Tupac 'Shooter' Claims Are A 'Flat-Out Lie'

Jimmy 'Henchman' Rosemond's lawyer fires back at Dexter Isaac's charges that he was paid by the industry exec to shoot 'Pac in 1994.
By Rob Markman


Tupac
Photo: Chi Modu

Instead of celebration, what would have been Tupac's 40th birthday has been marred by controversy as new allegations emerge about the November 1994 Quad Studios robbery and shooting of the rapper.

While fans celebrated 'Pac's life and legacy on Thursday (June 16), remembering the fallen icon with two trending topics on Twitter (#tupac and THUG LIFE), many of them were also debating the contents of a letter written by Dexter Isaac and posted to AllHipHop.com on Wednesday. In a note to the site, Isaac claimed to be the triggerman in the now-infamous robbery that left Shakur shot five times, two years before he was killed in a still-unsolved murder.

Moreover, Isaac (who is serving a life sentence for murder, robbery, fraud and witness intimidation), now charges that it was 'Pac's former associate, Jimmy "Henchman" Rosemond, who set the whole thing up, paying him $2,500 to do the job.

Rosemond's lawyer, Jeffrey Lichtman, fired back, refuting Isaac's story. "It's a flat-out lie," he told the New York Daily News. "Dexter Isaac is not claiming this 17 years later to clear his conscience. He's doing it because he's told anybody who will listen he doesn't want to die in prison. He has kids and wants to work off his sentence. He can't be trusted."

"I want to apologize to his family [Tupac Shakur] and for the mistake I did for that sucker [Jimmy Henchman]," Isaac told AllHipHop.com from prison. "I am trying to clean it up to give [Tupac's and Biggie's] mothers some closure."

Henchman and his defense team, however, are not buying it. On May 17, news broke that federal authorities issued an arrest warrant for Jimmy Henchman in connection with a drug case. Rosemond, who as head of Czar Entertainment has had ties to numerous rappers, believes that the government is using incarcerated informants to build a case against him. He attacked Isaac's credibility in a statement first issued to XXLMag.com. "If the government is relying on informants like Winston 'Winnie' Harris, a convicted drug dealer and Jamaican deportee, who came to me and motioned via hand signal that he was forced to wear a wire and begged me to skip town, or Dexter Isaac, who is serving life in prison plus 30 years, then I'm sure I will not be offered a fair trial."

The late Tupac's onetime protégé and a member of the rap group the Outlawz, E.D.I. Mean, told MTV News he wasn't surprised by Isaac's confession and pointed out that 'Pac himself also fingered Rosemond in his fiery 1996 song "Against All Odds." "I just feel like it's verification for what 'Pac said, because a lot of people felt when 'Pac was saying what he was saying on Makaveli that he was out of line for saying that."

In the lyric E.D. referred to, 'Pac implies that Henchman set him up in '94: "And did I mention, promise to pay back Jimmy Henchman in due time?/ I know you bitch n---as is listenin', the world is mine/ Set me up, wet me up, n---as stuck me up/ Heard the guns bust, but you tricks never shut me up."

Check back with MTV News for updates as this story develops.

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Source: http://www.mtv.com/news/articles/1665898/tupac-shakur-shooting-jimmy-henchman.jhtml

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Ashley Tisdale: Gym Junkie

She?s always consistent with her workouts, and Ashley Tisdale was spotted leaving Equinox Gym in Los Angeles, CA on Wednesday afternoon (June 15).

The ?High School Musical? hottie looked cute in workout wear as she made her way to her vehicle with a cold beverage in hand.

Just before her sweat session, Ms Tisdale took to Twitter and wrote, ?Gym then meetings!!! Wow it?s beautiful today :)?

In other news, Ashley will join her ?Phineas & Ferb? cast mates in a Q&A on July 9th during the TimesTalks event in New York City.

Source: http://celebrity-gossip.net/ashley-tisdale/ashley-tisdale-514653

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Britney Spears Hosts As Ke$ha, Jennifer Lopez, More Bring Wango Tango To L.A.

Pitbull, Matthew Morrison, Selena Gomez, Far East Movement and others filled the Staples Center on Saturday night.
By Matt Elias


Britney Spears hosts KIIS FM's Wango Tango 2011 on Saturday
Photo: Kevin Winter/ Getty Images

LOS ANGELESBritney Spears makes headlines at concerts, even when she's not performing. That's probably why Los Angeles radio station KIIS FM tapped the pop princess to guest-host their annual Wango Tango music festival along with Ryan Seacrest on Saturday night at the Staples Center.

The bill was a balance of pop and hip-hop, with acts like Ke$ha, Jennifer Lopez, Pitbull, Ne-Yo, Selena Gomez, "Glee" 's Matthew Morrison, Lupe Fiasco, T-Pain, Jason Derülo, Far East Movement, New Boyz, Cobra Starship and newcomer Cody Simpson.

Backstage, the media room went into a frenzy when Spears arrived in a red, geometric-print dress and a beaming smile. Owning her "femme fatale" moniker, Spears worked the carpet for a few moments while all of the cameras in the room were pointing at her. It was the second red carpet appearance by Brit this week, after her Beverly Hills benefit on Wednesday night for the St. Bernard Project.

Check out photos from Wango Tango 2011.

Spears' Femme Fatale collaborator Ke$ha, who was returning to the festival for the second time, said that an onstage collab between to the two would have to require one thing.

"That would have to include me finding her and attacking her," Ke$ha told MTV News, with the best intentions. "I'm planning on pouncing her."

While that never happened, at least not onstage, Ke$ha delivered on her promise of a set heavy on her glitter gun. And she assured us she knew the dos and don'ts of handling that kind of firepower.

"Do not spray yourself in the face with it," she said. "Do spray everybody else with it. That's pretty much it."

While Joe Jonas wasn't performing at the show, he took a break from recording his solo debut to catch up with almost everyone backstage.

"I didn't see Britney backstage, just said 'hello' to a couple of my friends," Jonas said. "Backstage is always [full of] people, especially having it at the Staples Center this time, I think compared to all the way out in the desert, it changes everything."

Also happy to have Wango Tango in Los Angeles were locals Far East Movement.

"Man, we grew up literally a few blocks away from here, and you can only imagine basketball games being played here," Kev Nish said. "So to come in here as performers, to be able to do our songs in this arena is a little crazy. We used to pass out CDs a few blocks [away], so we're very thankful. And the lineup is nuts, so we're extremely excited to be a part of this lineup."

Were you at Wango Tango? Share your experience in the comments below!

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Source: http://www.mtv.com/news/articles/1663909/wango-tango-britney-spears-kesha.jhtml

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'Spider-Man: Turn Off The Dark': The Reviews Are In!

Despite some positive reviews, epically troubled musical remains as divisive as ever.
By Eric Ditzian


Spider-Man: Turn Off the Dark
Photo: Don Emmert/ AFP

We're as surprised as anyone that the folks behind have been able to transform their epically troubled musical into a satisfying piece of Broadway entertainment. In January, as news of the show's creative and safety issues turned the then $65 million production into one of the Great White Way's most spectacular disasters, we admitted that while there were some enjoyable aspects, you were better off popping in a DVD of a Tobey Maguire "Spider-Man" flick than trekking to New York to see the musical.

What a difference a few months — and a new creative team — makes. Out went Julie Taymor, in came writers like comics vet Roberto Aguirre-Sacasa, and the results are just what the web-slinging wonderboy needed. We're not the only ones who feel that way. As "Turn Off the Dark" officially left its preview phase behind and opened on Tuesday, reviews have been pouring in, and many have been positive. Not all, mind you — not even close.

Unsurprisingly, "Spider-Man: Turn Off the Dark" remains as divisive as ever. Here's what the critics have to say.

The Overall Changes "[It] has deteriorated from mindblowingly misbegotten carnival-of-the-damned to merely embarrassing dud. Awash in a garbage-gyre of expository dialogue pumped in by script doctor/comic-book vet Roberto Aguirre-Sacasa, its lavish stage pictures turned to colloidal mush by director Philip William McKinley and choreographer Chase Brock, Spidey 2.0 is indeed leaner and more linear, and its story has been brutally clarified: It's now all too clear how very, very little was there in the first place. Spider-Man violates the first rule of pop fantasy: Never lose the distinction between beautiful simplicity and rank simplemindedness." — Scott Brown, New York

The New Music "Composer/lyricists Bono and the Edge have added one campy number, Goblin's 'A Freak Like Me,' but the most memorable songs offer the same emotional and melodic sweep that distinguishes their work in U2. It's right after one such tune, the soaring ballad 'Rise Above,' that Spider-Man first appears. As distinctly Edge-like guitars chime, dancers costumed as the superhero leap about like giddy children discovering a new trick. At such moments, Spider-Man doesn't need technology or gadgetry to take flight." — Elysa Gardner, USA Today

The Performances "In the title role Reeve Carney is an appropriately nonthreatening crush object for tweens, an appealingly agitated Everydweeb with great cheekbones and a sanitized, lite version of a concert rocker's voice. He is well paired with the wryly sincere Jennifer Damiano ('Next to Normal') as Mary Jane Watson, Peter's girlfriend. Ms. Carpio's Arachne (now a beneficent fairy godmother rather than an erotically troubling dream spider) provides the most arresting vocal moments with her ululating nasality. Michael Mulheren is suitably blustery and fatuous as the pandering newspaper editor J. Jonah Jameson. And Patrick Page, as the megalomaniacal scientist who becomes the evil mutant called the Green Goblin, provides the one reason for adults unaccompanied by minors to see the show." —Ben Brantley, The New York Times

The Action "[T]here are plenty of breathtaking moments, beginning with the opening scene in which Peter gives a class presentation on the myth of the spider goddess Arachne, played by T.V. Carpio in a role that was reduced by at least half in the new production. As Peter narrates the story of Arachne's legendary weaving skills, six actresses hang across the stage on massive gold ribbon swings, swaying up and downstage as horizontal ribbons fall, creating a striking human loom. During the climactic fight scene atop the Chrysler Building, the set is built from a roof's-eye perspective, with a hypnotic view straight down the skyscraper's side to the cab-lined street far below." — Evie Nagy, Rolling Stone

The Final Word " 'Spider-Man' threatened to go down in history as one of Broadway's biggest flops. While it probably won't become one of the street's greatest smashes, it's now a fun family show that will entertain fans of both superheroes and showstoppers. Was it worth the wait? For this combination fanboy and show queen, definitely." — David Sheward, Back Stage

For breaking news and previews of the latest comic book movies — updated around the clock — visit SplashPage.MTV.com.

Source: http://www.mtv.com/news/articles/1665800/spider-man-turn-off-the-dark-reviews.jhtml

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Kelsey Grammer & Kayte Walsh "Can't Wait" to Start a Family

Kelsey Grammer & Kayte Walsh "Can't Wait" to Start a Family

Despite the family drama that Kelsey Grammer is currently dealing with, the actor and new wife Kayte Walsh are looking forward to having kids of their own.

"(We) can't wait," Walsh, 29, told Us Weekly at Sunday's Tony Awards about becoming a parent with Grammer, 56.

Sadly, Walsh miscarried a baby in September before they were married and shortly after Grammer filed for divorce from Real Housewives of Beverly Hills star Camille Grammer. But Walsh says that seeing her husband with his four children only makes her want a baby with him even more.

"He's such a good father. I've never known a man like him," Walsh says of her man. "He's just so full of love and he's wonderful. You couldn't ask for more."

Unfortunately Kelsey's two kids with Camille, 9-year-old daughter Mason and 6-year-old son Jude, are currently caught in the middle of their parents' custody battle. Both parents are fighting for primary custody, but Kelsey says he's only trying to do what's best for the children.

"I made a conscious decision that I wouldn't be at least playing on my personal life in front of the cameras -- that's just disrespectful, I think, for the whole situation, (and) for Kayte as well," he told reporters. "It's very hard at this point. But I'm not going to say much about that. I'm going to do my best to make sure my kids are always OK."

Source: http://www.ivillage.com/kelsey-grammer-kayte-walsh-cant-wait-start-family/1-a-357712

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'Game of Thrones' Star Sean Bean Stabbed in Bar Brawl

'Game of Thrones' Star Sean Bean Stabbed in Bar Brawl

Sean Bean frequently plays strong men on screen, and it appears he's a tough guy in real life as well. How tough? The Lord of the Rings and Game of Thrones star was stabbed outside a bar in London on Sunday night -- and promptly went back inside the pub to order another drink.

According to U.K. newspaper the Daily Mail, the 52-year-old actor was smoking a cigarette outside the Hill Bar and Brasserie with April Summers, a 22-year-old model for the Italian edition of Playboy, when a man walked by and made a lewd comment about Summers. Much as his Game of Thrones alter-ego Ned Stark might have done, Bean defended the lady's honor by confronting the passerby. The altercation stopped there. But later in the night, when Bean went outside for another cigarette, the unnamed man returned and attacked the actor, reportedly punching him in the face and stabbing him in the arm with what is believed to be broken glass.

"Sean is a regular here and we've never had any problems before," a member of the bar's wait staff who was present at the time of the incident told the Daily Mail. "He was with a very attractive woman, and an incident occurred outside the bar."

Here's where the story gets really interesting. After the attack, police were called -- but instead of going to the hospital, Bean walked back into the bar and ordered another round. "(Sean) came in with a cut on his arm and a bruise on his eyebrow," says the bar's witness. "We saw to his injuries with the first aid kit. He seemed OK and wanted to have another drink."

It is not known whether Summers (real name Nadia Foster) and Bean -- who divorced his fourth wife in 2010 -- are dating. Of the incident Summer would only tell The Daily Mail that it was "a private matter." Bean, meanwhile, has had no comment about the altercation. Guess that's why they call it the "strong, silent type."

Source: http://www.ivillage.com/game-thrones-star-sean-bean-stabbed-bar-brawl/1-a-357827

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