sebrinahicks

2010 BET Awards Show Highlights

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  Queen Latifah
  


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  Alicia Keys
  


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  Kanye West
  


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  Drake
  


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  Nicki Minaj
  

Bankruptcy is no longer the soft option as the Insolvency Service gets tough. Strangely, that's not true for some celebrities

The new get-tough attitude at the Insolvency Service will appeal to many who feel bankruptcy has become a soft-touch option. From now on individuals whose recklessness has left them unable to pay their bills won't be able to enjoy spa days out, expensive gym memberships or drinks in the golf club. They will be strictly limited to pocket money only ? £10 a month ? with any other surplus income they have going back to their creditors.

Unless, it seems, you are Kerry Katona. We don't normally find ourselves sharing much common ground with the readers of the Sunday People on Guardian Money. Nor do we usually care what "celebrities" such as Katona are up to. But the fact she has moved into a Surrey mansion allegedly worth £3m, replete with indoor pool, gym and cinema, has understandably left readers of the red-tops fuming. You see, Katona, despite a career advertising Iceland's tasty fare, is a bankrupt.

She was tipped into bankruptcy by an £82,000 tax bill two years ago, and is yet to be discharged. Maybe she saw herself as a low rent Leona Helmsley, the New York socialite who is famously quoted as saying: "We don't pay taxes. Only the little people pay taxes ?"

How is it, the readers of the Sunday People ask, that the likes of Katona can continue to enjoy a champagne lifestyle while they still, presumably, have sizeable unpaid debts?

"The system is wrong when a high-profile debtor can give a two finger salute to pursuers," said one People reader from Stockton, Teesside.

It's a fair question, and one my colleague Rupert Jones has tried to put to "her people" (aka Can Associates) ? but despite many phone calls and emails we have had zero response.

In modern Britain there appears to be one rule for us (tax rises, job cuts, lousy pensions) and one rule for the Kerry Katonas of this world. Let them eat cake, said Marie Antoinette to the revolting masses. I suppose for Katona it is let them eat Iceland prawn rings.

? Brits are getting wise to online banking fraudsters, according to figures last week which revealed that online banking, card and cheque fraud losses all fell in 2010. Financial Fraud Action UK ? the name under which banks and providers co-ordinate fraud prevention strategies ? says this shows industry initiatives are proving successful.

But if the sad story of Mike Milotte is anything to go by, there is a worrying new trend. It's when a company asks you to send money direct to its bank, giving you an account number and sort code to let you pay in. Normally it's because the "credit card machine is broken" or "you don't want to waste money on credit card charges". It feels safe, too, as you're just transferring the cash from your account to another big bank.

But once you send the money down the line, down goes your consumer protection ? readers may recall the "Rentmac" ("rent me any car") fiasco last Christmas, in which people were also conned into making bank transfers. If you haven't already received the goods or service, it's quite simple: never pay by this form of bank transfer for anything substantial.

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RedOne, Fernando Garibay and DJ White Shadow already confirmed for Born This Way.
By Jocelyn Vena

Lady Gaga


Photo: Kevin Mazur/WireImage

Lady Gaga might have recently tweeted that she's basically wrapped up production on her May album, Born This Way, but the singer shared that there's still work to do on her piano ballad "You and I," which it seems has made the final cut.

"I can't tell you who yet, but someone legendary is producing this next song," Gaga told the crowd at her tour stop in Anaheim, California, on Thursday night, an eyewitness confirms to MTV News. "I'm so excited." The singer added that she "can't wait" for fans to hear the May 23 release.

Whoever the person is she hooks up with, they will be joining previously announced producers RedOne, Fernando Garibay and DJ White Shadow, who all have contributed tracks to the highly anticipated release.

With the album's first single, "Born This Way," still burning up the charts, fans have been hungry to know more about the album's next single, "Judas." With some lyrics already floating around the Internet, it's only a matter of time before Gaga and her creative director, Laurieann Gibson, get to work on the video for the track.

"It's no surprise, I'm sure, to many of you, that Judas is a man of the biblical senses, so expect to see some symbolism in this video," Gaga explained. "You have to look into what is haunting you, and you need to look into forgiving yourself in order to move on. And it's really fun to dance to and sounds like it could be a pop priest record."

Tell us your guesses who the "legendary" producer of "You and I" will be in the comments below!

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  Lady Gaga And The Scissor Sisters Perform At Staples Center
  


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  Lady Gaga's Runway Debut At Mugler Fashion Show
  

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  Lady Gaga
  

'Michael Jackson's This Is It' Premieres In Los Angeles

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  Michael Jackson
  


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  Adam Lambert
  


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  Katy Perry
  


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  Ashley Tisdale
  


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  David Cook
  

Lady Gaga Lights Up Atlantic City

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  Lady Gaga
  

2008 Video Of The Year: Britney Spears "Piece of Me

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  Artist: Britney Spears
  


• Label: Jive/Zomba Label Group


• Director: Wayne Isham


• Album: Blackout
  

Katherine Jackson and family are pursuing a claim against concert promoter.
By Gil Kaufman

Michael Jackson

When he was alive, Michael Jackson was forever embroiled in a series of complex and expensive-sounding lawsuits. But even in death, the late King of Pop is the subject of major legal action. None could potentially be bigger than the wrongful death lawsuit filed by the pop icon's mother, Katherine Jackson, against concert promotion giant AEG Live.

Reuters reported that a Los Angeles judge ruled on Wednesday that the civil lawsuit can go forward. It will proceed in parallel with the criminal case against Jackson's physician, Dr. Conrad Murray, who has been charged with involuntary manslaughter in connection with Jackson's June 2009 death from an overdose of the powerful surgical anesthetic propofol. Murray is the only person charged in Jackson's death and he is currently awaiting trial in that matter.

Katherine Jackson's lawsuit — filed in September on behalf of her and Jackson's three young children — accuses AEG of being responsible for the medical decisions made by Murray, whose salary was paid by the touring company behind Jackson's attempted "This Is It" comeback shows in London. Los Angeles Superior Court Judge Yvette Palazuelos denied a motion on Wednesday by AEG to dismiss Katherine Jackson's suit, but warned Jackson's attorneys that they would need to show evidence of "fraud, negligent infliction of emotional distress and civil conspiracy" in order to win the case.

The judge has already said she doubts they can prove the latter charge, because the suit does not detail any agreement between Murray and AEG to break the law in providing medical care to Jackson.

"If the object was to get him to rehearsals, I don't see that as a wrongful or illegal act," the judge said. A lawyer for AEG told the judge that the company could not have predicted beforehand that Murray's medical decisions would result in Jackson's death. Court papers also show that AEG "did not choose to hire Murray" and had only participated in negotiations to bring him on as an independent contractor. Michael, who had previously been treated by Murray in Las Vegas, was reportedly the one who suggested the cardiologist serve as his personal, on-call physician during the "This Is It" rehearsals and shows.

Katherine Jackson's attorney recently dropped choreographer Kenny Ortega from the lawsuit based on new information they received about his actions. The next hearing in the case is scheduled for March 22, just six days before Murray is due back in court for his trial. Jackson's father, Joseph, has twice attempted to file a wrongful death suit in the matter, though his is focused on Murray and the Las Vegas pharmacy that supplied the propofol, not AEG Live.

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  Michael Jackson: A Life In Photos
  

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  Michael Jackson