Rappers Rap Sheet
Warren G was charged yesterday with
possession of a loaded gun. The twenty-five-year-old rapper, whose real name is
Warren Griffin III, was arrested last week outside an L.A. lesbian nightclub after
police searched his truck and found the gun. Griffin said he had no idea how the
gun got in his truck. When asked what he was doing at a lesbian nightclub, he said
that he and his friends go there because of the high women-to-men ratio. Griffin
posted $10,000 bail and is due to be arraigned August 14. If convicted, he could get
up to two years in prison. Next up: Griffin and his buddies are off to a nunnery,
where they hear there are no men . . . In another rapper arrest, Notorious
B.I.G., a.k.a. Christopher Wallace, was arrested in Teaneck, New Jersey, on
weapons and drug charges. Police said they found four guns and almost fifty
grams of marijuana in Wallace's home. Seven members of Wallace's rap group, the Junior M.A.F.I.A.,
were also arrested on marijuana charges.
The Latest on Aerosmith, the Chili Peppers, Johnny Rotten, and
Humperdinck
In other music news, Aerosmith has fired Tim Collins, their
longtime manager. Collins had been with the band for twelve years, and is
credited with not only reviving the band's popularity, but helping the
band members get sober. According to Collins, Aerosmith no longer wanted to
be associated with his social causes, which have included sobriety and First
Amendment rights. Collins should have no trouble getting another job, though:
The Globe says he's received offers from KISS and Pearl Jam , among
many others. . . . Rumors of the demise of the Red Hot Chili Peppers have been
greatly exaggerated. They started circulating after drummer Chad Smith played
along with an English interviewer who asked if the band was finished. The Chili
Peppers are very much together, and can currently be seen on tour. They will
reportedly soon head to Hawaii to write material for their follow-up to 1995's
One Hot Minute , which they will begin recording this fall. . . . Times have
really changed. Former punk rocker bad boys Johnny Rotten and the Sex Pistols
kicked off their first U.S. tour in eighteen years last night at the Red Rocks
Amphitheatre outside Denver. But the altitude and the exertion apparently got the
better of Rotten: he had to stop for a minute and suck some air from an oxygen
tank that was conveniently wheeled onto the stage. After a few breaths, Rotten
politely asked the crowd "You wouldn't mind if I took another puff of that oxygen,
would you''? . . . Engelbert Humperdinck, who is apparently so square he's hip,
will sing the title track to MTV Films' upcoming Beavis and Butt-head movie. This
from New York's Daily News. Heh, heh, we said "dinck."
John Cleese Faces Fierce Audiences
John Cleese has discovered just how tough American moviegoers can be. His new film, Fierce
Creatures, bombed with U.S. preview audiences, and now Cleese is going back to the
studio for a few reshoots. Fierce Creatures is a follow-up but not a sequel to
the very successful 1988 comedy A Fish Called Wanda. The film reunites
original cast members Michael Palin, Jamie Lee Curtis , and Kevin Kline . Cleese
spent eight years crafting the story of a small zoo about to be taken over by a
large theme-park company, but American audiences just didn't get the film's black
humor, and they were really upset when one of the several characters played by Kevin Kline--a
slimy marketing exec--was killed off. Despite the
setbacks, Cleese said he's aiming for a Christmas release. This isn't the first time Kline
has been resurrected by his American fans. In the original version of A Fish
Called Wanda, Kline's character, the dimwitted hitman Otto, was killed by a
steamroller. But when American preview audiences objected, Otto was
revived, additional scenes were added, and Kline won a Best Supporting Actor Oscar .
If a Body Catch a Body, Reprinting Without Permission
J.D. Salinger is Luke Seemann's favorite author. So when the Northwestern University
student found some extra time on his hands last November, he decided to build
The Holden Server, a site that posts random quotes from the Salinger classic
Catcher in the Rye. The Holden Server was well-received. People began
writing Seemann to say how much they appreciated the site--some even said
they'd been moved to tears after reading some of the excerpts. Not everyone was
so happy, however. On June 27, Seemann received an e-mail from the law firm
Harold Ober and Associates, asking him to cease and desist, and warning him that
their client, Salinger, was on record as "someone who vigorously pursues all
legal avenues available to protect his legal rights." At first, Seemann refused to
take the site down, as did his Internet service provider, who was also threatened
by Ober and Associates. But in the end, Seemann relented, saying that, although he
believed the law was on his side, he had no desire to be disrespectful towards an
author whose work he cherished so much. The story, which appeared in
The New York Times this week, is sure to reignite the issue of individual
expression on the Internet. And no, we don't expect a statement from Salinger
anytime soon.
From Mr. Showbiz reporters and other news sources