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Tip says not letting 50 perform at Queens '40 Day' party is 'a shot to morale.' By Shaheem Reid, with additional reporting by Sway Calloway Sway and Q-Tip Photo: MTV News NEW YORK — Q-Tip has been a poignant voice in the hip-hop community for decades now. Lately, the outspoken Tip has several issues with New York Mayor Michael Bloomberg (such as his position on homelessness and his quality-of-life plan) and has been speaking out on Twitter, telling his fellow New Yorkers not to re-elect the mayor to a third term. The Queens legend said he was disappointed that Bloomberg discouraged 50 Cent from performing at his own "40 Day" über-block party this Sunday in Queens. "[Bloomberg is] not right for the spirit of the city," Tip told Sway earlier this week. "50 Cent is a success story we all should applaud. However you feel about him, you can't deny him. He had something going on in his old neighborhood — our old neighborhood, beca

The arbitrator in the case of sushi-loving Jeremy Piven versus the Broadway producers of Speed-the-Plow ruled today that the producers could not prove their breach of contract suit against the star. But they still think they were right. Piven pulled out of the production back in December, saying that 20 years of eating fish twice a day had elevated the level of mercury so high in his body that he couldn't function. His departure sent ticket sales into a spiral, even after he was replaced by William H. Macy. The show closed in February, but still made back its investment. Now the producers of the show have no legal or financial recourse against Piven and are still pissed. Their statement says. While we respect the decision, we strongly disagree with it.  We remain eternally grateful to everyone who helped make the wonderful production of Speed- The-Plow possible, especially the artists who created it, and the many who had to deal with very difficult and trying circumstances.

'What is this, the 10th time?' frontwoman says of renewed pregnancy talk. By James Montgomery Paramore's Haley Williams Photo: Jeff Kravitz/ FilmMagic It's basically become an annual tradition at this point: Some blog publishes a rumor that Paramore frontwoman Hayley Williams is pregnant and that said pregnancy will somehow lead to the implosion of her band. Last year, there were the whispers that Williams was having a baby and, as a result, Paramore were calling it quits. Things got so out-of-hand that Williams was forced to deny the rumors on Paramore's official site, writing a lengthy post that included the sentence "For the record, my Eggo is not preggo." Now, with a new record and a headlining tour on the horizon, those rumors are back again. On Wednesday, a blog called Rock On: Altitude — which promotes a mobile media channel of the same name — published a piece with the headline "Is Hayley Williams of Paramore Pregnant"

Singer offered to donate $25,000 to charity if TMZ found photo from 2001, but Smoking Gun apparently beat them to the punch. By Joel Hanek John Mayer Photo: Mat Szwajkos/ Getty Images It's not often that you hear about celebrities getting playful with their mug shots, but it's just been that kind of week. John Mayer 's mug shot from 2001 has become the subject of a rather bizarre media tussle. It all started earlier this week, when Fall Out Boy singer Patrick Stump was arrested in Los Angeles for driving without a valid license, and his mug shot made the rounds. In apparent commiseration, John Mayer took to Twitter and revealed that back in 2001 he was arrested for the same offense as Stump, noting that "It's the lamest answer to the question 'why you in here?' " He then took it a step further by tweeting: "Challenge: if Harvey Levin at TMZ can produce my mug shot, I will donate 25k to the charity of his choice." TMZ then sai

'Some people wanna be a lyricist. Me, I wanna be real,' Jeezy says of his potential placement on our list of 2009 Hottest MCs in the Game. By Shaheem Reid Young Jeezy Photo: CTE The Snowman can bring the heat in any weather. Young Jeezy has been consistently showing his pull with the fans on Young Money Presents: The America's Most Wanted Music Festival , keeping spectators on their feet throughout his set with not just his own music, but by showing off with fellow celebrities. LeBron James, Carmelo Anthony, E-40 and others have come out onstage to show love to Jeezy throughout his visits to different states. The Recession was one of the best-received albums of 2008 ... heck, "My President" alone makes the LP a must-have. The Atlanta king is street credible, has swag — excuse us, Mr. Jeezy, savoir faire — for days, but is it enough to get him on the 2009 Hottest MCs list? If he does make it,! should he be top five? So much to debate. (To see w

Remember when Mischa Barton was involuntarily committed this past July? Well, we finally found out why. It's because her teeth hurt. That's probably the worst rehab excuse we've ever heard. Why not just go with "exhaustion?" We all know that "exhaustion" really means that you're partying too hard (see pic above, taken on June 26 as she exited a London club at 3:30am three weeks before her commitment), but don't want to admit it. Instead, you go with the Molar Defense and try to play us as a bunch of patsies. Even Britney was upfront about going bonkers. In this case, the lie is worse than what she's trying to cover up. Here's what Mischa told Time Out New York in her first Q&A since the hospital . I went through a terrible surgery-a wisdom tooth surgery, all four removed. It was a nightmare. I've never had surgery before-it all went wrong and I had to have a second surgery and it almost delayed shooting because it was a nigh

There is a simple formula to determine how successful the stars of hit television shows go on to become: how long it takes before the reunion special. Seinfeld held out for 11 years, how long did everyone else last? The assumption when any television show hit ends its run is that the stars will go on to fame and fortune and other projects. Sometimes that happens and we never hear from them again (see Friends and inexplicably Full House ) but when it doesn't, they all rush back to familiar territory to jump start their careers. Here's are scale from the worst to best. Dynasty Final Episode : May 1989 Breakout Stars : Heather Locklear , Emma Samms (just kidding) Reunion : Dynasty: The Reunion aired in August 1991. The came back for another go-round Dynasty Reunion: Catfights and Caviar in 2006. Cause : There were some cliffhanger plotlines to tie up, and really, nobody was doing anything else. Also, shoulder pads were about to go out of style, so they had to do it to sav

Before she takes the stage September 13, we remember B's other big VMA appearances. By Jocelyn Vena Jay-Z and Beyonce perform at the 2003 VMAs Photo: KMazur/WireImage Beyoncé is not only going head to head with Lady Gaga for Video Music Awards nominations this year; the dueling divas are also both hitting the stage to perform at the September 13 show. Beyoncé — who will sing her song "Sweet Dreams" at the live awards show — will add the glitz and glamour she's always brought to the VMA stage over the years, whether she was performing, presenting or taking home a Moonman. And the other ladies performing this year, like Gaga, Taylor Swift and Pink, can probably take a few cues from B. Beyonce's Best VMA Moments She definitely stepped it up a notch in 2003, when she took the stage with Bun B and now-husband Jay-Z for the Bollywood-inspired mash-up performance of her hits "Baby Boy" and "Crazy in Love." In 2006, sh

During Bucharest concert, Madonna spoke out against discrimination. By Chris Harris Madonna performs in Bucharest on Wednesday Photo: Daniel Mihailescu/ Getty Images More than 60,000 people packed into a park in Bucharest, Romania, on Wednesday to see Madonna perform. The Material Girl, fresh from announcing the details of her upcoming greatest-hits set , had the crowd eating out of her palm — that is, until she denounced the pandemic discrimination of Gypsies. Then, the crowd turned on her. According to The Associated Press, in the middle of her two-hour set, following a stage performance that including Gypsy musicians and performers, Madonna paused for a moment for a speech against discrimination. Though she eventually spoke about all forms of discrimination, she began by discussing the treatment of Gypsies (also known as Roma or Romanies), a nomadic people with roots in the Indian subcontinent. Madonna Takes 'Sticky & Sweet' To Romania &qu