- Created on 16 May 2013
Nicki Minaj to Bow Out of ‘Idol’ After Current Season?
After Randy Jackson, “American Idol’s last original judge, announced his departure from the show after appearing for 12 seasons, rapper and judge Nicki Minaj (pictured) is said to be exiting the show after the current season ends, according to US Weekly.
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Although Minaj has not officially announced her rumored departure, she has, according to an unidentified show insider, been noncommittal about signing up for another season with the show.
The once-flagship Fox program now has ratings that are worse than last year’s. An “Idol” insider reprotedly told Us Weekly about Minaj’s plans, “It’s safe to say she isn’t coming back…. She’s okay with it. She had a great time but was only going to do one season anyway.” The spokesperson also mentioned that Minaj just wanted to focus on her singing career.
With Minaj’s reported departure, the show would be left with songstress Mariah Carey and Keith Urban as its judges.
During Minaj’s time on the show, she has been at odds with fellow judge Carey, with the women even resorting to unabashed name-calling on Twitter.
As far as the other two judges, Carey and Urban, mum’s the word as to whether they will return to their respective judging gigs for Season 13.
- Created on 15 May 2013
Fantasia entering a new era
Not long ago Stephanie Mills had an album titled “Born For This.” She was — and so was Fantasia, the Season 3 “American Idol” winner whose brand new album, “Side Effects of You,” had an amazingly successful debut and might surpass the sales of her first three albums.
People are still talking about Fantasia’s recent powerhouse performance on ...
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- Created on 14 May 2013
Usher Sued By Ex-Nanny For Unpaid Overtime
Cecilia Duncan claims that for nearly two years she worked for R&B superstar Usher as a part-time nanny for his two boys but got stiffed on overtime pay. Now, she is taking her gripe to a court of law, and the miffed nanny is reportedly suing the entertainer for an undisclosed amount, according to the Daily Mail[1].
Duncan reportedly began working for Usher in December of 2010. She claims that she went the extra mile caring for Usher’s boys, Naviyd, 4, and Usher, 5, by working beyond the 40-hour work week, being both overworked and underpaid.
The nanny says that she addressed the excessive work hours schedule with the 34-year-old crooner on numerous occasions but claims that her gripes fell on deaf ears.
Finally in September of last year, Duncan says Usher fired her without giving her all of the accumulated monies for overtime that she had accrued. Now Duncan is suing her former boss, claiming wrongful termination, failure to pay
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- Created on 15 May 2013
Chris Brown Cited For Scary Mural On His House
There’s never a dull moment with R&B singer Chris Brown (pictured below) who this go-round is in trouble with the city of Los Angeles for having a mural painted on a wall outside of his Hollywood Hills home (pictured above) that is terrifying the neighborhood kids, reports the L.A. Times[1].
Neighbors have reportedly complained in vain to Brown about the very prominent mural, which depicts giant blob-like monsters with bloodshot bulging eyes and huge fangs. So they reportedly took their gripes to local authorities.
And L.A. city code officials reportedly sided with the irate neighbors about the mural, citing Brown with a $376.32 fine after complaints began to flood their office.
The fine is for unpermitted and excessive signage, and the agency ordered him to remove the art within 30 days.
If Brown fails to comply with the agency’s order, the fine will go north of where it presently stands.
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- Created on 07 May 2013
Lauryn Hill gets 3 months for failing to pay taxes
Eight-time Grammy Award winning singer Lauryn Hill, center, leaves federal court in Newark, N.J., Monday, May 6, 2013, after sentencing in her tax evasion case. Hill was sentenced to three months in prison and an additional three months in home confinement for failing to pay taxes on about $1 million in earnings. Hill, 37, pleaded guilty last year in the case. (AP Photo/Mel Evans)
NEWARK, N.J. — Grammy-winning singer Lauryn Hill stood in federal court Monday and compared her experience in the music business to the slavery her ancestors endured before a judge sentenced her to three months in prison for failing to pay about $1 million in taxes over the past decade.
"I am a child of former slaves who had a system imposed on them," Hill said before U.S. Magistrate Madeline Cox Arleo. "I had an economic system imposed on me."
Hill, who started singing with the Fugees as a teenager in the 1990s before releasing her multiplatinum 1998 album "The Miseducation of Lauryn Hill," pleaded guilty last year to failing to pay taxes on more than $1.8 million earned from 2005 to 2007. Monday's sentencing also took into account unpaid state and federal taxes in 2008 and 2009 that brought the total earnings to about $2.3 million.
Despite having paid more than $900,000 in the past several days, Hill still owes interest and penalties, the U.S. attorney's office said.
In a forceful but controlled statement to the judge punctuated by occasional raps with her first on the podium, Hill described how she failed to pay taxes during a period when she'd dropped out of the music business to protect herself and her children, who now number six.
She said the treatment she received while she was in the entertainment business led to her decision to leave it.
"There were veiled threats, there was blacklisting," she said, without giving specifics. "I was told, 'That's how it goes, it comes with the territory.' I came to be perceived as a cash cow and not a person. When people capitalize on a persona, they forget there is a person in there."
In addition to serving three months in prison, Hill must pay a $60,000 fine. After she is released from prison, she will be under parole supervision for a year, the first three months of which will be spent under home confinement.
The 37-year-old South Orange resident had faced a maximum sentence of one year each on three counts of failing to file taxes. Her attorney had sought probation, arguing that Hill's charitable works, her family circumstances and the fact she paid back the taxes she owed should merit consideration.
Assistant U.S. Attorney Sandra Moser acknowledged Hill's creative talent and work on behalf of impoverished children but called Hill's explanation for her actions "a parade of excuses centering around her feeling put upon" that don't exempt her from her responsibilities.
"She wasn't interested in all those years in paying what she owed," Moser told the judge.
At the time of her arrest last year, Hill wrote a criticism rejecting pop culture's "climate of hostility, false entitlement, manipulation, racial prejudice, sexism and ageism."
"Over-commercialization and its resulting restrictions and limitations can be very damaging and distorting to the inherent nature of the individual," Hill wrote. "I did not deliberately abandon my fans, nor did I deliberately abandon any responsibilities, but I did however put my safety, health and freedom and the freedom, safety and health of my family first over all other material concerns! I also embraced my right to resist a system intentionally opposing my right to whole and integral survival."
Hill is to report to prison by July 8. It's not clear where she'll serve her sentence. She didn't comment after the sentencing.
She said in a recent post online that she has signed a recording contract with Sony.
"She is looking forward to putting her case behind her and getting back to her music and creating again," attorney Nathan Hochman said.
