Ms. Tibbs Bits (11/19)

Date: Tuesday, November 23, 2004 By: Ms. Tibbs of Big Park Marketing

RIP...Ol’ Dirty Bastard, born Russell Jones, aka Big Baby Jesus, died last Saturday afternoon while at a recording studio in Manhattan. No cause of death was given pending an autopsy. ODB complained of chest pains and trouble breathing before collapsing. “This ain't no joke. This is real life, just like if you lose your mother, your brother. This is real life,” Ghostface said outside the studio. “It's a big loss. It's a big loss right now. I knew him for 20 years. He was my brother, heart, soul, pride and joy.” ODB had performed last week with the rest of Wu-Tang in their first East Coast show together in five years. ODB was laid to rest this week.

Law & Disorder...50 Cent pleaded not guilty to assault charges stemming from an incident at a concert. His lawyer, Steve Leary, entered the plea.• Giorgio ArmaniCorp. has hit Don King with a lawsuit. Armani claims King owes the company for a $75,000 shopping spree at an Armani shop in Manhattan last year. The lawsuit claims that King has ignored "several attempts" to collect what he owes the store. His hair is never done & he stiffs his boxers so what did they expect? • Liza Minnelli's former bodyguard, M'hammed Soumayah, filed a $100 million dollar suit saying that Minnelli forced him to have sex with her without his consent. See what happens when you marry a drag queen! • An arrest warrant was issued for Young Buck by the Santa Monica Police Department in connection with the ‘incident’ at the Vibe Awards. Buck was one of three men seen on video using a knife during the fight. You know what this means? Double Platinum! Sad but true! • Ron Robinson, Ja Rule's manager, was arrested in connection with an ongoing money laundering investigation at The Inc. Robinson was arraigned and released on $500,000 bond. Damn, whose next the kids? • Diane Richie, Lionel Richie's ex was taken into federal custody for allegedly allowing her boyfriend, Daniel Serrano, to use her Beverly Hills home to inject people with a wrinkle filler not yet approved by the FDA. Richie was released on $25,000 bail; Serrano was held pending the outcome of a bail hearing. Good lawdy wawdy!

Oh Really...The ex-girlfriend of comedian Bill Maher hit him with a $9 million palimony lawsuit, charging she quit her flight attendant and modeling gigs because he promised to marry her and buy her a Beverly Hills home. Nancy ‘Coco’ Johnson (who is black) claims Maher said he wanted them to have children and vowed to "take care of" her for the rest of her life. His first mistake was f**kin’ with a girl nicknamed Coco! Johnson said once she gave up her job and modeling aspirations, Maher berated her with politically incorrect racial slurs, roughed her up and threatened to hit her with a hammer, according to the suit filed. The suit also alleges Maher cheated on Johnson "with at least one other woman" while they lived together. Maher's lawyer says the suit is the revenge of a scorned woman. "This is a completely frivolous lawsuit filled with false allegations that is part of a pattern by Ms. Johnson to seek retribution since the end of their short relationship. Mr. Maher is looking forward to having this dismissed by the court," said attorney Adam Streisand. The couple dated for 17 months. The suit says that Maher made insulting, humiliating and degrading racial comments to and about Johnson and others." The suit doesn't give any examples, but it does allege that at one party, Maher yanked Johnson by the arm and caused "injuries to her neck and back." When they got home, he threatened to hit her in the head with a hammer if she cheated on him, the suit says. Johnson wants money to make up for her lost careers and pension plan and her pain and suffering, the suit says. Sounds like someone tried to take the short road to fast money and got played! We’ll soon find out!

The Daily Star reports Beyonce and Jennifer Lopez asked to be partitioned from Coldplay at a recent studio recording session in London where they were taping a Pepsi advertisement. A source at the studio complained, "They were making a huge fuss about making sure no one could hear them and insisted on having a huge partition put up between their area of the studio and Coldplay's. It's ridiculous - all the recording suites are sound-proofed anyway." They can both go and screw themselves with a rotten banana!

The Chicago Sun-Times reports that after Kanye West lost the award for Favorite Breakthrough Artist at the AMA’s to country singer Gretchen Wilson, West stomped out of the auditorium. "I was robbed," West fumed backstage. "I refuse to give a politically correct answer because I make this music from my heart...I was the best new artist this year." If this is not the most pussified statement! When I say, B you say, Itch!

The Chicago Sun-Times reports that Rev. Derrick Mosley, known as a self-proclaimed community advocate in Chicago, was arrested and charged with wire fraud and extortion in an alleged plot to blackmail the wife of New York Yankee Gary Sheffield. Mosley is accused of trying to obtain $20,000 from a business manager representing Sheffield's wife, claiming he had a videotape depicting her in a sexual encounter with R Kelly and another woman. According to sources the tape pre-dates the woman's marriage to Sheffield. Kelly's manager said Mosley tried to extort money from him in a separate incident. Kelly’s manager filed for a restraining order against Mosley in 2003. Federal agents say Mosley told the woman's agent he wanted the money as a counseling fee to help the wife atone for her sins. And may I ask who gave him that authority? This is the exact reason why some folks should have limited access to bibles! As part of the deal, Mosley allegedly promised to destroy the videotapes. Authorities said the woman's business manager, Rufus Williams, recorded conversations with Mosley and then went to the FBI. In a statement released Williams said, "Derrick Mosley did not receive any money from me for his silence. Instead, he was taken into custody by the FBI." If found guilty, Mosley could face 22 years in prison. First of all, I’m surprised the girl was over 18! Secondly, is this man a real Reverend or did he get ordained at Brother Johnson’s’ Jumbalya & Jesus kiosk at the local mall?

Music World/Bizz Updates/Ventures...The Buzz: MTV plans to launch a channel in Africa next year, marking its 100th channel worldwide. MTVBase will reach about 1.3 million homes, primarily in South Africa and Nigeria, when it begins broadcasting in February. Um, how the hell did MTV beat BET to Africa! The Bizz: Eminem signed a $7.5 million dollar international publishing deal with EMI for Encore. Eminem signs publishing deals one album at a time, but EMI hopes the deal leads to a longer-term relationship. I’ll give it to him, he’s one hellova business man! BTW, Encore is dat John Blaze sh*t! • Ventures: Russell Simmons is in talks to start the Russell Simmons Music Group. Simmons is in negotiating with Warner, where Lyor Cohen presides over U.S. Operations. Simmons also has held talks with Def Jam owner Universal about starting something new, but those negotiations are said to have cooled with the departure of Kevin Liles. • Shaq inked a distribution deal with Koch. The new label Deja34 Records will release a new album by Kay Slay in April. Kay Slay will also serve as the head of A&R for the label. And we all know Shaq’s gonna funk up the mic every chance he gets, and that’s never good! • Chucky Thompson has launched his newest J Records joint venture production company, Lifeprint Productions, Inc. Lifeprint Productions, Inc. is Thompson’s production company which is dedicated to discovering up and coming DC Area talent and will be operated and based in the District of Columbia. Thompson is a native Washingtonian and is currently in the studio working with Nas, Faith Evans and Jaguar Wright.

Upcoming Projects/TV Shows/Flicks Etc...Shows: T-Boz and Chili have inked a deal with UPN to air a new reality series aimed at resurrecting TLC. UPN gave the OK to eight episodes of the project, titled 'R U the Girl With T-Boz & Chilli.' The winner gets the chance to perform with T-Boz and Chilli in a live concert and recording session. Let’s just hope they find a good singer since neither one of those heifers can sing! Flicks: Jamie Foxx and Colin Farrell are in talks to play Sonny Crocket and Ricardo Tubbs in a movie version of "Miami Vice." Michael Mann will direct the flick. Etc: Usher won Best Pop-Rock Artist, Favorite Male Soul-R&B Artist, Best Soul-R&B Album and Best Pop-Rock Album at the American Music Awards. OutKast won Favorite Pop-Rock Band, Favorite Rap-Hip-Hop Album, and Best Rap-Hip-HopGroup. Alicia Keys won Favorite Female Soul-R&B Artist.

Albums Etc...Fantasia will drop Free Yourself on Nov. 23rd. In honor of her debut release, M.A.C. is releasing two new lip glosses, Fantabulous 1 and Fantabulous 2. • Mario will drop Turning Point on Dec. 7th. • Ruben Studdard will drop I Need an Angel on Nov. 23rd. • T.I. will drop Urban Legend on Nov. 30th. • Redman plans to drop Red Gone Wild early 2005.

Spottings...Ja Rule, Charli Baltimore, Fat Joe, Jadakiss, Nelly, Raekwon, Roy Jones Jr., T.I., and Treach were spotted at Ja’s Album Release Party at Exit in NYC. • Bow Wow, Jermaine Dupri, Bonecrusher, Usher, Ludacris, and his daughter Karma were spotted at the Atlanta Hawks Kick-Off Party at The Headlines Bar & Grill in Atlanta. • Michael Jordan and Derek Jeter were spotted at the Pink Elephant to celebrate Formula One driver Eddie Irvine's birthday in NYC. • 40 Cal, Jim Jones, Juelz Santana, and Cam were spotted at Marcus Zager Park as Dip Set shot the new video for 'Crunk Muzik' in NYC.

Achiever...Kiante Young is a young man who is really doing it. Young started a simple cable access show in Manhattan, Young, Black & Doin’ It, which has now grown into a marketing firm, a publishing company and a teen magazine. Young, Black & Doin’ It was a teen focused television program that featured celebrity interviews, since there were so many people (young and old) who wanted to get into the industry. Young cancelled the show to focus on new ventures. A master networker, Young used the show to spread his brand and establish powerful relationships. Young became part of the Coca-Cola Ambassadors Program where he helped Coke with their street promotions. Coke eventually hired Young, Black & Doin’ It to distribute 100,000 magazines across NYC and the rest is history. To find out more information on Mr. Young, check out www.yadit.com.

Quickies...Star Jones married Al Reynolds last weekend in New York. Chris Rock, Samuel L. Jackson, Spike Lee and Hillary Clinton were among the celeb guests. starts counting the days • Look out for Mary J. Blige and Kelis to bring holiday cheer to the Gap's "How Do You Share It?" winter ad. • Tim Meadows's wife, Michelle Meadows, filed for divorce in LA Superior Court. The couple has two sons. Michelle is requesting that the boys live with her, but that legal custody be shared. • Maurice White has linked up with Maurice Hines for Hott Feett, a Broadway musical that will feature Earth, Wind & Fire hits as well as Whites’ solo material. The show premieres early 2006. • Justin Guarini was scheduled to join the Broadway production of the Beach Boys musical "Good Vibrations," but he has mysteriously left the cast. His replacement will be announced soon. Damn, he’s a bigger loser then I originally thought!

ChattaBox...The Mash Off: First of all, why did I hear that Vibe sat Dr. Dre a breath away from Suge. Then of course, Suge talked his usual sh*t, but denies involvement. Then I heard 50 gave the Manwich to three cats during the smack down! I also heard 50 got the clank lank for those Ali moves. At the end of it all 5 people were seriously hurt (3 by 50). From all the footage I saw, G-Unit and whoever jumped in was mad deep! I’m not gonna mention who I saw jump up first coughYayo. And who could miss Lloyd’s road sign of a head! That fight was a flaming mess and once again we are being laughed at, good job guys! sucks teef • I hear that Quentin Richardson and Brandy are building a 10,000-square foot house in Paradise Valley. She needs to be building her contacts, never mind a damn house! • Diana Ross opened up about her DUI nightmare in an interview with 'Access Hollywood'. "A choice you make can change your life. Things can change your life just like that," Ross explained to Nancy O'Dell. "You're on top one moment …then you're not on top." Diana hasn’t been on top since The Wiz, girl bye! • A fake wire story circulating on the Internet cited unnamed sources claiming that R. Kelly made advances on Ashanti's younger sister at an awards show. We all know R Kelly’s a perv but he ain’t dumb enough to go up against that momma of theirs! • For the love of all that is Holy, please tell me that ya’ll saw Michelle Williams bust her lanky *ss on 106 & Park? One minute she was strutting and in a blink she was stumbling! But the killer was Kelly & Beyonce looked at her like, ‘Oh sh*t!’ but kept dancing and didn’t think to help her! How much do you want to bet they locked her in a closet that night and didn’t feed her? But wait, did you hear the mic when it hit the ground? That was the loudest thump in TV history! Sidenote: I’m mad BET edited that face crack from the footage, that was something of epic proportions! People fall every day (not like that) but they do, and damn it, that footage deserved another day! What kills me is that they cut the footage but not the mic breaking into pieces! That made me laugh even more! cues up clip again