Top Story: James Brown’s Wife Explains Disheveled Mug Shot
James Brown‘s wife, Tomi Rae Brown, who is currently accompanying the Godfather of Soul on tour in Australia, says that the wild-looking booking photograph taken after the singer’s arrest on domestic abuse charges could’ve been avoided. He was arrested in January after the couple got into a fight at their Beech Island, S.C., home in January. “I tried to give the police a comb for him,” she told The Augusta Chronicle Monday. “I asked them to let me put him in some clean clothes. I asked them not to take the Godfather out looking like that.” Brown, who says she loves her husband and wants to stay with him despite his pending criminal domestic violence charge, went on to explain that they had been through a tough weekend without electricity following an ice storm that left thousands of South Carolinians without power. “We had gone for three days with no power and no heat and we were freezing to death,” she said. “Mr. Brown woke up that morning disheveled and I wanted to leave. I wasn’t allowed to. That’s when I made the 911 call, that’s when the chair was raised over my head and that’s when the police came.” She said she hopes the couple can start over.
J.Lo’s Mom Wins $2.4 Million Jackpot
Just like her daughter Jennifer, Guadalupe Lopez use to have a little, now she has a lot. The Associated Press reports that J.Lo’s mother won a $2.4 million jackpot while playing $1 slots at Atlantic City, N.J. According to the casino, 58-year-old Guadalupe Lopez of New York was playing Wheel of Fortune at the Borgata Hotel Casino & Spa when she hit for $2,421,291.76 Saturday evening. A casino spokesman denied knowing of any relationship between the jackpot winner and actress/singer Jennifer Lopez. Us Weekly magazine, however, reports in its upcoming issue that Guadalupe Lopez is indeed J.Lo‘s mom, and that she plans to use a portion of her winnings to start a $100,000 college fund for her grandchildren.
Driver for Spears Tour Bus in Police Chase
A bus driver transporting crew and equipment for Britney Spears‘ concert tour led police on a brief pursuit Monday, the AP reports. Tennessee native David Raines, 51, was driving south on Interstate 93 in Northfield, N.H., at around 7 a.m., when state police tried to stop him for going 78 mph in a 65 mph zone. But Raines continued driving about 10 miles to Canterbury, where he was stopped after pulling off the highway. Raines was arrested but allowed to continue on to deliver the crew and equipment to Manchester, where Spears is to perform tonight. Spears was not on the bus and the crew, who was asleep at the time of the stop, was not aware of what happened. Rains later failed to appear in court on charges of speeding and disobeying police.
Diana Ross Not Ordered Back to Jail
Singer Diana Ross, 60, will not have to return to jail for driving drunk after all. Magistrate T. Jay Cranshaw ruled Monday that Ross had fulfilled the terms of her two-day sentence, despite having been released one hour too early. In February, Ross pleaded no contest to a drunken driving charge in Tucson, Ariz., and arranged to serve her 48-hour sentence in Greenwich, Conn., where she lives. But based on an account from Greenwich police, Cranshaw found that the singer had failed to serve 24 consecutive hours as required by Arizona law, and fell short of her 48-hour sentence by one hour. Cranshaw had ordered Ross to return to Tucson to serve 48 consecutive hours in the Pima County Jail but the singer’s attorneys had asked the judge to reconsider.
David Beckham Denies Marital Infidelity
England soccer captain David Beckham, who is married to former “Posh Spice” Victoria Beckham, is denying allegations that he had an affair with his personal assistant last year, Reuters reports. The U.K. tabloid The News of the World reported alleged details of a relationship between him and 26-year-old Rebecca Loos, and printed explicit phone text messages that it claimed were sent by Beckham. Loos worked for Beckham, 28, when he moved to Spain last September to join Real Madrid. Beckham issued a statement Sunday describing the charges as “ludicrous.” Victoria Beckham, 29, told the Sun tabloid the couple’s relationship would survive the accusations. “We have been through a lot worse than this,” she said. “And we’re definitely going to get through this.”
Sugar Ray in Spike TV Reality Series
Sugar Ray frontman Mark McGrath told the AP Monday the group will participate in Spike TV’s reality show On the Road, bringing eight contestants on tour with them. Winners will land a job with a music label and a new Kia. McGrath, who described the show as a cross between The Apprentice and The Real World, said contestants will learn the ropes of the music industry, including tuning guitars and promoting Sugar Ray’s concerts. The band fires one person at the end of each episode, and McGrath said each losing contestant will have to “walk the Walk of Shame”–a term Sugar Ray uses for a band or crew member who brings a “paramour onto the bus for the night.” The show is slated to air this summer.
Foxes Cuts Off Wonderfalls
Fox has canceled its fantasy-drama Wonderfalls after than a month because of low ratings, the AP reports. Set in the Niagara Falls area, the series starred Caroline Dhavernas as a young woman who hears voices coming from animal figurines and other objects, directing her to intervene in the lives of other people. The series, which had its final showing last week, debuted March 12 and ranked 103rd for the week of March 22-28 with an audience of 3.3 million.
Role Call: Witherspoon Becomes a Sports Widow
Reese Witherspoon will star in and produce Universal Pictures’ romantic comedy Sports Widow for director David Mirkin (Romy and Michele’s High School Reunion). According to Reuters, the film revolves around a woman (Witherspoone) who one-ups her football-obsessed husband by becoming an expert on the sport.
