The trailer for the new Biggie biopic, Notorious, has finally arrived. It looks more like a music video than a movie trailer, and that's probably not a good sign:
Two of the most prominent groups of diamond collectors will converge on October first at Phillips de Pury when rappers and hip-hop moguls mingle with royalty at the Hip Hop’s Crown Jewels auction. Among the items up on the block is a Guinness World Record holder; Lil' Jon is selling his infamous Crunk Ain't Dead 12-pound bling-studded accessory, notable for being the largest diamond pendant necklace in the world. No word yet on how much the bauble is expected to bring in ($500k is its reported value, and that doesn't include the priceless feeling of wearing a piece that used to sit next to the pimp cup), but its final selling price is guaranteed to become a lyric in a Lil' Jon song. The auction will also feature pieces owned by Missy Elliot, Tupac, Notorious B.I.G., Diddy, 50 Cent, and big names in the biz. Come, if you want to experience the sensation of eating your heart out.
Chuck Philips, the Pulitzer-winning Los Angeles Times reporter who has devoted the latter part of his career to investigating the deaths of Tupac and Notorious B.I.G., has been let go by the paper.
The Los Angeles Times hits today with a huge story accusing Sean "Diddy" Combs of knowing the assault on Tupac Shakur, at his Quad City studio in New York, was coming weeks before it went down that in November '94, escalating the bi-coastal hip-hop war. (Tupac was fatally shot in 1996.)
Writing the article is none other than Chuck Philips, who previously alleged Chris Wallace/Notorious B.I.G. was the one who put the fatal hit out on Tupac. Wallace's family vehemently denied those claims.
Philips maintains the New York-based rappers, who were supposed to be rivals themselves, knew there was going to be violence, but no shooting; only when Tupac pulled a gun did the plan go awry. And who was behind the shooting? Jimmy "Henchman" Rosemond, says Philips; Henchman now manages the career of The Game, among others.
Naturally, Diddy is already on the defensive. After refusing to comment for the LAT article, his label Bad Boy just issued us this statement: "This story is beyond ridiculous and is completely false. Neither Biggie nor I had any knowledge of any attack before, during, or after it happened. It is a complete lie to suggest that there was any involvement by Biggie or myself. I am shocked that the Los Angeles Times would be so irresponsible as to publish such a baseless and completely untrue story."
• It's been way too long since Michael Jackson put out a charity single. And, really, who needs more charity than Jacko himself? [Page Six]
• The LAPD knows who killed Biggie Smalls — it's just going to take half a dozen lawsuits to get it out of them. [NYDN]
• Why is it so easy to believe that Jack White is a knife-wielding psychopath? [NME]
• Sheryl Crow is back to music after taking a break to battle breast cancer … which was seemingly easier to deal with than her break-up with Lance Armstrong. [MSNBC]
• Usually we hate rappers trying to act … but since Missy Elliot invented getting your freak on, we'll give her the benefit of the doubt. [E!]
• Nick Lachey is totally bi … bi-coastal, that is. [Gatecrasher]
• Justin Timberlake just happens to agree with the rest of the world on the state of Kevin Federline.
[The Scoop]
• Paris Hilton's super-elusive album will now feature Three 6 Mafia. Can she just stop pretending to "work" on it and just release something already? [E!]
• If you could put a price on life, $1.1 million sounds about right for Biggie Smalls'. [Billboard]
• Courtney Love dreams that she was Mary Magdalene and Moby was Jesus. Are we supposed to believe she's sober? [Rolling Stone]
• Things are finally looking up for Ashley Parker Angel. His crazy girlfriend is even allowing strippers back to their hotel room. Don't say being in a boyband never did anything for you, Ash. [R&M]
• The British government has a hand in which bands strike it big in America. Too bad they can't use those hands to kidnap Kevin Federline. [LAT]
• Down in Austin, bands are literally throwing themselves at record execs and fans alike. MySpace just seems so much safer. [NYT]
• Due to a copyright infringement lawsuit, it looks like Notorious B.I.G's "Ready to Die" may be hard to get your hands on for a while. So hold on to that copy you've had since middle school, or auction it off on eBay now, while the panic is still fresh. [MTV]
• Three 6 Mafia gets sued by a fan who blames them for a "violent encounter" at their concert. It's hard out here for an Oscar winner. (Especially when everyone knows how much money comes along with the award). [E!]
• Of course Annie Lennox knows who Orlando Bloom is. She has a life. [Defamer]
• Holiday cards from prison continue — today's special greetings are scratched schitzo style onto notepaper, with love, from Lil' Kim. [Lilkim.com]
• In order for David Letterman to stop mentaling harassing crazy people through the television, the crazy people should move their TV sets three yards away. Yeah, that probably won't fix this this lady's problems. [People]
• Well, if Ethan Hawke believes your defense, then you definitely shouldn't go to jail. [MSNBC]
• Three people were stabbed during a Notorious B.I.G record release party, held at Exit, early this morning. (Note: We probably would have heard about it sooner, had the MTA not totally taken over every single inch of news today. Do you really need every newspaper and television to tell you that walking to work sucks?) [AP]
• Sensitivity challenged Kimberly Stewart strikes again. In the October issue of Stuff, the wanna-be starlet let loose on Heather Mills McCartney, the amputee and activist. "What has three legs and lives on a farm?" Rod Stewart's daughter snarks. "Paul McCartney and his wife." Now what has a saggy ass and pays for friends?
• We can't decide whether Tara Reid is more famous for her awful boob job or her party girl antics, but E! settled the debate for us: She's not famous enough, which is why they canned her Taradise.
• Overexposed author Bret Easton Ellis didn't have quite the experience Anna Wintour did on the Today show. Instead of being quizzed by Matt Lauer (who split to Iraq), Katie Couric conducted the questioning, which left Ellis sneering: "She was such a bitch to me, I couldn't believe it." But the knees! Oh, the knees.
• Blinging up baby! The upcoming spawn of Britney Spears and K-Fed is going to be decked out in a designer wardrobe, courtesy Donatella Versace. No doubt Ms. Versace was enticed by the challenge of creating low riders and tacky T-shirts for the infant set.
• It's 10 counts of fraud for Survivor's first winner Richard Hatch, who notoriously omitted his $1 million winnings plus other compensation. He faces up to 75 years in prison — or eating two dozen balut eggs.
• Tonight's hour-long Hurricane Katrina telethon won't feature any special precautions, except for a five or seven second delay, to ward off any Kanye copycats. Or West himself, who's on the roster.
• Voletta Wallace, mother of Notorious B.I.G., doesn't have very nice things to say about her deceased son's friends Sean Combs and Lil' Kim, and she's using her upcoming memoir to spit. As for Diddy: "Sean loved my son–after he was dead."
• Arnold Schwarzenegger's mistress Gigi Goyette is willingly making the press rounds just like she did for a 2001 National Enquirer story, which she sold to the tabloid herself for $25,000.
• While Rush & Molloy claim Ray's delivered pies to Usher "and his entourage" at Bed, Jossip's own Meatpacking District Nightclub Correspondent saw the abs-inclined performer dining very, very alone.
• Like a good gossipist, The Scoop's Jeanette Walls is blowing up a small spat between Justin Timberlake and Cameron Diaz into a full-on Us Weekly-esque "are they breaking up?" debate.
• Gwen Stefani nixed any commitments to this month's MTV VMAs, complaining that while she's leading the pack in nominations she wasn't even invited to perform. So don't expect her or Gavin Rossdale to walk the red carpet or pick up any Moonmen on stage.
• The Los Angeles City Council voted unanimously to reject an $18 million wrongful death settlement proposal from the family of Notorious B.I.G., ensuring they'll be refiling their lawsuit.
• We have Tom Cruise to thank for hooking up David Beckham with wifey Victoria. Now which publicist do we have to thank for hooking up Tom with Katie Holmes?
• Staffers at Women's Wear Daily were privy to some tabloid-shopped snaps of a very naked Jude Law changing outside his mother's home in France. The verdict: "He's no Tommy Lee, that's for sure."
• Matt Lauer might not be rekindling his marriage to separated model-wife Annette Roque, but he is back in their flat after fleeing his $15,000-per-month Trump pad.
• The family of Notorious B.I.G. wants $2 million from the City of Los Angeles to pay its legal fees after a judge declared a mistrial in the rapper's wrongful death suit.
• Mario Vasquez's voluntarily quitting American Idol has paid off, just like we all hoped/expected. He's signed a "lucrative deal" with Clive Davis' J Records and will be managed by Rod Stewart's famed handler Arnold Steifel, rather than 19 Entertainment.
• Bennifer 2.0 is having a girl! Ben Affleck and Jennifer Garner are growing an XX chromosomed baby, revealed at the L.A. premiere of The Brothers Grimm. Meanwhile, Britney Spears' bump is rumored to be a boy, but expect that to change next week.
BONUS: One more nakey Jude Law pic after the jump.
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Editorial Director
