B, C or D-list celebrity who refuses to pay child support for their seed, I know something. It's getting old....fast. According to the Miami-Herald, one of Luther Campbell's baby's mamas has petitioned a judge to initiate suspension of Campbell's driver's license -- because Campbell owes $38,981.61 in back child support. The mom, Davania Branch Burns, 41, and daughter Lutheria Campbell, 20, live in Oakland, near Orlando. Burns is a fire inspector for the school system. Lutheria studies criminal justice at a community college, and works part-time as a receptionist at a gym. Even though Lutheria is no longer a minor, Burns is entitled to the money, says her attorney Jane E. Carey of Orlando. Burns wants him to fork over the cash. Carey says Campbell hasn't paid in a couple of years. "We want him to stand up and not be a deadbeat daddy. He needs to do the right thing. He needs to take care of his child. Why should he not pay? The ordinary working man has to pay," she says.

Under Florida law, a driver with a "delinquent support obligation" faces license suspension. Burns wants a hearing before Circuit Judge Joel Brown. She filed papers saying that Campbell now represents himself.

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Friday, March 28, 2008

RAPPER REMY MA LEAVES COURTROOM 'WAILING' AND 'OPENLY SOBBING' AFTER BEING FOUND GIULITY ON 2 CHARGES OF ASSAULT.

Maybe if Remy Ma had attended Easter Sunday services with T.I. in Atlanta earlier this week, she wouldn't have been seen letting her 'I'm So Hood' guard down before 'wailing loudly' and openly sobbing after being found guilty on two charges of assault Thursday (3.27.2008) in a Manhattan Supreme Court room. According to MTV News, the 26-year-old rapper faces up o 25 years if convicted on both counts. The charges stem from an incident that occurred last July when the rapper and Makeda Barnes-Joseph argued after leaving a mutual acquaintance's birthday party. Remy Ma alleged Barnes-Joseph stole several thousand dollars from her purse that night; Barnes-Joseph was shot after the two struggled in her car. Remy Ma fled the scene in an SUV but crashed nearby. Neither the money nor the weapon have been found. Charges of tampering and gang assault, related to the case, were thrown out, the rapper's attorney, Ivan Fisher, told MTV News on Thursday. Sentencing for the case is scheduled for April 22. Fisher intends to file an appeal for his client immediately. "The jury acquitted the second half of the indictment," he said, referring to the tampering and intimidation charges. "That will help the appeal because that evidence, those charges, shouldn't have been in the case to begin with. And there are other issues we think may turn the conviction around." However, he conceded, "It's a bad day."

The back-and-forth in the case has been contentious from the beginning. During the opening arguments, Fisher characterized Barnes-Joseph as a celebrity groupie. He told the jury Barnes-Joseph was misrepresenting events in an effort to win a big financial payoff. She filed a $10 million civil lawsuit against the rapper but later withdrew it, according to Fisher.

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Prosecutors attempted to paint Remy Ma as a gun-toting intimidator. Assistant District Attorney Jason Berland told jurors the rapper was calculating and bullying, citing an August incident during which a group of men allegedly close to Remy Ma assaulted Barnes-Joseph's boyfriend and broke his nose. Charges were brought against the rapper for intimidation but were thrown out in the conviction. Prosecutors also noted the gun Remy Ma carried was loaded with hollow-point bullets, intended to severely cause injury.

From the beginning the former Terror Squad rapper maintained her innocence, telling a group of reporters at her New Jersey home shortly after the incident that she did not shoot her friend. During closing remarks, however, her attorney conceded his client did in fact shoot Barnes-Joseph, but labeled it an accident. Fisher told jurors the weapon went off while the two women struggled with each other during their argument.

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Sunday, March 23, 2008

GEORGIA WOMAN SAYS ACTOR MIKE EPPS FATHERED HER 4-MONTH-OLD CHILD.

Day-Day say it ain't so! Not you too, boo?! According to recent reports, comedian Mike Epps is fighting a paternity suit from a Georgia woman who claims the actor is the father of her four-month-old child. Epps, who starred in Next Friday and most recently Welcome Home, Roscoe Jenkins, has been named in legal papers filed by an unnamed female in February 2008, in which she requests Epps take a DNA test and acknowledge the child as his own. The woman's lawyer Randy Kessler claims his client initially wanted to keep the proceedings quiet, but was forced to go public after repeated calls, letters and emails to Epps and his attorneys were ignored. He tells TMZ.com, "We are not asking for the moon, we are just asking him to take a paternity test. Once the tests are completed and paternity is confirmed, hopefully, Mr. Epps will do the right thing and begin to provide for his child."

Epps, 37, has been married to wife Michelle MCCain (shown above)since 2006. The couple has one daughter together. Epps also has a teenage son from a previous relationship.
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Wednesday, March 12, 2008

JUANITA BYNUM'S HUSBAND, BISHOP THOMAS WEEKS PLEADS GUILTY TO ASSAULT CHARGES; SENTENCED TO 3 YEARS PROBATION.

According to the Associate Press, the husband of televangelist Juanita Bynum pleaded guilty Tuesday to assaulting her, was sentenced to three years' probation and then turned to her and apologized. Thomas W. Weeks III, a minister known to his followers as Bishop Weeks, turned after his sentencing to address Bynum, who sat in the second row of the Fulton County courtroom gallery. "I want to apologize to my wife for all she's had to go through," he said. Bynum nodded in response and quietly thanked him. The two later walked out of the courthouse together. "They are in communication and working on their relationship and the status of their marriage," said Ed Garland, Weeks' attorney in the criminal case.

Prosecutors alleged that Weeks beat Bynum — a prominent televangelist whose message of women's empowerment resonated with thousands of followers — in the parking lot of an Atlanta hotel in August. According to a police report, Bynum told officers that Weeks "choked her, pushed her down, kicked and stomped her ... until a bellman pulled him off of her." Weeks initially pleaded not guilty to charges of aggravated assault and making terroristic threats. He pleaded guilty Tuesday to a single count of aggravated assault. Weeks must undergo violence and anger counseling and complete 200 hours of community service that cannot be church-related. He had been barred previously from communicating with Bynum, but that restriction has been lifted. His record will be cleared if he completes the terms of his sentence.

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Fulton County District Attorney Paul Howard said during a brief press conference that a personal plea from Bynum initiated by Weeks' grandfather convinced prosecutors not to pursue jail time for Weeks. "Many people in her situation would've been asking for him to be put in jail," Howard said, calling Bynum's request "courageous." Bynum said that she was overwhelmed by Weeks' grandfather's plea. "I don't believe my husband is a criminal," she said.

Bynum is a former hairdresser and flight attendant who became a Pentecostal evangelist, author and gospel singer. Weeks is the founder of Global Destiny churches. The couple wed in a million-dollar, televised ceremony in 2002 and together wrote "Teach Me How to Love You: The Beginnings." Bynum filed for divorce from Weeks a month after the attack, citing "cruel treatment" and saying the marriage was "irretrievably broken." Since then, the two or their lawyers have issued a series of conflicting statements about the initial incident and the couple's travails.

On Monday, the couple saw each other for the first time in months, when Bynum appeared at Weeks' divorce lawyer's office to be deposed in that case. She said the meeting was emotional. "When I saw him, it allowed me to reflect on the first time we got married," Bynum said. "I thought about the time wasted and the time lost, and I said, `This has got to stop.'"

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Saturday, March 8, 2008

GOSPEL SINGER YOLANDA ADAMS UNDER INVESTIGATION FOR 'UNDERREPORTING' OR 'OVERREPORTING' HER INCOME.

If Yolanda don't get her (financial) affairs in order, she's going to find herself in a hallelujah hell storm; whatever that means. LOL! According to the Houston Chronicle the Internal Revenue Service is investigating the gospel star and radio host. The agency has asked a federal judge to force the entertainer to turn over documents after she failed to show up for an appointment last month to explain her financial affairs. The agency is trying to determine her tax liability and how to collect on the debt. According to filings in Houston federal court, the IRS probe stems from two million-dollar mortgage loan applications. A 2005 Ocwen application said Adams earned $40,000 a month and listed $8 million in assets — including an $800,000 trust account, $4.9 million in other personal holdings and jewelry worth $1.5 million. That document said she owned a Lexus and a Hummer. A subsequent Chase home loan application listed $3 million in assets, including a business worth $1.5 million, a Mercedes-Benz and a Range Rover. She owns a home worth more than $2 million in Houston's Royal Oaks Country Club subdivision. The agency also wants details about her endorsements and royalties as well as music companies and foundations with whom she is affiliated.

Houston entertainment lawyer Ricky Anderson, who represents Adams, said Wednesday that he was unaware of the lawsuit and declined to comment until he could look at the IRS filings and reach Adams, who is featured on a gospel cruise to the Bahamas this week. According to court documents filed Tuesday, a revenue officer who works cases involving small businesses and the self-employed is looking into Adams' taxes for 2000, 2001, 2003 and 2004. In January, the agency issued a summons that required Adams, 46, to bring financial documents for the last six years to Houston's IRS office and answer questions. At the appointed hour, 9 a.m. Feb. 5, Adams would have been on the air hosting her Houston-based radio show.

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The federal government has asked a judge to order Adams to appear with "records, papers or documents" or explain why she should not be forced to comply with the summons. Richard Alderman, an associate dean at the University of Houston Law Center, said the IRS issues a summons to ascertain how a taxpayer accumulated assets. "They believe that somebody has either overreported deductions or underreported income," he said. "The IRS is not an agency that is easy to avoid. Generally, if they want information, you're going to have to give it to them."

Adams is a Grammy winner and host of the Yolanda Adams Morning Show with Brother Larry Jones, which debuted last year. The program is heard in major markets nationwide, including Atlanta, New York, Washington and Philadelphia.

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Friday, February 29, 2008

BOBBY BROWN TO MENTOR OUR YOUTH AS PART OF HIS CRACK POSSESSION PLEA DEAL.

Just when you thought no one in their right mind (law officials included) would ever, ever, ever, ever, ever, ever, ever, deem Bobby Brown competent enough to mentor our youth of today, this happens: A judge gives Bobby Brown community service in his cocaine possession case and recommends he volunteer to mentor area youth. Bobby Brown? This dude is about as good a role model as Flavor Flav and Ike Turner--dead or alive. According to the Associated Press, Brown, 39, will not face criminal charges in the case, which stems from a Dec. 1 arrest at a Brockton hotel. Police said they were responding to a disturbance call at the hotel and found him sitting in an SUV in the parking lot with a small amount of cocaine in his possession. Brown's attorney said Tuesday a Brockton District Court clerk magistrate found no probable cause to issue a criminal complaint, but recommended that Brown volunteer to mentor young people, which is what he wanted to do all along. The singer - the estranged husband of Whitney Houston - will also have the incident wiped from his records if he stays out of trouble for the next year.

Now, that I've thought about it: 'Bobby Brown', 'mentor', 'youth,' and 'crack possession should never be used in the same sentence. Oh, well. Yall have a good day!
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AIN'T THIS SOMETHING?!! DIDDY TO GO TO TRIAL ON ASSUALT CHARGES BEFORE R. 'CHESTER THE MOLESTER' KELLY.

Sean 'Diddy' Combs will stand trial on allegations of assault. The rap mogul is accused of punching Gerard Rechnitzer in the jaw at a post-Oscars party last year, after the 27-year-old objected to Combs' attempts to woo his fiancee. Four people have since come forward with eyewitness accounts backing Rechnitzer's claims, while Combs insists he ran into his "stationary open hand". At a hearing on Wednesday (2.28.2008), Los Angeles Superior Court Judge Robert L. Hess ruled the complaint will now go to trial, with the start date set for May. But the judge refused to grant Rechnitzer's lawyer's request to view the rapper's finances, deciding that information was not necessary until the trial. Explaining his decision, Hess told the court, "If you were to get a finding of fraud, oppression or malice, some or all of this information you would be entitled to. I'm not persuaded at this point to give it to you today. We have privacy issues here that are very important."

However, Hess has not ruled out the option completely, insisting it would only be required if Rechnitzer's legal team can convince the jury to rule in their favor, in which case they might be allowed access to Combs' accounts in order to determine any punitive damages. Combs does not face any criminal charges in relation to the incident because the Los Angeles Police Department found no cause for Rechnitzer's complaint when they investigated the altercation at the Roosevelt Hotel in Hollywood last year.
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Wednesday, February 27, 2008

MICHAEL GIVEN CHOICE TO PAY HOME LOAN OR LOSE HIS NEVERLAND RANCH.

Will Michael Jackson have to depend on his baby sister, Janet, to shell out over $24 million in order to save his Neverland Ranch? The way things are looking for the first family of music, she seems to be the only Jackson left with hundreds of millions of dollars in her bank account. Anywhoo, on Monday, Jackson was informed that his Neverland Ranch in Santa Barbara will be sold at public auction on March 19 unless he can come up with $24,525,906.61 to pay off the loan. "It's not just the house either," wrote Fox411's Roger Friedman in his Tuesday column. "When Neverland is auctioned, it will include everything: all personal property inside, all fixtures and appliances, furniture, and 'all merry go round type devices,' any rides, games. The auction literally includes every single thing that is or isn't nailed down."

According to Friedman, the King of Pop refinanced his $300 million loan from Fortress Investments with help from Sony Music, HSBC and Barclays Bank. But, the Neverland loan was not part of that deal. "Fortress would clearly like to get out of the Jackson business altogether now, so selling at auction is their answer," Friedman wrote.
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Friday, January 18, 2008

MORE DETAILS REGARDING R. KELLY'S RELATIONSHIP W/FMR. PUBLICIST'S DAUGHTER & WILL SINGER MAKE HIS ALLEGED SEXTAPE VICTIM HIS NEXT 'WIFEY'?

I intended to post this last week, but I totally forgot about it! LOL! Just so you all know, the blog post is pretty lengthy.

More details have emerged regarding R. Kelly's indiscreet relationship with his former manager's stepdaughter, Maxine Daniels, as well as brand new details regarding his current relationship status with the infamous teen (now 23-years-old) from his sex tape. I swear, the higher a monkey climbs, the more his ass show. Don't it? Just when you thought you knew someone...BAM, BAM!...they do something else to convince you that they're still nine cents short of a dime. I'll explain that later on in the story. Anywhoo, as most of us know, about five months ago (on August 28, 2007 to be exact), Regina Daniels, abruptly resigned her duties as R. Kelly's publicist and family friend of over 14 years after accusing the singer of 'crossing the line'. At the time, some folks speculated that the reason for her departure was due to R. Kelly physically assaulting her. Not true at all. "...I have prided myself on loyalty, respect and professionalism. It saddens me that I was not always shown those same courtesies during my 14 year tenure as Mr. Kelly’s publicist...there are some lines that should never be crossed professionally or personally. Mr. Kelly crossed a line that forever altered the scope of our relationship," Daniels said in her official public statement.


Regina and her husband, veteran music retailer, George Daniels, severed their personal and professional ties with the R&B singer--someone they considered as their son--after learning Kelly had been having a sexual relationship with their daughter, Maxine, 21 (Blogger's note: see photo on the right). Kelly, 41, and Maxine (who the singer once referred to as his 'little sister') had been seeing each other since last June. From the looks of things, Kelly placed all of his morals, loyalty to family and common sense to the side once he noticed how 'womanly' his 'little sister' had become while attending her 21st birthday party last April at Bar One in Chicago. For weeks, Kelly aggressively pursued her and according to reports, she was a willing participant. Soon after, the 'couple' began dating on the down low and in true SugarMac Daddy form, R-ruh began lavishing his brand new boo with expensive gifts: Gucci handbags, an iPhone (oooh, what a treat! I mean, really!), designer dresses, jewels and trinkets and whatnot. He even opened up his home just so that he could kick it with her and her sorority sisters of the illustrious Alpha Kappa Alpha Sorority, Incorporated.

Needless to say, the girl is a grown ass woman who can date any man she wants to. No harm, no foul, right? Wrong. Well, sort of. I guess it depends on who you're asking. She couldn't have been too much of a grown-ass woman because she hid their relationship from her parents. As a matter of fact, while she was hiding...she was also lying.

CONTINUE READING THIS STORY & FIND OUT ALL ABOUT KELLY'S NEW BOO, RASHANA AFTER THE JUMP!

Now, is that the business or what? But I digress. Anyway, Maxine--who had just broken up with her boyfriend before hooking up with Kelly--would tell her parents she was attending summer school Monday through Friday. What Regina and George didn't know was that Maxine would leave school on Thursdays to stay with Kelly before going home to visit them on the weekends. However, by July, Kelly and Maxine's courtship came to an end when Maxine felt she could no longer keep lying to her parents about her relationship with Chester...I meant Kelly. You would think her breaking things off with him wouldn't piss off the Pied Piper...but it did...but not for long though. What he did next boost his status up three notches on my Shit List...and that's a feat in itself considering the fact that he was already holding the number one spot! Think about it.

Even with his child pornography trial slated to begin in a couple of months, this dude still has the gray-haired balls to mess around with the same girl (no pun intended...well sort of...okay, not really...just a little bit...like a smidge of a little bit) from his infamous and incriminating sex tape. Yeah, you read it right. According to Jamie Foster Brown, her name is Rashana (Blogger's note: Rashana is not pictured in this blog post) and she is now 23-years-old. She also accompanied Kelly (along with his 10-year-old daughter, Joanne) on his recent Double Up tour. Kelly, who claims to 'love' Rashana and even goes as far as referring to her as his 'wifey,' has since moved her into his home once his wife Andrea (and their kids) moved out. No wonder she (Rashana) doesn't want to testify against him.

As far as where things stand with Kelly and the Daniels...well, first all, he had the nerve to be upset with Regina for giving him the silent treatment and leaving him to fend for himself. With his trial coming up, he's going to need all the emotional support he can get. It's just too bad that he betrayed and lied to, possibly, the only two people who ever had his back and believed in him the most. How you deceive and disrespect the same two people who taught you how to Step In the Name of Love? That, too, is not the business. Reportedly, George broke down and cried upon hearing the news that his daughter had been sleeping around with Kelly. And after George confronted Kelly and asked him for the truth, Kelly took the punk-ass route and proceeded to bitch up and began crying before swearing to George that he would never do anything like that because they were 'family.'

After the holy shinola hit the fan last November, George told EUR's Lee Bailey, "Bottom line is [R. Kelly] crossed a certain line with me and my wife that you shouldn't cross. I respect his talent. You can't deny he's a talented person. But beyond that, everything else is just gone." Brown says Kelly knew his relationship with Regina and George was over when George stopped receiving the tailor-made designer suits Kelly had been sending to him. Now, that's when you know you done f'ed up!

Regina is now back in the swing of things, doing what she does best. Just days after disassociating herself from R. Kelly, the 50-year-old publicist picked up celebrity clients Wyclef Jean, Young Dro and Fantasia. Bless her heart.

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Wednesday, January 16, 2008

BLACKSTREET MEMBER, CHAUNCEY BLACK, JAILED WITHOUT BAIL ON FAILURE TO PAY CHILD SUPPORT, PROBATION VIOLATION CHARGES.

Authorities say Grammy-winning R&B singer Chauncey Hannibal is being held without bail in Virginia Beach City Jail on charges of grand larceny, failure to pay child or spousal support and failure to appear in court on a misdemeanor charge last September. Online records show Hannibal was scheduled to be sentenced then for contempt of court and violating terms of his probation.

Hannibal was known as Chauncey Black when he was a member of the group Blackstreet. He was extradited from Los Angeles to Virginia Beach Monday. Police had been looking for Hannibal since January 2007, when they issued a warrant for his arrest on a charge of grand larceny. He's accused of looting a house overlooking the Chesapeake Bay after he was evicted in July 2006. The owner filed a police report alleging that everything -- including the kitchen sink -- was missing or destroyed.

Hannibal, 39, declined an interview request.

The singer won a Grammy in 1997, but fell on hard financial times after Blackstreet split up and declared bankruptcy.


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