The enchanting jazz singer and actress Lena Calhoun Horne died on Sunday, at New York-Presbyterian Hospital, she was 92. Ms. Horne was the first black performer with a major studio contract, and she achieved international success in nightclubs and on records. During the 1940s, she was the first to play the Copacabana nightclub and was one of a few with a Hollywood contract. In 1943, MGM Studios loaned her to 20th Century-Fox to play the role of Selina Rogers in the all-black movie musical "Stormy Weather." Her rendition of the title song became a major hit and her signature piece. The striking beauty with the sultry voice was also a civil rights activist who participated in numerous marches and protest.

Her daughter, Gail Lumet Buckley, survives Ms. Horne.

First Dog Bo made his public debut on the White House South Lawn Tuesday followed by Malia, Sasha and the President. The first family walked the 6 week old black-and-white Portuguese water dog in front of a herd of photographers. Presidential pooch, Baby Bo, already had political connections — he was litter mates with one of Sen. Ted Kennedy's pups!

Chris Brown has been axed from America's Got Milk? pro-dairy ad campaign, following his arrest on felony criminal threats charges. Just a day after bosses at gum firm Wrigley announced their plans to temporarily pull an ad campaign featuring the R&B star, the singer's 'milk moustache' ads, which were launched at the end of last year, have been canceled.
Dairy Council bosses fear Brown's image won't help them sell products in the wake of his Sunday arrest following a fight with girlfriend Rihanna.
A statement reads, "(We are) taking the allegations against Chris Brown very seriously. We are very proud and protective of the image of the Milk Mustache campaign and the responsible message it sends to teens. Mr. Brown's ad... is scheduled to end this week."
Brown turned himself in to Los Angeles police on Sunday night. He was released from custody after posting $50,000 bail. He will face charges in court on March 5.

America's got Nick Cannon as the new host of "America's Got Talent," says NBC. The 28 year old musician, comedian, actor and producer will preside over the network's talent competition series when it returns for a fourth season this summer. The musician, comedian, actor and producer will preside over the network's talent competition series when it returns for a fourth season this summer. Cannon takes over from former "America's Got Talent" host Jerry Springer. Sharon Osbourne, Piers Morgan and David Hasselhoff will remain as celebrity judges on the show.

Due to the current allegations concerning Chris Brown and Rihanna Wrigley's has chosen not to be associated with Brown's tarnished image. “Wrigley is concerned by the serious allegations made against Chris Brown,” the company said in a statement. “We believe Mr. Brown should be afforded the same due process as any citizen. However, we have made the decision to suspend the current advertising featuring Brown and any related marketing communications until the matter is resolved.”

Looks like the Queen B should have no problems appearing on national tv wearing skimpy clothes and funny costumes. The New York rapper is the newest contestant on ABC's "Dancing With The Stars" and will be vying for the mirror-ball trophy in Cycle 8. The new series begins on ABC on March 9th.
Do you think she the moves to win it all?

Lil Wayne sat down with Katie Couric on her “All Access Grammy Special” on Wednesday.

“I’m a gangsta, Ms. Katie. I don’t take nothing from no one. I do what I wanna do,” says Wayne, who went bowling with Couric. The Grammy-nominated rapper opens up about custom-made bowling balls and his Hurricane Katrina-inspired song. 

Plus watch as Justin Timberlake chats with the CBS News anchor below.

Page Six Magazine – Named after legendary designer Coco Chanel is reporting that MTV wants to revive "House of Style." Producers of the revamped show want to sign on Chanel Iman, protégée of Tyra Banks, and Leonardo DiCaprio 's model girlfriend Bar Refaeli to host. "House of Style" was an original MTV program that focused on fashion, lives of models, and the modeling industry. The show, which aired in the 90s, helped make a household name of original host Cindy Crawford. According to reports, Iman and Refaeli have yet to decline or accept the offers.With the success of shows like America's Next Top Model and Project Runway along with Iman's vibrant personality, I see no reason why the show can't make a great comeback. The question is... Would you tune in to watch this show and Chanel Iman do her thing?
For those who may be too young to remember the MTV show, here’s a classic trip down memory lane with host Cindy Crawford and Jean Paul Gaultier in Paris. Plus behind the scenes with Chanel Iman on a photo shoot:

Grammy award-winning singer Erykah Badu and her rapper beau, Jay Electronica, welcomed a baby girl on Sunday, the singer's publicist confirmed. The couple blogged about the birth of their child on the Twitter Web site. Badu said she had a home birth that lasted about five hours and that she didn't use painkillers. The newborn is the couple's first child together, but is the third child for the soulful Texan beauty who also has a 10-year-old son, Seven, with rapper-turned-actor Andre "3000" Benjamin; and a four-year-old daughter, Puma, with rapper and childhood friend, Tracey "The D.O.C." Curry.
Badu, 37, released her fifth album in February 2008.

The 2009 Oscar Nomination announcements were held in Beverly Hills, California on Thursday morning and as expected some of the Gloden Globe front runners were among the nominees.
Actresses Taraji P. Henson (’The Curious Case of Benjamin Button’) and Viola Davis (’Doubt’) are both up for Best Performance by an Actress in a Supporting Role. Plus Rapper M.I.A., best known for her hit song “Paper Planes,” can now add Oscar nominee to her résumé. The Sri Lankan artist was nominated for an Academy Award in the category of Best Original Song for “O Saya,” featured on the Slumdog Millionaire soundtrack. Congrats to all the ladies..

Dwayne Wade has infected his wife with a STD, according to court records. This divorce is getting very bumpy (no pun intended)… In legal papers, high school sweetheart and ex-wife Siohvaughn Wade alleges he abandoned his children, committed adultery, and infected her with an unspecified sexually transmitted disease. She wants the names of "all of his sexual partners" during their six-year marriage. Dwyane, who turns 27 on Saturday, petitioned for the divorce last May. He and Siohvaughn, 27, have two boys, Zaire,who will be 7 next month, and Zion, 1. Siohvaughn moved back to Chicago with the kids last year. Siohvaughn Wade claims that Dwyane hasn't seen his sons in months. His ''failure to spend time with them . . . has resulted in the children at times being afraid of him; in fact, Zion . . . does not recognize or know Dwyane.'' She wants sole custody, and support. She also says she has suffered ''grievous physical, emotional and mental injury'' from the STD, diagnosed in the fall of '07. "Dwyane has squandered substantial sums of marital property including . . . buying his mother a $2 million church; placing substantial sums of money in an account with another woman; providing numerous friends and family members with unrestricted access to accounts with hundreds of thousands of dollars of marital funds from which they made substantial withdrawals …'' Meanwhile, she says, he cut her off financially.Dwyane's Heat salary is $14,410,581, according to published reports. He hauls in millions more from major endorsements such as Gatorade and Converse. The All-Star has been romantically linked to actress Gabrielle Union.
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This is E3 Official... Beyoncé Knowles has revealed the song she'll sing for Barack and Michelle Obama's first dance on inauguration night Tuesday. "I am so honored that I will be performing for President Obama and the First Lady,..." "To sing 'At Last' while they have their first dance is a dream come true," she says. "I could not be more honored and excited that they have asked me to be part of this moment in history." Knowles had been vocal about wanting to be a part of Obama's inauguration. "I'm there. I can't wait," she said in November. "I feel like all of us, we're ready to do whatever we have to do. Whatever they want -- if they need me to volunteer, they need me to sing, I'm there, and I'm ready." Watch Beyoncé's as she covers the Etta James classic 'At Last' below:

The 'Queen of Media' aka Wendy Williams has earned a seemingly permanent spot in daytime television. Williams, known widely as a ‘New York Times’ best-selling author and radio host of ‘The Wendy Williams Experience’ on WBLS in New York ran a six week preview in select markets this past summer. According to Fox, CBS and NBC, Williams' hit show will be offered in all top 20 markets including New York, Chicago and Detroit in 2009. Set to premiere in July, Williams' show will pick up where she left off during her initial run with celebrity interviews, gossip and more. Last year Williams was noted for exclusive interviews with Kim Kardashian and reality star/author Omarosa.

According to a lawsuit brought on by former driver to Knicks' center Eddy Curry, the 26 yr old NBA baller has been busy giving him hell. David Kuchinsky was Curry's chauffer from October 2005 to 2006 and is suing him for sexual harassment, claiming that the 6'11" baller tried to solicit gay sex from him. According to the New York Post, Curry allegedly approached Kuchinsky "in the nude," allegedly telling him, "Look at me, Dave, look" and "Come and touch it, Dave." The suit also claims that Curry made Kuchinsky perform "humiliating tasks... such as cleaning up and removing dirty towels [Curry had ejaculated into] so that his wife would not see them." Kuchinsky also said that Curry constantly called him "f---ing Jew," "cracker," "white slave," "white devil" and "grandmaster of the KKK." The suit also claims that Curry pointed a loaded gun at Kuchinsky's head to keep him from complaining about the way he was treated. Kuchinsky is seeking $98,000 in compensatory damages and says that he's owed $68,000 in wages plus $25,000 in expenses which Curry never repaid. Curry is making $9.4 million this season... for sitting on the bench. Curry hasn't commented on the suit, but his lawyer says all of the claims are untrue.

In the latest "Real Housewives of Atlanta" scoop DeShawn Snow has been booted from the show and will not be returning next season. In fact, Bravo has been in talks with Tameka Foster, wife of R&B singer Usher, plus basketball player Julius “Dr. J” Ervings's wife, Dorys, and radio personality Frank Ski's wife, Tanya to join the cast. Sherre Whitfield, Kim Zolciak, Lisa Wu Hartell and Nene Leakes will return next season. Plus, Nene is already working on a spinoff series with Bravo.
In other related news Sheree Whitfield will not be debuting her fashion line at NYC's Fashion Week next month. Plus, she recently discussed the appeal to her divorce settlement with former New York Giant Bob Whitfield stating:
"I dropped the appeal because somebody wasn’t doing what they were suppose to do and pretty much squandered the money. People don’t know the story and I really haven’t spoken on it. You will read in the paper I haven’t received child-support in 15 months. It’s actually 17 months. Hopefully all will prevail and what’s done in the dark will come to the light. It’s officially over and it feels good to have it on paper and definitely gives you and lot of other people peace of mind."

A light may finally be shed on the life-style of gay black men. Following in the foot-steps of Bravo’s “The Real Housewives of Atlanta,” a new show was pitched to networks showing the real lives of gay black men in Atlanta.
The controversial reality show will reportedly display the secrets double lives of professional black men. “We’re just tired of being straight during the day and gay at night. Our community needs to at least respect us. They don’t have to accept it, but please respect it,” said one participant in the reality show. The pilot was secretly pitched for fear that religious groups would work to boycott the series. As the show’s producer explained, “Especially the Black Church seems to think we want to encourage kids to be gay. We just want to encourage people to be themselves”. Bravo and other networks are reportedly in the running to land the series which will apparently feature at least one “well-know black celebrity figure”.

ESSENCE.com caught up with Jermaine Dupri to find out the truth about his abrupt departure from Island Def Jam records, his relationship with L.A. Reid and support from Janet Jackson. The Über-producer sets the record straight on his recent exit from Island Def jam Records as president of urban music. Here's what JD had to say about Why he left the label and the biggest problem with it:

In more Obama-mania news, Marvel Comics has announced that President-elect Barack Obama will be featured in one of their upcoming stories, according to the Associated Pres. The comic starts with Spider-Man's alter-ego Peter Parker taking photographs at Obama's inauguration and decides "the future president's gonna need Spider-Man. "He springs into action and Obama thanks him with a fist-bump. The soon-to-be President has said that he collected Spider-Man and Conan the Barbarian comic books as a child." —BB
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Victoria's Secret Pink Finally Shows Love To HBCUs... As reported last year here at E3 Gossip, Victoria’s Secret Pink Collegiate collection had made plans to include HBCU's into their new line. As promised Victoria's Secret has indeed added HBCUs to their collection, which features pieces advertising FAMU, Howard University, North Carolina A&T, and Southern University, to its arsenal. The comfy, collegiate-inspired line boasts lounge wear like yoga pants, sweats, and hoodies, which are now printed with names of historical black colleges and universities. Looking to show off your HBCU school spirit with some of Pink's signature looks? The items range in price from $34.50 to $78 and are available at VictoriasSecret.com.