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Rapper/ actor 50 Cent has announced plans to
begin producing independent films under his newly-launched production company
reports the Los Angeles Times. The entertainer, born Curtis Jackson, announced
the venture during a press conference last month at the House of Hype in Park
City, Utah during the Sundance Festival. The unnamed company is a joint venture
with business partners Chris Lighty of Violator Management and movie executive
Randell Emmett, who produced 50’s film “Home of the Brave” and the rapper’s
upcoming movie, “Righteous Kill.” Co-starring Robert DeNiro and Al Pacino,
“Righteous Kill” is due in theaters on April. 18

Beyonce, who starred in “Dreamgirls,” is headed back to
the big screen for her next big role. She has been cast to play famed singer
Etta James on the film, “Cadillac Records.” The story is about Leonard Chess,
the legendary founder of the South Side Chicago blues label Chess Records. The
period piece follows the rise and fall of Chess Records, which launched the
careers of such R&B greats as Muddy Waters, Etta James and Chuck Berry. Chess,
who was inducted into the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame in 1987, scoured the South,
checking out the various blues scenes and selling records from the back of his
Cadillac. Cedric the Entertainer will play Willie Dixon, who wrote most of the
hits records and was part of the famous company. One of his most famous songs
was “Hoochie Coochie Man.” Oscar winner Adrien Brody has also joined the cast to
replace Matt Dillon as Leonard Chess, the founder of Chess Records. Dillon had
to drop out of the project due to a scheduling conflict. As previously reported,
Jeffrey Wright will portray Muddy Waters in the film set in 1950s Chicago. Also
new to the cast are Emmanuelle Chriqui, Columbus Short and Tammy Blanchard.
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Like she did in her debut single, “Foolish,” where she re-created the plot from the gangster flick “Goodfellas,” with Terrence Howard, Ja Rule and Irv Gotti filling in for Ray Liotta, Paul Sorvino and Robert De Niro,is following that formula for her latest clip “The Way That I Love You.” This time, she borrowing the concept from a show called “Snapped” from the Oh! channel. “It’s something completely different than anything I’ve ever done before,” Ashanti said of the video to MTV. “… It’s about women who have gotten pushed to the [point] where they feel, I guess, [that it's] necessary to murder their husbands, boyfriends, what have you. It’s actually a documentary like [Tru] TV’s ‘Forensic Files,’ but this one is only for women; when women snap they do crazy things.” The L.T. Hutton-produced track is the first single from Ashanti’s upcoming album, The Declaration, due June 3, according to MTV. It’s her first full-length studio album since 2004’s Concrete Rose. …A judge ruled this week thathas to pay the New York Post’s deputy photo-assignment editor, Jim Alcorn, an undisclosed amount following a 2003 lawsuit Alcorn filed against the rapper for assault, reported the paper. Alcorn, who was a Post photographer at the time, was allegedly knocked down by 50’s security detail outside a jewelry shop, after trying to snap a few photos of the rapper. The photographer was treated for neck and jaw injuries at a nearby hospital, according to the suit. …Since resigning as president of Def Jam in December 2007, there has been a lot of speculation about whatnext move would be. The one on most people’s minds as of late is the rumor that Hov is going to Warner Music Group to start his own label. Sohh.com recently spoke with Kevin Liles, Warner’s Executive Vice President, who addressed the rumors, but still left everything up in the air. “Jay is going to do Jay. I wish him the best of luck in whatever he decides to do. We always gonna be together so it is what it is,” Liles answered cryptically. Lyor Cohen, Warner’s chairman, originally signed Jay-Z to Def Jam in 1997. He previously said, “I would be honored and privileged to work with him again. Bringing Jay-Z to the Warner Music Group would be a privilege and a coup. I’d do it in a heartbeat.” ..
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US rapper 50 Cent has endorsed Hillary Clinton as the Democrats’ presidential candidate, saying her rival Barack Obama would probably be killed because Americans were not ready for a black president.

In a brief in-car interview aired on Fox News’ O’Reilly Factor, 50 Cent was asked by a British reporter who he would back in the primaries.

He gave his backing to New York Senator Clinton.

"I just think she could do a job. There’s nothing bad with Obama in my eyes either, I just think Hillary …
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50 Cent has allegedly been ordered to pay a fee to an American photographer, over claims he was assaulted by one of the rapper's security guards several years ago.

The assault on Jim Alcorn is said to have happened in Manhattan during 2003 after 50 left a jewellery store.

Alcorn then launched a lawsuit the following year against the rapper himself (although he was not directly involved in the incident).
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Are 50 Cent and Tracey Edmonds dating?

Um, no. But rumors of a possible love match between the hip-hopper and Eddie Murphy’s ex are exploding across the Internet. Reports claim they hooked up at the Sundance Film Festival.

As I first told you, Edmonds attended VitaminWater’s private dinner for 50 Cent on Jan. 19, before his concert later that night at Harry O’s. 

While reports have the two practically inseparable, Edmonds' rep tells me the only interaction they had was a simple hello. “They are not dating,” the rep said.

And speaking of Edmonds’ love life, word from the Thompson Beverly Hills hotel on Saturday had it that Eddie's ex was still wearing the engagement ring he bestowed when he proposed in July.
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Everyone was wondering what’s going on with Eminem since he suffered a recent heath scare and hasn’t been photographed in over a year. He was hospitalized over the holidays in Detroit with pneumonia and heart problems. Sources say Eminem weighs over 200 pounds, which is borderline obese for his height.

Friend 50 Cent says he’s doing OK, and that reports of his poor health are exaggerated. According to Fiddy, “I got a chance to see him a few weeks ago and people think he is in a worse state than he actually is.”

Also, gossip magazine In Touch recently posted a retraction of sorts regarding Eminem’s recent “fat picture”

“We published what we thought was one of the first pictures of Eminem looking heavy. The National Enquirer labeled the photo “Now” and included no disclaimer that it was a photo reproduction.
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Rapper 50 CENT is unfazed by socialising with Hollywood stars – because spending time with them makes him feel "normal".The In Da Club hitmaker – real name Curtis Jackson – recently teamed up with legendary actors Robert De Niro and Al Pacino for new movie Righteous Kill, and Jackson insists he feels more comfortable in the presence of A-list stars. He tells MTV.com, " I get a chance to feel normal when they’re (other celebrities) around.
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Fifty years ago Britain had only lately emerged from postwar austerity, and a thrifty nation spent so little on leisure that it did not even feature as a category in the inaugural Family Expenditure Survey.

But the latest survey, published yesterday, charts the country’s transformation into a land of hedonistic homeowners prepared to spend nearly a fifth of income on housing and about the same amount on leisure goods and services, according to the Office of National Statistics.

The survey, conducted in 2006, surveyed 6,644 British householdsthrough interviews and asking participants to maintain two-week spending diaries.

Obtaining a truly robust picture of the changes in household spending over 50 years was hard, the ONS stressed, because social changes meant the classifications of expenditure were markedly different from those employed in 1957. For instance, gambling payments, which now account for 0.8 per cent of household spending, were not surveyed until the 1994-95 survey.

In a ranking of the top 50 spending categories of 2007, gambling occupied the same status as did purchases of mutton and lamb in 1957.

At 19 per cent of the total, spending on housing in 2006 is more than double the 1957 level. The ONS calculation breaks down to an average of ??52 a week on mortgages and nearly half that – ??24 a week – on council tax, water charges and other local taxes and services charges, ??23 on alterations and improvements and ??17 on rent, net of rebates and housing benefit.

By contrast, housing took only 9 per cent of household spending in 1957. Stephen Dunstan, a statistician with the ONS, said the sharp shift probably reflected both rising house prices and relatively low rates of home ownership in 1957 – only 30 per cent of the population against 65-70 per cent today.

Overall, leisure in 1957 was too insignificant to be counted. It did not account for even 1 per cent of spending until 1977.

And while 50 years ago only better-off families would have aspired to own a TV set, a digitised world has changed all that. Spending on cable, satellite subscriptions and mobile telephony, while not added to the full survey until 1996-97, now account for 1.
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MediaTakeOut.com has learned that 50 Cent is asking Ciara not to do any collaborations with Cash Money artists – including Baby and Lil Wayne.

The feud between Cash Money Records and G-Unit has been brewing for months – but now it’s bubbling over. You see, last week, MediaTakeOut.com learned that Young Buck announced that he’s leaving G-Unit and would be signing on with Cash Money Records.

Now 50 Cent appears to be doing anything in his power to hurt the New Orleans based label.

According to one of MediaTakeOut.
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TORONTO – Stock markets headed higher in early trading Tuesday morning on some strong U.S. corporate earnings reports and a better than expected snapshot of American manufacturing in December.

Toronto’s S&P/TSX composite index gained 32.09 points to 13,108.99 after a late-day rally in financial stocks had helped push the index up 92 points Monday.

The Canadian dollar jumped above parity with the greenback again, surging 0.89 of a cent to 100.45 cents US, partly because of higher commodity prices.

“We now have the broad consensus that the (U.S. Federal Reserve) will cut tomorrow by 50 basis points, highlighting the interest rate advantage the Canadian dollar will have over the U.S. dollar, going forward,” said Matthew Strauss, senior currency analyst at RBC Capital Markets.

“And on top of everything, we had strong U.S. data. Because if the U.S. economy does not fall as far as some in the market fear, that would definitely assist the Canadian economy.”

The currency last closed above parity on Jan. 3 and sank as low as 96.81 cents US earlier this month.

The TSX Venture Exchange moved down 3.52 points to 2,561.32.

In New York, the Dow Jones industrials moved up 56.1 points to 12,444 on top of a 176.72-point rise Monday on hopes the U.S. Federal Reserve will chop its key funds rate by a full half-point, on top of the three-quarters of a point drop from last week, to cushion the U.S. economy from the worst of the fallout from the imploding housing sector.

The Nasdaq composite index climbed 6.07 points to 2,355.98 after rising 23.71 points Monday. The S&P 500 index added seven points to 1,360.95 after the U.S. Commerce Department reported that demand for durable goods shot up 5.2 per cent last month, a far larger increase than the 1.8 per cent rise expected.

The strength came from a big increase in demand for commercial aircraft, but even excluding the transportation sector, orders posted a solid 2.6 per cent gain.

However, there were weak spots that bolstered confidence the Fed will continue to aggressively cut interest rates.

“For instance, manufacturing employment tumbled, manufacturing hours worked were lower, the Institute for Supply Management manufacturing index slid into sub-50 territory (showing contraction) and manufacturing production was flat in the month,” observed Royal Bank economist Rishi Sondhi.

“As a result, today’s report does not alter our expectation that the Fed will undertake further aggressive easing this week with the Fed funds rate expected to drop 50 basis points.’

Investors also took in another helping of bad housing sector news.

The Standard & Poor’s/Case-Shiller 10-city composite home price index showed U.S. home prices plunged by a record 8.
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