May 8, 2007 at 02:43:00 PM | more stories by this author
Verizon pulls tour sponsorship; singer launches clothing line; Hagar sells tequila; Michael pleads guilty; Lennox's family home trashed.
Akon video fallout continues
Jeez, you dry hump a 15-year-girl on stage and people just freak out. The fallout from Akon's simulated aggressive sex with a teenage girl--on stage at a concert in Trinidad and caught on video--continued this week. Verizon Wireless, the sponsor of Gwen Stefani's Sweet Escape tour, has abruptly pulled out of the tour and has also removed Akon ringtones and music from its stores and handsets. The Verizon Wireless V Cast TV spots featuring Akon have also been canned.
Stefani's manager Jim Guerinot told E! Online that Akon has in no way re-created the sex simulation on the Stefani tour. "Akon has been a perfect gentleman on this tour," he said. "His show has at best been a PG show. Children of all ages have been attending. We have had no complaints--nothing but satisfied people. And I would say that we're shocked that Verizon would drop Gwen Stefani as part of this whole debate."
Lily Allen launches fashion line
Lily Allen is set to launch her own line of clothing through the New Look retail chain in the UK. The ska-pop singer has fashioned the line after her own style, which often features dresses and sneakers. The items will start at $10. "You know how I feel about fashion: it's for everyone, not just a load of super-skinny models," Allen said in a statement. "The best thing about dresses is the fact that they hide a lot of things you don't want exposed and flatter the best bits. My bum and legs are revolting, which is why I wear dresses all the time."
Sammy Hagar swimming in money
He carried the torch for Van Halen at the band's induction into the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame, and now Sammy Hagar is swimming in dough. The former Van Halen frontman is selling an 80 percent interest in his Cabo Wabo Tequila to Gruppo Campari, the world's seventh-largest spirits company, for $80 million, the parties said yesterday. Hagar created Cabo Wabo Tequila to serve patrons at his Cabo Wabo Cantina in Cabo San Lucas, Mexico. "I'm jumping up, I'm excited,'' Hagar told the San Francisco Chronicle.
George Michael pleads guilty
George Michael has pleaded guilty to driving while unfit due to drug consumption following a traffic incident in north London last October. The 43-year-old singer appeared at Brent Magistrates' Court today and admitted the offense. The singer--real name George Panayiotou--was arrested in the Cricklewood section of London after motorists reported a car obstructing the road at a traffic light.
"I did something very stupid and I am very ashamed since doing it," Michael said in court, according to The Sun. "I'm not used to defending myself in a position where I am ashamed of something. I really have been very distressed by this whole thing. I am perfectly aware that I did something very wrong and got into my car when I was unfit to drive. I was not in my normal physical state and I'm perfectly prepared to accept the correct punishment for that and I would have accepted it a long time ago. It was fairly predictable considering how much work I had done that week." Sentencing was adjourned until May 30.
Annie Lennox's family home trashed
Note to teens: Don't advertise your party at your parents' house on the Internet. Lola Lennox, the 16-year-old daughter of Annie Lennox, fell victim to Internet-fed "gatecrashing," whereby people find out about parties on sites like MySpace and show up in mobs. Lennox invited a handful of friends to her family home as her father, film producer Uri Fruchtman, was out of town. Fruchtman and Annie Lennox split in 2000, but Fruchtman still lives in the $5.5 million family home.
Details of the party circulated on MySpace and more than a hundred people showed up, completely destroying the house. Graffitied walls, broken furniture, ripped curtains and urine-soaked carpets were just some of the carnage facing the homeowners, reported the Daily Mail. Police were eventually called to the home and the revelers dispersed.










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