Sony Apologizes After Raising the Price on Whitney Houston Albums

Whitney Houston Fans To Follow Funeral On Internet

They won’t be there in person, but singer Whitney Houston’s millions of fans worldwide will be able to share in her homecoming service Saturday as they watch her private funeral on the Internet. Houston’s funeral will be at New Hope Baptist Church, where she sang as a child. Her eulogy will be given by gospel singer Marvin Winans, a Grammy Award winner and longtime family friend. Afterward, Houston will be buried in Fair View Cemetery in Westfield, N.J., according to her death certificate. Her father, John Russell Houston Jr., was buried there in 2003.


Bobby Brown reportedly invited to Whitney Houston’s funeral
Bobby Brown has been contacted about attending Whitney Houston’s funeral Saturday. It was reported that Brown was “disappointed” that members of Houston’s family had objected to him attending the service, which will be by invitation only, but ABC’s source called this “inaccurate.” Brown’s rep said, “We are not focused on reports, stories or false reports for that matter.” Brown is in California with his daughter, Bobbi Kristina, who has been hospitalized twice since her mother’s death. In a statement Brown said his daughter “is dealing with the tragedy of her mother’s death and would prefer to do it outside of the public eye. I ask again that our privacy be respected.”
 Like father, like son. From the flat top to the ears to the full mouth, Jaden Smith is growing up to look just like his dad Will Smith. The 13-year-old has come a long way since playing Dre Parker in the Karate Kid remake in June 2010. Looking significantly more mature and mirroring all of his handsome 43-year-old dad's features, Jaden posted a WhoSay photo on Tuesday from the set of his latest film After Earth, which is set for a 2013 release.

Sony Apologizes After Raising the Price on Whitney Houston Albums

Whitney Houston's albums have had a big resurgence in sales since her passing on Saturday and it has meant a windfall for Sony. An even bigger windfall than would have been expected. In England, the price of two of Houston's albums on iTunes shot up from 25% to 60% after her death. Her Ultimate Collection went from $7.85 to $12.50 while The Greatest Hits jumped from $12.50 to $15.67. The jumps caused a huge outcry on the net over Sony's gouging of the fans during a time of mourning, forcing the company to make an official statement; however, they didn't admit to an intentional scheme. Instead, they simply said. Whitney Houston product was mistakenly mispriced on the U.K. iTunes store on Sunday. When discovered, the mistake was immediately corrected. We apologize for any offense caused.Two executives of Sony talked "off-the-record" to the New York Times, telling them that it was a mistake by an employee in Britain and that the company hadn't ordered the increase. The increase was, indeed, Sony's and not an iTunes move as the company increased the wholesale price for the downloads by £3 ($4.71) which triggered an automatic increase in iTunes' system.

 

 

Michael Bay will direct the next 'Transformers'

Michael Bay announced on his website late Monday night that he had signed a two-picture deal with Paramount Pictures that puts him back in the director’s chair for the next Transformers movie. Shia LaBeouf has said rather adamantly he will not make another film in the billion-dollar grossing franchise, and much of the cast from the previous three films are not expected to return. But producers Lorenzo di Bonaventura, Don Murphy, Tom DeSanto, and Ian Bryce; and executive producers Steven Spielberg, Bay, Brian Goldner, and Mark Vahradian are coming back for the fourth film. The film is already set to inundate theaters on June 27, 2014.
  This weekend, First Lady Michelle Obama, known for mixing low price off-the-rack items with designer duds, was spotted wearing a $39.99 Jason Wu for Target dress while doing a press event in Florida. The designer's line for Target went on sale Feb. 5 and flew off the shelves almost as soon as it went on sale, but it looks like the first lady was able to snatch up the Sleeveless Chiffon Dress in Navy Floral with Gold Belt. Obama, of course, added her own sense of style to the ensemble swapping the gold belt for a red one and cinching it over a blue cardigan. Obama has a history with the designer: She put Wu on the map in 2009 when she wore an ivory gown he designed at her husband's inaugural ball.

Rapper may regret tweeting about killing people

It can be difficult to discern if a rapper's tales of crime are confessions or boasts. In the case of Brooklyn rapper Ronald "Ra Diggs" Herron, his tweets about how he "beat a body" and claims of leading a "murder team" turned out to be bone-chillingly real, according to prosecutors. Herron, already imprisoned on federal drug charges, was recently indicted on three murder charges, with evidence coming from his Twitter and YouTube accounts. Herron allegedly took part in three killings from 2001-09, including one charge he beat when two witnesses refused to testify.
  One Tree Hill is nearing its long-awaited series finale -- and not a moment too soon for CW star Sophia Bush, 29. The actress has split with her on-and-off beau of six years, Austin Nichols, 31 -- the third guy she's dated from the just-wrapped TV hit. Bush broke it off with Nichols (who plays her husband) "because she didn't think he was the one," explains a source. "She's moving on." The actress was wed to Chad Michael Murray in 2005 and dated James Lafferty in 2009. The final episode of One Tree Hill airs April 4 on The CW.

 

TV NEWS
Ali Larter has landed the lead role in Fox’s buzzy spy drama, The Asset. The Heroes alumna will play a New York-based CIA agent living a “normal life” as a photojournalist.


Kal Penn (House, How I Met Your Mother) has joined the cast of Prairie Dogs, a comedy pilot being developed for ABC. Penned by That ’70s Show‘s Jackie and Jeff Filgo, the show follows an uncool cubicle worker — aka “prairie dog” — named Neil who is the victim of identity theft. Said corporate drone ultimately discovers the thief created a much more fulfilling life with his identity than he ever did — and thus he engages the con man to help him improve his prospects.


TBS has ordered 35 additional episodes of Tyler Perry’s latest comedy, Tyler Perry’s For Better or Worse, which premiered last November.


Live! With Kelly is in for a lively hour when, on Feb. 29, 30 Rock‘s Alec Baldwin drops by to guest co-host. Also set to fill Regis Philbin’s former seat during the last week of the month are How I Met Your Mother‘s Neil Patrick Harris (for a special post-Oscar show), Southland‘s Lucy Liu and ABC News’ Dan Abrams.


Behind the Music returns to VH1 beginning Thursday, March 15 with the first of six new episodes. This season’s featured artists include Pitbull, Game, T-Pain, Akon, Brandy and Nas.


Perfect Couples‘ Hayes MacArthur and Better Off Ted‘s Malcolm Barrett have joined the cast of Fox’s comedy Rebounding, playing members of a pickup basketball league who help the series’ leading man recover from the death of his fiancée.


One Life to Live‘s Kearran Giovanni (ex-Vivian) will co-star on TNT’s upcoming Closer spinoff, Major Crimes. The actress will play an ambitious undercover detective.


Discovery has renewed one of The Soup‘s favorite shows, Gold Rush, for a third season


Two Lost vets have booked guest spots in the same episode of USA Network’s upcoming drama Common Law. Jeff Fahey (who played Lapidus) will appear as a “hard-drinking narcotics detective” who was a mentor of sorts to Michael Ealy’s character, while Kevin Tighe (who played John Locke’s dad) is a detective who helped jumpstart the career of Warren Kole’s cop.