NICOLE RICHIE'S PEOPLE MAG COVER SALES SLAUGHTERS CHRISTINA AGUILERA SALES.

According to MSNBC's The Scoop, Nicole Richie didn’t just beat rival Christina Aguilera to the delivery room by having daughter Harlow on Jan. 11, one day before Aguilera gave birth to son Max, but it appears Richie will beat Aguilera on the newsstand as well. Both new moms each had their own cover of People magazine, and according to some early estimates, the issue featuring Richie is on target to sell more than 1.8 million copies, according to an industry source, whereas Aguilera's has sold far less. (People magazine could not confirm sales numbers; a spokesperson said its too soon to know how many copies were sold.) Why does there seem to be more interest in Harlow Winter Kate Madden? One magazine insider said part of it could come down to the moms’ fan bases. “Christina historically doesn’t do that well on covers,” said the source, who cites poor sales of her wedding photo issue in OK!, and less-than-stellar sales of her nude photo shoot in the January 2008 Marie Claire.

That might be true, but Nicole Richie doesn’t seem like an obvious home run on the cover, either. “There’s also a greater element of curiosity with Nicole,” the source conceded. “She’s gone public about being a heroin addict. Her boyfriend is covered in tattoos. By default, she’s got the more interesting baby. People want to see how she settles down. They want to see what kind of baby someone with her background has.”

To see Christina's People magazine photoshoot, click HERE.

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CELEBS AT 'COLLEGE ROAD TRIP' WORLD PREMIERE.

The worldwide movie premiere for College Road Trip starring Martin Lawrence and Raven-Symone took place last night at the El Captain Theater in Hollywood, California. Other celebrities in attendance included: Kym E. Whitely, Brenda Song, Donnie Osmond and Raven's That's So Raven co-stars Rondell Sheridan and Kyle Massey.

College Road Trip opens this Friday, March 7, 2008.

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NEW PERFORMANCE PICS: TRINA PERFORMING LIVE AT CLUB ROXY IN ORLANDO, FLORIDA.

Yall, I'm trying. I'm trying really, really hard. But it's the unequivocal madness embroidered in every single picture in this post that's making it hard for me to understand the madness that Trina is so unabashedly displaying. Her entire get-up is not the business. No, it is not. Anyhoo, below are pics of the rapper performing at Club Roxy in Orlando, Florida last month as part of her promotional tour. And am I the only one who thinks she looks more like she's singing instead of rapping in these pics?

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REAL OR RUMOR: FEDERAL PROSECUTORS OFFER T.I. A PLEA DEAL OF 15 YEARS IN JAIL FOR VARIOUS WEAPON CHARGES.

If the rumors are true, looks like T.I.'s fiancee Tiny will soon become a single mother while her man is away doing time. Various websites are reporting that prosecuting attorney David E. Nahmias has offered the 27-year-old rapper a plea deal of 15 years with a minimum mandatory sentence of 13 years; which means that even with good behavior he will remain locked up behind bars until he turns 40-years-old in year 2021. And when you consider the fact that he's a convicted felon, even if these rumors are indeed true, he'd be a fool not to take the deal. Because of his criminal history, his possession of a firearm by a convicted felon charge alone could have him serving football numbers. And let's not forget his charges of possessing unregistered machine guns and silencers....which could put him away for life. Dude had so many guns, you'd think he was going to go out and hunt down Osama bin Laden personally.

As previously reported, the rapper was arrested last October in Atlanta, Georgia in a federal sting operation in which he allegedly attempted to purchase three machine guns and two silencers. Since the ATL MC (real name Clifford Harris) is a convicted felon, he cannot legally own a gun or have one in his possession. According to authorities at the time, and for reasons we may never know, T.I. gave his newly-hired bodyguard—who later became an informant for the federal government—an estimated $27,000 to purchase the weapons. In addition to the guns used in the sting operation, a search of T.I.’s vehicle also turned up several more guns.

However, several sources are stating that the plea deal offered to the hip hop star could be be reduced. One particular website has even gone as far as to claim that their sources have confirmed to them that the rapper would only serve 2-4 years. Yeah, right. The only way I can see that happening is if his legal team dug up Johnnie Cochran. (God, bless the dead). Nevertheless, he should feel like a certified fool for getting himself caught up in this mess. I can't even feel sorry for him because he brought it all on himself. Ya dig?

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THE GAME TURNS HIMSELF INTO JAIL TO BEGIN SERVING 60 DAY JAIL SENTENCE ON GUN CHARGE.

I'm pretty sure I told you all that rapper The Game would soon have to serve jail time on a gun possession charge he caught about a year ago, yet I'm too lazy to look it up! LOL! So I'll just cut to the chase. Dude checked himself into the Twin Towers Correctional Facility on Sunday night (March 2) to begin serving his 60 days sentence on that gun charge. The Game (real name Jayceon Taylor) pleaded no contest to a felony charge of possession of a firearm in a school zone back on February 11 stemmed from a February 24, 2007 incident during which he got into an altercation with a player on an opposing team during a basketball game at the Rita Walters Educational Learning Complex in South Los Angeles. Was initially charged with three felony charges; making a criminal threat, exhibiting a firearm in the presence of an officer, and possessing a firearm in a school zone, back in June last year, he had the first two counts dismissed as part of a plea agreement.

As a consequence of the last count, The Game was sentenced to 60 days in jail, 150 hours of community service and three years probation.

Keep yo head up, pahtnah!

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LIL JON LAUNCHES HIS OWN NEW WINE LINE, LITTLE JONATHAN WINERY.

Producer Lil Jon (real name Jonathan Smith) has gone from selling Crunk Juice to fine wine. The wine, tentatively titled Little Jonathan Winery, reportedly includes a merlot, chardonnay and cabernet sauvignon and has already being distributed in California and will hit shelves within the next two months. "I love wine and I think that it's an untapped market for the urban consumer. I wanted it to be the best, so we chose a world renowned wine maker, Alison Crowe, to bottle and create my Little Jonathan Winery," the Atlanta-bred rapper told gossip columnist Jawn Murray recently. "My business partners and I were discussing the winter X Games events we were planning and the idea of making an exclusive wine just for those events came up. We thought it would be a cool option to have for people that didn't want to drink hard liquor or beer that weekend," he explained. "My partners are in the wine business and when they mentioned the idea to their friends, who are wine brokers, they loved it and suggested we make the wine available for the masses. Of course I was down with the idea!"

In January 2005, the rap mogul launched his energy juice, CRUNK!!! Energy Drink. The name of the drink was inspired by the hip-hopper's 2004 album, Crunk Juice.

In related news, the multi-platinum star is slated to release a new album, Crunk Rock at the end of this year. The tiny tycoon also co-hosts Pimp My Ride International, which is a version of the MTV show Pimp My Ride, along with rapper Fat(ass) Joe.

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TERRI J. VAUGHN ON HER HOW SHE COPED WITH THE FAILURE OF HER FIRST MARRIAGE & WHY SHE ELOPED ON HER SECOND.

Actress Terri J. Vaughn who is best known for her eccentric portrayal of Lovita Alize Jenkins Robinson on The Steve Harvey Show recently sat down with Essence.com and dished details on the failure of her first marriage and why she chose to elope in Las Vegas last month with her 30-year-old fiance of 15 months Karon Riley, a former NFL player. The couple, who are expecting a baby boy in May (Vaughn has a six-year-old from her first marriage) pulled a Britany Spears/Kevin Federline move by reciting their nuptials while wearing tracksuits. Let's just hope their marriage will never have to endure a tenth of the severe trials and tribulations which plagued the aforementioned former couple's marital union. Peep the excerpts from Vaughn's interview below.

Essence.com: Is it true you are expecting your second child and newly engaged?
Terri J. Vaughn: Yes, I am about to have my second boy and actually my fiance [Karon Riley of the Cleveland Gladiators] is now my husband. We eloped last month (January 19, 2008).

Essence.com: Congrats! Here you are trying to pull the okey-doke on the public. What made you decide to go to Vegas?
T.V.: Actually, it was actually his idea. Maybe two days before we started talking about it he was like, 'So you still want to get married?' I'm like, 'Yeah.' But really I was keeping it all low-key because after my first marriage failed I wasn't ever thinking about doing it again. So he says, 'You want to go this weekend?' and I'm like, 'Are you serious?' and the next day came and he booked a hotel room and we jumped in the car and drove to Vegas. I started to calling people on the road and four of his friends and two of mine met us there. The whole picture of planning your wedding is really for everyone else and not the couple because you have to be considerate of everyone else's feelings. I recommend eloping because it's so genuine and really is just about the couple.

Essence.com: Hey when it's right, it's right. How'd you two meet?
T.V.: We met when I was touring with the play Golddiggers, Men and Money, co-starring Robin Givens, Carl Payne and Tank. He came out to see Tank, who is on the record label that his family owns.

Essence.com: True love happens when you're least expecting it. So how long were you dating before you got engaged and then married?
T.V.: You're right. After nine months of dating we were engaged and then we got married six months after that. But it's truly amazing how you just know something is right.

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Essence.com: Did you have that same feeling with your first husband?
T.V.: With my first husband, I wasn't honest with him or myself for the seven years we were together. I was so busy trying to live up to the picture I had created in my mind of what I wanted "us" to be in the picture that I was presenting. I planned everything to a tee: when we were going to get married, how my wedding would look, when I wanted to buy a house, when I was going to get pregnant because it was my picture and I couldn't draw outside those lines. As long as I kept busy painting that picture I was fine, but the minute I was still, I had to face what was real and that was that I didn't want to be there, but I was too afraid to leave. I've always been a people-pleaser and the thought of being a black woman divorced especially after seeing my mom go through it, I just didn't want to wear that title or the guilty of another breaking up another Black family.

Essence.com: Yet that failed marriage didn't discourage you from taking the leap again?
T.V.: Trust me, I said I was never going to get married again because I had never tried or worked so hard for anything that didn't pan out. I kept asking myself, What else could I have done? My thought was, If I couldn't make this marriage work by doing all of this for [seven] years then I just can't be married. With Karon, it's different because I don't have a picture. We're just know following our hearts and being led by God. Before I got in this business and got married the first time, I remember being care-free and allowing myself to go wherever God was leading me. I was open but then I started trying to create this picture and that's when everything went wrong. Now, I'm back at that place, following my heart and not concerned about what people are going to say about it or about me. and the support and love and your friends of your family I'm not creating the picture.

SOURCE: To read Terri J. Vaughn's entire interview, click HERE

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