Diddy and Magic Johnson Get their Own TV Networks

Two high net worth entertainment moguls struck a deal that will undoubtedly make the richer.

Comcast Corp. announced Tuesday that it would start carrying four new minority-owned networks – in partial fulfillment of a deal with regulators and minority groups that paved the way for the Philadelphia company to take over NBCUniversal last year.

The channels, backed by NBA Hall of Famer Earvin “Magic” Johnson, superstar entertainer Sean “Diddy” Combs, and others, are scheduled to launch broadly on Comcast Cable systems between April and January 2014, Comcast said.

“I salute them for keeping their word,” said the Rev. Al Sharpton, one of three African American leaders to sign an agreement on a wide range of minority issues with Comcast in December 2010. “I think they are living up to the memorandum of understanding,” Sharpton said in an interview Tuesday.

Comcast received more than 100 proposals, about 80 in the African American category and about 20 in the Hispanic American category, far more than expected, said David Jensen, Comcast vice president for content acquisition.

“What it really showed us is the tremendous pent-up demand . . . for programming shelf space,” from African Americans and Hispanic Americans, Jensen said. “These are two really underserved demographics.”

The company did not disclose a time frame for the networks’ launches to digital-basic customers in the Philadelphia market.

Comcast regularly comes under pressure to expand its cable lineup. Last week, 40 demonstrators descended on its headquarters to demand that it add Al-Jazeera English (AJE).

When Comcast took control of NBCUniversal in a $30 billion deal, it agreed to launch 10 new independently owned and operated networks over eight years, including four majority-owned by African Americans, two majority-owned by Latino Americans, two operated by American Latino programmers, and two that will provide additional independent programming.

The agreements called for Comcast, the nation’s largest cable firm with 22.3 million subscribers, to launch two African American channels and one Hispanic American channel starting this year.

Aspire, led by Magic Johnson, will have family programming and is scheduled to launch by this summer. The channel, based in Atlanta, is a partnership with family-friendly GMC TV. Johnson said in a news release that the new network would appeal to all generations.

Revolt, a music and news channel backed by Combs, also known as Diddy and P. Diddy, and former MTV programming chief Andy Shuon, is expected to launch next year. In its challenge to MTV and BET, Revolt is designed to incorporate the speed of social networking.

Source: Philly.com

Actress Pamela Anderson Ends Lawsuit with Real Estate Agent

Pamela Anderson has ended her war with the real estate agent who took her to court over a $22.5 million claim last year. The real estate agent claimed Pamela Anderson screwed him out of several condo sales, a claim that Pamela Anderson denied.

Real Estate Agent Laurence Hallier filed the lawsuit against the former Baywatch actress last June where he claimed Pamela Anderson agreed to promote the sale of several condominiums in the new Panorama Towers where he claimed she would also make various personal appearances but Laurence Hallier said the sexy actress failed to uphold her end of the bargain.

Laurence Hallier claimed that Pamela Anderson cost him millions in lost sales due to her not keeping to the agreement where the real estate agent agreed to give her a free condo for her services. Pamela never got the condo because of the alleged breach of agreement and in response to this; the sexy actress sued him for $1 million.

Now it looks as if both parties are ready to be civil—they might have come to an agreement where they have settled out of court but neither party is willing to confirm what the agreement is and how much the agreement is worth.

Regis Philbin sells Conn. house for $3 Million

Former Live television host Regis Philbin and his wife, Joy, have sold one of their Connecticut homes in a real estate transaction which could have netted them  millions!

The Greenwich Time reports (http://bit.ly/ye4QCb ) that town legal records show the Colonial home in Greenwich was placed on the market for $3.8 million in July and sold for $3 million in September 2011.

The buyer, Raymond LaChance, told the newspaper that the fact that Philbin is the former legal owner is “kind of neat,” but that did not influence his and his wife’s decision to purchase the house.

The home has nearly 6,000 square feet of space and sits on six acres near a state park. It also includes a pool, a tennis court and a gazebo.

The Philbins own another home less than two miles away and an apartment in Manhattan.

Source: Access Atlanta

 

Vanilla Ice cleared in foreclosure lawsuit

Vanilla Ice can stay in his house… at least for now.

In a foreclosure lawsuit filed this week in Palm Beach County Circuit Court, the homeowners association at the gated Versailles neighborhood in Wellington claimed Robert Van Winkle (his legal name) owed it about $4,000. Why? Because they wanted each homeowner to pay a special assessment to replace some palm trees after Hurricane Wilma destroyed them in 2005. The Vanilla Ice Project star never coughed up the money; hence the suit.

The singer’s lawyers told TMZ that Ice had been “unaware of any outstanding charges,’’ but it’s now resolved. A new season of the DIY Network show starts Jan. 21.

Celebrity Legal Battle launched over Lady Gaga’s manicures

A COURT fight has broken out over who should be pop star Lady Gaga’s manicurist!

In court papers filed in Manhattan Supreme Court, Hair Room Service by Michael Duenas – a hair-and-nail service that makes celebrity house calls – accuses one of its manicurists of having stolen Lady Gaga as a client!

The lawsuit says Aya Fukuda signed on as an independent “nail artist” with the service in July 2010, agreeing to pay a 40 per cent commission and that she would not “appropriate any client”.

The company booked her for several appointments with Lady Gaga until June 2011, when Ms Fukuda’s lawyer told the company she wanted out of her deal, the New York Post reports.

Read more: http://www.news.com.au/entertainment/celebrity/legal-battle-launched-over-lady-gagas-manicures/story-fn9076o9-1226233990137#ixzz1i7VKV49o

Britney Spears Lawsuit: Sued for $141k

Can you believe it costs $303,900 to provide Britney Spears with a full-time 365-day security detail???

TMZ is reporting that her former protectors who claim the pop star’s people screwed them out of half-a-year’s pay, have sued the starlet.

The people who run Britney’s estate are being sued  by Advanced Security Concepts Corporation — claiming Team Spears never paid them more than $140k in fees … after they kicked the bodyguard company to the curb back in 2010.

ASCC claims Team Spears has been unfairly holding a grudge against it ever since one of their former bodyguards, Fernando Flores, filed a lawsuit against Britney last year … accusing her of multiple instances of genital-exposing sexual harassment. Britney has denied the allegations.

But in the lawsuit, ASCC claims Team Spears demanded the company cover Britney’s legal expenses in the case — even though they weren’t obligated to put up the cash.

ASCC claims Britney’s people not only fired them after the stand-off — but they refused to fork over a check for $141,625.00 … the remainder of a 1-year contract which Brit’s camp had previously agreed to pay out whether or not they actually used the security service.

Source: TMZ

Another Broke R&B Singer? R Kelly’s Chicago-area house listed as short sale

The suburban Chicago mansion of Grammy-winning singer R. Kelly is on the market.

A real estate listing shows the 22,000-square-foot mansion in Olympia Fields with a $1.595 million price tag. It’s a short sale, meaning Kelly owes more on the house than it’s worth.

A guard shack sits inside the gates of R. Kelly's mansion in Olympia Fields. (John Smierciak/Chicago Tribune)

Kelly custom-built the 16-room gated mansion in 1997. The house includes eight full bathrooms, four fireplaces, an indoor pool, sauna and theater room. There’s also a private lake.

Over the summer the house was the subject of a $2.9 million foreclosure lawsuit because Kelly reportedly failed to make monthly mortgage payments for more than a year.

Kelly’s spokesman, Allan Mayer, says the singer hasn’t lived in the home for more than a year.

Records also show that the “I Believe I Can Fly” singer has been renting a high-floor unit in the Trump Tower in downtown Chicago.

Another former property of the singer’s also has made news in recent months, with the 11-room, 8,000-square-foot Lakeview mansion that Kelly once owned selling in August for $2.64 million. Kelly had owned that residence from 1994 until selling it in 2002 for $2.25 million.

It was in that house where Kelly had been accused of having made a sex tape with an underage girl.  Kelly denied that he was the man in the tape, and he was acquitted of child pornography charges stemming from that tape in 2008.

Source: Associated Press; Chicago Tribune

NBA Players Seeking Legal Way Out of Chinese Basketball Association Contracts

When players money got funny and there was no end date in sight for the NBA Lockout, players began signing contracts with the the Chinese Basketball Association. Now that things are moving forward, these guys would like to come back. But not so fast…

According to Yahoo! Sports, Denver Nuggets free agents J.R. Smith(notes) and Wilson Chandler(notes) are still pursuing ways to get out of their Chinese Basketball Association contracts but have yet to find a prompt avenue back to the NBA.

Smith and Chandler play for the Zhejiang Chouzhou Golden Bulls and Zhejiang Guangsha Lions, respectively, and sources said those teams could be willing to agree to steep buyouts to let the players return to the NBA. The players would have to return all the salary they’ve made, plus agent fees and an additional $1 million to satisfy owners – but that still won’t assure them they could play in the NBA.

As a member of FIBA, the government-run Chinese Basketball Association would still control the players’ letters of clearance, and sources in China insist the league has no interest in allowing the NBA players to leave before season’s end in March. NBA teams can’t sign free agents without letters of clearance showing the players are free of contract breaches elsewhere in the world.

Read More: http://sports.yahoo.com/nba/news?slug=aw-wojnarowski_nba_free_agent_buzz_120511

Matt Kemp Signs Contract Extension Worth $160 Million!!!

L.A. Dodgers player and Rihanna’s on again off again boyfriend, Matt Kemp just agreed to a new multi-contract worth a whopping $160 million.

The 8-year contract extension will pay him $20 million a year!

The deal is the largest in the franchise’s history.

NBA players reject latest offer; union files ‘disclaimer of interest’

The NBA Players Association announced Monday it had rejected the latest collective bargaining agreement proposal by the league and will file an antitrust suit against the league.

Los Angeles Lakers guard Kobe Bryant arrives for a meeting in New York on Monday. Player representatives from NBA teams met to discuss the league's proposal for a new collective bargaining agreement. Picture: Seth Wenig/The Associated Press

All 30 NBA teams were represented at the players meeting in New York.

The player’s association will file a “disclaimer of interest” with the courts and become a trade association.

Disclaimer of interest (also called a renunciation), is a term that describes an attempt by a person to renounce their legal right to benefit.

The renunciation will pave the way for the players to file an antitrust lawsuit against the league.

Monday’s events will now seriously jeopardize the  entire 2011-12 season. The league has canceled games through mid-December, and it’s likely more cancellations will be forthcoming.

 

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