R Kelly to be tried for child pornography

CHICAGO (Reuters) - Grammy Award-winning R&B singer R Kelly will go on trial September 17 on child pornography charges, five years after the accusations were first made, prosecutors said on Wednesday.

Kelly, 40, whose real name is Robert Kelly, faces up to 15 years in jail if convicted of videotaping himself having sex with an underage girl. Prosecutors have said the girl could have been as young as 13, but defense attorneys have disputed her age and whether Kelly is on the tape. The underground videotape was widely circulated.

Kelly pleaded not guilty to the charges and in the interim has released hit songs, gone on tours, and released a DVD set of "hip-hopera" skits.

Cook County Judge Vincent Gaughan said jury selection would begin September 17.

The trial was delayed, in part, by arguments over when the video was made. It was also pushed back because the judge fell and broke bones and needed to recuperate.

Book on crown princess to be published in Japan

TOKYO (AFP) - A Japanese translation of a controversial book on the country's Crown Princess Masako is to hit the stores here, months after it was shelved amid government protests, the publisher said Thursday.

The book's original publisher Kodansha had planned to bring out a Japanese translation in February, but backed out after the government said it contained some groundless claims.

Now another Tokyo publishing firm, Daisan-Shokan, has said it will publish Australian journalist Ben Hills' book in Japanese in early September.

"We consider the book worth publishing," Daisan-Shokan president Akira Kitagawa told AFP.

"We use the same translation which had been initially given to Kodansha with some corrections made to historical and objective errors," he said.

"Princess Masako: Prisoner of the Chrysanthemum Throne" blames overbearing palace minders for plunging Masako, a former career diplomat, into depression.

Tokyo sought an apology and "corrections" from Hills and the original publisher, Random House, over the book.

Kodansha, Japan's top publishing house, dropped the translation, citing Hills' refusal to apologise for errors.

Hills has accused Kodansha of succumbing to government pressure by dropping the Japanese edition.

Kitagawa said, "I don't think Kodansha's excuse for dropping the book was rational."

Masako, a former diplomat educated at Harvard and Oxford, left a promising career to marry into the world's oldest monarchy in 1993.

She has made few public appearances since 2003 as she suffers from what the palace calls "adjustment disorder."

In one of the most controversial assertions, Hills wrote that Masako conceived her daughter Aiko, who was born after nine years of marriage, through in-vitro fertilisation.

Mainstream Japanese media rarely write disrespectfully about the imperial family, which is widely revered, although Japanese gossip magazines have increasingly broken the taboo.

RECORD LABEL SCRAPS JENNIFER HUDSON'S ALBUM

August 02, 2007. Looks like Jennifer Hudson may be having trouble getting her album together. MediaTakeOut.com has learned that execs over at J Records are not happy with what the Oscar winning singer recorded thusfar. In fact, according to one of our sources at the label, music execs were so disappointed with her recordings, that they scrapped every single song that she made for the album.

Tells one of MediaTakeOut's insiders, "The album was terrible - it sounded like a bunch of Broadway showtunes. If we let that out [to the public], it would have been a disaster." The insider continued, "It's not over for [Jennifer] though. We'll be putting her in the studio with some accomplished producers and hopefully things will turn out better."

Update: Tony Yayo Rejects Deal In Rosemond Assault Case, "It's Not Even A Good Offer For A Guilty Person," Says Lawyer

G-Unit rapper Tony Yayo reportedly rejected a prosecutor's deal in a Manhattan courtroom today (July 24) that would have sent him to jail for nine months if he plead guilty to assaulting the 14-year-old son of Jimmy "Henchman" Rosemond.

As SOHH previously reported, Yayo (born Marvin Bernard) was charged in March with assault, harassment and endangering the welfare of a child for allegedly smacking James Rosemond on a Manhattan street. Yayo, who was released on $5,000 bail, has denied the charges.

"The prosecution's nine-month offer is one Tony vehemently rejected," Scott Leemon, Yayo's lawyer, told The Associated Press. "It's not even a good offer for a guilty person, and Tony denies the allegations absolutely."

Judge Neil Ross adjourned the case until September 6 when he will rule whether to allow Leemon to subpoena e-mails between Rosemond's Czar Entertainment and 5W Public Relations, a New York based PR firm.

Czar Entertainment is a management company co-founded by Rosemond which represents The Game, Brandy, Rick Ross and Shyne, among others.

David Beckham Gets an Escort?

According to TMZ. When you are as famous as David Beckham, you can get an escort whenever you want -- a police escort that is! Pull over!

While it appeared that David and his footballer wife, Victoria, received special assistance from the po po after spending Tuesday afternoon at Barneys in Beverly Hills, actually, they just happened to be driving alongside the coppers when David rolled down his window to ask the officer a question. Pardon me, do you have any Grey Poupon?

With all the attention they have been getting in the States, you'd think Americans cared about soccer!

Diddy Cleared Of Assault, Drops New Video Addressed To Kim Porter

Gerard Rechnitzer, a real estate agent, claimed that Combs attacked him at a party at the Roosevelt Hotel in February while he was trying to stop the rap mogul from hitting on his fiancé.

According to The New York Post, the spokesman declined to say if the case fell apart because Rechnitzer refused to cooperate, explaining only, "There was insufficient evidence."

"People who are superstars are always vulnerable to these allegations," Combs' lawyer, Benjamin Brafman told The Post.

In related news, Puff has just released the latest single from last year's Press Play, "Through The Pain." The video for the song, featuring Mario Winans, which was originally titled "Through the Pain (She Told Me)," is now addressed to his on-again, off-again girlfriend Kim Porter.

Beckham Plays with Galaxy, Parties with Stars

On Saturday, David Beckham made his debut with the Galaxy. On Sunday, he took his place among the stars. Only one of the two events lived up to expectations.

More than 600 of David and Victoria Beckham's soon to be nearest and dearest friends turned up for the duo's Welcome to Los Angeles party at the Museum of Contemporary Art Sunday night, hosted by A-list couple pals Tom Cruise and Katie Holmes and Will Smith and Jada Pinkett Smith.

The invitation-only soiree officially welcomed the British imports to the city and into the upper echelon of Hollywood elite. And their greeting was fittingly credentialed.

Eva Longoria, who had the honor of joining Posh Spice in her VIP box at Beckham's MLS debut on Saturday, was among the notables who made the scene at the Geffen Contemporary Gallery, as were Brooke Shields and Chris Henchy and Jim Carrey and Jenny McCarthy.

Simon Fuller, the American Idol producer who not only served as svengali to the Spice Girls but brokered Becks' $250 million sponsorship-laden deal to the L.A. Galaxy and has not been photographed outside a 10-foot radius of the couple since their arrival last week, was also present and accounted for.

Among the first to arrive at the to-do, for which no media was allowed past the velvet rope, was the Oscar-winning tandem of director Ron Howard and über-producer Brian Grazer. Soon after, the happy troika of Bruce Willis, Ashton Kutcher and Demi Moore made a showing, as did Quincy Jones and Wesley Snipes.

The guest list continued to read like a who's who roster of music, movie and TV: Matthew Perry, Jon Voight, Nick Cannon, Forest Whitaker, Mekhi Phifer, Rihanna, Cedric the Entertainer and Gary Dourdan, among many others.

One invitee no doubt taken from Victoria's little black book was Melanie "Scary Spice" Brown, who arrived with her boyfriend, Stephen Belafonte.

The David contingent, meanwhile, was likely made up by the slew of celebrity athletes in attendance, among them LeBron James, Venus Williams and Carmelo Anthony.

A red carpet was set up outside the gallery space, which was bedecked with a deejay and both American and British flags. Likewise, both British and American fare was on the menu: bangers and mash, burgers, fries and salad.

But while the party itself was an all-out spectacle, complete with photo ops for the Beckhams, Cruises and Smiths, not everyone in attendance was excessively glam: Entourage's Adrian Grenier, for one, showed up in a taxi.

Cruise, however, made his entrance in true cross-continental star style.

The actor, who on Thursday began shooting his controversial WWII saga, Valkyrie, in Berlin, flew home Saturday for the sole purpose of hosting the bash. And while Cruise's flight plan prohibited him from actually witnessing number 23's debut on the soccer pitch, plenty of other stars manage to turn out for the hugely anticipated reveal.

In keeping with the caliber of bleacher creatures, officials at Carson's Home Depot Center literally rolled out the red carpet in advance of Saturday's friendly exhibition game against Chelsea FC.

Victoria, Longoria, Holmes, Suri Cruise, Cruise matriarch Mary Lee Mapother, the three Beckham boys and, of course, Fuller witnessed all 13 minutes of Beckham's much heralded debut from the family's VIP box.

Faring less well in the seating department but nevertheless in attendance at the game were Drew Carey, Mary-Kate Olsen, Jennifer Love Hewitt, Shields and Henchy, Alicia Silverstone and Governor Arnold Schwarzenegger.

The man of the hour—or at least of the 13 minutes—didn't emerge from the locker room until just moments before the game and, upon taking his seat at the edge of the players' bench, was swarmed by more than 100 photographers.

During the game itself, ESPN employed a "Beckham cam," which monitored both the midfielder's pitchside umping and the on-off positioning of his left cleat—Beckham was benched due to an injury to his left ankle suffered in a July 7 game for the England national team.

However, just before minute 77 of the 90-minute game, Beckham stood from his perch on the side of the field and began warming up, to roars and cheers from the crowd, which Beckham himself admitted were so loud he was "a little embarrassed at times."

Despite a moment that claimed the collective breath of the sold-out stadium—when Beckham was side-tackled and remained down a hair too long for the crowd's liking—his debut was smooth, if entirely uneventful.

L.A. lost the "friendly" to Chelsea 1-0, with the match's sole point scored by John Terry, the man who succeeded Beckham as captain of the England team.

The Galaxy's next game is scheduled for Aug. 5.

Harry Potter and the Record-Breaking Release

Millions of speedreaders now know the truth about the fate of their favorite boy wizard.

Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows, the seventh and final tome in the spell-casting series, smashed sales records over the weekend to become the fastest selling book in history, publisher Scholastic Inc. said Monday.

Within 24 hours of its release Friday at midnight, Deathly Hallows had moved 8.3 million copies in the United States alone, averaging more than 300,000 copies an hour and 5,000 copies a minute.

Deathly Hallows easily edged out J.K. Rowling's last release, Harry Potter and the Half-Blood Prince, which chalked up sales of 6.9 million in its first 24 hours on sale. In Great Britain, Deathly Hallows sold 2.65 million copies, beating out Half-Blood Prince's record of 2 million.

Amazon.com reported that a record 2.2 million preorders had been placed for the book, while Borders notched its highest sales day ever with 1.2 million copies of Deathly Hallows sold in its 1,200 stores worldwide on the first day of release.

Even allowing for discounts off the cover price of $34.99 (for example, Amazon.com listed it at $17.99), the book brought in more than $250 million in revenue. In comparison, Harry Potter and the Order of the Phoenix has earned $207.5 million domestically since debuting atop the box office last weekend.

As countless muggles frantically flip through the book's 759 pages, Harry Potter's alter ego has other things to celebrate.

Daniel Radcliffe marked his 18th birthday Monday and gained access to a reported $40 million fortune. (His publicist's office claims estimates of the teen star's wealth have been overblown.)

There was no word on how Radcliffe planned to spend his birthday, though the actor said he planned to make it a low-key affair.

"I'll definitely have some sort of party," he said in a recent interview. "Hopefully none of you will be reading about it."

Meanwhile, Radcliffe has vowed that gaining control of his riches won't magically transform him into a big spender.

"I don't plan to be one of those people who, as soon as they turn 18, suddenly buy themselves a massive sports car collection or something similar," he said.

Part of Radcliffe's motivation to keep a level head about him is his determination to forever steer clear of becoming one of those stereotypical fallen child stars.

"People are always looking to say 'kid star goes off the rails,"' he told reporters last month. "But I try very hard not to go that way because it would be too easy for them."

With five Harry Potter films under his belt, Radcliffe has signed on to reprise the boy wizard in the final two films in the franchise. Harry Potter and the Half-Blood Prince is scheduled for release in November 2008, while Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows is expected out sometime in 2010.

'Idol' departure: No one loses this week

NEW YORK - Charity was the "American Idol" theme Wednesday night, and the generosity flowed to the contestants, too — no one was voted off the show. After a parade of pop stars, including Kelly Clarkson and Celine Dion, Ryan Seacrest announced the non-result: "All your favorites are still in the competition. How could we let anyone go on a charity night?"

Seacrest said the more than 70 million calls and text messages counted this week will be added to next week's tallies. That means two contestants will be shown the door next Wednesday.

And the six finalists are (still) Melinda Doolittle, Blake Lewis, Phil Stacey, LaKisha Jones, Chris Richardson and Jordin Sparks. The winner will be chosen in May.

The hit Fox show departed from its usual format this week with "Idol Gives Back," a star-filled fundraising effort. The goal was to raise awareness and money for the newly formed Charity Projects Entertainment Fund and other organizations that fund relief programs for children and young people in extreme poverty in America and Africa.

Wednesday's two-hour show — broadcast from the "American Idol" stage and Walt Disney Concert Hall, where Ellen DeGeneres was host — featured performances by Clarkson, Dion, Earth, Wind & Fire, Il Divo, Josh Groban with the African Children's Choir and Annie Lennox.

Jack Black took the stage to croon some verses from Seal's "Kiss From A Rose." That performance was panned by Paula Abdul, who said "the School of Rock called, they want their diploma back." Stars including Ben Stiller and Madonna appeared in taped segments

DNA shows Larry Birkhead is baby's dad

NASSAU, Bahamas - DNA tests prove it: Larry Birkhead is the father of Anna Nicole Smith's million-dollar baby.


"I told you so!" the late Playboy Playmate's former boyfriend said Tuesday upon emerging from a closed court hearing. He added: "My baby's going to be coming home pretty soon."

Birkhead, a 34-year-old California photographer, then hugged his rival, Howard K. Stern, who has been caring for baby Dannielynn since Smith's sudden death in February.

The hearing was a pivotal moment in the battle over who gets custody of the girl, who could inherit a fortune from the estate of Smith's late husband, J. Howard Marshall II. Although Birkhead is the father, Stern's name is on the birth certificate. Another custody hearing was scheduled for Friday.

Stern, who was Smith's lawyer and later became her companion, said he wouldn't fight for custody, but a lawyer for Smith's mother, Virgie Arthur, indicated she might. The judge scheduled another hearing for Friday in the pink colonial courthouse to discuss who will raise the girl, who could inherit hundreds of millions of dollars.

Stern said he loved the baby despite the DNA results and would support Birkhead.

"I'm obviously very disappointed, but my feelings for Dannielynn have not changed," he said, adding of Birkhead: "I'm going to do whatever I can to make sure he gets sole custody."

Birkhead had been fighting for custody of Dannielynn even before Smith's death.

"Nothing's been determined except parentage and I'm the father," Birkhead said. "It's been a long road and I'm just happy to have this behind me."

A crowd of about 250 people, many of them tourists, cheered from behind police barricades when Birkhead, clutching a piece of paper, announced the DNA test results. The court's DNA expert, Dr. Michael Baird, confirmed it.

"Essentially, he's the biological father," Baird said.

This tropical capital has been transfixed by the Anna Nicole saga since she moved here last year. Smith gave birth to Dannielynn in September, only to see her 20-year-old son Daniel die days later at her bedside from a lethal combination of drugs. Smith died in February at age 39 in Florida.

Many in the crowd took pictures of the impromptu news conference with cameras and cell phones. One man in the crowd wore a T-shirt emblazoned with the handwritten message: "I'm the baby's daddy."

Arthur, who had been estranged from Smith for years, said she wanted to be present in her granddaughter's life, but seemed appeased by the DNA results.

"I'm happy that Dannielynn will know who her real father is," she said.

The baby, whose full name is Dannielynn Hope Marshall Stern, could inherit millions from Marshall's estate. Smith, a former model, had been fighting the Texas oil tycoon's family over his estimated $500 million fortune since his death in 1995.

The question of who inherits Smith's estate remains unresolved. A 2001 will released after her death in February said her fortune should be held in trust for her son, who died last year. The 19-page will named Stern as her executor but did not say how much Smith was worth. It remains a mystery how much her daughter might get.

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Federline’s Worth 1 Million Bucks to Britney

Britney’s separation from Kevin Federline is finally official. She gets the kids; he reportedly gets a measly $1 million.

It seems that now that she’s out of rehab, Britney’s ready to deal with what need to be dealt with in her life. Like the impending divorce settlement with K-fed.

The pair has reportedly reached an agreement after a five-hour meeting in Los Angeles on Thursday. The agreement is said to be based upon a prenuptial agreement signed before they married in September 2004.

Of the estimated $100 million fortune Brit-Brit is supposed to have, her wannabe rapper ex-husband will only receive 1 %. The couple is also said to have reached an agreement over custody of their two sons, 18-month-old Sean Preston and six-month-old Jayden James. Mom has custody while dad has been granted full visiting rights.

A spokesman for Kevin's attorney said: “The parties signed a global agreement on all issues of their marriage and custody of their children.” He offered no further details but revealed they had reached an agreement on financial matters.

The meeting took place in Britney's attorney Laura Wasser's office in California's Century City. The couple’s current agreement must be approved by a Los Angeles judge before the divorce is finalized.

The 25-year-old singer married dancer Kevin Federline in 2004. They quickly had two kids, and then Britney filed for divorce in November 2006. This was just two months after giving birth to their youngest child Jayden James. She cited “irreconcilable differences.

In the divorce papers, Britney was seeking legal and physical custody of Jayden James and Sean Preston, while Kevin, 29, also asked for custody of the children, as well as requesting spousal support.

The divorce agreement comes nine days after Spears checked out of Promises Rehab Center in Malibu, Calif., for a month-long treatment for unspecified problems. The singer ignited a media frenzy with an over-the-top bizarre week in which she shaved her head and got a tattoo.

Her stay at the Promises clinic was no quieter, as there were reports of a rehab romance with another resident, rumors of a suicide attempt on her part and talk of bulimia, post-partum depression and giving a hard time to the personnel.

It was especially interesting where ‘friends’ of Britney’s reportedly shared their perspective on her situation, saying that she missed Kevin and that she wanted to be with him once more and have another child.

It doesn’t look like they’ll be having any more children now together.

Teens Surrender after Setting Hollywood Hills on Fire

Two teens from Illinois accidentally started a 160-acre blaze in the Hollywood Hills on Friday. The fire also sent smoke over the famed Hollywood sign and threatened an apartment building. About 200 or 300 firefighters battled the fire, assisted by water-dropping helicopters, according to Ron Myers of the Los Angeles city fire department.

Los Angeles Mayor Antonio Villaraigosa held an evening news conference at Forest Lawn, where he said the blaze had been deliberately set. "They've admitted that they started this fire," Villaraigosa said of the 16- and 17-year-old boys, who voluntarily turned themselves in to Burbank police and were later taken to the LAPD's Hollywood Station.

Apparently, the two teenagers were seen setting off fireworks about 1 p.m. near the Oakwood apartments. "They were old enough to know what they were doing," said Villaraigosa, adding that the boys first told their parents about setting the fire before together calling police.

The fire spread very close to an Oakwood apartment building, stopping, due to intense precautions, to about 50 feet of its parking lot. Apartment maintenance workers wetted down the hillside and turned on sprinklers on the roof of the apartments and on the hillside. The facility is reportedly known for housing out-of-town actors looking for their big break in Hollywood.

"It's something you don't want to see in your backyard, that's for sure," said actor and apartment resident Travis Caldwell, 18, quoted by presstelegram.com. "It was nuts. It started so small and it just raced right up the hill."

The smoke caused severe discomfort for the people in the area, including the employees at the Warner Bros. studios nearby. Reports that the legendary Hollywood sign was actually threatened are false. While it was engulfed in smoke at some point, the actual fire was about a quarter mile away and across a canyon, fire officials said.

The current Hollywood sign was unveiled in 1978. The first sign was erected as an advertisement in 1923 and actually read "HOLLYWOODLAND," because it was advertising a new housing development in the hills above the Hollywood district of Los Angeles.

Rapper Rev. Run Featured On Oprah Winfrey Show

By Alexis Jeffries and Danielle Harling

Talk show mogul Oprah Winfrey hasn't received much love from the Hip-Hop community lately.

Minor incidents with Hip-Hop stars such as Ludacris and Ice Cube has the billionaire deemed a Hip-Hop hater by many, but hopefully an appearance by a Hip-Hop legend on Winfrey's show will silence critics.

Joseph "Reverend Run" Simmons from the legendary Hip-Hop group Run DMC made a special appearance on The Oprah Show to discuss the upcoming season of his reality show Run's House.

Not a stranger to Hip-Hop or problems facing the Hip-Hop community, Reverend Run shared his opinion on Winfrey's situation.

"I don't know if it's Hip-Hop that she has a big problem with," Reverend Run told AllHipHop.com. "I think that she has a problem with some of the images that might not fit the people that watch her show. She does things that are close to what she thinks her audience will like."

The episode is scheduled to air Monday, Apr. 2 and will feature Reverend Run and his family discussing the upcoming show, their battle with losing their newborn, and even his daughters' upcoming sneaker line called "Pastries."

Reverend Run and family's appearance on The Oprah Show was actually suggested by Winfrey's well-know best friend Gayle King.

"Well, Gayle King is a friend, and she kept telling Oprah, 'Man, there's this show with Reverend Run, and he writes these words of wisdom', and she was talking to her for awhile about it until she finally said, 'Okay, let's have him on the show'," Reverend Run told AllHipHop.com.

Run's House , now in its third season, will depict new experiences and obstacles faced by the Simmons family such as Vanessa and Angela's move to New York City, the death of their child, and the continuation of the eldest son JoJo's rap career.

"The reason why I even filmed anything about the baby and stuff is that if ya'll laugh with me at the bowling alley with my kids and giggled with me on the basketball court with my kids, since it is a reality show, why wouldn't I let you see how I handled adversity," Reverend Run told AllHipHop.com. "It's also to show you how to be thankful during situations that aren't favorable towards you. Who am I to be resentful to God, to the world, as good as the world has been to Reverend Run? I didn't let that affect me. I'm a very thankful person. Reverend Run will go down as a man who is thankful to God and to the world."

Season three of Run's House will premiere Apr. 9 on MTV and season two of the show can be seen on BET.

Paris Hilton may face jail time

LOS ANGELES (Reuters) - Prosecutors asked a judge on Thursday to revoke Paris Hilton's probation for reckless driving, which could lead to jail time for the celebrity socialite, the City Attorney's Office said.

A hearing has been set for April 17 for prosecutors to argue that Hilton, 26, violated the terms of her probation by knowingly driving with a suspended license, said Nick Velasquez, a spokesman for the city attorney, Rocky Delgadillo.

The hotel heiress and star of the reality TV show "The Simple Life" was sentenced to three years probation in January after pleading no contest -- the equivalent of a guilty plea -- to alcohol-related reckless driving.

Five weeks later, police pulled Hilton over again in the city of West Hollywood for driving without headlights and impounded her car, a $190,000 Bentley, when they discovered her license had been suspended, authorities said.

The case was then referred to the City Attorney's Office.

At the time, Hilton's spokesman, Elliot Mintz, said his client was not aware that her driving privileges had been curtailed. But prosecutors have since concluded otherwise.

"We are confident that we have sufficient evidence to prove that her license was suspended, and that she had knowledge of that suspension," Velasquez said.

If found to have breached the terms of her probation, Hilton could be sentenced to up to 90 days in jail, he added.

Halle Berry Suicide Attempt

Halle Berry came close to committing suicide after the failure of her marriage to baseball star David Justice, but changed her mind at the last minute, fearing her death would leave her mother heartbroken.

The Oscar-winning actress was so depressed after the relationship collapsed in 1997, she started the process of poisoning herself with carbon monoxide in her car.

It took an image of her mother, Judith, finding her body to stop her.

Berry tells Parade magazine, "I was sitting in my car, and I knew the gas was coming, when I had an image of my mother finding me.

"She sacrificed so much for her children, and to end my life would be an incredibly selfish thing to do. It was all about a relationship. My sense of worth was so low. I had to reprogram myself to see the good in me. Because someone didn't love me didn't mean I was unlovable. I promised myself I would never be a coward again."

Hip Hop Summit Action Network Will Hold A Public Rally In Response To The Tony Yayo Incident

Hip-Hop Summit Action Network's Russell Simmons and Dr. Benjamin Chavis will be among those holding a public grievance and peaceful rally, in response to a recent incident involving the son of Czar Entertainment owner Jimmy "Henchmen" Rosemond.

The 14-year-old boy's mother Cynthia Reed, representatives from Czar Entertainment and the Rev. Al Sharpton will also be present at the event, which is expected to draw with various community leaders including parents, students and religious leaders.

The gathering comes days after G-Unit rapper Tony Yayo was arrested for an alleged physical assault on the boy, who was on his way to see Rosemond.

According to reports, the teen claimed Yayo and fellow G-Unit member 50 Cent were leaving the offices of Violator Management last Tuesday (Mar. 20), when they saw him walking down the street, wearing a Czar Entertainment T-shirt.

Yayo allegedly backhanded the boy and yelled curse words towards the company.

"We are involved to try to help mediate this problem," said Chavis. "In truth, every child in our community is precious. The theme of the Hip-Hop Summit is taking back responsibility. With artistic freedom comes responsibility. Therefore anytime a child in our community is harmed it is of great concern to us. We are hoping and praying that this matter can be resolved peacefully and resolutely. At the end of the day the interest of our children will be better served."

Yayo, born Marvin Bernard, was arraigned Sunday [Mar. 25] on one count of misdemeanor assault and one count of endangering the welfare of a minor. He was released on $5,000 bail and is scheduled to return to court on Apr. 25.

Representatives for 50 Cent maintain that the rapper was nowhere near the altercation when it took place.

The group hopes the demonstration will result in a call for action to advocate change against Yayo, 50 Cent and the music industry executives looking to profit from violence and acts against youth in Hip-Hop.

A press conference will be held before the event at 11 a.m. on Monday (Apr. 1) at The Park Central Hotel, 870 7th Ave, New York.

Comedian Eddie Griffin Busted Up a $1.5 Million Vehicle, but is ok

Eddie Griffin, driving a $1.5 million Ferrari Enzo to promote his new film Redline, crashed into a wall and totaled the vehicle, but emerged without a scratch. In fact, emerging from the wreck, he made a joke about it: "Undercover Brother's good at karate and all the rest of that," quipped Griffin, "but the Brother can't drive."

Griffin was practicing for an upcoming charity race when he took a curve too quickly and smashed into a wall at Irwindale Speedway in Irwindale, Calif. In an ironic twist, the Ferrari was owned by Daniel Sadek, the executive producer of Redline and ostensibly his boss, and was one of only 400 versions of the car ever produced. Sadek told the AP, "I'm glad Eddie came out of the crash OK, but my dream car got destroyed. I went to my trailer for about 15 minutes and I thought,`There's people dying every day. A lot of worse things are happening in the world.'"