Walter Cronkite, R.I.P.

Walter Cronkite, the premier TV anchorman of the U.S. networks’ golden age who reported a tumultuous time with reassuring authority and came to be called “the most trusted man in America,” died Friday. He was 92.

Cronkite’s longtime chief of staff, Marlene Adler, said Cronkite died at 7:42 p.m. at his Manhattan home surrounded by family. She said the cause of death was cerebral vascular disease.

Adler said, “I have to go now” before breaking down into what sounded like a sob. She said she had no further comment.

Cronkite was the face of the “CBS Evening News” from 1962 to 1981, when stories ranged from the assassinations of President John F. Kennedy and the Rev. Martin Luther King Jr. to racial and anti-war riots, Watergate and the Iranian hostage crisis.

It was Cronkite who read the bulletins coming from Dallas when Kennedy was shot Nov. 22, 1963, interrupting a live CBS-TV broadcast of the soap opera “As the World Turns.”

He died just three days before the 40th anniversary of the moon landing, another earthshaking moment of history linked inexorably with his reporting.

Paul McCartney Is Cheap!

Paul McCartney speaks about his rift with the late Michael Jackson on tonight's broadcast of "The Late Show with David Letterman."
Taped earlier today at The Ed Sullivan Theater – where the Beatles made their American debut in 1964 to launch the "British Invasion" – McCartney explained that he and Jackson "fell apart" over the Beatles catalog, which the King of Pop snagged only after McCartney told him that he planned on purchasing it himself.


The year was 1985. Jackson and McCartney had just recorded two songs together, "The Girl is Mine" for Michael's "Thriller" album and "Say Say Say" for Paul's "Tug of War." Jackson, one day, asked the Beatles singer to explain the value of artists owning their own music publishing rights.


In the tutorial, McCartney mentioned he was planning to buy rights to the Beatles music at an upcoming auction. McCartney said Jackson commented that he would buy the rights first. McCartney laughed it off as a joke.


Cut to the auction, where McCartney found out that his buddy paid $47.5 million to outbid him for the catalog. Adding insult to injury, the moonwalker then turned around a few years later and sold the rights to Sony for $95 million.


According to McCartney, Jackson informed him, "That's just business, Paul."


"We've never kind of got to it, and I thought 'hmmm,' so we kind of drifted apart," the 66-year-old told Letterman, but then added that "there was no big bustup."


He then said Jackson "was a lovely man, massively talented, and we miss him."

Well, what else can he say? Other parts of that time McCartney did not mention was how cheap he was when it came to the sale. Even Yoko wanted to pay more.

And then he let a peg-legged ho hop off with even more?

Tsk tsk tsk, Paul!

Blow Up of the Day!

We hope the bride to be that never was at least kept all the receipts for the various arrangements, considering the price tag.

San Antonio Spurs star Richard Jefferson left his bride hanging last Saturday, stopping cold a posh Manhattan wedding that reportedly cost $2 million to prepare, reports the New York Post.

Jefferson -- who was traded from the New Jersey Nets in June -- dumped onetime Net dancer Kesha Ni'Cole Nichols just before the weekend, according to sources. She immediately called her family and friends to say the ceremony booked at the Mandarin Oriental in Columbus Circle was off.

But Jefferson waited much longer, his friends told The Post. "He called about two hours before the wedding. It was nuts," said one Jefferson pal.

This has got to be THE most expensive breakup ever!

Tito, Gimme Some Tissue!!

Tito Jackson has confirmed that he and several siblings had an emotional intervention with Michael Jackson before his death in an attempt to end his addiction to prescription drugs.

Tito said he and his brothers and sisters conducted a military-style raid on the King of Pop's Neverland ranch.

"I never saw [Michael] on drugs. Not once. He deliberately did it away from us. He didn't want his family to know anything about that part of him. He did almost everything in his power to make sure we didn't know," Tito, 55, told Britain's Daily Mirror in a lengthy interview Wednesday.

But when the stories just grew too loud to ignore, "We had to act. It was me, my sisters Janet, Rebbie and La Toya and my brothers Jackie and Randy," Tito said. "We burst right into the house and he was surprised to see us to say the least. We went into one of his private rooms and had a discussion with him. Some of us were crying.

THIS...from Quincy Jones?

This is some pot, kettle shit if there ever was any!

Grammy-winning music producer Quincy Jones argues in a controversial Details magazine interview - which we assume was done before Michael Jackson's recent death - that Jackson “obviously didn’t want to be Black” and suggests that his psychological problem may have resulted from some childhood trauma.

In response to a question relating to how Jackson had begun to distort his face, Jones said, “It’s ridiculous, man! Chemical peels and all of it. And I don’t understand it. But he obviously didn’t want to be Black.”

Jones added that all one had to do to get a sense of what Jackson thought about his blackness was to “see his kids.” Reportedly, all three of Jackson’s children were conceived using eggs from white women and sperm from white men.

Asked if he ever talked with Jackson about whether he wanted to be a Black man, Jones replied, “That’s not the way you do it.” But he said Jackson told him the chemical treatments of his face were necessary because of a disease. But Jones said he did not believe him.

We're speechless.

Wino Is Leading the Single Life Now

And she wakes up alone...

Well, aside from that crack pipe.

Amy Winehouse's tempestuous marriage ended Thursday when the singer and Blake Fielder-Civil were granted a divorce by a judge in London.

A judge read out the divorce decree for "Fielder-Civil B. v Winehouse A.J." along with those of other estranged couples at a brief Family Court hearing.

Neither 25-year-old Winehouse nor Fielder-Civil, 27, was in court Thursday. The divorce becomes final after six weeks and a day.

Winehouse married Fielder-Civil in Miami in 2007, but he was arrested six months later over an assault and sent to jail.

He filed for divorce earlier this year on the grounds of the soul diva's infidelity.

What we wanna know is who has been sticking their doo hilly in Winehouse's crack cha cha?!!!

That hole just screams CDC!

Jessica Simpson...Dumped!!

Two weeks ago, when PEOPLE asked Tony Romo what he had planned for girlfriend Jessica Simpson's birthday, he said, "It's a secret."

A secret someone might not like, as it turns out.

Simpson's birthday surprise turned out to be a shocker: Although Romo had insisted that things between them were "going good," the Dallas Cowboys quarterback ended their year-and-a-half relationship on July 9 — the night before the singer turned 29.

"She is heartbroken," says a source. "She loves Tony. But it's been difficult lately. He's busy with his career and she's getting ready to shoot her show (The Price of Beauty). They decided to part ways."

She's really gonna pack on the pounds now!

Brandy, Dumped...Again

This ewok just an't get a break!

Perez Hilton is reporting that Brandy has been dropped by her record label and management in the same week. The gossip blogger said both Roc Nation and Epic Records terminated their contracts with the singer, whose career had been stopped cold in the wake of a 2006 car crash, which claimed the life of a fellow motorist and led to her pulling out of a judging role on the hit TV show "America's Got Talent." Her comeback album, "Human," did not do as well as expected.


Looks like brother Ray-J is gonna have to release another sex tape to make ends meet in that household.

Raven-Symoné Is Just Fat...Not Pregnant

"That’s So Raven" star Raven-Symoné has been the subject of Web-circulated rumors that claim she is either pregnant, or has already given birth to her first baby – but a rep for the 23-year-old mogul says neither report is true.

"Raven-Symoné is not pregnant nor did she give birth," her publicist tells People.com.

Numerous media outlets have claimed that Raven-Symoné had been hiding a pregnancy, and the stories reached a fevered pitch earlier this week with reports that she had gone on to deliver a healthy baby girl.

At least if she were expecting, she'd have an explanation for those thunder thighs

MJ on the Auction Block!

Due to an onslaught of interest in an Andy Warhol portrait of Michael Jackson that was up for auction in New York, organizers have decided to remove the item from the block.

The Vered Gallery in East Hampton says enormous interest prompted the decision, reports the Associated Press. The auction was to close Sunday.

The 30-by-26-inch painting shows a smiling Jackson in a red jacket from his "Thriller" days. Pre-sale estimates ranged anywhere from $1 million to $10 million. The portrait is reportedly owned by a New York collector.

Gallery co-owner Janet Lehr says in a statement she wants to offer the 1984 work to "the greatest number of prospective purchasers."

Make that to drive the price up so she can make a pretty penny during this recession.

We are not mad at her!

Sarah Palin: "I Quit This Bitch!"

Outgoing Alaska Gov. Sarah Palin on Saturday laid the groundwork to take on a larger, national role after leaving state government, citing a "higher calling" with the aim of uniting the country along conservative lines.

Please Lord don't let her higher calling include a run for the White House!!!

A day after surprising even her closest friends by announcing she would step down as Alaska governor more than a year before her term was up, the controversial hockey mom was still keeping details of her future plans under wrap. But in a statement posted on Palin's Facebook account, she suggested that she had bigger plans and a national agenda she planned to push after she resigns at the end of the month.

Steve McNair - R.I.P.

Steve McNair -- an NFL QB with the Tennesse Titans and Baltimore Ravens -- was found dead Saturday in Nashville, Tenn., according to Nashville police.

McNair suffered a fatal gunshot wound to the head in downtown Nashville. A female victim was also found dead. Police have not released the name of the female, only to say it is not McNair's wife, Mechelle.

The call to police came in at 1:35 PM. The circumstances surrounding the shooting deaths remain under active investigation.

There were no signs of forced entry at the crime scene. No suspects have been taken into custody.

Kelly Rowland & DeadBeat Daddies

Kelly Rowland has squashed rumors that she's trying to hunt down her biological father, saying she's far too busy to be concerned with the deadbeat at this point in her life.

"I don't know who started that story! I haven't actually. I feel like I'm not really ready for that yet, I've enough going on in my life to really open that up," she tells Britain's Heat Radio. "Maybe later on in about 16 or 17 months. I told myself I'd work for 16 long months and then I'd take a vacation or a break, but now is not that time for me."

Kelly, 28, and her mother Doris Rowland Garrison left the family home because her father was "drunk and aggressive." The Destiny's Child member says she doesn’t even know if her father is still alive.

"I don't know where he is but I hope he's not dead. That would break my heart," she said. "I remember my dad being drunk and aggressive towards my mom but not me. It took courage for her to get away.

"I don't know if he knows who I am or what I've done. He must be hiding under a rock if he doesn't."

Diana Ross Might Be Raising Some More Chirrenz!!

As if she does not have enough children, Diana Ross may be caring for some more in the future. Hold on, Katherine!

Michael Jackson's July 7, 2002 will was filed Wednesday in a Los Angeles court, naming his mother the guardian of his children and Diana Ross as a successor guardian to his mother if necessary.

The will, which estimated his worth at the time at more than $500 million, gives his entire estate to the Michael Jackson Family Trust. The documents said Jackson's estate consisted almost entirely of "non-cash, non-liquid assets, including primarily an interest in a catalogue of music royalty rights which is currently being administered by Sony ATV, and the interests of various entities."


His mother, Katherine Jackson, is named as a beneficiary of the trust. Jackson's longtime lawyer John Branca and John McClain, a music executive and a family friend, are named as co-executors of the will.

Usher: Billie Jean Part II (The Kid Is Not My Son)

The National Enquirer is reporting that Usher wants a paternity test done on his youngest child – 6-month-old Naviyd – because he and his soon-to-be ex-wife Tameka were having little to no sexual relations at the time she conceived.

Usher should also request that Tameka drop trou and prove to us and the entire world that she is not tucking a major piece down there. She screams trannydom to us!

“The first thing Usher said was, ‘How did this happen?’ - because he was gone a lot, and their sex life was very, very limited,” a friend of Usher told the tabloid. “People have been telling him that around the time the little boy was conceived, Tameka got together with another man.”

Tameka, however, claims Naviyd is Usher's child and says it was the singer who was being unfaithful at the time.

Peen/poon swap-out?!

We're following this case!

R. Kelly Feeling On More Underage Booties!

As one alleged pedophile is laid to rest, one seen on tape pissing on young girls remains free and still on top of the charts...


Published reports say that a spokesman for R. Kelly “disputed the report” that police raided Kelly's suburban Chicago home looking for a 17 year old girl.

The Olympia Fields, IL Police department and the Cook County Sheriff Tom Dart have denied the report that R&B star R. Kelly is under investigation for a sexual relationship with an underage girl.

Again.

Again.


The information was released on Wednesday, "citing an anonymous source 'close to R. Kelly,'" saying "that police raided the singer's home in suburban Olympia Fields in connection with an alleged relationship between Kelly and a 17-year-old girl." The report also claimed that "Olympia Fields Police are still tenaciously pursuing the case."

R. Kelly is about to go to Africa.

The entire continent should be on high alert!!!

Dolly Parton Remembers Michael Jackson

Dolly Parton is and will always be one of our favorite heauxz. Here's what she had to say about Michael Jackson.

When she passes, we will be in utter despair!!

The King Of Pop Once Again

Michael Jackson will be the King of Pop once again when sales figures are released Wednesday.

According to preliminary reports issued by the magazine, three of Jackson's albums have moved over 100k since his untimely death Thursday, June 25.

The titles, which include "Number Ones," "The Essential Michael Jackson," and "Thriller," all sold at least 100k before Sunday night.

While Jackson's sales jump will not be reflected on the Billboard 200 albums chart, due to the albums being ineligible as catalog entries, Billboard says Jackson will dominate the catalog and overall sales charts. In comparison, last week's #1 catalog album sold 9,000 copies.

"Off the Wall," "Bad," "Dangerous" and "The Ultimate Collection" have also sold well at retail and through digital retailers such as Amazon.com. In fact, Jackson's digital sales surged to nearly 1.8 million last week.

Again, exact sales figures will be revealed Wednesday, July 1.

Who's broke?!

Joe Jackson Is OUT of the Will

If ever there was a reason for MJ to have a will, it's this!

The Wall Street Journal is reporting that Michael Jackson's will, last amended in 2002, provides for his kids and his mother, but leaves nothing to his father Joe.

John Branca, Jackson's primary lawyer from 1980 to 2006, is reportedly in possession of the will – which he claims to have written – and plans to submit it to Los Angeles Superior Court on Thursday.


According to the will, Jackson left his estate — estimated at $1 billion — to his mother, three children and one or more charities. It also reportedly names Branca and music executive John McClain as executors.

So if Michael Jackson was broke, we want to be broke like that.

It is not known if the 2002 will included instructions on custody of Jackson's three children -- Prince Michael, 12, Paris, 11 and Prince Michael II, 7.

Keep plugging that record label, Joe. It's about all you have left!

Ri-ho-ho Is Never Gonna Learn!

We were kidding about a blow to Laytoya's head.

But Rihanna's?

We might not be joking around. For obviously, it's foreplay to her...

Sources close to Rihanna and Chris Brown say both parties believe the no-contact clause in his plea deal is pointless, not to mention impractical.

"They think it's unnecessary and ridiculous," the New York Daily News quotes of "a mutual pal" regarding the protection order handed down last week. Brown pled guilty to one count of felony assault in the February attack that left Rihanna battered and bruised.

Brown was also told he must stay at least 50 yards away from Rihanna and keep a distance of 10 yards from her if they attend the same event.

"After the proceeding, Ri and Chris talked on the phone for almost an hour and really worked at becoming friends. They're solid now," said the mutual friend.

Solid as a rock...upside her five-head.

Stay tuned, heauxz!

Jackson Career Resuscitation!

We are fully behind this idea because ALL of the living Jacksons need a hit. And we don't mean a slap to Latoya's head!

A Michael Jackson tribute tour featuring his sister Janet and his brothers is "on the table for consideration" in the wake of his death.

"The proposal is either that the Jacksons fulfill some of Michael's London shows, or do a U.S. tour where they would perform his hits and theirs with him," wrote Friedman in his Hollywood Reporter column, citing unnamed sources.


"Janet would be the star of such a show, substituting for Michael since none of the brothers would be remotely capable of being the lead performer," he wrote.

Damn, that's harsh.

True, but harsh!

Madonna & MJ: Because She Needs The Publicity

Because she has to say something...

After last week calling Jackson 'one of the greats' (and leaving room for to perch herself on top, we figure), Madonna has more to reveal.

Well, color us colored.

Madonna was apparently interested in joining Michael Jackson on stage for one of his 50 planned concert dates in London, according to her manager Guy Oseary.

There were longtime industry rumors that the two superstars had a falling out years ago after a planned duet for Jackson's 1991 "Dangerous" album never materialized. But according to Oseary and his Twitter page, the Material Girl was hoping to perform with the King of Pop this summer.


"A month ago Madonna told me she wanted to do a surprise performance at one of Michael Jackson's UK shows," Oseary tweeted.

Yeah, but did she run that by Michael's camp?

We cry foul.