Porn War Breaks out Over Jennifer Lopez Honeymoon Sex Tape
Uh oh! It looks like there’s an all out war among some big porn studios to snag Jennifer Lopez’ honeymoon tape shot back in 1997… a tape featuring some spankin’ and some booty as described by TMZ.
Reportedly sites like Red Light District, YouPorn.com and PornHub.com are all trying to top each other with bids hovering in the $40,000 range.
Compared to prices other celeb sex tapes have gotten – well into the hundreds of thousands – $40k may seem low. However, from we’re told, there’s no real sex in the tape … bummer, huh?
As we’ve reported, Madame Lopez tried to block her ex-husband, Ojani Noa, from releasing the tape, but last week, a Los Angeles judge ruled she had no case … opening the door for a sale.
Zoe Kravitz: From Indie Darling to ‘X-Men’ Money
Zoe Kravitz got only a handful of questions at the London and New York press conferences for her film “X-Men: First Class,” which opens in US theaters tomorrow. Most of the queries went to her A-list costars Kevin Bacon, “Mad Men’s” January Jones, James McAvoy, Rose Byrne and her rumored new boyfriend Michael Fassbender.
And the several times Kravitz did get some love…well, let’s just say she’s not long-winded.
“I was f**kin’ excited,” she said when asked her reaction upon finding out she got the part.
Maybe she was tired. After all, the indie film darling isn’t used to the whirlwind schedule of back-to-back international press conferences, TV interviews and photo ops required of actors in big-budget films.
She was even fatigued, hung over “and not the prepared person that I usually am,” at her “X-Men: First Class” audition for director Matthew Vaughn. She told MTV News she had no idea that the character, Angel Salvadore, was a go-go dancer and supposed to be sexy. Vaughn told her to audition a second time, but in skimpier clothing – which apparently closed the deal.
When a journalist at the New York press conference suggested that in addition to mutant powers, Kravitz’s Salvadore and January Jones’ Emma Frost also use their sexuality as weapons, Zoe’s reply was “No we don’t.”
Jones then answered, “My sexuality comes easily to me. I thought it’s a huge part of Emma Frost’s character. Maybe unlike some of the younger characters that are developing or honing their powers, I’ve had time to perfect that, so I use that to my advantage. I think Emma’s vanity plays a huge part of her powers, just her makeup. The way she looks is very important to her.
Zoe followed that up with, “I did research on the Wonderbra. And it went well.”
Rihanna Back in Hot Water with Protest Orgs for ‘Man Down’ Video
Rihanna, who seems to crave attention is getting plenty of it with her latest video … maybe more than she bargained for.
The controversial video for her single, “Man Down,” plays out like a mini-movie in which Rihanna finds herself involved in a physical altercation that ends in murder.
Her fans may like it, but the Parents Television Council is putting the red head on notice as well as BET for airing it. Their objection in particular is the scene where Rihanna shoots the man who rapes her. Straight up, the PTC says the video glamorizes a “cold, calculated execution of murder.”
But the PTC isn’t the only group taking issue with the graphic video.
Meanwhile, Industry Ears, an entertainment industry watchdog group also has a huge problem with the video. Here’s the group’s co-founder and spokesperson, Paul Porter:
“Man Down’ is an inexcusable, shock-only, shoot-and-kill theme song. In my 30 years of viewing BET, I have never witnessed such a cold, calculated execution of murder in primetime. Viacom’s standards and practices department has reached another new low,” said Porter, who is also an ex-BET employee. “If Chris Brown shot a woman in his new video and BET premiered it, the world would stop. Rihanna should not get a pass.”
Both the PTC and Industry Ears are demanding that BET and its parent company Viacom cease airing the video. Given her domestic altercation with Chris Brown, both organizations claim Rihanna should have used the platform to send a non-violent message to victims of physical abuse and rape.
It wasn’t that long ago that Rihanna was getting the side eye from the Parents Television Council. They were upset at her for the overtly sexual performance of “S&M” with Britney Spears at the recent Billboard Music Awards.
Eminem Sues Audi; Claims Company Copied Chrysler 300 Ad
Eminem's 8 Mile Style LLC has filed a lawsuit against Audi AG, claiming the car company is using the hit song "Lose Yourself" illegally in a new commercial.
AdWeek reports that Em's company filed a lawsuit in Hamburg Regional Court in Germany, claiming that Audi is using the "Lose Yourself" track in a new commercial for the 2012 Audi A6 Avant.
Ironically, the "Lose Yourself" track is also the same song that was used to promote the new Chrysler 200 model during the Super Bowl in February.
Audi may be on the hook for copying the entire commercial as well according to the lawsuit, which will also see an unspecified amount in damages.
“We believe Audi not only used 'Lose Yourself' to sell their product without permission, but their spot actually feels inspired by elements of Chrysler’s commercial campaign,” Eminem's lawyer Joel Martin said.
Reps for Eminem are also seeking to determine what European ad agency created the commercial, which debuted last week at a press event in Berlin.
source:Allhiphop
T-Pain Vows To Never Use Auto-Tune Again
Producer/rapper T-Pain has vowed to never use the Auto-Tune effect again, quite possibly ending a long-running trend in R&B and Hip-Hop music.
In an exclusive statement issued to AllHipHop.com today (June 2nd), T-Pain vowed to ditch the Auto-Tune technology for his own new, vocal processor.
"I vow right here, right now, to never use Auto-Tune again," T-Pain told AllHipHop.com in an exclusive statement. "I'm onto something that I think is bigger and better called 'The T-Pain Effect.'"
The Grammy award-winning producer and platinum selling rapper has partnered with Izotope, an audio technology company, which is the exclusive provider of the new 'T-Pain effect.'
The Auto-Tune technology was originally created by Antares Audio Technologies.
The effect burst onto the pop music scene in 1998 on Cher's hit single "Believe."
Since then, the effect has been used by artists such as Janet Jackson, Kanye West, Lil Wayne, Snoop Dogg and numerous others.
T-Pain's usage of Antares' Technology made the Auto-Tune so popular, that he officially partnered with the company in September of 2009 to create the "I Am T-Pain" Iphone App, which allowed users to auto-tune their voices on their smart phones.
Now that his deal with Antares is over, T-Pain and Izotope are working to directly evolve his sound, using Izotopes proprietary vocal processing technologies.
T-Pain and Izotope will showoff the new technology on June 7th during E3, at the NOX booth.
Source-Allhiphop
Clinton Discusses Security, Economy Cooperation with Czech FM
U.S. Secretary of State Hillary Clinton has met with her Czech counterpart in Washington for wide-ranging talks.
Clinton said she used her Thursday talks with Czech Foreign Minister Karel Schwarzenberg to thank the Czech Republic for increasing its troop contributions to the mission in Afghanistan. She also offered condolences for the recent loss of a Czech soldier.
Clinton and Schwarzenberg also discussed efforts to promote democracy and human rights around the world and ways to strengthen the United States and Czech Republic's economic relationships.
She said over the past year, the two countries have signed a joint declaration on civil nuclear cooperation and begun talks on economic, scientific and security cooperation. She said these talks would continue in September.
The Czech foreign minister said his country is looking forward to further cooperation with the United States.
The Czech Republic will host an early warning system as part of the U.S. missile defense shield in Europe. The project has met with fierce resistance from Russia.
Clinton thanked the Czech official for what she called his country's “strong support of a European missile defense and NATO missile defense system.”
Death Toll from US Tornado Rises to 138
Officials have updated the death toll to 138 from a powerful tornado that hit the central U.S. city of Joplin, Missouri last month.
Missouri public safety officials said Thursday the toll rose after four hospitalized people died from injuries suffered during the tornado.
The twister tore through Joplin on May 22 with winds topping 300 kilometers an hour, tearing apart homes and buildings, crushing cars and snapping trees.
The U.S. National Weather Service says the tornado was the deadliest to hit the U.S. since 1947.
On Wednesday, four people were killed when the latest in a string of tornadoes to hit the U.S. in recent weeks struck the western area of Massachusetts, a region where tornadoes are relatively rare.
Tornadoes have killed more than 500 people in the United States this year, the highest annual toll since 1950.
Top US Lawmakers: US Will Not Default on Debt
Senior U.S. lawmakers say Republicans and Democrats will eventually reach a deal to raise the country's $14 trillion debt limit.
The number two Democrat in the U.S. House of Representatives, Steny Hoyer , says financial markets should know that lawmakers will come to an agreement on the issue.
House Democratic leader Nancy Pelosi says members of both political parties must make sure there is no default on the debt.
Hoyer and Pelosi made their remarks after House Democrats met with President Barack Obama at the White House Thursday for talks on the U.S. deficit and debt.
U.S. Treasury Secretary Timothy Geithner also said he is confident a debt crisis will be averted, after meeting Thursday with Republican lawmakers.
Meanwhile, the credit rating agency Moody's warned that lack of progress on the issue could jeopardize the U.S. government's high credit rating.
Another agency, Standard & Poor's, issued a similar warning in April.
Earlier this week, the Republican-controlled House defeated a bill to raise the country's $14 trillion debt limit by about $2 trillion with no spending cuts.
Republicans are calling for deep and immediate spending cuts, while Democrats favor spending cuts or tax increases over several years.
Secretary Geithner has warned the U.S. could face “catastrophic consequences” if lawmakers fail to raise the debt limit. He has said he will use emergency measures to re-allocate funds to continue making payments on the U.S. debt. Those measures will give him until August 2 before the nation will have to stop making some payments altogether.
WHO: Unknown E. Coli Variant Has Killed 18
The World Health Organization says a deadly outbreak of E. coli bacteria that has killed 18 people in Europe is a unique strain that has never been found in infected patients before.
The United Nations agency said Thursday that preliminary genetic tests suggest that the highly contagious strain behind the outbreak could be a genetic recombination of two different E. coli bacteria.
Scientists in China who have analyzed the bacteria behind the German outbreak confirmed that this variant has not been involved in any previous infections.
The outbreak is the deadliest in modern history to involve E. coli, and appears to be the second- or third-largest in terms of the number of people who have become ill.
A food safety expert at the WHO, Hilde Kruse, said the deadly strain has various characteristics that make it more toxic and more virulent than other strains.
More than 1,600 people in 11 European countries have been sickened by the rapid spread of the bacteria, with most infections and deaths occurring in Germany.
Health officials have been unable to find the cause or origin of the outbreak, but similar infections come primarily from contaminated foods.
With the uncertainty surrounding the latest outbreak, concern about European produce is spreading. The United Arab Emirates on Thursday banned the import of cucumbers from Spain, Germany, Denmark and the Netherlands.
Russia said it is banning the import of all fresh vegetables from the European Union — an action the EU immediately called “disproportionate.” The EU, which exported $853 million worth of vegetables to Russia last year, said it would seek an explanation from Moscow.
Russia said vegetables already imported from EU countries will be seized. The chief of Russia's consumer protection agency, Gennady Onishchenko, urged his countrymen to avoid imported vegetables in favor of domestic products.
Germany initially pointed to cucumbers from Spain as a possible source of the contamination, but further tests showed that those vegetables were not the cause of the outbreak.
The erroneous conclusion angered Spanish officials. Prime Minister Jose Luis Rodriguez Zapatero said Spain will seek reparations from authorities in Europe for the damages its vegetable growers have suffered.
Germany's national disease center says the outbreak started nearly two weeks before the first infections were reported in mid-May. The infection can result in a secondary disease that attacks the victims' kidneys, sometimes causing seizures, strokes, comas and death.
The European Center for Disease Prevention and Control said Thursday that the outbreak of the current strain of bacteria has been rarely reported worldwide. It recommended hygiene and cooking foods thoroughly to prevent infection.
Vegetable growers across Europe say they are suffering major economic losses as the mystery goes unsolved. Spain says it is losing $288 million a week because of import bans and weak demand for the produce, while the Netherlands says it is losing $43 million.
The president of Spain's produce export trade group said almost all Europeans have stopped buying Spanish vegetables and fruit.
The World Health Organization said Thursday that it does not recommend any trade restrictions related to the outbreak.
Cholera surges again in parts of Haitian capital
An international aid group says clinics in one section of the Haitian capital are seeing a sharp rise in cholera, with more than 300 new cases per day.
Oxfam says the spike in new cases is occurring in the densely populated Carrefour area west of downtown Port-au-Prince. The group reported today that the number of new cases is more than three times what it saw back when the disease first surged in the fall.
Oxfam and other groups are stepping up cholera treatment and prevention in Haiti as the waterborne disease increases amid heavy rain.
Haiti's health ministry says cholera has killed more than 5,300 people and sickened more than 320,000 since the outbreak began in October.