HOLLYWOOD - Top Story: Lil' Kim Indicted by Grand Jury
Lil' Kim was indicted for perjury and obstruction of justice by a grand jury in a New York federal courtroom Wednesday for lying to a grand jury investigating a 2001 shootout involving members of her entourage, Reuters reports. According to court documents, the 28-year-old rapper, whose real name is Kimberly Jones, is charged with one count of conspiracy, three counts of perjury, three counts of making false statements and one count of obstruction. The charges stem from a Feb. 25, 2001, shootout outside Manhattan radio station Hot 97, where Jones and associates from the rap group Junior M.A.F.I.A. appeared as on-air guests. Upon leaving the studio, Jones and her entourage were involved in a shootout with rap rival Foxy Brown, who had previously labeled Lil' Kim's album Notorious K.I.M. as "weak" and "lame." The incident left one man shot in the back. The initial police report said Jones was not present when shots were fired, but a video showed her standing on the street during the shootout and then jumping into a limo with people suspected in the incident. Indictments, which occur when a grand jury decides there is sufficient evidence for a case to go to trial, do not determine guilt. Jones was released on a $500,000 personal recognizance bond and is expected to appear in court to face the charges at an arraignment hearing scheduled for April 14.
New Jackson Accuser's Memories Repressed
Sources close to the Michael Jackson case told Reuters Wednesday that the latest claim of sexual molestation was brought by an 18-year-old who was said to have recovered repressed decade-old memories of an assault that took place when he was 3 to 5 years old. According to Reuters, a Beverly Hills psychiatrist counseled the new accuser and helped him remember the alleged assault and filed a child abuse complaint against Jackson last year with Santa Barbara County Protective Services. The Los Angeles Police Department, however, has refused to reveal details about the accuser or his allegations. Jackson's lawyers have called the allegations baseless.
Kill Bill Vol. 1 Sells 2 Million DVDs
Quentin Tarantino's Kill Bill Vol. 1, whose sequel, Kill Bill Vol. 2, hits theaters Friday, sold more than 2 million DVDs during its first day in release, Miramax chief operating officer Rick Sands told Reuters Tuesday. "Kill Bill is an extraordinary achievement and reaffirms that Quentin's films are true movie events," Sands said. According to Nielsen VideoScan's First Alert weekly sales chart, Warner's The Matrix Revolutions was the top-selling DVD for the week ending April 11.
Beckham's Assistant Discusses His Private Parts
David Beckham's former personal assistant, who claims she had sex with the 28-year-old soccer star in Madrid two years ago, told the UK's Sky One television channel in the interview Thursday she could prove her allegations are true. "There's something I know about him, an intimate part of his body that I think only women who have been in bed with him would know," she said. When asked if Beckham was circumcised, Loos answered: "I'm not going into that. I'm not talking about that. If I do ever need to talk about that, it'll be in a court, not on TV." Bookmakers are now offering odds on what the intimate detail might be, including a tattooed behind and a pimply back, Reuters reports.
Matt Groening To Guest on The Simpsons
The Simpsons creator Matt Groening will make his first speaking role on the animated series, Fox said Wednesday. In "My Big Fat Greek Wedding," Edna Krabappel calls off her wedding to Principal Skinner after he gets a case of cold feet, and falls for the Comic Book Guy, who takes her to a sci-fi convention. While at the convention, they run into Groening, who is guest-starring as himself and signing autographs for his fans. The only other time Groening has appeared on the show is in a framed photo on the wall of Comic Book Guy's store. The episode airs on Fox this Sunday, the AP reports.
Kathie Lee Gifford Makes Brief Return to Morning TV
Kathie Lee Gifford returned briefly to morning talk television this week, sitting in for her onetime co-host Regis Philbin on ABC's Regis and Kelly show Thursday and co-hosting Fox News Channel's Fox & Friends Wednesday with Steve Doocy and Brian Kilmeade. Gifford, who left the morning talk show she co-hosted with Philbin for 15 years in July 2000, said she and Philbin have remained friends. She also talked about the musical career of William Hung, whose version of Ricky Martin's "She Bangs" got him kicked out of the American Idol competition. "He's going to stop being lovable very, very soon ... we've seen it, it's a one-trick pony," she said. "And if he gets his teeth fixed, his career is over."
Tom Cruise Raises $1.2M for WTC Workers
The New York Rescue Workers Detoxification Project, an organization co-founded by Tom Cruise, has raised $1.2 million to expand a treatment program for rescue workers exposed to potentially hazardous materials after the collapse of the World Trade Center. The organization has treated more than 200 workers who say they were suffering effects from breathing the smoke-filled air after the Sept. 11, 2001, the AP reports. The project's program, developed by Church of Scientology founder L. Ron Hubbard, consists of a medically monitored regimen of exercise, sauna sweat-out, vitamins and minerals to help rescue workers cleanse their bodies of toxic residues.
Dick Clark Becomes Diabetes Spokesman
Dick Clark, the former host of American Bandstand and producer of the American Music Awards, announced Tuesday that he has had type 2 diabetes, formerly called adult-onset diabetes, since 1994, but kept it a secret from everyone except close friends and family, the AP reports. According to the Ogilvy public relations firm, which is promoting his new role as a spokesman for the American Association of Diabetes Educators and the pharmaceutical maker Merck & Co, Clark, 74, is launching Diabetes: Know the Heart Part--a national public education campaign to alert Americans to the link between diabetes and heart attack and st