Bob Welch, Formerly of Fleetwood Mac, Commits Suicide

Bob Welch, a singer-guitarist who left Fleetwood Mac for a successful solo career with such 1970s hits as "Ebony Eyes" and "Sentimental Lady," was found dead in his Nashville home of an apparent suicide on Thursday. He was 65. Welch, who was believed to have suffered health problems recently, shot himself in the chest and left a suicide note, says police spokesman Don Aaron. Welch's wife found his body Thursday afternoon. The Los Angeles-born son of a movie producer, Welch joined Fleetwood Mac in 1971 and performed on several albums and tours until leaving in 1974. He was replaced by Lindsey Buckingham and Stevie Nicks. As a solo artist, Welch garnered huge success in 1977 with a revamped version of "Sentimental Lady," which he first recorded with Fleetwood Mac, with new backing vocals by the group's Christine McVie and Buckingham, and the hit singles "Ebony Eyes" and "Hot Love, Cold World."

Lauryn Hill Faces Jail Time Over $1.6 Million Dollar Tax Bill

Rapper Lauryn Hill is facing a one year jail sentence, over unpaid taxes. U.S. Attorney Paul J. Fishman announced the three-count charge against the Grammy Award-winning singer, who allegedly failed to pay taxes for three calendar years. Lauryn Hill allegedly missed paying taxes for the years of 2005, 2006 and 2007. According to the IRS, the rapper/singer failed to pay taxes on over $1.6 million in taxable income. Lauryn Hill faces a maximum penalty of one year in prison and a $100,000 fine. She will appear in court to address the charges on June 29.

Patriots release WR Ochocinco

The New England Patriots released receiver Chad Ochocinco on Thursday, cutting loose the six-time Pro Bowl selection after one season in which he was more active on Twitter than on the field.  ''Thoroughly enjoyed the oppurtunity to play for the 'Patriot' organization... fans were ... wicked awesome, I wish all of you the best,'' he tweeted at about the same time the team was announcing he had been released. ''I'm healthy n living life, I'll be fine,'' he wrote on Twitter, where he had changed his job description to ''UNEMPLOYED BLACK GUY'' and posed a photo of himself sitting on a suitcase at the airport, hitchhiking. Ochocinco, 34, played in 15 games in his only season with the Patriots, starting three and catching 15 passes for 276 yards. He caught one pass in the Super Bowl as New England lost 21-17 to the New York Giants. His agent, Drew Rosenhaus, said he is ''in the process of gauging interest from potential teams.'' During the playoffs, Patriots coach Bill Belichick described Ochocinco as a hard worker who ''made a very good effort to do everything we've asked him to do on and off the field.''  Ochocinco said the shift from star receiver to barely contributing role player was a struggle. But it paid off with his first trip to the Super Bowl — as a player, not as a gadfly asking questions on media day to those actually participating in the game.  ''I'm happy, but the competitive side of me is (angry). Does that make sense?'' he said before the team left for Indianapolis. ''I handled myself with the utmost professionalism. I busted my (butt), didn't pout. That's what I do: 'Give me the rock!' But I didn't do what people thought I would do. Even I thought I was going to do it.''  But Ochocinco — who changed his name from Chad Johnson as a nod to his uniform number, 85 — was perhaps better known for his antics that sometimes annoyed his teammates, coaches and even commissioner Roger Goodell, whom he called ''Dad.'' He predicted victories, sent gifts to opposing locker rooms and invited fans to help him think up new end zone antics. His touchdown celebrations — using a pylon as a golf club, performing CPR on the football, doing a jig, donning a Hall of Fame jacket — led to repeated fines and an NFL crackdown. Bengals coach Marvin Lewis grew so frustrated that he once called him ''Ocho Psycho.'' Ochocinco also appeared as a contestant on ''Dancing With the Stars'' and hosted a cable dating show. Under the guise of the online Ochocinco News Network, he attended the Super Bowl as a reporter for two years, asking questions of the teams during media sessions and even grilling Goodell last year on the prospects of avoiding a lockout. Last month, he posted online an open letter to Goodell to support the commissioner in the wake of Junior Seau's suicide, writing ''no one is showing any support, I figured I would be the first.'' In his career, Ochocinco has caught 766 passes for 11,059 yards and 67 touchdowns.

 

Phillip Phillips Undergoes Kidney Surgery

American Idol winner Phillip Phillips has finally had the surgery he's needed since he started the singing competition earlier this year. The Georgia-bred heartthrob, 21, was under the knife for six and a half hours yesterday, to remove kidney stones that were too large to pass. "Surgery went well," his rep said. "He's resting."
 

Sherri Shepherd Calls Police on Tweeted Rape Comment

Sherri Shepherd has contacted authorities over a series of menacing tweets she received from a Twitter user with the handle DaClone Killer, including one that read, "Somebody should drag u in a back alley and rape you." A rep for Shepherd confirmed "Law enforcement is involved as well as corporate legal and security departments. This matter is being taken very seriously." In the meantime, Shepherd took DaClone Killer and other bullies to task via Twitter. And DaClone Killer, who, if you follow the thread, appears to have been incensed by something Shepherd said about Lil Kim, is still tweeting away, too.  The NYPD would not confirm that Shepherd had filed a report, but she vowed that she planned to call the cops on her twitagonist. "@DaCloneKiller You think I should be raped in a back alley?" she wrote yesterday. "Let's see if the police agree w you & I took a pic of your tweet...I'M FILING A POLICE REPORT. SO TELL ME NOW WHAT SHOULD BE DONE W ME."  And then again, to the offender himself, "I am going 2 file a police report 4U threatening me. And so help me God, when I find out where U live, charges will follow." "I'm tired of folk thinking they can hide behind a celeb Avi & type anything they want to you w/o consequences b/c they can't be seen COWARDS," she added. I'm not a little 19 year olds... I'm a grown @%$ woman... seriously you want to threaten me? I'm on my way to the police @DaCloneKiller." A few hours later, Shepherd tweeted, "Just returned from filing a police report for this online harrassment nonsense. I will be pursuing this legally. The police said @Twitter has to be subpoenaed for release of @DaCloneKiller's information. I will be pursuing this #cowardshidebehindavis."  The recent Dancing With the Stars contestant then rewteeted another DaClone Killer post: "#DeadBitchesDontTalk @SherriEShepherd SNITCH!!!!!" "I retweet the tweets and threats to bring attention to the seriousness of cyber bullies," Shepherd wrote. "There should be laws that demand consequences." DaClone Killer persisted in his fight today, tweeting, "I just wanna say thank you to all my followers that are supportin me wit this @SherriEShepherd fiasco. FAT BITCH AINT GOT NO MANNERS." "I will not sit back and ignore these COWARDS," Shepherd added. "This type of online bullying goes on unchecked @Twitter what are you doing about it?"

Pink Has Gallbladder Removed Following Stomach Flu

It looks like Pink had to say her goodbyes to an organ today. After being hospitalized for the past couple days from what the new mom said was the stomach flu (and having to miss out on President Barack Obama's fundraiser), E! News confirms that the 32-year-old had her gallbladder removed. The singer's rep tells us, "Pink had her gallbladder removed and is out of the hospital recovering nicely."

Erykah Badu steamed at Flaming Lips for releasing 'soft porn' video

Don't expect the Flaming Lips and Erykah Badu to tour together anytime soon. Despite just having collaborated with the alt-rock band on a cover of the song "The First Time Ever I Saw Your Face," Badu is lashing at Lips' Wayne Coyne for releasing a video for the tune that she calls "soft porn." The clip features Badu and her sister Nayrok naked, covered in some sort of liquid as well as gold glitter. In an extended rant on Twitter, Badu explains that she never gave the go-ahead to release the video. "I never would have approved that tasteless, meaningless, shock motivated video," she writes while blaming Coyne. She continues, "Yu (sic) did everything wrong from the on set. First: You showed me a concept of beautiful tasteful imagery (by way of vid text messages). I trusted that. I was mistaken. Then u release an unedited, unapproved version within the next few days. That all spells 1 thing, Self Serving. When asked what the concept meant after u explained it, u replied ,'it doesn't mean anything, I just want to make a great video that everyone is going to watch.' I understood, because as an artist we all desire that. But we don't all do it at another artist's expense. I attempted to resolve this respectfully by having conversations with u after the release but that too proved to be a poor excuse for art."The video has since been taken down and Coyne has apologized. He says, "The video link that was erroneously posted on Pitchfork by the Flaming Lips of the Music Video 'The First Time I Ever Saw Your Face', which features Erykah Badu, is unedited and unapproved. Sorry!! We, the Flaming Lips, accept full responsibility for prematurely having Pitchfork post it. It has outraged and upset a segment of fans and we apologize if we offended any viewers!!! This is a Flaming Lips video which features Erykah Badu and her sister Nayrok and is not meant to be considered an Erykah Badu or Nayrok statement, creation, or approved version."

 

Jenny McCarthy: My son is in therapy over my split from Jim Carrey

Jim Carrey has fired back at Jenny McCarthy, who said on "The Howard Stern Show" Monday that her ex-boyfriend basically turned his back on her autistic 10-year-old son Evan after their five-year relationship came to an end in 2010. "I will always do what I believe is in the best interest of Evan's well being," the actor said in a statement. "It's unfortunate that Evan's privacy is not being considered. I love Evan very much and will miss him always." During her interview with Stern, the "Love in the Wild" host was grilled about her split from Carrey, and was asked whether or not he still spends time with Evan, who the actor credited with teaching him "how to love." McCarthy, 39, revealed that Carrey, 50, chooses to no longer see Evan and it's been very difficult for her son to not have the "Dumb & Dumber" star in his life. "The kid's in therapy over it," McCarthy — who is now dating Chicago Bears player Brian Urlacher — told Stern. While Evan asks to see Carrey "almost weekly," her movie star ex, has said no to any visits. "I've tried to ask numerous times," McCarthy said, noting that while she hasn't felt comfortable contacting Carrey directly herself, she's gone through various "channels" in an attempt to get him to reach out to her son. "Hopefully they will talk again." Until then, she plays Carrey's movies for Evan and soothes her child by telling him: "Someday you will cross paths." Both Stern and his sidekick Robin Quivers said they were "sad" to hear McCarthy detail Evan's heartbreak with Quivers saying, "You don't get involved with a child to dump the child." McCarthy echoed the sentiment, but added that she still had love for Carrey. "I think you can love people from a distance and respect him. But as a mother, you just hope when you have a relationship with someone, it has nothing to do with the child when you break up."

  The highly anticipated Nike Air Yeezy 2 designed by none other than Kanye West went up for bid on eBay Wednesday. You wouldn't believe how much the preorder pair was going for—let alone how high the winning bid went.  The currently unknown new owner of the black and pink colorway Nike Air Yeezy 2 sneakers paid a whopping—wait for it—$90,300.00 (at least they got free shipping). Multiple other bids were going on for different pairs, and were currently in the price range of a couple thousand each. These kicks will be sold in stores come this Saturday and will retail at $245. The Air Yeezy 2 is the second installment (and a slimmer version) of the 2009 Air Yeezy. According to Nike's website, the design was inspired by classic 1980s basketball shoes and can be purchased in either black/solar red or platinum.

 RoboCop
Samuel L. Jackson will star in the remake of Robocop, as a media mogul named Pat Novak, which does not sound as a good guy name to me. The Killing‘s Joel Kinnaman will play the eponymous police officer-turned-cyborg; Gary Oldman will play the scientist who creates him. José Padilha (Elite Squad) is directing

 White House Down


Jamie Foxx is circling the role of the President of the United States in the thriller White House Down, about a secret service officer (Channing Tatum) who must fend off a paramilitary group that successfully invades the White House. Master of cinema realism Roland Emmerich (2012) will direct.


TV NEWS
The CW revealed more premiere dates for its first-ever summer schedule: the season debut of Remodeled is set for July 9 at 9p; new reality series The Next: Fame Is at Your Doorstep launches July 16 at 9p; The L.A. Complex is back starting July 17 at 9p; a second new reality series, Oh Sit! premieres August 15 at 9p; and then on August 24 at 8p America's Next Top Model: College Edition airs its season opener




A third season of drama series Lost Girl has been ordered by Syfy.  The network gave Lost Girl 13 episodes for season three launching in January 2013. 




TNT has plans to premiere post-episode webshows for its series Falling Skies when it returns with a new season as well as the all-new edition of Dallas.  The upcoming 15-minute digital talk shows, 2nd Watch and Dallas Round-Up will highlight discussions on each week's episodes, interviews with special guests, the cast and crew, fan questions, trivia as well as exclusive behind-the-scenes footage. Cameron Mathison will host Dallas Round-Up when it debuts a live premiere episode June 13 at 11p directly after the two-hour premiere of Dallas.  2nd Watch will then premiere with a live opening episode June 17 at 11p following the two-hour season premiere of Falling Skies.  Both series will air over 9 weeks. 



CSI has promoted longtime recurring player Jon Wellner to series regular in its upcoming 13th season.


Logo has acquired the rights to air the UK’s Misfits, a provocative sci-fi drama centering on a group of twentysomethings who gain supernatural powers during as electrical storm. The series is slated to bow on the U.S. cabler on July 19 at 10/9c.

Erik Valdez (Gilmore Girls, New Girl) will join General Hospital beginning Monday, June 11 as the producer of Kristina’s new reality series.

Kevin Costner Testifies In BP Oil Spill Lawsuit

Actor Kevin Costner testified Thursday that he was heartbroken as he watched millions of gallons of oil spew into the Gulf of Mexico in 2010 and that he headed to New Orleans to see if cleanup devices he helped develop could aid the recovery effort. Costner, who has been sued in a multimillion-dollar business dispute involving the devices, told jurors he wasnervous. “My name is at stake,” he said. Costner was on the stand for about an hour at a civil trial centered on the lawsuit in U.S. District Court in New Orleans. His testimony is expected to resume Friday. The suit was brought by actor Stephen Baldwin and his friend Spyridon Contogouris. It claimed that Costner and his business partner, Patrick Smith, duped them of their share of an $18 million deal for BP PLC to buy the oil-separating centrifuges after the 2010 oil spill. Costner’s attorney, Wayne Lee, has said his client played no role in Baldwin’s and Contogouris’ decision to sell their shares, for $1.4 million and $500,000, respectively, in a company that marketed the centrifuges to BP. “Kevin Costner is here for one reason and one reason only: He’s famous,” Lee said in opening statements Monday. Costner said he has a passion for technology, particularly environmental technology, and enjoys supporting the work of engineers and scientists. He said that after the oil spill, he went to New Orleans on a “fact-finding mission” to see if technology he was invested in could be used to aid cleanup efforts. “I came down mostly because of the legacy of the (oil cleanup) machine and because the Gulf was in trouble,” Costner said.