Search Results for: refused

Los Angeles – Michael Jackson’s lawyers have filed a motion to dismiss the child molestation charges against the pop star on grounds of “vindictive prosecution and outrageous government conduct.” They also want to push back the Jan. 31 trial date that Superior Court Judge Rodney Melville has pressed lawyers to meet for starting jury selection. The motions, filed Dec. 10 and made available Monday, are scheduled for argument in hearings to begin Dec. 20. The defense also asked Melville to suppress all evidence seized under the latest search warrants in the case. That motion and the others likely stem from… Read more »

Backstreet Boys fans (who are probably now all pushing 30 at this point) are a patient lot. The ’90s boy band, who haven’t released an album since 2001, have been promising a comeback for ages now, but have yet to deliver. According to Billboard.com, the Backstreet loyal will be awarded for their patience in 2005, when there will be not one, but two Backstreet-y albums in stores. First up, the original five Backstreet Boys are still reportedly working hard on the long-awaited follow-up to their 2001 album, Black And Blue. The boys, who are all surely men by now (especially… Read more »

Los Angeles – Wednesday’s VH1 Big in ’04 awards show was a terrifying example of life imitating art, one that was dreadfully similar to “Saturday Night Live”‘s “Train Wreck Awards” skit from a few weeks ago. There was Anna Nicole Smith, just slightly more coherent than she was at the American Music Awards, threatening to flash the Shrine Auditorium audience after accepting the Big Makeover of ’04 award. There was ultimate odd couple, Flavor Flav and Brigitte Nielsen, fondling each other from the “beige carpet” to the stage, which they entered on a horse-drawn carriage. (They also tried to fondle… Read more »

Los Angeles – Somehow Outkast have managed to get some work done in between collecting all their trophies. The hip-hop duo – who were big winners at the recent MTV Europe Awards, American Music Awards and World Music Awards, among others – have nearly completed two different records and have just finished shooting their long-awaited HBO movie. Titled “My Life in Idlewild,” the movie was written and directed by longtime Outkast video director Bryan Barber and features Big Boi and Andre 3000 acting alongside Ving Rhames, Paula Jai Parker (“Friday”), Terrence Howard (“Ray”) and Malinda Williams (“Soul Food”), among others.… Read more »

“Back to basics” and “return to form” were some of the phrases floated by music critics worldwide when Manchester-based singer-songwriter Damon Gough, a.k.a. Badly Drawn Boy, released his fourth and latest LP last summer. Not only does One Plus One Is One open with the line, “Back to being who I was before,” but it was recorded by Andy Votel – who produced Gough’s breakthrough record, The Hour Of Bewilderbeast – in a simple U.K. studio with traditional instruments, whereas its predecessor, Have You Fed The Fish?, was a product of Tom Rothrock’s ProTools palace in California. However, despite appearances,… Read more »

The French Competition Council has dismissed the case brought by Virgin’s French arm, Virginmega.fr, against Apple for alleged abuse of market dominance. The French download site wanted to force Cupertino to lift the lid on its DRM, to enable Virgin to make its downloads compatible with the iPod. Apple has always refused to open up its proprietary Fairplay – the system DRM that allows songs from the iTunes store to only be played on iPods – to competitors. Virginmega.fr, on the other hand, has opted for Microsoft’s DRM – which means its downloads can’t be played on iPods at all.… Read more »

Los Angeles – Jessica Simpson has been sued by a California cosmetics company that claims it is still owed nearly $200,000 for products it supplied for the “Dessert” beauty line the singer endorses. In a lawsuit filed Oct. 21, Cosmojet claims Simpson and Dessert Beauty Inc. failed to pay the full $1 million it was promised for products it made for the line. Cosmetic retailer Sephora was also named in the suit. Simpson maintains she was simply a spokeswoman for Dessert and was not responsible for the company’s accounting and billing procedures. Randi Shinder, president of Dessert Beauty, acknowledged receiving… Read more »

New York – The breach of contract suit suggests Jay-Z was perturbed because Kelly was the higher-paid performer. The animosity led to deliberate lighting flubs and other technical problems, violence against Kelly, and threats to force the promoter to drop him, court papers say. The promoter is also named as a defendant. Kelly, whose best-known hit is “I Believe I Can Fly,” accused one of Jay-Z’s associates of blasting him with pepper spray early Saturday at Madison Square Garden. He was treated at a hospital and released. A short time later, the tour’s promoter, Atlanta Worldwide Touring, fired Kelly. He… Read more »

After being hospitalized in New York on Friday, Courtney Love was released Monday night, only to be transferred to another facility. A diagnosis of her ailment has yet to be disclosed, and a warrant remains outstanding for her arrest. On Friday, police were called to Love’s apartment in SoHo after receiving complaints that she was throwing bottles from her window. A police officer at the scene told reporters that the singer had told him she had an abortion the previous day (Love herself had told reporters at her last New York court date that she was pregnant). Later that same… Read more »

The Dead Kennedys have finally buried the hatchet. Jello Biafra, the former frontman for the ’80s punk outfit, has decided to drop his final complaint in a lawsuit against the other three members over control of the group’s legacy. Biafra and the other Dead Kennedys have been feuding since May 2000, when a San Francisco jury ruled the singer and his record owed onetime mates East Bay Ray, Klaus Fouride and D.H. Peligro $220,000 in a breach-of-contract suit. Biafra appealed the verdict, but a state appeals court eventually ruled against him. In an opinion rendered in June 2003, the three-judge… Read more »