SOURCE:TMZ.COM

Kobe and Vanessa Bryant launched their reconciliation tour last night by hitting up the Warner Bros. Golden Globes after-party together … just a few days after Vanessa called off the split.

The on-again, off-again, on-again couple announced last week they were pulling the plug on their divorce, which seemed like a foregone conclusion after they were seen together at the 12-12-12 concert and on New Year’s Eve.

Rebounding has always been a strength of Kobe’s game.

SOURCE: EURWEB.COM

*Martin Lawrence and Kelsey Grammer are considering pairing up to star in and produce a multi-camera comedy together for Lionsgate TV and its subsidiary Debmar-Mercury, reports Deadline.com.

The idea reportedly started with a meeting right before Thanksgiving between Grammer, Lawrence and Lionsgate where the two actors showed great chemistry.
But Grammer’s financial settlement with recently divorced wife Camille wasn’t yet finalized and he ordered everybody not to discuss the project until it was. (According to Deadline, the concern was that Camille might try to lay claim to the project. She reportedly owned half of Grammnet Productions with its television shows including “Girlfriends,” “Medium,” and “The Game” and worked as a creator, writer, and executive producer within the production company.)

That financial settlement finalized right before Christmas and now the project is on a fast track. In the past few weeks, the studio has quietly sent out feelers to writers. In coming weeks, the studio will start meeting with potential creators/showrunners to pin down a concept for the buddy series which sources say may have an “odd couple” feel.

The comedy would reportedly follow the production model of Charlie Sheen’s “Anger Management,” also produced by Lionsgate TV and distributed by Debmar-Mercury. Most recently, Anger Management following an original 10-episode run was given a back-90 pickup by FX and has been sold to the Fox stations.

The company first introduced that model with Tyler Perry’s “House Of Payne” followed by Perry’s “Meet The Browns” and Ice Cube’s “Are We There Yet?” — all on TBS. The trio received large back orders by the network. Additionally under the 10-90 model, Debmar-Mercury has been developing a family sitcom starring George Lopez.

The series would mark Grammer’s return to his Cheers/Frasier sitcom roots and his 20-year stint playing psychiatrist Frasier Crane, a role which earned him four Emmy Awards. It also re-teams him with Lionsgate which produced his drama series “Boss” that recently ended its run on Starz after two seasons.

Meanwhile Debmar-Mercury had been mulling a potential 10-90 comedy vehicle for Lawrence, who toplined his eponymous sitcom on Fox for 5 years. Lawrence segued to movies following the success of the 1995 “Bad Boys” but tested the TV waters last season with a CBS deal that yielded a comedy pilot.

SOURCE: EURWEB.COM

*Michael Strahan just may be the MVP of syndicated talk shows.

“Live! With Kelly and Michael” skyrocketed to a 2.8 rating in total households, edging out “Dr. Phil” for the first time this season.

That means about 3.6 million people viewed “Live!” during the week of Dec. 16 to Dec. 23, while 3.5 million watched “Dr. Phil,” which had been No. 1 among talk shows since the season began 13 weeks ago.

According to national syndicated ratings released Friday, “Live!” also bested “Dr. Phil” in the key 25 to 54 year old female demographic. “Live!” had a 1.6 rating compared to a 1.4 for “Dr. Phil” and “Ellen.”

“Live!’s” big pre-Christmas rush was an 8 percent improvement over the prior week, and tied the Disney-distributed show’s highest rating since early September when Michael Strahan was announced as Kelly Ripa’s new co-host, replacing Regis Philbin.

SOURCE: TMZ.COM

George Clinton‘s ex lawyers gotta have the funk, and a judge just gave it to ‘em — forcing the music legend to hand over four classic recordings to pay off the million bucks he owes the law firm … TMZ has learned.

According to court docs, Hendricks & Lewis won a $1.5 million judgment against Clinton back in 2010, but was only able to collect $340,000 — so a Federal Judge just hit GC where it hurts … his music.

In the docs, the judge grants H&L the copyrights for the following Funkadelic jams:

- “Hardcore Jollies”
- “The Electric Spanking of War Babies”
- “Uncle Jam Wants You”
- “One Nation Under A Groove”

According to the ruling, H&L can sell or use the music however it wants — with all money going toward paying back the original judgment.

Once that’s paid off, the copyrights go back to Clinton … who has filed a motion to reverse the decision. No ruling on that yet.

Hey, at least they didn’t take “Atomic Dog.”

SOURCE:THEYBF.COM

When NBC’s “The Voice” returns to television on March 25, veteran judges Adam Levine and Blake Shelton will be joined be Shakira and R&B superstar Usher.  Christina Aguilera and Cee-Lo will be taking a leave for a while to work on their albums.

For fans who are wondering how the crooner’s suave style will translate on camera, he says,

“My style is more military than anything because I’m all about the preparation. My style is to make them understand the seriousness of the craft and that they have the very best opportunity to be the greatest — or the worst — depending on how you take it.”

And Usher’s new co-workers are thrilled to have him on board because he’s already proved that he has what it takes to pic out talent (e.g. Justin Bieber) Adam Levine said,

“As much as I hate to say this about another coach in the beginning, Usher has done what this show has yet to do – launch a superstar and that’s our goal. That’s something we want to do as an institution.”

SOURCE: EURWEB.COM

*Denzel Washington is undoubtedly one of the hottest stars of the century, and the fruits of his labor was recognized in 2012.

According to Quigley Publishing Company’s 81^st Annual Poll of Motion Picture Exhibitors, the actor was voted the top money-making star in 2012.

He’s been on the poll seven other times but this is the first time he was crowned winner.

The only woman in the Top Ten this year, Anne Hathaway , placed second with her roles in “Les Miserables” and as Catwoman in “The Dark Knight Rises.” Hugh Jackman and Mark Wahlberg , both with their initial Poll appearance, were third and fourth respectively. Jackman was in “Les Miserables” and a voice talent in “Rise of the Guardians” and Wahlberg scored with “Contraband” and in the sleeper hit of the year, “Ted.” Johnny Depp was in “Dark Shadows” and had an uncredited role in “21 Jump Street,” but still managed a fifth this year. He has been in the Top Ten eight times, with wins in 2010, 2007 and 2006.

According to the report, exhibitors collectively decided Denzel was responsible for movie traffic in 2012, based on his performances in “Flight” and “Safe House.”

He’s the fourth African American to win the poll and joins the ranks of Sidney Poitier (1968), Eddie Murphy (1987) and Will Smith (2005).

Ann Hathaway & Denzel Washington

Top Ten Money-Making Stars of 2012
1.     Denzel Washington
2.     Anne Hathaway
3.     Hugh Jackman
4.     Mark Wahlberg
5.     Johnny Depp
6.     Daniel Craig
7.     Daniel Day-Lewis
8.      Brad Pitt
9.      Leonardo DiCaprio
10.   Robert Downey , Jr,

SOURCE: EURWEB.COM

*Vanessa Bryant has finally spoken out about being victimized by Drake when he clowned about her in “Stay Schemin’.”

As one would expect, she was not happy with Drizzy for putting her name in his mouth in such a disrespectful way.

A few months ago Drake said publicly that he regretted the line, but apparently he also apologized to her via a text message.

The line that Drake rapped, if you aren’t aware, is on Rick Ross’ Rich Forever mixtape, and it goes like this:

“Kobe ’bout to lose a hundred fifty M’s/Kobe my n—a I hate it had to be him/Bitch you wasn’t with me shooting in the gym.”

Of course at that time, Vanessa and her husband, Kobe Bryant, weren’t getting along so well and speculation was that they were getting divorced. Fast forward to now and from what we can see, the couple seems to be doing just fine.

Here’s Vanessa’s response via Instagram:

“I love when immature kids quote a rapper that has never been friends with Kobe and knows nothing about our relationship,” she wrote. “Just shows how gullible they are. I don’t need to be in the gym. I’m raising our daughters, signing checks and taking care of everything else that pertains to our home life. But thanks for your concern over an immature quote.

I really wish people would stop THINK and then realize that they are being sucked into someone’s clear intention to monetize and gain attention off of our family’s heartache. This is real life. I hold down our home life so my husband can focus on his career. It’s a partnership.

Since my husband isn’t friends with Drake, we received a text of an apology forwarded from his manager. It’s done and over with and it’s now time for people to THINK before speaking.”

SOURCE: STRAIGHTFROMTHEA.COM

Actor/comedian and fellow ‘ATLien’ Finesse Mitchell is off the market ladies! Mitchell, a graduate of Atlanta’s Frederick Douglas High School, was born & raised in ATL. He graduated from the University of Miami, where he was a member of the University of Miami’s football team and the Iota Chi Chapter of Kappa Alpha Psi fraternity. Finesse most recently appeared in Atlanta onstage doing stand-up on Shaquille O’Neal’s All Star Comedy Show, but he is best known for his work on NBC’s Saturday Night Live. The certified bachelor popped the question to his girlfriend Adris DeBarge on New Year’s Eve. DeBarge, daughter of singer El DeBarge, is an executive assistant for producer Tracey Edmonds. The cute couple shared the wonderful news on Facebook yesterday… “Meet my fiance Finesse Mitchell. He’s gonna keep me laughing for the rest of my life!2013 is off to a great start!

SOURCE: TMZ.COM

They’ve been separated for more than a year, but that don’t matter much in California, where the husband of a pregnant woman is PRESUMED to be the father.

Translation — Kris Humphries has the edge going in as Kim Kardashian‘s baby daddy.  If he were to lay claim to the kid, Kim and Kanye would have to present “clear and convincing evidence” to a judge that Kanye did the dirty.

Fact is … it wouldn’t be hard to prove, since Kris hasn’t gone near Kim for a long, long time … and it appears the baby was conceived while Kim and Kanye were in Rome 3 months ago.

Nonetheless, there is a rebuttable presumption in Kris’ favor, and Kim of all people should know a thing or two about re-butts.

SOURCE: TMZ.COM

Katt Williams isn’t losing his mind … he’s just a really sensitive man with a bad temper, who gets himself into bad situations — this according to Katt’s close friend and confidante Suge Knight.

Suge — who was present for Katt’s most recent arrest in Seattle following a bar fight — tells TMZ, Katt’s recent string of bizarre behavior was the result of fan harassment … “People test him because he’s small and the best comedian of all time.”

Suge says fans forget Katt’s a real person with real feelings … and Katt lashes out as a result, when people mock him on the street, making jokes about his hair and calling him short.

Suge tells us, “When people see him, they don’t separate the Katt Williams on stage from the Katt Williams just being a regular person.”

Suge compares Katt’s “rough spell” to Mike Tyson’s and Richard Pryor’s — “That’s what happens when you’re the best in the business. Sometimes you just have rough times.”

The Seattle bar fight is just one example — Suge says he and Katt were watching the Seahawks game, but cheering for Chicago … which pissed off local bar patrons … who then started a fight with Katt.

Suge adds, “Things like that happen to Katt all the time where people start with him. He just don’t take no sh*t.”