UPDATE #2: I reached out to Kandi directly and she confirmed the sad news.

UPDATE #3: Local Atlanta news has confirmed AJ’s death. [Source]

UPDATE #4: The police have arrested a club employee named Fredrick Richardson. He has been charged with voluntary manslaughter.

Love muffins, I have some heartbreaking news. According to multiple sources, AJ, the fiancée of Kandi Burruss was brutally beaten to death Friday evening during a fight outside of club Body Tap in Atlanta. He was rushed to a nearby hospital where he passed away from his injuries. No additional information is available at this time. Police don’t know what prompted the fight and no arrests have been made. Please keep his family and friends in your prayers.

This is truly saddening. America, we have to do better…

“Patrick Swayze passed away peacefully today with family at his side after facing the challenges of his illness for the last 20 months,” said a statement released Monday evening by his publicist, Annett Wolf. No other details were given. He was 57 years old.

Swayze was diagnosed with cancer back in March of 2008. Despite reports of having only one-week left to live, Patrick kept working and even opted not to use painkilling drugs while working due to the fear that they would have taken away from his performance.

The three time Golden Globe nominee was most famous for his starring role as Johnny Castle in Dirty Dancing opposite Jennifer Grey. Other films include Road House (1989), Ghost (1990) and To Wong Foo (1995).

May Patrick Swayze rest in peace. He was a true actor full of immense talent and his family and friends are in my prayers.

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Seems like TMZ is working overtime today because they have just learned that Christina Milian and The Dream (Terius Nash) are now indeed married! The quickie nuptials took place at the infamous Little White Wedding Chapel, the same place where Britney Spears married Jason Alexander back in 2004. According to the marriage license, the ceremony took place shortly after midnight last Friday morning. C. Mili rented a $200 wedding dress while Terius sported a $100 tuxedo (including shoes, vest & tie).

I guess my girl Christina wasn’t playing around when she named her new album Elope. Coincidentally enough, last week a new snippet surfaced from C. Mili ft. The Dream called “Welcome To Vegas.” You can check out the track below! Congratulations to the newlyweds! I wish them the best of luck!

Famed director John Hughes has passed away at the age of 59. Hughes died of a heart attack during a morning walk in Manhattan while visiting family in NYC.

Hughes was responsible for many popular 80s and 90s movies that were favorites among teen audiences everywhere, including “Home Alone,” “The Breakfast Club,” “Ferris Bueller’s Day Off,” “National Lampoon’s Vacation,” “Pretty in Pink,” and “Uncle Buck.”

He will be dearly missed.

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Author E. Lynn Harris passed away earlier today at the age of 54.
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“My heart … my mind … are broken. I loved Michael with all my soul and I can’t imagine life without him. We had so much in common and we had such loving fun together. I was packing up my clothes to go to London for his opening when I heard the news. I still can’t believe it. I don’t want to believe it. It can’t be so. He will live in my heart forever but it’s not enough. My life feels so empty. I don’t think anyone knew how much we loved each other. The purest most giving love I’ve ever known. Oh God! I’m going to miss him. I can’t yet imagine life without him. But I guess with God’s help … I’ll learn. I keep looking at the photo he gave me of himself, which says, ‘To my true love Elizabeth, I love you forever.’ And, I will love HIM forever.”
- Elizabeth Taylor

Read what other celebrities, including Usher, Madonna, Mariah Carey, Beyoncé have to say about Michael’s untimely passing after the jump. (...) Continue Reading →.

Love muffins, Apple’s long-awaited Worldwide Developer’s Conference is at last over, and, as expected, the next generation iPhone along with its list of features have been announced. The new iPhone will be called iPhone 3GS (the “S” stands for speed) because it is on average 2x faster than the current 3G model (the radio on the phone will now support 7.2 Mbps 3G, meaning that 3G speeds you’re now seeing on the iPhone will theoretically double, and the processor is faster) and will be available sooner than expected – June 19th!The look of the phone will stay the same, but its guts are totally different – for example, double the memory, video recording, voice control, 3.2 MP camera with autofocus, support for MMS and more. Hit the jump for the rundown of all its new features. OS 3.0 will be available to everyone starting June 17th – next week! (...) Continue Reading →.

Update: A total of 17 bodies have been found thus far in the warm water off the northeast coast of Brazil.

The bodies of two men confirmed to be passengers on ill-fated Air France flight 447 bound for Paris from Rio De Janeiro were found. The bodies were discovered along with several items from the airplane itself, and will be transported to Brazil for forensic investigation. Also discovered Saturday were a backpack and a leather briefcase containing an airplane ticket with a reservation code, which Air France confirmed belonged to a passenger on the jet.

It is now known that the airline failed to replace a part on the airplane, as recommended by French manufacturer, Airbus. Airbus advised the airline to have the Pitot tubes replaced, mechanisms that monitor air speed. The replacement was not mandatory. (...) Continue Reading →.

Brandy has just settled with the children of the woman who died in a car crash she was involved in in 2006. Awatef Aboudihaj’s two children will receive a total of $600,000 ($300,000 each) according to court documents filed in L.A. County Superior Court today. Aboudihaj died after her car was struck by Brandy’s Range Rover near the 405 and 101-freeway intersection.

In other news, eight days after being released from jail, rapper DMX plead guilty to attempted aggravated assault on May 22 after he verbally threatened guards at Tent City back in February while imprisoned there. He is due in court for sentencing on Monday.

Thoughts on both stories?

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In more sad news, debris was found in the Atlantic today off the northeast coast of Brazil, about 50 miles off the plane’s trajectory path. Air France flight 447 was on an 11-hour journey from Rio De Janeiro to Paris when it failed to re-connect with traffic controllers three hours into the trip. Two debris fields were found – one was 3 miles long. Among wreckage found was an airplane seat, metal debris, an orange float, a drum and an oil spill. The four year old Airbus A330 was carrying 216 passengers – mainly of French and Brazilian nationality. There are believed to be no survivors.

Among the missing: a dancer who performed in Broadway musical Riverdance, and a 26 year-old member of Brazilian’s royal family.

Love muffins, check out these never-before seen photographs of Marilyn Monroe discovered by Life.com. The photographs depict the 24-year-old bombshell in a more innocent period in her life, right before her massive film success and emergence into pop culture history.

Note: Doesn’t Britney Spears resemble her in some of these photographs – something with the sleepy, seductive eyes. Interesting. Thoughts? More pics after the jump. (...) Continue Reading →.

In some sad news today, an Air France Airbus A330-200 bound for Charles De Gaulle Airport from Rio de Janeiro, Brazil carrying 228 passengers likely crashed into the Atlantic, officials are saying. At approximately 4:15am Paris time, automatic distress signals were sent out from the plane indicating there were several parts of the aircraft malfunctioning. During the transmissions, there was no contact with the crew. It’s likely that the 4-year-old plane went down somewhere in the Atlantic closer to Brazil than to Africa. The jet was flying at an altitude of 35,000 feet and cruising at 521 mph, air force officials have stated.

The Airbus A330-200 has an impeccable safety record – the only blip on the radar being one aircraft that went down in 1994 during a training mission before it became commercially available.

Love muffins, our prayers go out to all families affected.

Bed-Stuy-born Jay-Z is leaving long-time record label Def Jam, and is close to signing a deal that will bring all future recordings to Sony. The deal will link Jay’s Roc Nation to Sony for distribution. The split reportedly came with a $5 million price tag, but will leave him in control of all of his master recordings. His eleven recordings have sold 29 million units in the U.S., according to Soundscan. (...) Continue Reading →.

After 17 years of hosting NBC’s The Tonight Show, Jay Leno had his final show Friday night. Guests included Conan O’Brien (set to take over the show on Monday), James Taylor, and all the children that his staff members had during his 17-year tenure.

Any love muffins fans of Jay and sad to see him go? He will return in the fall with a new prime time show, so he won’t be gone for long.

Any love muffins following sensation du jour Susan Boyle? Recently she caught the media world by storm with her voice, quirky looks and warm demeanor. Anyway, in a big surprise to anyone following the show, Britain voted her into second place. 10-person dance group from Essex and East London “Diversity” won, getting the chance to perform for Queen Elizabeth II.

Thoughts? Did anyone follow the show or ever watch her YouTube videos?

The nation’s second-largest wireless carrier, AT&T, is being looked closely at in a possible plot against openly-gay Idol runner up, Adam Lambert. Lambert, widely expected to become the next and first openly-gay Idol, lost the competition to Kris Allen in what was a shock to anyone who followed the hugely popular show. The potential culprit: employees at AT&T at two AT&T-sponsored Idol parties in Kris Allen’s home state of Arkansas. Since the final count of text message votes is kept a secret, there is no way of telling the impact the votes cast at the parties had.

Love muffins, this is one of those scenarios that makes you go, “hmmmmm.” Telecommunications giant AT&T is based in Texas, and is rumored to have given major funds to the Republican Party during the last election, which, as we all know, isn’t exactly the most liberal of parties; and more than likely isn’t 100% behind anything gay.

Thoughts?

4 year-old daughter of boxing legend Mike Tyson died Tuesday after being injured in a treadmill accident in Phoenix, Arizona. Exodus Tyson was discovered by her 7 year-old brother hanging on the treadmill “with her neck…on a cable.” Exodus’ mother removed her daughter from the cable and rushed her to a local hospital. Heavyweight champion Tyson was in Las Vegas at the time of the accident, but flew to be by his daughter’s side who lay in critical condition. Exodus was pronounced dead at 11:45am.

The 42 year-old Brooklyn-born boxer became the youngest heavyweight champion of the world in history when he was crowned with the title at age 20.

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Love muffins! Yours truly recently shot this super fierce photo for the NOH8 campaign. The NOH8 campaign was put together by celebrity photographer Adam Bouska and parter Jeff Parshley as a silent protest and photo project to be a direct response to the unfortunate passage of Proposition 8 (which amended the Constitution to ban same-sex marriage) last November.

To learn more about the amazing NOH8 campaign, as well as check out other photos of people and celebrities that support the NOH8 campaign, click here.

A 5.0 magnitude earthquake struck just north of Hawthorne at 8:39pm. Did any of my L.A. love muffins feel it?

Note: The hills in L.A. actually buffer earthquakes, so you get less damage and shaking if you live in say, the Hollywood Hills.

The official box office numbers are in and as expected, the 11th installment in the Star Trek series shot warp speed into the top spot, earning $72.5 million over the weekend. This is the largest opening ever in the franchise — the cume stands at $76.5 million including $4 million from Thursday evening’s previews. Internationally, the film grossed $35.8 million from 54 territories. Historically, the series has been a weak performer at the international box office, but this is expected to change with this latest release.

Love muffins, did you happen to catch Star Trek? It’s truly entertaining, the cast is super cute to watch, the visual effects are amazing. Go check it out. If you have already, thoughts??

View the rest of the top 5 movies after the jump.

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J.J. Abram’s (Lost, Cloverfield) mega-budget Star Trek, hitting theatres nationwide tomorrow (Friday the 8th), introduces a slew of new actors not known to the big screen. Abrams is attempting a large task; something a lot of directors may not be ballsy enough to handle – dealing with a Star Trek backstory that has never been told before. This latest installment (the 11th, to be exact) deals with the characters’ lives before the Starship Enterprise as we know it – indeed Abrams is going where no man has gone before.

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A wind-propelled fire rages across 1,300 acres in Santa Barbara County early today, Thursday, forcing nearly 13,500 residents to flee their homes. The fires have been fueled by high temperatures and low humidity, and have destroyed more than 20 homes thus far.

About 5,400 homes have been evacuated, with another 3,500 being threatened by the out-of-control blaze. According to Gov. Arnold Schwarzenegger, 1,400 firefighters have been sent to combat the inferno, with 10 being hurt thus far.

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Love muffins, I have some good news for you on our way to equality for all Americans. Same-sex marriages became legal in Maine today, Wednesday, as Gov. John Baldacci signed the bill less than an hour after the state legislature gave it the go-ahead. Maine is the latest state joining Massachusetts, Connecticut and Iowa to allow same-sex marriages. Vermont passed a law proclaiming that same-sex marriages are to become legal in September, and New Hampshire lawmakers are close to putting into effect a similar bill.

One step at a time, we are slowly but surely moving in the right direction!

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Love muffins – who would’ve seen this coming? Amidst perfect-10’s and mad love from viewers, Lil’ Kim was voted off ABC’s Dancing With The Stars last night. Paying homage to the Bed-Stuy plastic surgery beauty, watch her latest video in which is pretty cute after the jump – “Download” featuring Charlie Wilson & T-Pain.

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Love muffins, here is a story that is truly a miracle. We need to always be thankful for the blessings we have every day – this story touched my heart.

In 2004, a bullet wound tore away Connie Culp’s nose, cheeks and upper jaw. Metal fragments splattered into her skull, tearing her face away – only her eyes, chin and forehead remained. No doubt Connie was lucky to be alive.

Continue reading after the jump for before and after pictures. (...) Continue Reading →.

Hollywood heavyweights William Morris Agency (WMA) and Endeavor, after months of speculation and negotiations, have agreed to merge to form William Morris Endeavor Entertainment.

WME Entertainment – the new agency’s likely moniker – will rank in size with Creative Artists Agency (CAA), which for years as been the leader in show business representation. The new entity will house more than 300 agents representing clients in film, television, music, literary, commercials and corporate branding.

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Yes, love muffins, it’s that time of year again to round up a few friends, make a nice, big pitcher of shut your mouth potion, gather up the guacamole and tortilla chips, and have a good old time. Giving y’all a little history, the day actually commemorates Mexico’s defeat of the French army at the Battle of Puebla on May 5, 1892 (thanks, Wikipedia). This day is not to be confused with Mexico’s Independence Day on September 16 – the most important national patriotic day in Mexico.

Got any festivities planned for the evening? Any love muffins heading up to Spanish Kitchen on La Cienega Blvd. or Fiesta Cantina on Santa Monica Blvd. to celebrate?

The Material Mom continued her fight for the 3 year-old girl nicknamed “Mercy,” taking it to the highest court in Malawi as a man claiming to be the child’s father fights for custody of the girl.

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Janet Jackson’s “wardrobe malfunction” case will be re-examined at the order of the Supreme Court. Today the justices sent the case back to the federal court in Philadelphia that had originally thrown out the $550,000 government fine against CBS, the network responsible for airing the segment in which the singer’s breast was briefly exposed during the 2004 Super Bowl halftime show. The FCC ruled the segment obscene, and 20 of CBS’ affiliates were also fined.

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Maggie Gyllenhaal and actor Peter Saarsgard made it official on Saturday – the pair exchanged vows in Italy. The nuptials took place in a private ceremony at a small chapel in Brindisi. Among those in attendance were superstar younger brother, Jake, and girlfriend, Reese Witherspoon. The couple has a daughter together, 2 1/2 year-old Ramona.

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Love muffins, as I said before, I hope you all are thoroughly washing your hands after coming in and keeping that little bottle of hand sanitizer in your purse/manbags! I just wanted to update you on the latest health epidemic du jour, the swine flu.

The World Health Organization, or WHO, has upped the number of confirmed cases of swine flu to 615. This is a jump of 65 percent, and includes info gathered from 15 afflicted countries. The Organization reported 397 cases on Friday – the jump is due to the recent testing of backlogged specimens in Mexico. Mexico has the highest number of swine flu cases with 397 infected and 16 deaths; next up is the U.S. with 141 cases and one death. A 23-month old child brought to Texas from Mexico for treatment this week died shortly after this week.

Read more after the jump. (...) Continue Reading →.

For all my techie love muffins out there, as you may or may not have heard, the latest rumor is that Apple and Verizon are in heated talks to bring iPhone to the nation’s largest carrier next year. Apple’s exclusive deal with AT&T is supposedly set to expire in 2010, possibly giving the Cupertino-based company more room to spread its wings into the American market.

Continue after the jump. (...) Continue Reading →.

Breaking news: A 22-month-old baby from Mexico taken to Houston for medical treatment is the first U.S. fatality from the swine flu. The child was not a U.S. citizen.

Love muffins, yes, you all are all aware of the latest story to take over your local and every media outlet: the swine flu. Well, here’s a little blurb about where it’s believed the knock-out strain of influenza came from, and some scary statistics. Make sure my love muffins always wash their hands after coming in!

The earliest reported case of the flu came from the small mountain village of La Gloria, Mexico: population, 3,000. 5-year old Edgar Hernandez is believed to the first surviving case of the swine flu that has continued its spread to various countries across four continents. Edgar has luckily managed to bounce back from his symptoms.

Continue reading after the jump. (...) Continue Reading →.

Love muffins this is your opportunity to give us feedback our new design, please provide your thoughts and/or suggestions that you may have for us. Many thanks to Dustin of GossipOnThis for bringing to life our vision for the redesign.

In what promises to be one of the randomest combos of the year, Clay Aiken joins Miss Tyra Banks as an acting coach on tonight’s episode of ANTM (8pm EST on the CW).

Still riding high off of his successful Broadway run with Spamalot, Aiken says, “It was kind of neat to be able to talk to some kids who were going through something similar to what I had been through so many years ago on Idol,” in what he refers to as “reality-show stress.”

“I was on the other side of the table for once,” he continues, “which was a surreal experience for me.”

Clay and Tyra clicked when they first met, and try to stay in contact whenever they’re both in the same town. He believes she’s a real, down-to-earth person – something her talk show has allowed the world to really glimpse.

Will you love muffins be watching tonight?

Love muffins! Melanie Brown (formerly known as Scary Spice) made her debut this past weekend as ‘Peep Diva’ in “The Peep Show” strip revue at the Planet Hollywood Hotel and Casino in Las Vegas. There really isn’t much I can say other than the fact that her body is giving all kindsa fierce! Can you believe she’s had two kids? She must have learned a thing or two from my workout video!

See the rest of the pictures after the jump. Note: These may be NSFW. (...) Continue Reading →.

Love muffins, I just had to weigh in on the whole Nadya Suleman situation. First of all, why in the hell was this woman allowed to have eight more children in addition to the six she already had? Boo, you ain’t Angelina so please stop dying that dull, dry-looking hair. Isn’t pregnancy supposed to improve your hair, skin, etc.? Most importantly, if she doesn’t have any money, how did she afford to get that plastic surgery done to her face? She must’ve gone to Michael Jackson’s doc because her nose is giving us MJ circa 1994. Let me stop. Back to the news.

Bigmouth attorney Gloria Allred is now publicly saying that her fourteen children should be taken away from the Brangelina-wannabe mom. She’s angered over Nadya’s decision to fire the free nursing service supervised by Allred – the paranoid mom felt like the nurses were spying on her to send incriminating info to the attorney. Allred is accusing Suleman of going shopping rather than being at home with her children – and generally not spending enough time with them. Currently four of the octuplets are home, the other four still being monitored at an L.A.-area hospital.

What do we think of this?

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For my NYC love muffins, as I’m sure you’re all aware, doomsday has arrived and the MTA has voted unanimously to raise one-way train fare fifty cents to $2.50, and to scrap the W and Z lines. This couldn’t come at a worse time for New Yorkers in this deepening recession as the price of living in this city goes up every day. The new monthly unlimited Metrocard will set you back $103, up from $81, and you will see Long Island Railroad and Metro North fares increase as much as 23%. NYC’s seven bridges and tunnels will not go unaffected – tolls will increase 30% for cash users, and 26% for EZ Pass users.

If this isn’t enough, the transit giant will eliminate 21 bus lines in NYC, and another 14 systemwide. What this translates to is paying more, and getting less: longer wait times and decreased service.

Lord hammercy! When will things get better? Jesus take the wheel…of the cab because that’s how I’ll be getting around the city!

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