Why be cotton, when you can be leather?

Source

Amy Winehouse continues to find performing sober a challenge — even when she’s getting paid $2 million an hour. Russian billionaire Roman Abramovich offered the troubled Grammy winner that much to give a quick show Thursday at the opening of his girlfriend’s art gallery in Moscow.

Winehouse took the bait. (She can use the cash, according to British reports, which claim she’s been paying veteran inmates at a British jail to look after her husband, Blake Fielder-Civil, while he awaits his assault trial.) Tattooed Amy managed to get on a plane in London. But, a source tells us, when she arrived in Moscow “she was in no condition to appear.” Word is party organizers talked about finding a replacement to sing, but felt there wasn’t enough time.

Winehouse was due to take the stage at 10:30 p.m. at The Garage, the gallery of Abramovich’s 25-year-old love interest, Dasha Zhukova. The singer’s handlers “spent two hours trying to pull her together,” says the insider. Around 12:30 a.m., Winehouse finally appeared, wobbling onto the stage down a red carpet lined with red lights, which guided her like a damaged aircraft down a runway.

Between restorative sips of Coke, Winehouse puffed on cigarettes, flung her lighter into the audience and tugged on her little dress, revealing to stageside fans that she wasn’t wearing underwear.

“I heard that her singing was a little sloppy,” says the source, who caught up with the gallery crowd later at The Most, the hot Moscow club where the after-party was held. “But she still put on a terrific show.

read more here.

Don’t believe the hype (c) P.E.

I’m going to try and not get too hopped up on the whackamine (opposite of dopamine) from all this Mr. & Mrs. Cannon Hullabuloo. I was raised poor; I know generic shit when I see it! Check out pictures from their marriage celebration at Six Flags Magic Mountain. (Grad Night Style, smh).

Love stories are too long, I’m sure this is a Love Limerick at best.

But w-w-wait it gets worse!

Someone has defeated the mighty giant. This Saturday at Shag Night Club in Hollywood, Suge Knight was vanquished with a right hook by a man only 5′8″ 200lbs. A friend of mine who witness the historical event said the incident went like so: Shug and a man were fighting inside the club about money. After the club was over, Shug Knight was talking to some girls and then a man ran up on Suge and prompty got stomped out by Suge and his boy. Moments later a man jumps out of a Lexus and is like “Yo, where that bitch nigga Suge at?” Suge tries to balk on dude and thats when the man gave Suge Knight a Mortal Kombat (FINISH HIM!) right hook. The pictures are very telling:

See the rest of the photos here.

I also hear there’s video floating around of this too. Jeebus.

Source

After years of speculation, singer Beyoncé Knowles wed her longtime boyfriend, rapper Jay-Z, on Friday, a friend of the couple tells PEOPLE.

Though there is no official confirmation, the friend says, “It happened earlier this evening. Jay wanted it to be a really private affair – close friends and family.”

The ceremony was followed by a lavish party at the rapper’s Tribeca apartment that drew Beyoncé’s mother Tina Knowles, her father/manager Mathew, her sister Solange, her Destiny’s Child mates Kelly Rowland and Michelle Williams, and the couple’s friend Gwyneth Paltrow.

The wedding buzz began when the couple went to get a marriage license at a village hall in Scarsdale, N.Y. , on Tuesday.

DJ Cassidy, a favorite of Jay-Z, was hired to spin. “Cassidy mentioned a week ago that he was really excited for the Jay Z and Beyoncé’s wedding party to happen,” says the friend.

Early Friday morning, workers erected a white tent atop the building in Tribeca, where Jay-Z owns a penthouse apartment. Not long after, an SUV carrying what seemed to be AV equipment arrived, followed by deliveries of party rentals and flowers.

A source tells PEOPLE that Amy’s Orchids was hired to provide 50,000 to 60,000 white orchid blooms from Thailand for a “big party.” At the apartment, waiters were seen practicing their service.

A couple since 2002, Jay-Z, 38, and Knowles, 26, always kept quiet about their relationship, even as they were photographed together on romantic holidays around the world.

Still, marriage seemed to be in the cards – eventually. “I never pictured myself as a bride,” she told Cosmopolitan in January 2006, “but after my sister’s wedding, I did start thinking about what kind of wedding I’d want. I don’t think I want a big one.”

Word? Fancy that. I thought they were gonna be one of those couples. Good for them. We already know what their offspring will look like. All the best to the happy pair.

Beyoncé Knowles and longtime beau Jay-Z have taken out a marriage license in Scarsdale, N.Y. , PEOPLE has learned.

According to a source, the pair obtained a license Tuesday morning. The document is valid for 60 days.

A rep for Beyoncé told PEOPLE, “No comment.” Jay-Z’s spokesperson could not be reached.

Beyoncé, 26, and Jay-Z, 38, have been dating since 2002, though the couple have stood reluctant to discuss their relationship publicly. Rumors about their romance began circulating after the singer appeared on Jay-Z’s song “‘03 Bonnie & Clyde,” followed by collaborations on Beyoncé’s solo hit “Crazy in Love,” in 2003.

While the two have remained tight-lipped about the state of their romance, by no means has Beyoné brushed off talk of marriage. In December 2006, the singer told InStyle, “You can’t rush a man into anything – whether it’s a relationship, marriage or having children.”

Earlier that month the pair were besieged by rumors that they were all set to get hitched in the Caribbean – a rumor that was quickly scotched by their reps.

I’m sure the new tatas will come in handy during her (alleged) Playboy Shoot.

Kelly Rowland Opens Up About Breast Implants

NEW YORK - Kelly Rowland has gotten a little more bustylicious. Rowland, who sang “Bootylicious” with Beyoncé in the group Destiny’s Child, tells People magazine in its March 17 issue that she had plastic surgery last October to bring her “from an A-cup to a B-cup.” As for the one-cup upgrade, Rowland says: “I didn’t want to have double Ds and be a little bitty size 2 — that would look nuts!”

The 27-year-old singer went under the knife after a long decision-making process.
“I was sick of not fitting into my tops,” she says. “There was this one really hot House of Dereon top — I just wanted to fill that out!” Rowland says that top — designed by Beyoncé’s mom, Tina Knowles — complements her new curves: “I put it on and I looked so good! I’m so happy. I feel complete.”

Rowland, who has released two solo albums, says she hesitated to discuss the surgery. “It is a decision I made for myself. I like it, and that’s all that counts. For young people: Think about it before you just jump off and do something (you may regret later),” she says.

I think the entire black community knew that this was a “marriage” of convenience. Eddie Murphy has been suspect to us since 1997. Not to talk of the gay rumors with Johnny Gill and his baby mama drama with Scary Spice. If you ask me, they were just using each other as props. They just looked good in pictures, that was about it. I’m actually quite suprised they even took it that far.  And how come Charlie Murphy wasn’t in any of those wedding pictures? I hope ESSENCE does a story with Tracey soon. A sit down with Oprah would be great too. I’m looking forward to those. Read the nonsense below.

Eddie Murphy and Tracey Edmonds Split After Two-Week Marriage

If the honeymoon wasn’t already over, it sure is now. Just like the marriage.
Two weeks after Eddie Murphy exchanged vows with Tracey Edmonds in a private—and, as it happens, not legally binding—ceremony in Bora Bora , the couple has separated. They made their announcement in a joint statement Wednesday, 15 days after their seaside Jan. 1 nuptials.

“After much consideration and discussion, we have jointly decided that we will forego having a legal ceremony as it is not necessary to define our relationship further,” the former flames said. “While the recent symbolic union in Bora Bora was representative of our deep love, friendship and respect that we have for one another on a spiritual level, we have decided to remain friends.”

Shortly after the New Year’s celebration on the French Polynesian island, reps for the couple acknowledged that the ceremony, having taken place outside the country, was not legally binding, but that the couple would be making it official upon their return to the States.

“As is typical when couples get married in foreign countries, a legal ceremony will take place when they return to the U.S. ,” Murphy’s publicist said at the time. “The wedding that took place in Bora Bora was a ceremony to bind Eddie and Tracey spiritually in the presence of family and friends.” The lack of a legally recognized union spares the ex-duo from the formalities of a lengthy divorce or annulment.

The breakup followed a less than fairy-tale start, with the first days of the newlyweds’ honeymoon marred by screaming matches and arguments that lasted the entire week, according to People, which first reported the split. The 46-year-old actor and 40-year-old producer had been dating since fall 2006 (following the demise of Murphy’s separation from then pregnant Melanie “Scary Spice” Brown, who gave birth to Murphy’s daughter last April) and became engaged last July.
The ex-couple’s previous unions both endured a tad longer than two weeks.

Edmonds , whose movie-producing credits include Who’s Your Caddy? and Good Luck Chuck, was previously married to music mogul Kenneth “Babyface” Edmonds . The couple, whose divorce was finalized last June, was together for 13 years and has two children together. Murphy’s first marriage, to Nicole Mitchell, ended in April 2006 after 13 years and five children.

It wasn’t too long ago that NBC announced plans to purchase Oxygen from Winfrey and her associates for $925 million. Now, it has just been released that Oprah will own her own cable television network called OWN (Oprah Winfrey Network). I hope she can squeeze some quality colored programming on her new network. I highly doubt it, but it doesn’t cost to dream. Speaking of dreams, I wish Oprah would sponsor my life. It wouldn’t cost her much. What’s 60K a year to Oprah? Thats her toothpaste budget. She needs to invest in me. It not like I wouldn’t work. I just would work minimally and do the things she needs me to do.. Sounds like a plan to me. Anyways, I’ll develop this plan and you can read the rest of the story…

Source: SF Gate.com

Oprah Winfrey is getting her own TV network. OWN — for Oprah Winfrey Network — will debut next year in nearly 70 million homes with cable and satellite, part of a deal announced Tuesday with Discovery Communications. It will replace the Discovery Health network. The announcement builds a media empire that already includes the top-rated TV talk show, a magazine, a satellite radio network, a Web site and TV movies made under her banner.

“This is an evolution of what I’ve been able to do every day,” Winfrey said. “I will now have the opportunity to do this 24 hours a day on a platform that goes on forever.” She will be chairwoman of the network, owned 50-50 by Discovery and her company, Harpo Productions Inc. In return for taking over a network already operated by Discovery, Winfrey gives half ownership of the Oprah.com Web site. Discovery owns 13 networks in the United States , including Discovery, TLC and Animal Planet. Discovery Health is one of the least successful, and company President and CEO David Zaslav was looking for ideas about what to do with it when his wife handed him a copy of Oprah’s magazine.

He approached Winfrey about a partnership, coincidentally shortly after she had come upon an entry for her diary dated May 24, 1992, when she wrote about her idea for creating her own network. “David came and really spoke about the vision I’d been having for 15 years,” she said. “It felt like, `I can’t believe you’re saying this.’” Zaslav said that Discovery’s core mission is knowledge and curiosity and “this is right in our sweet spot.” Winfrey envisions the programming dealing with issues such as money, health, weight, relationships and raising children. Some of the stable of in-house experts she uses on “Oprah” and the XM satellite radio station might be expected to contribute.

While Winfrey will be the face of the new network, she won’t have much of a presence, at least at first. She is under contract to continue on “Oprah” through May 2011, a deal that prohibits the use of reruns on her own network. After that, she could continue her show on broadcast TV or do it for the cable network, and may reach a deal to allow reruns on OWN. Taking “Oprah” off broadcast TV, however, could reduce its visibility and in turn make the cable network less valuable.

Winfrey said she needed to decide this fall whether to continue her syndicated show beyond 2011.
Winfrey was an early and visible investor in the development of Oxygen, a network for women that was created in the 1990s. She said she quickly determined that Oxygen “did not reflect my voice” and she removed herself from the company’s board after a few meetings. “The difference here is I will have editorial control and there is a vision for what I want to do with this network,” she said.

Oxygen was also a startup in an industry where it’s becoming harder to introduce new networks, while OWN will have the built-in advantage of already being in nearly two-thirds of the nation’s homes with television.