Bernie Mac's Obituary

Click the images to enlarge

So So Closed

Not only did Jermaine Dupri shut down his Buckhead restaurant Cafe Dupri, he shut down and stiffed his employees out of a couple weeks pay. Click here to see the news report.

Is Rihanna Broke?

You can file this shit in the unsubstainiated rumors section. Try as I might, I could not find a source for this supposed missive from Rihanna's recently fired accounant, but here it is anyway for your gossiping pleasure:


Rihanna's now ex-business manager Patricia Willliams has been recently fired as she says "for no good reason, all in ignorance" and is "livid" with Rihanna & her management company Rebel One's decision to fire her. Rihanna recently met with Willliams to check on her accounting affairs and was shocked to see that almost all her money was missing. She instantly accused Willliams of "stealing her money.""I'm a professional Business Manager, I have a staff of more than a dozen, I have worked for many high profile actors, musicians and multi-million dollar corporations. Why would I steal from Rihanna?" She continues, "I showed her all the paperwork and tried to explain to her the circumstances but she wouldn't listen. She called me all sorts of horrible names and stormed off. I now feel compelled to share with the world the background story as I will not allow my name to be slandered"The Barbados born singer has had four back-to-back albums, including a re-release since her debut of "Pon De Replay" in 2005.According to Willliams, Marc Jordan, manager and owner of Rebel One Management has been taking care of Rihanna's financial situation with her. "Def Jam doesn't fund Rihanna properly, so Marc uses the money Rihanna makes from third-party endorsements and from tours to fund her album and music videos." Since 2005, Rihanna has been sponsored by the likes of JC Penny, Samsung, Covergirl, Secret, Venus Breeze etc,. and has gone on two major tours, most recently label-mate Kanye West's "Glow in the Dark" Tour and with Pussy Cat Dolls across Europe."I don't want to disrespect Marc's name. He is a fantastic manager and genuinely believes in Rihanna. But he uses her money to fund her future projects because he believes he can break her in the world-market. Her album sales are not nearly as close to her single sales and he knows that if she is only known as a 'singles artist' she will only be as good as her last hit. Unfortunately, he didn't inform his client and I'm receiving the brunt of it."Why is Def Jam lacking in funding support for there act? Why was so much money spent? How much exactly? Williams continues,"Her record label Def Jam has put out 3 albums in a time span of 2 years. Alot of that was orchestrated through her management Rebel One. It was never Def Jam's intention to release so many albums back-to-back but Marc Jordan found loop holes and ways to make it happen.A lot of the money Rihanna made through her endorsements between CoverGirl Cosmetics, Samsung.. Notice that majority of Rihanna's videos have a cell phone in it?""After the release of Rihanna and Teairra Mari, Def Jam had intention to drop both acts because their album sales were not successful. Her manager fought to get [S.O.S (Rescue Me)] and quickly tried to negotiate with as many companies as possible. Nike picked up the song and funded a video. This brought the hype back for Rihanna in the company's New York office. Majority of the official 'S.O.S' video was funded by Samsung because the record label was only willing to put up a small amount. Once 'S.O.S' picked up digitally and at radio, Def Jam agreed to fund the rest of her album. Jordan instantly got a video shot to 'Unfaithful' (he negotiated with video director Anthony Mandler to drop his price and would be given more videos from Rihanna in return). Then they shot 'We Ride' which was an extremely cheap video to create. 'Break It Off' was released as a third album, but again, Def Jam was unhappy with the sales of her album "A Girl Like Me" and refused to shoot a video. At this point Rihanna was opening up for the Pussy Cat Doll's in Europe. She was making 30,000 a show but she didn't see any of that money because it was needed to fund her next album." Which is now known to the greater public as a 'Good Girl Gone Bad'."The song "Umbrella" was found & Jordan fought again for Rihanna to have it. They shot the video, which CoverGirl funded half of, and the song became a success. When the record label had there meeting with Music Stores across the U.S to order her album for shipment, the number's weren't coming in the way that they expected. When the album's first week numbers came in at less than 150,000, the label was shocked. Def Jam's President LA Reid was livid! Umbrella was #1 for 11 weeks! Any other artist would have sold way more first week. T-Pain even did better in sales than her that week. Def Jam told Jordan they were no longer funding the album, so Jordan needed money again to pay for music videos 'Shut Up & Drive' and 'Dont Stop The Music'. Almost 250,000 was spent to have those videos created. Plus, an additional 120,000 to shoot 'Hate That I Love You'. Jordan was noticing that 'Dont Stop The Music' was picking up, so her persuaded the label to support it at radio in the U.S and the remaining singles, and they did.""Then came for the repackaging of her album 'Good Girl Gone Bad', which is called 'Good Girl Gone Bad: Reloaded', that entire project was funded through Rihanna's money. 'Take A Bow' was bought through her money, the video was created with her money and so is her most recent video and single 'Disturbia'. The label didn't even want to pay a dime for anything! Close to 750,000 was spent on those two songs alone. And now she expects to see money in her account?"Williams states that Jordan, her publicist from well-respected public relations firm 42-West, Alicia Silverman has built alot of hype around Rihanna's name but the singer has only made "a little bit above a million" and "all of it was spent on making her as big as she is now. It's not my fault that she only has 20,000 to her name."

They Say

Michael Jackson has not spoken to his brothers since his acquittal on child molestation charges three years ago, even though they have been desperately trying to get in touch with him because they say he's owes them over $800,000 in royalties from their Jackson 5 days. [How that's possible, I don't know, I'm just the messenger]

Women of Turks and Caicos Throw LisaRaye Under The Bus

Bernie Mac's Memorial

Thousands turned out for Bernie Mac's memorial service this past Saturday. Click here for video.

Gone Til October

DMX is not getting out of jail anytime soon. Arizona has him listed on a 'No Bail' hold so take a good look at your boy. This mugshot from when he got arrested in Miami last Thursday is the last time you'll see him until his court date in October. And remember when I told you his 5th avenue townhouse was going on the auction block because he stiffed that dog clothes company on an endorsement deal? The crib sold for $120,000.00 bucks. But don't get too pressed thinking you should have snatched it up yourself. The $120,000.00 was on top of all the liens and other encumbrances, including a $400,000 dollar mortgage.

The Kanye We All Know And Love

The other night at the Virgin Festival in Baltimore they had a VIP section on-stage with risers so certain people could watch the concerts up close. It was all good while Lupe Fiasco, Jack Johnson and the Foo Fighters performed but before Kanye West took the stage his people told the folks on the risers that Kanye didn't want them up there with him and kicked their asses off the stage.

Jam It or Slam It

LisaRaye Speaks On State of Her Marriage

And she released a statement:

“It is with great sadness that I have to announce that my husband and I have separated. Last night, Wednesday August 13, 2008, an attempt was made by and on behalf of my husband to first prevent my entry into our home and then, later, to make me leave our home by force. It was necessary for me to receive medical treatment for injuries suffered and in relation to those injuries I shall continue to assist the police force with its enquiries. Whilst it is my sincere wish to avoid unnecessary conflict, I shall not be intimidated, nor shall those individuals whose job it is to protect and represent me. I ask that my privacy be respected in these difficult times and I believe that the people of the TCI will understand and support my wish to receive the necessary independent representation from the legal counsel of my choosing. I hope that, in time, the TCI government will come to share that view. Although I have always been a supportive wife even in light of the very serious allegations currently pending against the Premier, there are limits even for me. I continue to have the utmost respect for the people of the TCI who have always shown me kindness and support. I vow to continue my work amongst the people of Turks and Caicos Islands. Until recently I had hoped that I would be able to continue to assist my husband during what will undoubtedly be difficult times ahead for him. I do not wish to have to add to his difficulties.”

No Money Mo Problems

Michael Vick’s finances are in such disarray that a bankruptcy judge will hold a hearing and could appoint a trustee to oversee the fallen quarterback’s dwindling estate. U.S. Bankruptcy Judge Frank Santoro has ordered a hearing for Sept. 5, according to court documents filed in Virginia in the case of the Falcons quarterback. “It has become clear since the filing of this case that Mr. Vick has very limited knowledge of the state of his finances. … It appears that Mr. Vick has routinely relied upon others to make financial decisions for him, giving them discretionary control over large sums of money,” Santoro wrote in his order on Wednesday. Vick filed for bankruptcy protection from his creditors, including the Falcons, on July 7. He stated that he had assets and debts in the range of $10-50 million.Vick originally sought to have David Talbot serve as his trustee in the case. He was called a “trusted advisor” in the original filing. However Talbot was charged with securities fraud by the State of New Jersey last Friday in Bergen County. He is accused of swindling $500,000 from church members. Vick has sought to have him dismissed as an advisor.

So Much For That Hospital Lie

Earl's ass wasn't in no hospital. DMX got arrested outside a Miami Walmart yesterday on a bench warrant for failure to appear in Arizona on drug charges. Earl's public defender previously reported his client missed his court date because he was hospitalized. Meanwhile, his old lawyer blabbed that X is being repped by a public defender because he is low on funds and also that his Phoenix house is in foreclosure.

LisaRaye And Michael Misick's Violent Confrontation

PROVIDENCIALES, Turks and Caicos: The Premier of the Turks and Caicos Islands (TCI) Michael Misick, and his estranged wife LisaRaye McCoy-Misick were involved in a violent confrontation at the Premier’s mansion on Wednesday night, according to reliable sources...

Did Scientology Kill Isaac Hayes?

While offical reports list a stroke as Isaac Hayes' cause of death, there's a really interesting article implying Scientology may have played a role in his demise. The article explains how Scientologist Isaac Hayes lost the rights to all his songs back in 1977 and really wasn't doing well financially until the late 1990's when he got that gig voicing the character of Chef on South Park. The article also reveals the little known fact that Isaac suffered a debilitating stoke in 2006 that'd left him with significant motor control and speech issues. Anyway, the article goes on to say that after South Park started riding really hard against the Scientology sect, South Park creators Matt Stone and Trey Parker say Isaac came to them in tears saying he was under tremendous pressure from Scientology leaders to quit the show unless South Park quit their campaign against their religion. They refused, forcing Isaac to choose between his job and his beliefs. He choose his faith and quit the show. According to the article, "Isaac’s income stream was severely impaired as a result. Suddenly there were announcements of his touring, and performing. It didn’t seem possible, but word went out that he’d be at BB King’s in New York in January 2007. I [the reporter] went to see him and reported on it here [in his colum].The show was an abomination. Isaac was plunked down at a keyboard, where he pretended to front his band. He spoke-sang, and his words were halting. He was not the Isaac Hayes of the past. But the general consensus was that he needed the money. Without “Chef,” Isaac’s finances were severely curtailed. He had mouths to feed and to home. Plus, Scientology requires huge amounts of money, as former member, actor Jason Beghe, has explained in this space. For Isaac to continue in the sect, he had to come up with funds. Performing was the only way." While the article stops short of saying Scientology pushed Issac into an early grave, it raised a lot of questions about his death. Like why, for example, was a stroke survivor on a treadmill by himself? What was his condition? What kind of treatment had he had since the stroke? Members of Scientology are required to sign a form promising they will never seek psychiatric or mental assistance. But stroke rehabilitation involves the help of neurologists and often psychiatrists, not to mention psychotropic drugs — exactly the kind Scientology proselytizes against.