Day in Pop Report for 02/09/2012
"The Haus of Gaga and I have worked for months conceiving a spectacular stage," said Gaga. "THE BORN THIS WAY BALL is an Electro-Metal Pop-Opera; the tale of the Beginning, the genesis of the Kingdom of Fame. How we were birthed and how we will die celebrating." The Born This Way Ball will be Lady Gaga's first tour since the release of her album "Born This Way," which has sold nearly 6 million copies worldwide since its release in May 2011. more on this story
Cornelius, who was 75, was found dead in his home in Sherman Oaks, California, last Wednesday. His son, Tony Cornelius, issued a statement last week thanking fans and requesting privacy. "At this time, we respectfully ask that you allow our family and friends the privacy necessary to get through this difficult time," he said, in a statement to CNN. "We thank all the well-wishers and the fans who have supported the Soul Train legacy." Cornelius was honored in Harlem on Saturday with a celebration of his far-reaching impact on soul music and black culture. more on this story
Katy's response to Russell's divorce filing -- filed yesterday and obtained by TMZ -- states the ex-couple reached a "comprehensive written settlement." As we first reported, that includes Russell passing on their community property -- aka 50% of Katy's approximate $40 million in earnings! The doc also includes a check next to the box -- "Respondent's [Katy's] former name be restored to." It goes on to specify her full name ... Katheryn Elizabeth Hudson. Most amicable Hollywood divorce. Ever. more on this story
A rep for Ray J tells TMZ, neither Ray nor any member of his team "had anything to do with the incident that is being reported" -- when two men who appeared to be intoxicated approached Ray's car on the street, and got their asses handed to them. The rep adds, "Ray J was working on the set of his new TV show and he had off duty police officers protecting him. After filming, they escorted him to his car and he left without incident." TMZ posted a video of the incident this weekend ... in which Ray J is quickly escorted to his Rolls Royce while a man lies unconscious on the sidewalk. Meanwhile, a guy yells, "Ray, I got this ... Ray, get in the car!" It's unclear what connection the attackers have with the singer -- if any -- but Ray's rep insists ... they are NOT employed by the singer. more on this story
Billboard reports the song is Clarkson's third #1, following "A Moment Like This" (two weeks on top in 2002) and "My Life Would Suck Without You" (#1 for two weeks in 2009). "Stronger" soars to the Hot 100's top spot with top Airplay Gainer honors, charging 33-15 on the Radio Songs chart (58 million audience impressions, up 49%, according to Nielsen BDS). more on this story
Billboard reports Del Rey has the highest entry for a female artist's full-length major label debut since Jackie Evancho's "Dream With Me" entered at #2 on July 2, 2011. Del Rey's YouTube clips for "Video Games" has more than 26 million views on the popular site, while "Blue Jeans" has more than 7 million. more on this story
MTV reports "21" - in its 50th week on the charts � sold another 122,000 copies, putting her total sales over the 6.3 million mark. The next record she's aiming for � 20 weeks at the top � is held by Whitney Houston's soundtrack to "The Bodyguard" and Elvis Presley's "Blue Hawaii." more on this story
Jessica Nicole Scantlin filed the legal docs in L.A., claiming she "will seek for the premarital agreement to either be set aside on the grounds that it is either unenforceable or she was coerced into executing it." Jessica claims Wes -- who filed for divorce in November -- coerced her into signing the agreement right before their wedding back in 2008, knowing she wouldn't refuse because her family had already sunk an enormous investment into the ceremony. As a result, Jessica insists she's been screwed out of her interest in the music Wes wrote while they were together -- music Jessica claims she inspired. Jessica is suing to invalidate the contract -- asking the court to grant her "one-half interest of all past, present, and future revenues" generated by the music Wes created during the marriage. more on this story
The band will perform "Always Shine" off of Glasper's forthcoming album Black Radio, which will be released February 28 by EMI's Blue Note Records. WNYC Soundcheck has also announced a special live performance and interview broadcast in The Greene Space with Robert Glasper Experiment featuring Bilal on February 27. more on this story
In a fast and furious legal response to the altercation at the home this week, Pilar filed suit against Deion and a woman named Laura Jones, the woman accused of carrying out the attack. According to the documents, Deion summoned Laura -- his "fake aunt" -- to help him physically remove Pilar from the home on Feb. 6 so Deion could change the locks and bar her from returning. Pilar claims Jones is legally banned from entering the home ... but she entered the place anyway ... so Pilar says she demanded that the woman leave immediately. Instead, Pilar claims, the woman "squared off and took a swing at [Pilar] hitting her in the eye." Pilar says Laura "continued to hit, slap, punch, choke, push and kick" her ... causing various injuries. Pilar says she was so scared, she grabbed a KITCHEN KNIFE and prepared to defend herself until cops arrived. Now, Pilar wants a judge to issue a restraining order against the woman ... and she wants Deion to fork over a check for the mental and physical pain. After the incident, Deion claimed Laura was only at the home to fix his phone system and said Pilar's account is completely untrue. more on this story
Cambria Gordon, wife of Howard Gordon, was driving in Santa Monica last July when her cell phone fell from the center console to the floor. She became distracted as she tried to retrieve it and her car struck an 83-year-old pedestrian, who later died. Cambria was charged with manslaughter with gross negligence, but under the deal the charge reduced to misdemeanor vehicular manslaughter without gross negligence. Cambria, who was not in court today, was placed on 36 months informal probation and she must perform 360 hours of community service. The judge said the community service should have an educational component related to distracted driving. Blair Berk, Cambria's lawyer, read a letter from Cambria prior to sentencing, in which she expressed "deep sorrow and sincere remorse over the accident," adding "not a day has gone by since July 20, 2011 that I haven't thought about and prayed for Mr. Smerling and his family." The letter ends with this: "Although I cannot presume to ask for forgiveness, I only hope that the Smerling family understands how immeasurably sorry I am." The victim's family has filed a civil suit against the Gordons. That suit is pending. more on this story
67-year-old Busey filed for Chapter 7 bankruptcy in California yesterday. Busey checked the box showing he has less than $50,000 in assets ... and somewhere between $500,000 and $1,000,000 in various debts. In the docs, Busey indicates he might owe money to everyone from the IRS ... to various lawyers ... UCLA Medical Center ... Wells Fargo ... L.A. County Waterworks Districts ... and a storage company. He also notes that he might owe money to a woman named Carla Loeffler, who sued Busey for allegedly attacking her at a Tulsa airport back in May. We called Gary for comment -- so far, no response. more on this story
Sheen hosted the bash at his Beverly Hills mansion ... and the stars came out in droves ... including MLB Hall of Famer Joe Morgan ... who was greeted with a big fat Super Bowl kiss on his face. Other guests included L.A. Dodgers player James Loney and ex-MLB superstars Kenny Lofton and Todd Zeile. Kate Walsh was there too ... along with rocker Matt Sorum, Jon Lovitz, Jeff Ross and Charlie's BFF Tony Todd (pictured left). We're told everyone was raving about the food -- whipped up by his personal chef ... but Charlie spent most of the party talkin' baseball with Morgan ... who was blown away by Charlie's knowledge of the game. Winning. more on this story
According to the divorce papers, obtained by TMZ, Nagra cites "irreconcilable differences" for the split. The two dated for 7 years before tying the knot and have a 2 year-old son. The wedding was attended by a bunch of stars ... including Nagra's former "E.R." co-star John Stamos ... who played drums at the reception. Sad. more on this story
According to our sources, Eva was leaving her BFF Ken Paves' salon when she pulled out into traffic and lightly tapped the car in front of her. We're told the car Eva hit only suffered minor scratches. Our source on the scene said the guy didn't care about the minor damage ... he was just stoked to get Eva's digits. Stranger things have happened. more on this story
After Nate suffered his 2nd stroke in 2008, he moved in to a CareMeridian treatment facility in Orange County ... a place dedicated to rehabbing and caring for patients who suffer from catastrophic injuries. In legal papers obtained by TMZ, CareMeridian claimed the singer received more than $290,000 in medical treatment from 2008 until 2010 ... and one of Nate's managers, David Michery, personally guaranteed the facility would get paid. But according to the lawsuit, the check never came ... even after Nate died in 2011. Now, the court has entered a default judgment against Nate's camp ... including Michery ... ordering them to shell out $293,512.52. Nate was a TITAN in the music industry and made millions of dollars during his career ... so it's unclear why no one's paid up. more on this story
TMZ has learned Halle filed papers with the court requesting the move and the hearing is pending. Sources tell us Gabriel is livid because he believes the move is punitive and designed to strip him of any contact with his daughter. And Gabriel is particularly upset because Halle's longtime boyfriend Olivier Martinez will be living with Halle and Nahla if the move is approved ... informed sources tell TMZ. Halle could have an argument that it's safer for Nahla to be in Europe ... especially because her latest stalker -- who broke onto her property multiple times -- has recently been released from jail. more on this story
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