Pimp C, who spun searing tales of Texas street life into a key role in the rise of Southern hip-hop, was found dead in an upscale hotel on Tuesday. He was 33.
The creators of the hit film "Borat" were sued again on Tuesday, this time by a driving instructor seen in the comedy admonishing the fake Kazakh reporter for yelling insults at other drivers.
Dennis Quaid and his wife sued the makers of heparin Tuesday after their newborn twins were inadvertently given massive doses of the blood thinner at a hospital.
Maggie Rodriguez has been named co-anchor of "The Early Show." She replaces Hannah Storm, who said last week that she plans to leave the CBS breakfastcast.
John Travolta is one of the few men ever to deliver the keynote address at The Hollywood Reporter's annual "Women In Entertainment Power 100" breakfast. The Hairspray star took the stage at the Beverly Hills Hotel yesterday with co-star Queen Latifah. "This has been a very confusing year," Travolta quipped, referring to his gender-bending role as Edna Turnblad. "I got up this morning and thought, 'Which dress should I wear?' Because I'm a woman who believes in the empowerment of women, I wore a suit." More than 600 industry women attended the event. ABC prez Anne Sweeney topped the power list, after being in the number two spot last year.
Cuts at Island Def Jam are underway. Among the casualties: Sarah "Ultragrrl" Lewittin's vanity label, Stolen Transmission, and A&R execs Paul Pontius and Rob Stevenson, who were responsible for signing some of the label's most successful rock acts, including Fall Out Boy and The Killers. A dozen or so people, representing approximately 6 percent of the label's staff, were let go, including "anyone in A & R that doesn't have an urban act," said one insider.
Insider industry pundit Bob Lefsetz announced, via an anonymous tip, that Led Zeppelin would make a U.S. appearance on the stage at the Bonnaroo Music and Arts Festival, held each June in Manchester Tennessee. This would follow the band's much anticipated gig in London next week (December 10), when they'll reunite to pay tribute to the late Ahmet Ertegun, the legendary executive who first signed the band to Atlantic Records in 1968. But the band's official U.S. rep tells Hollywood Insider, "There is no truth to that story." And another Zep source says, "nothing has been decided beyond the London show," and that Robert Plant, Jimmy Page and John Paul Jones (with Jason Bonham on drums) are, in essence, going to feel out the performance and go from there.
