Rodney King, former Police Brutality Victim, Shot in LA

Rodney King was shot Wednesday night while riding a bicycle in San Bernadino, California. According to Rialto, California, police, who responded to the shooting, King was shot with a shotgun, but his wounds were superficial.

King became an international symbol as a victim of police brutality when his videotaped beating by Los Angeles police in 1991 after the conclusion of a high speed chase made headlines and caused a furor around the world.

The King beating appeared extremely brutal, and the 1992 acquittal of the police officers involved in the beating resulted in Los Angeles riots that left over 50 dead and thousands injured. King eventually won a civil award of $3.8 million in the case.

After King was shot Wednesday night, he rode his bicycle home and filed a report with the Rialto police. Sergeant Don Lewis of the Rialto police said that King "had some minor pepper wounds that looked like they were from bird shot."

"He took some pellets to his face, back and upper torso ... It looked like birdshot, looked like (a) long-distance shot." Lewis described the injuries as "extremely minor."

The video below is King’s beating at the hands of the Los Angeles police on March 3, 1991.

Carson Daly First Late Night Host to Cross Writers Picket Lines

Carson Daly is the first late night talk show host to break ranks and cross the Writers’ Guild picket lines. Carson announced that he is going back to work to begin taping shows, which will begin airing the first week of December.

Daly is the star of NBC’s “Last Call with Carson Daly,” which airs at 1:35 AM ET, and is not a member of the Writers’ Guild. The only other talk show host to cross the picket lines is Ellen DeGeneres who went back to work one day after the strike began.

NBC’s “The Tonight Show with Jay Leno,” NBC’s “Late Night with Conan O’Brien,” CBS’ “Late Show with David Letterman,” CBS’ “Late Late Show with Craig Ferguson,” ABC’s “Jimmy Kimmel Live!” and Comedy Central’s “The Daily Show with Jon Stewart” and “The Colbert Report” with Stephen Colbert, have all ceased production during the strike and have been in reruns since the strike began on November 5th.

The Writers’ Guild of America issued a statement showing its disappointment with Daly’s decision to return to work saying, “The Writers Guild of America, East joins our colleagues of the Writers Guild of America, West in expressing our profound disappointment with Carson Daly’s decision to return to work.”

The Guild also commended the other late night talk show hosts who have supported the strikers saying, "We thank them and hope that Mr. Daly will reconsider his decision, including the soliciting of scab writers to provide material for his program."

Below is a video about Carson describing his Internet channel at CarsonDaly.tv.



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Vanessa Hudgens New Album More “Soulful”

It’s being reported that Vanessa Hudgens has said that her new album has a “more grown-up” sound than her last one. The 19-year-old star of Disney‘s “High School Musical” series expects to have the new album out before the release of “High School Musical 3.”

Said Hudgens, “It’s really fun, R and B, soulful. I’m still waiting to work with the big producers. I’m trying to work out another movie before we start “High School Musical 3” as well, but I’m trying to figure out everyone’s schedule – it’s very complicated.”

Vanessa was the victim of someone leaking nude photos of her back in September, but Disney has stood by her and signed her to a contract to star in HSM3.

Below is Vanessa's video "Say OK"


So she seems to have bounced back from that un-scandal. The online tabloids created many rumors that she was to be dropped from the HSM series because of the nude photos and that she and boyfriend/co-star Zac Efron were breaking up.

None of the rumors proved to be true since filming of HSM3 begins in January. Plus she and Zac have been photographed together lately many times by the paparazzi in different locations all over LA.

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Nicole Kidman Testimony Lays Bare Paparazzi Lifestyle

Nicole Kidman’s testimony this past week in an Australian defamation trial has exposed the life of the paparazzo as a financially rewarding occupation where the more unscrupulous you are the more successful you become.

The oscar winning, Australian born actress testified in court this week how she was reduced to tears after being chased through the streets of Sydney by Jamie Fawcett, a local paparazzo with a ruthless reputation for snapping whatever and whenever he is able. It is said that he will stop at very little to get his celebrity photo.

According to Frank Thorne, a British journalist working down under, a decent set of photos will bring the photographer around $50,000 Australian, or about $47,300 US. That much money can come from only a few hours work.

Thorne has also said that a killer set of photos will command $250,000 Australian, or about $219,000 US. One of the most desired photos in recent years was the first photo of Russell Crowe’s new baby. The paparazzo who finally snapped it is reported to have earned $300,000 Australian, or about $262,000 US.

The combination of those types of paydays and the easy entry into the field, means that just about anyone can become a paparazzo. It also means that the occupation will attract people of the lowest character, people who will lie, cheat, steal and more to obtain their lucrative payday.

The remaining paparazzi who still work under some moral code are embarrassed by the seedy reputation their chosen occupation is currently enduring. The accepted line of thinking is that the paparazzi chased Princess Diana to her death in Paris in 1997.

Who will be the next celebrity to fall victim to the paparazzi’s greed?

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Is It Really Britney Spears’ Fault or Are Paparazzi Out of Control?

High profile celebrities like Britney Spears are often criticized for their wild public antics that most of us blame solely on the celebrity. Many of Britney’s highly publicized incidents quickly come to mind.

She has driven her car over people’s feet three times in the last month, for example. Or do you remember when she kissed Madonna on stage?

But, how much of this is really the celebrity’s fault and how much blame belongs on the paparazzi that stalk her? Are the paparazzi failing to give her room to even maneuver her vehicle?

Paparazzi are true parasites in our society. They prey on the celebrity, following them wherever they go, making the celebrity’s life, at times, nearly impossible. Their contribution to society is only a photo of someone who would rather not be photographed.

Look at the following video and watch how the paparazzi literally mob Britney’s car, falling over its hood. It is amazing that she has not run over more than someone’s foot when she is forced to put up with this type of behavior from this parasitic version of the media.

Watch how Britney is so blinded by the photographer’s flashes that she has to raise her hand to shield her eyes just to see where she is going.



Then two of the paparazzi chase her in their car laughing at how they are making her drive too fast to get away from them. The death of Princess Diana is the first thing that came to mind when I first saw this video.

How about this video taken outside the courthouse, and Britney has to drive through a horde of paparazzi.



How sympathetic would you be toward the paparazzi if you were the one being treated like this and you had to put up with these pushy photographers 24/7?

In Australia, Nicole Kidman has been testifying in a defamation law suit about her problems with Jamie Fawcett, a paparazzo that the Sun-Herald newspaper stated was “Sydney's most inventive and most disliked freelance photographer” who was determined to “wreak havoc on Kidman's private life.”

One of the major disputes in the case is whether Fawcett’s car literally forced Kidman’s car off the road to avoid running into Fawcett‘s vehicle. His car and another vehicle chased Kidman through the Sydney traffic to the point where Kidman said, “I was frightened and I was worried there was going to be an accident.”

“I have been pursued many times," said Kidman. “I have had this happen in relation to this particular man so many times.

"I employ people to protect me now. I employ people 24 hours to protect myself because I don't feel equipped to handle things."

When celebrities like Britney Spears and Nicole Kidman are forced into racing through the streets to avoid the paparazzi, it seems obvious that something needs to be done before another tragedy occurs.

Princess Diana was chased to her death by the paparazzi. If only Di were still alive, we could ask her opinion.

Britney Spears Banned from Driving Kids

Britney Spears is at it again. This time LA Commissioner Scott Gordon ruled on Friday that he was banning Britney from driving with her kids because she was recently filmed running a red light while her kids were with her in the vehicle.

The Commissioner has been working overtime these past few months trying to balance the safety of Britney’s two children against her parental rights. He has been leaning towards the safety issue lately and this ruling is no exception.

Last month he ruled that Britney was only allowed three supervised visits per week, and only one of those was an overnight.

Britney also ran over another paparazzo’s foot with her car this week. That makes three times in the last month that she has run over someone’s foot with her car. Two of the feet belonged to paparazzi and the other belonged to a deputy sheriff, whose foot she crushed as she exited an LA Superior Court hearing.

Although each incident appears to be accidental, Britney may face misdemeanor charges over crushing the deputy’s foot.

And, believe it or not, Ms. Spears has reportedly accused her ex-husband, Kevin Federline, of sleeping with her mother, Lynne. The News of the World has reported that Britney got into a row with her mother, Lynne, and accused her in the heat of the moment, yelling, “I suppose you're sleeping with Kevin now as well?”

It is never a slow news day when Britney is on the move.

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Lindsay Lohan Serves Hard Time - 84 Minutes Worth

Linday Lohan went to LA County jail on Thursday to serve time for her seven misdemeanor counts relating to two drunken driving charges. Because of a plea agreement that she made in August, Lindsay was sentenced to serve one day in jail.

The 21-year-old Lindsay checked in at the Century Regional Detention Facility in Lynwood, California at 10:30 AM. Just 84 minutes later, at 11:54 AM, she was released because the overcrowded LA jail system allows early release for non-violent offenders to make room for the hard core offenders--like Paris Hilton, who had to spend 23 days in the slammer earlier this year.

According to People magazine, a prison spokesperson said, "Lindsay was fingerprinted, photographed, and put in a holding cell, but was let go due to our early release policy."

Was Lindsay given special treatment? "Absolutely not,” said spokesperson Steve Whitmore. “This is what we do for mostly everybody in this position. In fact, 30 to 50 women are granted early releases from the facility every day.”

For more complete information on Lindsay’s charges see our sister site at McCafferty’s Pub.

Now Lindsay can return to the more important things in life that she is so good at, like partying.

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Barry Bonds Indicted for Perjury

Barry Bonds, the former San Francisco Giant who broke Hank Aaron’s 755 home run record last year and hitting a career total 762 home runs, was indicted on Thursday on four counts of perjury and one count of obstruction of justice.

Bonds is accused of lying under oath before a federal grand jury in 2003 when he denied using banned drugs. The indictment states that Bonds lied when he stated under oath that he never used steroids, testosterone, human growth hormone and tetrahydrogestrinone, a drug nick named "the clear," which was a steroid that was undetectable at that time and was developed by the Bay Area Laboratory Co-Operative (BALCO).

The indictment also stated that Bonds lied when he testified before the grand jury that his personal trainer, Greg Anderson, never injected him with drugs. Anderson was released from prison Thursday night after having been jailed over a year for contempt of court for his refusal to testify against Bonds.

Bonds earned $17 million last year playing with the Giants, but the team declined signing him for another season. Bonds was named the National League’s Most Valuable Player seven times, five of them as a Giant and twice when he played for the Pittsburgh Pirates.

On August 7, 2007, Bonds hit his 756th home run, surpassing Aaron’s record and making him baseball’s new home run king.

The 43-year-old outfielder will be arraigned December 7th and could face as much as 30 months in jail if convicted.

Lindsay Lohan's Mercedes for Sale on Ebay

The charcoal grey Mercedes that Lindsay Lohan drove into a palm tree in July during one of her famous Hollywood meltdowns is for sale on Ebay. An enterprising Texas auto dealer has repaired the 2005 Benz where Lindsay smashed in the left front fender.

Initial asking price is $110,000, and there is one bid at that price. However, the seller has an undisclosed reserve that has not been met, so this car will not sell that cheaply. It sold new for $217,420.

The 12 cylinder vehicle features 604 horsepower, so it is not surprising how Lindsay let this one get away from her and wrapped it around an LA palm tree.

The dealer probably vacuumed up enough cocaine that LL spilled on the carpeting to make a tidy profit even before selling the car.

Perez Hilton is reporting that Lindsay showed up for lunch with the bunch at The Ivy restaurant in LA, which is one of her old hangouts from when she was still using.

It must have been a visit for old times sake, but, naturally, the paparazzi were all over her. Maybe she just wanted some attention?

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Will Jay Leno be Replaced over Writers' Strike?

Jay Leno, host of The Tonight Show with Jay Leno, and Ellen DeGeneres, host of Ellen, a daytime talk show, are both in hot water over the Writers’ Guild of America strike.

Leno has chosen to honor the strikers’ picket lines and has not returned to work at his show since the strike began on Monday, November 5th. NBC has been running reruns since then, as has the Late Show with David Letterman.

According to Debbie Vickers, the Leno show’s executive producer, NBC wants Leno to return “as soon as possible.”

“We want to protect the staff, who have been loyal to this show for decades, in the same way that Johnny Carson reluctantly returned without his writers in 1988,” said Vickers. The 1988 strike lasted 22 weeks.

But the staff is not the only thing NBC wants to protect. Prior to the strike, the Tonight Show beat Letterman in the ratings on a regular basis, earning NBC about $50 million per year in the process.

Since the strike began, however, the Letterman show has siphoned off about 750,000 homes and has beat Tonight in the ratings twice this week.

Because NBC is concerned about losing even more viewers, it has been reportedly pressuring Leno to cross the picket lines.

Vickers has admitted that NBC is even considering returning to production without Leno, using a guest host instead.

Ellen DeGeneres, on the other hand, has been crossing the picket lines to film her syndicated talk show since one day after the strike began. DeGeneres picketed with the strikers the first day, but went back to work after that.

The Writers Guild of America, East (WGAE), has criticized DeGeneres for going back to work instead of supporting the strikers.

The WGAE, in a press release, claimed that DeGeneres was not supporting her writers and was violating strike rules.

WGAE said, “Ellen has…been performing comedy on her show. Even if Ellen is writing those segments herself, since those segments would normally be written by the writers on strike, she's performing 'struck work'. Ellen is violating the strike rules that were clearly explained to all of the comedy/variety shows.”

Ellen’s producer, Telepictures Productions, countered, "as a syndicated show, the individual stations control when the show airs. If Telepictures does not deliver original episodes of The Ellen DeGeneres Show, the stations can move the show out of its time periods, or ultimately hold the company in breach of contract.

"Telepictures provides first run programming to stations they don't control. The network controls their own schedule and programming with the late night shows as Leno, Conan, Kimmel etc."

If the strike continues, you can rest assured that the rhetoric will only heat up.

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Memorbilia Dealer Implicates OJ Simpson In Vegas Hearing

OJ Simpson appeared in a Las Vegas court room today for a preliminary hearing to determine whether Simpson should stand trial for a September 13th alleged armed robbery in a hotel room at the Palace Station Hotel-Casino.

Sports memorabilia dealer, Bruce Fromong, testified that Simpson and his associates burst into the room “in a military invasion fashion,” and that although Simpson was not armed, two of his associates were. Fromong also testified that OJ was screaming, “This is all my s---. This all belongs to me. You stole this from me. Let's pack up. Let's get out of here.”

Fromong said that one of the armed men pointed a gun to Fromong’s head saying, “I'll shoot your a--.”

Deputy District Attorney David Roger said he expects to call seven more witnesses in the hearing which is expected to last only two days.

Fromong, who had a heart attack only days after the incident, testified that he called a TV show from his hospital bed to explain his version of the incident. He admitted that he has tried to sell items, that were identical to what was stolen, on Ebay, and that he has discussed the possibility of writing a book about the affair.

Fromong testified that Simpson also took memorabilia related to Joe Montana, Duke Snider and Pete Rose. That testimony is important because Simpson’s defense is that he was merely trying re-acquire items that were stolen from him years ago. If the prosecution is able to prove that Simpson stole items that were never his, that would potentially shoot holes in Simpson’s contention that he only took his own belongings.

Tom Scotto, a friend of Simpson’s from North Miami Beach, FL, said that Simpson believes that the charges in the case were filed because of the not guilty verdict in Simpson’s murder trial for his wife’s slaying in 1994.

Outside the courtroom were a man dressed in a chicken costume and a woman dressed in a rabbit suit with the words “Stop Police Brutality” painted on it. Overhead a helicopter circled.

The circus for the second OJ trial has begun.

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Writers' Strike - Tina Fey, Will Forte Picket - Jay Leno, David Letterman Layoff Staff

Tina Fey, star of 30 Rock, was among the celebrities seen Tuesday and Wednesday manning the picket lines along with other members of the Writers Guild of America, which is striking against the Alliance of Motion Picture & Television Producers.

The writers are striking for a share of the residuals generated by the Internet, DVDs and other media platforms.

After her stint at picketing, Fey reported for work Tuesday to resume filming her acting scenes for 30 Rock.

Also picketing in front of NBC's New York headquarters at Rockefeller Center was Will Forte, a writer and a six season member of the cast of Saturday Night Live. Said Forte, "It's pretty well-known that writers are often treated like second-class citizens. There's not a whole lot of glory in it."

The video is below an excerpt from "30 Rock."



"Without writers, there would be no shows, no movies," continued Forte, who frequently plays George Bush in SNL skits. "These things are your babies. You work really hard on them, and you have a sense of ownership with them. So there's nothing wrong with wanting a fair deal."

The late night talk shows, such as the Late Show with David Letterman and The Tonight Show with Jay Leno, are already airing reruns because of the writers’ strike. The Washington Post has reported that the Leno show gave 70-100 of the staff their two week notice that they will be without employment as of November 19th if the strike continues.

Since no talks between the Guild and the producers are scheduled, more layoffs seem inevitable.

Now that the strike is a reality, the TV networks are implementing their contingency programming, including more reality shows. CBS is ready to bring out the winter version of Big Brother, a summer reality show winner.

Plan on many more unscripted shows like reality and game shows along with the anticipated airing of reruns if the strike continues for any length of time.

Britney Spears $737,000 Monthly Income $0 Invested

The Associated Press (AP) is reporting that Britney Spears earns $737,000 per month and spends all of it, neither investing nor saving any of it.

The AP’s sources are court documents from Britney’s child custody case with her ex, Kevin Federline. The documents were released Thursday.

Britney spends $49,267 per month in mortgage payments on two houses, $16,000 monthly for clothes, and $102,000 per month on entertainment, gifts and vacations.

She also spends $4,758 a month dining out, although most of the photos taken by paparazzi showing her dining out were of Britney at fast food restaurants. She also gives $500 per month to charities.

Britney pays $15,000 per month to Federline for child support and $20,000 to him for spousal support; however, the spousal support ends November 15th.

Here is a breakdown of Britney’s income and expenses:

The AP report makes no mention of where the other $500,000+ per month went.

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Watch video of Britney crashing her Mercedes