THURSDAZE

QUEEN LATIFAH IN SERIOUS WRECK?

According to the National Inquirer Dana Owens was vacationing in the Virgin Islands when the incident occurred. Details are sketchy, but what is known is that Queen Latifah was on a rented scooter when she lost control of the vehicle and 'went flying'.

A source tells the tabloid, "She's lucky she wasn't killed. Fortunately, there weren't any cars or other scooters behind her when the accident occurred."

The source also added: "Luckily, she didn't break any bones. But she was suffering and was prescribed painkillers."

Story Developing…

Rihanna Refuses To Pose Nude

"My mother would kill me if I posed nude!" she said.

R&B star Rihanna has vowed never to pose for a naked photoshoot - because her mother would "kill" her.

Although the singer has proved she isn't shy about shedding her clothes in the name of work - she appeared wearing just gold body paint for her 2007 "Umbrella" video - she refuses to strip off for a magazine.

She tells MTV.co.uk, "My mother would kill me if I posed nude!

"When I did that metallic body paint stuff for my Umbrella video, I didn't do it to show my body. I didn't do it for people to like me. I did it because it was a cool visual, unexpected, and it looked hot.

"I have done a lot of photoshoots for magazines but it's always great to be shot for a cover because you know that you are looked at as a fashion icon."

Katie Perry Still On Top

"I Kissed a Girl" is on top for the third week in a row.


LOS ANGELES, July 10 (UPI) -- Katy Perry's "I Kissed a Girl" is No. 1 on the U.S. record chart for a third week, Billboard.com reported Thursday.

Coming in at No. 2 on the Billboard Hot 100 is Rihanna's "Take a Bow," followed by Lil Wayne's "Lollipop" at No. 3, Leona Lewis' "Bleeding Love" at No. 4 and Coldplay's "Viva La Vida" at No. 5.

Rounding out the top tier are Chris Brown's "Forever" at No. 6, Natasha Bedingfield's "Pocketful of Sunshine" at No. 7, the Jonas Brothers' "Burnin' Up" at No. 8, Plies's "Bust It Baby Pt. 2" featuring Ne-Yo at No. 9 and Miley Cyrus' "7 Things" at No. 10.

Brother: Madonna is In Love With Herself

The superstar's brother writes that his big sis is self absorbed

According to Madonna's brother, Christopher Ciccone, A-Rod isn't the only person in love with his sister. In his new tell-all, Life With My Sister Madonna, he claims that the Material Girl is quite fond of herself as well.

Usher Wows With Touching Father, Son Spread

Usher is showing off his baby son in a new photoshoot for Essence magazine.


R&B cat Usher is showing off his baby son in a touching new photo shoot for Essence magazine.

Father and son, Usher Raymond V, appear together on the cover of the new magazine with the adorable tot sporting a wool one-piece and a country cap.

Inside the August issue of the magazine, Usher dances for his staring child in one lovely shot, and the pair poses topless for two stunning family photos.

The final portrait, taken by snapper Timothy White, features little Usher asleep in his father's arms.

In the accompanying article, the singer tells actor Hill Harper his baby son has changed his life.

He explains, "I thought I had felt love before. But the moment I heard my child's voice, I broke down and cried."

And now, Usher Sr. insists his leading goal in life is to become a role model for the tot: "He's gonna admire me, he's gonna look up to me. He's gonna say... 'I wanna be like my father.'"

The Essence article also features the printed lyrics of "Prayer For You," the touching poem Usher wrote for his newly-born son and then turned them into a song for his current album "Here I Stand."

Mariah: I Wanted to be Kidnapped

The newlywed says at one point she felt so low, she wanted to disappear


Before Mariah Carey wed Nick Cannon, the diva tells Elle magazine that she "dreamed" of being kidnapped.

"When I was in an unhappy place in my life ... I always wanted to be kidnapped," the singer tells the mag. "I just wanted a way out, but I didn't have one."

Well she's singing a different tune now.

The singer gushes about how hubby Nick Cannon proposed-twice!

On the rooftop of her Manhattan apartment he proposed with a 17-carat diamond hidden inside a candy ring pop.

"They've been calling me Cinderella since I first started out," she says of the fairytale-worthy proposal," she says. "Most people would think, Okay, please! This doesn't happen in real life."

Then only a few days later, he popped the question again.

"He sort of kidnapped me and took me on a helicopter ride," she says. "Then he re-proposed."

LIL WAYNE STILL ON TOP TOO

LOS ANGELES, July 9 (UPI) -- Lil Wayne's Tha Carter III is No. 1 on the U.S. album chart, Billboard.com reported Wednesday.

Coming in at No. 2 on The Billboard 200 is Coldplay's Viva La Vida or Death and All His Friends, followed by the soundtrack to Disney's Camp Rock TV movie at No. 3, G-Unit's T.O.S. (Terminate on Sight) at No. 4 and John Mayer's Where the Light Is: John Mayer Live in Los Angeles at No. 5.

Rounding out the top tier are the compilation CD Now 28 at No. 6, Kid Rock's Rock N Roll Jesus at No. 7, Usher's Here I Stand at No. 8, Rihanna's Good Girl Gone Bad at No. 9 and Disturbed's Indestructible at No. 10.

TOUCHIN' DOWN!!!

THERE'S WASN'T A WHOLE HEAP OF WIRELESS @ THE OFFICE TONIGHT BUT FOR THOSE OF YOU WHO DON'T KNOW WHAT I DO OUTSIDE OF THE SHOW...ENJOY THE MIX!

MONDAY MADNESS

Nick Cannon is still in the honeymoon phase with new wife Mariah Carey.

"It's amazing!" Cannon, 27, told Usmagazine.com at the Christian Audigier nightclub grand opening in Las Vegas Thursday night.

"It's the best thing that's ever happened to me!" he continued.

The Wild 'N Out host tied the knot to Carey, 38, in a hush-hush ceremony in the Bahamas on April 30.

[Nick's] plan is to have one [wedding] every year," Carey gushed to Ellen DeGeneres two weeks later. "Instead of trying to be like, 'You're invited, but shhh, don't tell anybody,' we're just going to have another one [wedding] next year."

Up next for the lovebirds? Babies!

"I always said if I found the right person who I felt would be on the same page as me in term of raising kids and having the same belief system, [we'd have kids]," Carey said.

Reuben Cannon told Us his half-brother Nick, "definitely wants kids," and that he "loves [Mariah] more than any other girl."

The couple got cozy on the set of her steamy video "Bye Bye." Watch their chemistry.


A-ROD'S GETTIN A D-VORCE

Cynthia Rodriguez's lawyer tells TMZ, "A-Rod may be an All-Star baseball player, but he's flunked the All-Star team as far as marriage is concerned."

Earle Lilly is repping Cynthia in the divorce case, which will be launched tomorrow when she files legal papers in Miami. Lilly claims Alex Rodriguez, who's already banked more than $250 mil, and Madonna have been having an affair "and are still together." He says they were together after his game yesterday and together today as well.

Lilly says, "We're not gonna lose this case." He acknowledges a prenup exists but it's "too early" to decide if he'll challenge it. He says there will be a "huge settlement" in the case but "not hundreds of millions of dollars." Lilly says A-Rod's estate is "vast ... beyond what anyone knows."

He says, "Cynthia is tremendously traumatized and devastated," adding the legal papers he'll file tomorrow will claim she's the victim of "emotional abandonment." Lilly says A-Rod has seen his six-week-old baby "once, maybe twice, but that's it." He says there's no question -- when the ink is dry she will be the primary custodial parent.

Madonna will not be specifically named in the divorce papers. Lilly says infidelity is a "major cause" for the divorce, but not because of any one allegation. Rather, he says, there were a series of dalliances and "Madonna was the last straw."

Lilly says Cynthia did not have an affair with Lenny Kravitz and that her relationship with him is "totally innocent and puristic."



Will Smith did Hancock a solid.

Smith has star-powered the poorly reviewed superhero hybrid to a $66 million opening weekend, and a No. 1 finish, according to Exhibitor Relations estimates today.

WALL-E, last weekend's champ, stayed strong, grossing another $33.4 million, but finished a distant second.

Hancock goes down as Smith's seventh straight movie to open No. 1. If you count Shark Tale, the 2004 animated comedy, as a Smith movie, his streak stands at eight straight.

Overall, Hancock has grossed $107.3 million since "previewing" on Tuesday night and "opening" on Wednesday.

Looking strictly at the movie's first five days, Wednesday-Sunday, Hancock took in $100.4 million, per Box Office Mojo stats, far behind the pace of this summer's two leading movies, Indiana Jones and the Kingdom of the Crystal Skull ($152 million) and Iron Man ($112.1 million).

Among Smith movies, Hancock becomes his top Fourth of July opener, a testament to the star's drawing power, yes, but also inflation.

Run the movie math (divide the opening weekend gross by the average ticket price), and the numbers show Independence Day, Smith's signature Fourth of July hit, sold nearly two million more tickets in its opening weekend in 1996 than Hancock did this weekend.

It's actually better not to run the movie math. Not if you want to enjoy the holiday weekend to the fullest.

Other box office notes:

* Where WALL-E remained hot and pushed its two-weekend total to $128.1 million, Angelina Jolie's Wanted (third place, $20.6 million; $90.8 million overall) cooled off considerably, with business down 60 percent.
* In its third weekend, Kit Kittredge: An American Girl, the critically praised Abigail Breslin family film, opened wide and died—a doll-sized $3.6 million (eighth place) off nearly 1,850 screens.
* Speaking of the dearly departed, Mike Myers' The Love Guru ($1.7 million) dropped out of the Top 10 after just two weekends.
* Looking on the bright side of a big giant bomb, The Love Guru, at $29.3 million overall, is the highest-grossing Justin Timberlake movie of all time. As long as you don't count Shrek the Third as a Justin Timberlake movie. Which you really shouldn't.
* The 1990s-nostalgia trip The Wackness, starring Drake & Josh's Josh Peck, was the star in limited release, grossing $145,064 at six theaters. Its per-screen average of $24,177 was the tops for any movie of the weekend.
* Despite three movies taking in more than $20 million, the Hancock-led Fourth of July was 4 percent smaller than last year's Transformers-led Fourth of July. The setback set 2008's overall business once again behind 2007's.

Here's a recap of the top-grossing weekend films based on Friday-Sunday estimates compiled by Exhibitor Relations:

1. Hancock, $66 million
2. WALL-E, $33.4 million
3. Wanted, $20.6 million
4. Get Smart, $11.1 million
5. Kung Fu Panda, $7.5 million
6. The Incredible Hulk, $5 million
7. Indiana Jones and the Kingdom of the Crystal Skull, $3.9 million
8. Kit Kittredge: An American Girl, $3.6 million
9. Sex and the City, $2.3 million
10. You Don't Mess With the Zohan, $2 million

THE RELATIONSHIP IS A HOAX!!!

That’s what some are saying. The ever so "credible" Star Magazine is spreading rumors about Jermaine Dupri and Janet Jackson has secretly married.

According to the gossip rag the two didn’t want to deal with the stress and pressure of a huge wedding. From what I hear people close to the power couple know, but that’s about it.

Though the music mogul has been very clear about revealing this, saying when he and his superstar girlfriend Janet decide to tie the knot, the entire world will know, I still felt the need to email the mogul himself for a response. However, as of press time he hasn’t responded.

TRAVIS BARKER JAILED

Nearly 24 hours after being released on $500 bail for assaulting a fan, Gym Class Heroes’ front man Travis McCoy has a warrant out for his arrest.

According to TMZ, police have been ordered to take McCoy in for questioning after investigating his third degree assault charge. Arrested Tuesday evening after allegedly breaking his microphone in to a disgruntled fan’s head when reportedly called a “f*cking ignorant n*gger”, the lead singer was released on a bond the following morning.

Performing on the Vans Warped Tour, the rock-hop star initially requested the audience member to re-state his direct comment towards him before inflicting harm on to the victim.

Quickly apologizing for his reaction, McCoy also tried reasoning with the crowd before being arrested shortly afterwards.

“I’m sorry,” he said. “But when someone calls you something that ignorant and that offensive, you have to bash their head in with a microphone.”

The band is currently scheduled to perform at the Superpages.com Center in Dallas, Texas this evening.

ESSENCE MUSIC FESTIVAL A HIT

The Essence Music Festival will be brought some of hip-hop and R&B’s biggest acts to to New Orleans this Independence Day weekend.

Kanye West, Mary J. Blige, Chris Brown, Rihanna, and comedian Chris Rock headlined some concerts in the evening, while some of the nation's most influential speakers, artists, authors and leaders enlighten festival-goers in the day. Also on the bill are Frankie Beverly, Keyshia Cole, Jill Scott, J. Holiday, LL Cool J, Musiq, Morris Day & The Time and Patti LaBelle.

"The Essence Music Festival is truly the ultimate party weekend this Fourth of July; celebrating Black culture with an unparalleled combination of music, arts, and empowerment," says Michelle Ebanks, President, Essence Communications Inc. "We have an extraordinary line-up of A-List talent in the Louisiana Superdome and the daytime Essence Empowerment Seminars are covering the issues impacting our community with critical examination, motivation and inspiration."

The Essence Empowerment Seminar Series will feature Tyler Perry and friends, Soledad O'Brien, Dr. Bill Cosby, Reverend Al Sharpton, Mayor C. Ray Nagin, Hill Harper, Bishop T.D. Jakes, and Tom Joyner, among other notable figures.

The Festival also offers the Essence Marketplace in the daytime, with quality fine arts & crafts by African-American vendors from all over the world.

THE OZZY'S MAKE IT TO FOX

Maybe it's time for Black Sabbath devotees to renounce their fanhood: Ozzy Osbourne is moving into Osmond territory.

According to Variety, Fox has given a six-episode pickup to an hour-long variety show hosted by the 59-year-old erstwhile Prince of F--king Darkness, 55-year-old wife Sharon, 23-year-old son Jack and 22-year-old daughter Kelly, that's said to be a throwback to such programs of yore as—gulp—ABC's Donny and Marie and CBS' The Sonny and Cher Comedy Hour.

The untitled Osbourne project is being overseen by James Sunderland, the executive producer of NBC's America's Got Talent, on which the family matriarch serves as a judge.

Unlike their heady days on The Osbournes, the reality show that ran from 2002 to 2005 on MTV and earned the family Emmys, the new format will attempt to mix musical guests, comedy skits and game-show segments with in-studio audience participation and man-on-the-street-style bits.

One idea being bandied about, per the trade, is a segment titled "The Osbournes Meet the Osbournes," in which the heavy metal clan hang out with another Osbourne family.

The show will be shot in Los Angeles and Fox aims to kick things off with a Christmas special.

Speaking of variety, Spike Lee—who's tackled all sorts of genres on the screen—is reportedly headed for the Great White Way.

The Oscar-nominated helmer plans to film three performances of the Broadway musical Passing Strange for a future broadcast on a cable network.

Lee will record two of the black-themed production's shows in front of audiences and a third without. No word when shooting will get under way, but Passing Strange, about a young black musician on a spiritual journey to Amsterdam and Berlin, could use the added television exposure.

Even though it won a Tony for Best Book last month, the musical has played to half-empty houses and seen its ticket sales slip from $300,000 a week to $245,000 for the week ended June 29.