Gives New Meaning to "Papa Don't Preach"
It looks like that old P.Diddy saying "mo money, mo problems" definitely applies to the Osbourne clan. After a string of crises, including Sharon's battle with cancer, Ozzy's life-threatening accident, Jack's stint in rehab, and several lawsuits, Sharon and Ozzy appeared on Larry King last Friday to add one more to the list: Kelly's addiction to pain killers.
The 19-year-old checked into the Promises rehab center, in Malibu, CA, just hours before Larry King went on the air. The addiction center has also treated Ben Affleck, Robert Downey Jr., and Christian Slater.
The family found out about Kelly's addiction that morning after a British tabloid revealed a photo of her doing a drug deal. They confronted Kelly and discovered her stash of about 500 prescription pills, including Vicodin and Norco. "I am angry, I am let down, I feel I've failed again, he's failed again," said Sharon. Ozzy partly blamed himself, "Well, you know, I believe it's a family illness. Because I am a drug addict." He also blamed his daughter's addiction on the Internet. "In this day and age, the availability of getting drugs is incredible," he said on CNN. "You can get it online."
Look for the new season of The Osbournes to start Tuesday, April 6.
Smoke and Mirrors, Smoke and Mirrors
When did getting busted for being involved in child pornography become a positive career move? Two years after R. Kelly's sex scandal with underage girls erupted, the Pied Piper of R&B is flying higher than ever.
After successfully persuading a Chicago judge to drop seven of the 21 counts of child pornography charges against him and having a Florida judge toss evidence, R. Kelly's legal team appeared in court in Chicago last week to argue for dismissal of the entire case.
In February, Kelly's savvy lawyers claimed that seven of the child pornography counts in Chicago were based on laws that weren't in place when the tape was made. In March, they argued that photos found in Kelly's Florida home allegedly showing him having sex with an underage girl, were illegally taken as evidence. Last week, the defense team attempted to wipe away a little more of Kelly's mess by arguing that the window of time in which the prosecution claims the tape was made is too wide to produce an alibi. Kelly's lawyers also complained that the penalty he faces is too severe and that the list of 200 witnesses being used by the court is too long.
But it's not only the courts that are going easy on the song man. It seems like nearly everyone has forgiven R. Kelly for the sordid 27-minute video that allegedly featured the singer having sex with a 14-year-old girl. The scandal even seems to have helped his career. The villain-turned-martyr's work is in heavy rotation on both MTV and BET. Kelly has also worked with just about every popular teen act from Nick Cannon to B2K to Cassidy without any protest. Does this mean that Michael Jackson will have a platinum album out next year?
Who Knew Sexual Orientation Had Anything to Do With Dress Codes?
A 15-year-old New Yorker won a $30,000 settlement from the city last week over her suspension from school for wearing a T-shirt that stated "Barbie Is a Lesbian." Teachers at Middle School 210 sent Natalie Young, an openly gay student, home for refusing to change her shirt, even though the school didn't have an official dress code.
Young went on to sue the school, claiming that her right to free speech was violated. She also complained that the incident was just one of several discriminatory events to have taken place at the school. In suing, she wanted to make a stand for gay students. "I think they should feel more comfortable about who they are," she told the Associated Press. The city resolved the suit before it went to court and decided to set a formal dress code for students.
What We're Talking About This Week 1) Britney's Cringe-Inducing Re-enactment of a Maxim Photo Spread
Britney Spears' Onyx Hotel special on Showtime last week was more Pam Anderson than Madonna, with a 15-song set that featured her in a satin bra and panties making out with a backup dancer and singing about self-love in that nude bodysuit from the "Toxic" video.
2) The Weirdest Reality TV Show Announcement of All Time
Whitney Houston and Bobby Brown have apparently begun filming their own reality show. Ananova.com reports that Bobby Brown is spearheading the project with his production company B2 Entertainment. He plans to shop the show to major television networks. The couple was spotted around Atlanta filming last week.
3) The "Psych!" Heard Around the World
Ashton Kutcher Punk'd just about everyone when he announced that he had just wrapped up eight new episodes of his show, which will hit MTV this month. Last December, he fooled the press into thinking that he was pulling the plug on the popular series.
