SERVING UP THE SCOOP
NATALIE COLE HAS A NEW KIDNEY
Thank God for prayers being answered as 59 year old Natalie Cole underwent a successful kidney transplant surgery Natalie will reportedly postpone her summer tour as she recovers.
In case you forgot or have been living under a rock, announced she was diagnosed with Hepatitis C in February 2008. Her kidneys failed after treatment and she had since been seeking a donor. She has been receiving dialysis three times a week since September.
I wish Natalie an incredible recuperation!
T.I.’S PRISON TERM IS CUT DOWN
No surprise here right: Money talks & bull*** walks. All that pro-active reality show and open dialogue with the fans & community service wasn’t for nothing.
Rapper T.I. born Clifford Harris, Jr.’s time may be shortened when he does his prison time at a low security facility in Forest City, Arkansas.
Word on the street is that since the T.I. has completed 305 days of home detention he will be credited for time-served where his expected time of one-year and one-day may be chopped down to allegedly two months.
Yeah you heard me, TWO MONTHS!
Previously, T.I. would have faced 10 years in prison, but a plea deal was made instead, in which the rapper had to commit to 1,000 hours of community service before sentencing pay a $100,000 fine, and agree to complete another 500 hours of community service after his time behind bars was completed.
If you need a recap of the charges, here you go: T.I. was accused of attempting to purchase a quantity of weapons from undercover agents back on October 13, 2007 which is a federal charge. Agents claimed that T.I. took delivery of three machine guns and two silencers from a bodyguard who was cooperating with ATF (Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco, Firearms and Explosives) after trying to purchase guns from an undercover ATF agent.
On a lighter note; T.I. along with Lil Weezie both lead in the 2009 BET
Awards with five nominations each in four separate music categories.
Their categories include: Best Male Hip-Hop Artist, Best Collaboration, Video of the Year, and the Viewer’s Choice award category.
Both are joined by hip hop artists and R&B artists such as Rick Ross, Kanye West, Young Jeezy, Jamie Foxx, T-Pain, Jim Jones, Beyonce Knowles, Keri Hilson, Yung L.A., Soulja Boy, and others. The BET awards is scheduled to air on June 28th at 8PM/7CST.
BET SPINS OFF ‘FRANKIE AND NEFFE’: But Keyshia Cole shut it down!
BET has secured a new unscripted series about singer Monica for the fall called “Monica: Still Standing,” it appears the network doesn’t have enough room for two reality shows surrounding R&B starlets.
With “Keyshia Cole: The Way It Is” not appearing on the fall schedule, BET said that it will present a spin-off series starring Cole’s popular mother Frankie and sister Neffe.
As BET tells it, “Frankie and Neffe,” Premiering Aug. 25 at 10 p.m., will follow the pair as they “strive to gain financial independence, while taking on the responsibilities of implementing and maintaining positive lifestyle changes, raising families, and handling the drama and men in their lives.”
Hold up. Wait a minute. Keyshia Cole told Jamie Foster Brown that as far as she’s concerned, there might not be a Frankie and Neffie show if somebody doesn’t bow down to her demands.
Hmm I wonder if “bow down” are the words Keyshia used. I hope not, that’s my girl. If so, what goes up, must come down. Ask Michael Jackson!
RESTRAINING ORDER AGAINST MEMBER OF THE TRIO NEXT
Damn this sounds like an After School Special. (Hope I’m not dating myself)
Here’s the breakdown: Singer Raphael Brown, formerly of the R&B trio “Next,” has been ordered by a California judge to stay away from an ex-girlfriend after allegedly harassing her and breaking into her home.
TMZ.com (and you know their nosey asses are all up in it) is reporting that Nikki Giavasis claims she broke up with Brown last year after a brief fling, but he continued to pursue her and reportedly broke into her house in the San Fernando Valley, CA stealing a pair of $700 shoes and a $1,000 handbag.
He wasn’t playing he was like, “I paid for it, I wants it back!”
She called police to her home last week after Raphael tried to enter the gated community, and he was arrested on an outstanding warrant.
Homegirl wasn’t playing & filed papers for a restraining order against the singer earlier this month and the request was approved by a judge ASAP.
RUMOR REPORT
***ACTRESS LAUREN LONDON ALLEGEDLY PREGNANT BY LIL WAYNE… ***ALICIA KEYS & SWIZZ BEATS OFFICIALLY A COUPLE…
***RHIANNA SPOTTED KISSING A NEW GUY…The guy; Aubrey “Drake” Graham. Graham, who is also an actor, is best known for playing wheelchair-bound Jimmy Brooks on Degrassi: The Next Generation. Also known as “Drake” in the hip-hop world, the Toronto native is a protégé of rapper Lil Wayne.
NEWS BLAST
***DJIMON HOUNSOU JOINS CAST OF ‘MANDRAKE’ He will star opposite Hayden Christensen in the Mimi Leder-directed “Mandrake,” an adaptation
of Lee Falk’s comic strip “Mandrake the Magician.” The story follows Jackson Mandrake (Christensen), whose acts as an underground magician and escapologist have grown increasingly dangerous. Following a daring escape from an SUV that has been dropped out of an airplane at the Burning Man Festival, he is coerced by the CIA into breaking a deep-cover agent out of a maximum security jail – then learns that the whole operation was a set up.
Djimon will presumably be taking on the role of Mandrake’s assistant, Lothar. Mandrake and Lothar will be familiar characters to any watchers of the 1986 cartoon series “Defenders of the Earth,” which starred the pair alongside Flash Gordon and The Phantom.
***WILL SMITH’S OVERBROOK TO HELM KATRINA FILM: Sony Pictures announced that Will Smith’s Overbrook Entertainment will produce the Hurricane
Katrina drama “The American Can,” written and directed by John Lee Hancock. The story tells how ex-Marine John Keller orchestrated the rescue of hundreds of his neighbors during the deadly storm.
***BEYONCE, T.I. & LIL WAYNE LEAD BET AWARD NOMINATIONS 5 EACH Beyonce is up for female R&B artist, actress, the viewer’s choice award and video of the year, where she has nods for both “Single Ladies (Put a Ring On It)” and “If I Were a Boy.”
Big Lez has interviewed everyone from Tupac and Notorious B.I.G. to Mary J. Blige and Tom Cruise. She was host and producer of BET’s landmark show “Rap City” and has enjoyed an extensive tenure in radio as co-host on The Steve Harvey Morning Show in Los Angeles, plus stints at New York’s WQHT/Hot 97, Atlanta’s WAOK/V103, LA’s Big Boy Morning Show at KPWR/Power 106 and Sirius Satellite Radio. Currently, Lez is partnered with DVA Media + Marketing as producer and host of the syndicated urban radio report, “The Urban Eye,” which launches nationwide this summer. Check out: www.myspace.com/BODIOGRAPHY
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