September 12, 2005

Law & Disorder

TYSON QUESTIONED FOR ASSAULT IN ITALY: Woman claims boxer hit her after refusing sexual advances. 

Here we go again. Former heavyweight boxing champ Mike Tyson was questioned by police in Italy after a woman claimed he assaulted her when she refused his offers of cocaine and sexual intercourse. Several U.K. papers report that 33-year-old Florence Botoli of Nice, France says she was punched and shoved by the retired fighter after turning down his offer to share his cocaine at Billionaire's nightclub in Porto Cervo in Sardinia, a resort popular with the rich and famous. Botoli claimed the incident occurred after she had been "grabbed" by Tyson when she was dancing.
"There was a white powder on a tray; it was cocaine. Tyson took some, a lot, and then started hitting me,” she said in her statement to police. "He tried to force my head down into the powder but I don't do drugs.” She added: "He said he wanted to have sex with me. But when I said 'no' and didn't take the drugs, he went mad. "He punched me and then threw me to the floor. It left me stunned. Tyson kept shouting at me until his bodyguard told him to calm down and stop because he was going over the top." 
Police reportedly questioned Iron Mike for several hours aboard his chartered 40 foot yacht, Summer Wind, following a night at a disco on the island of Panarea, just off the coast of Sicily. A police spokesman said: "He was more than happy to talk to police and invited the officers on board, saying he was a 'good boy' and not a 'killer.’ At this stage we cannot say anything else because an official file on the case has been opened by the investigating magistrate. She will read the file supplied to her by the police and decide if there is enough evidence for the case to continue." 
In 1992, Tyson was convicted of raping Desiree Washington, a contestant in the Miss Black America beauty pageant in Indianapolis. 
In other Tyson-in-Italy news, the one-time champ paid a $300 fine after being ticketed for jet-skiing too close to the Marina Grande beach on the island of Capri. Tyson admitted to the infraction and offered an apology, along with the three grand.



Oh Shat......

LIL’ MO HAS LAWSUIT READY FOR JA RULE: Singer seeks unpaid royalties from 2001 hit record.

Lil’ Mo says she’s owed some money for singing on Ja Rule’s 2001 hit “Put It On Me” and intends to take the rapper and his label to court to get it. According to AllHipHop.com, the R&B singer wants $15 million from Rule, Murder Inc. and Def Jam in unpaid royalties for her part on the track. Mo claims she owned 10 percent of the song’s publishing. "That [song] helped boost his career," she told Allhiphop.com. "That was a huge song. I helped make him an icon - so they have to pay." The singer says she has hired an attorney to help retrieve her money "I had to search for the right lawyer that would take the case so they wouldn't have any ties to Murder Inc. or Def Jam or anything to do with that song," she told the web site. "I told the lawyer 'it's not about the money, it's about the principle.' Technically, off of that I could have retired or I could have gotten a crazy publishing deal.” "This is beyond personal, this is business," she continued. "This is my livelihood as an artist. We don't make money until the label makes money so as a songwriter that was a part of my career that I was supposed to receive a substantial amount of money." According to the web site, Mo gave the heads up by sending all parties involved letters of intent to sue, but the correspondence went unanswered.
“They never took any of my calls,” Lil’ Mo said. “I wasn't even going to do that, but I believe in giving people that common courtesy like 'this is what is going down.'"




PAULA ABDUL CLEARED: Fox’s ‘probe’ turns up zero evidence of foul play with Corey Clark.

“American Idol” judge Paula Abdul has been probed and cleared by the Fox television network investigating claims of improper conduct from ousted 2003 contestant, Corey Clark. “I'm grateful this ordeal is over and I'm so looking forward to getting back to the job I love,” Abdul said in a statement. “Once again, I thank my fans from throughout the world for their undying love and support.” Clark, 25, first made claims in May that he and Abdul carried on a sexual relationship, and that she had helped him to pick out the right songs, wardrobe and other matters related to the competition, which goes against the guidelines of the show. Fox TV ended a formal investigation of Clark’s allegations and has found no evidence to support any of Clark’s allegations, the network announced Friday. Fox said in its statement that Abdul, 43, admitted to Clark’s allegation of receiving phone calls from the former Laker Girl while he was a contestant, but she denied the conversations were related to her giving assistance. Abdul's and Clark's accounts of the phone calls "differ greatly and no evidence was uncovered to resolve the conflicts in their accounts," Fox said. The network's probe was conducted by lawyers at independent firms, required almost 600 hours of work and spanned more than 3 1/2 months.



BLACK EYED PEA TO LAUNCH KIDDIE ART SCHOOL: Taboo teams with councilman for non-profit dance program.

Jamie Gomez spent much of his youth perfecting his dance moves at the local community center in his hometown of Rosemead, CA. Although kids teased him for being Latino and “dancing black,” the kid kept on pop-lockin’ and break dancing, which he still draws upon today as Taboo of the “hip pop” group Black Eyed Peas. In an effort to pass his love of the arts to today’s youngsters, Taboo has teamed with Rosemead Councilman John Tran to launch a nonprofit program that will school Rosemead children on the art of break dancing, martial arts and in-house music production. The Tab Magnetic School of Art is currently in the process of gaining non-profit status. To start out, the program will likely be housed inside the Rosemead Community Center, where Taboo used to hang and dance “Every time I do a show, I hear people yelling ‘Rosemead, Rosemead,’” the 30-year-old told the San Gabriel Valley Tribune. “I was never loved in Rosemead. I was an outcast with Rosemead, but now, wow, people look at me and they say ‘He did it, why can't I?’”



JAMESON RESPONDS TO TYSON RUMORS: Porn star says boxer would ‘definitely be an amazing adult performer.’

*Porn diva Jenna Jameson has launched a new technologically-enhanced web site that features her first comments about new rumors suggesting Mike Tyson may soon be one of her co-stars. 
"A couple of people from my office have talked with Mr. Tyson recently about acting in an adult movie," she says. “When word got around the ClubJenna studio, several of the girls said they thought they'd like to do some scenes with him. Mike is a friend of ours and I have a great photo of us together. He would definitely be an amazing adult performer. If he appeared with the ClubJenna Girls, I think the movie could be knock out!" 



KIMORA LEE PLEADS GUILTY, GETS PROBATION: Designer’s police chase leads to intervention program.

Fashion designer Kimora Lee Simmons will have all of her charges from a July 2004 police chase dropped if she successfully completes a pre-trial intervention program in New York for non-violent first offenders. Simmons, the wife of Def Jam co-founder Russell Simmons, pleaded guilty Tuesday in Superior Court to careless driving and agreed to serve six months of probation. At the time of her arrest, authorities said she drove erratically and ignored a police car’s flashing lights and wailing siren for several miles. Once pulled over, police discovered a small amount of weed in the car. The former model was arrested and charged with eluding a police officer, possessing marijuana (under 50 grams), careless driving, operating a vehicle while possessing a controlled substance, tail-gating and having a taillight out. Bergen County prosecutors, however, have agreed to drop all charges once her intervention program is completed. "This is certainly an aberration, a one-time mistake of judgment," Assistant Prosecutor Wayne Mello said. "It's precisely the circumstance that pre-trial intervention was created for." Her lawyer, Brian Neary, called the case "an unfortunate incident." "Kimora and her family are stellar citizens of Saddle River," he said. "They are glad this is behind them."