R&B singer R. Kelly was kicked off a tour with rapper Jay-Z Saturday, one day after Kelly walked offstage during a performance and allegedly was blasted with pepper spray by a member of Jay-Z’s entourage.

Jeff Sharp, a contractor with tour promoter Atlanta World Wide Touring, confirmed that Kelly had been removed from the tour, but would not comment on the reason.

“The fans deserve better than this,” Kelly said in a statement. “I’d like the show to go on. It’s really disappointing that Jay-Z and the promoter don’t.”

Jay-Z and R. Kelly were in the midst of a 40-city “Best of Both Worlds” tour, scheduled to run through Nov. 28. The tour has been beset by canceled shows and reports that the feuding performers weren’t even on speaking terms.

Sharp said Jay-Z would perform shows planned for Saturday and Monday at Madison Square Garden, but he did not know if the rapper would finish the tour as a solo act, or if the tour was simply finished.

The pepper-spray incident happened about an hour into Friday night’s show, when Kelly walked on stage and said he saw two people in the audience waving guns, said Kelly’s publicist, Allan Mayer. Kelly abruptly stopped his set around 9:30 p.m. while arena security employees searched for weapons.

Finding none, guards told Kelly it was safe to continue performing, Mayer said. But as the singer was making his way back to the stage, a man in Jay-Z’s entourage — apparently miffed that Kelly interrupted the show — sprayed him and two of his bodyguards in the face, Mayer said.

“I’m pretty sure Jay didn’t realize what was going on,” Mayer said.

All three men were treated at St. Vincent’s Hospital and released, he said. Jay-Z performed for another 45 minutes after Kelly was sprayed.

Jana Fleishman, publicist for Jay-Z, said Saturday that the rapper’s entourage knew nothing about the incident because it occurred while Jay-Z was performing. Jay-Z “did not attack R. Kelly in any way, shape or form,” Fleishman said.

In a radio interview on Hot 97 FM radio Friday, Jay-Z said he couldn’t understand why Kelly left the stage.

“You can’t get a gun inside Madison Square Garden,” the rapper said. “If people give me love he can’t take it.”

Mayer said Kelly’s lawyers were filing a criminal complaint against the man who allegedly sprayed him and also were considering legal action over the decision to remove the singer from the remaining tour dates.

“We’re considering all possible ways of protecting Robert’s interests,” Mayer said.

The Chicago Sun-Times reported discord between the two performers after Kelly showed up more than two hours late for a show in Chicago and walked off the stage mid-performance in St. Louis this month.

Three shows on the tour were canceled because of “technical difficulties” suffered by Kelly, Fleishman said.

As you know I spend alot of time on the road and every now and then I hear a song that I feel sounds a little different than the normal bullshit thats being produced. So when I heard “Used to love U” from John Legend’s debut album Get Lifted I said “Damn that was decent, I gotta pick that up.”

Unfortunately the album “Get Lifted” wont be available until December 28, 2004.

Listen to the track (Windows Media Format) Used To Love U From John Legend

So Im listening to XM last night on the way home from the strip club and who do I hear? Shawnna, I was wondering when they were going to start playing this chick. She flows pretty well, I aint going to front tho’ – Jackie O from Poe Boy got her beat, but still Im happy to see her getting some face time. I hope she does better than Rasheeda…

Here are a few wallpapers of Shawnna

So I finally get a chance to watch this video that is supposed to be sooo bad and so insulting to Michael Jackson today and the verdict is in. I think the video is just like all his others, he brings in some controversial content to make people TALK ABOUT IT. In all seriousness I do think the video is that bad, MJ’s hair did catch on fire, he does have problems with his fake nose, he is caught up in the court case about the shit with the kids… Basically he brought that shit on himself. You cant complain when you fuck up and people call you on it. Grow a damn backbone and deal with it.

Rapper Beanie Sigel was sentenced to a year in the slammer Friday on a gun-possession charge stemming from a traffic stop.

Things could have been much worse for the former Jay-Z protege–prosecutors were pressing for Sigel to do over three years in a Federal facility, but a Pennsylvania judge felt for the newly charitable Sigel.

“It is clear that the defendant has made a substantial effort to change his life,” said U.S. District Judge R. Barclay Surrick.

Sigel praised Surrick for his leniency Friday, saying he wanted to thank the judge for “giving me the second chance, the chance to turn my life around. I know now the situation I was in was a reckless and dangerous situation.”

Sigel, who counts Jay-Z, Beyonce, Damon Dash and several other hip-hop heavies amongst his supporters, was on trial for a 2002 incident in which Sigel jumped from his car and ran after a random police pullover. The hip-hopper allegedly tossed a loaded gun during the ensuing chase, and cops seized a veritable drugstore of prescription drugs and marijuana in Sigel’s customized Escalade.

The South Philly rapper pleaded guilty to the gun charge in April, hoping to avoid a lengthy sentence (Sigel has had numerous run-ins with the law and boasts a long rap sheet).

A judge dismissed rape charges against “Barbershop” actor Anthony Anderson on Wednesday, saying testimony by his accuser was some of the most “incredulous” he has ever heard.

Judge Anthony Johnson said the woman’s testimony at a preliminary hearing did not produce probable cause to let the charges stand.

A rape charge also was dismissed against co-defendant Wayne Witherspoon.

Anthony, the rotund comic co-star of “Kangaroo Jack” and the original “Barbershop,” and Witherspoon, an assistant director, have been in Memphis filming a movie.

The woman, who was seeking a job as a movie extra, said Anderson and Witherspoon attacked her July 27 in a trailer on the set.

Testifying to the judge, the woman acknowledged having sex with both Anderson and Witherspoon over a period of several days before the reported attack. She said those encounters also were forced but she didn’t report them.

Anderson and Witherspoon refused comment on their lawyer’s advice as they left the courtroom.

Paramount Classics is acquiring distribution rights to the documentary “Fade to Black,” a portrait of hip-hop star Jay-Z.

Under the deal, which sources said is nearly final, the film will roll out Nov. 5. The acquisition could mark a change in direction for Paramount Pictures’ specialty film arm.

The Paramount Classics label, headed by co-presidents David Dinerstein and Ruth Vitale, has concentrated in the past on acquiring art-house fare, with an emphasis on foreign-language features.

“Fade,” which focuses on the rise of hip-hop star Shawn Carter, better known as Jay-Z, should appeal to a potentially wider audience. The docu, directed by Pat Paulson and Michael John Warren, focuses specifically on Jay-Z’s November concert, which earned a street rep as a once-in-a-lifetime event. The film also looks at the star’s background and the recording of his “Black Album,” which the rapper has said is his last musical outing.

Tom Freston, Viacom Inc. co-president and co-chief operating officer, suggested last week that Paramount Classics would be taking a new direction, telling an investor conference that the label needs to become more competitive with other studio specialty film divisions. He also said he wants the studio to target younger and urban audiences.

“Fade” is pitched toward those audiences, but rather than viewing it as an immediate response to Freston’s remarks, sources familiar with the deal said it has been in the works since the summer.

Insiders have speculated that Paramount may launch a new specialty label under the Viacom banner devoted to genre fare like Sony’s Screen Gems. Others are betting that Paramount Classics will remain but will be forced to undergo executive changes. Neither Dinerstein nor Vitale was available for comment.

Freston again addressed the studio’s overall outlook Tuesday in New York at the Goldman Sachs Communacopia conference, saying it is closing deals “with all kinds of talent.” Paramount will skew movies to a younger audience, he reiterated, while it develops more specialty films, which he called a “great source of future growth.” Viacom’s strategic plans will be presented to the company’s board of directors next week, he said.

Jay-Z’s friends and colleagues who appear in “Fade to Black” include Beyonce, Mary J. Blige, Missy Elliott, R. Kelly, Foxy Brown, Pharrell, ?uestlove, the Illadelphonics, Damon Dash, Rick Rubin, Slick Rick and P. Diddy.

Jamie Foxx is the latest star to have his bedroom life become public after a Las Vegas construction worker discovered a box of 90 sexually explicit photos featuring the actor. Mark Pithian, 40, says he found the pictures — which allegedly depict the actor in sexual situations with an unidentified woman and by himself — in the garbage outside Foxx’s Las Vegas home.

Pithian claims that on Wednesday, Aug. 4, two men, “Lamont” and “Greg Chambers,” entered his apartment and demanded the “naked pictures” of Foxx, according to a Las Vegas police report on website TheSmokingGun.com,

At the time, Pithian denied having the photos, which led the men to argue and then begin throwing furniture at him. Pithian, who was treated for minor injuries at Sunrise hospital, is currently trying to peddle the revealing photos through an agent to the tabloids.

The 36-year-old Foxx’s film credits include in “Any Given Sunday,” “Ali,” “Breakin’ All the Rules” and “Collateral,” in theaters now. He next stars in the Ray Charles biopic “Ray,” which opens nationwide on Friday, Oct. 29

Namco America has filed a lawsuit against rapper Lil’ Flip and Sony Music Entertainment for copyright infringement, over the rapper’s hit song “Game Over.”

In a lawsuit filed in US District Court, Southern District of New York, Namco alleges their copyright was infringed upon, when sounds from the game “Pac-Man” and “Ms. Pac-Man” were included on “Game Over” and the remix to the song.

Lawyers for Namco were tightlipped about the details of the case.

The lawsuit alleges the sampled portions of the songs were never cleared and cited that the song contained references to guns, drugs and profanity.

Sources stated that Namco is seeking millions in damages, with some stating the amount could be as high as $10 million dollars.

“Game Over” is taken from Lil’ Flip’s platinum selling double album U Gotta Feel Me.

Read More: All Hip Hop

Rick James may have died of “natural causes,” as his label announced the day after his death, but a Los Angeles county coroner’s report released Thursday confirms the singer’s last few days may have been anything but homeopathic.

The coroner’s office officially ruled James’ Aug. 6 death “accidental,” but also noted that no fewer than nine drugs were found in his system, including methamphetamine and cocaine.

As E! exclusively reported Aug. 7, James was spotted just days prior to his death at a Hollywood party using cocaine, and many of his friends privately were concerned that the former “Superfreak” was back to his partying ways before his untimely death.

James and his family had maintained that the R&B/funk star successfully kicked his cocaine habit and was sober after years spent battling a crack addiction.

The “Give It to Me Baby” singer spent time in a Los Angeles jail during the mid 1990s for a 1991 crack-fueled assault and had said in past interviews that his time behind bars had convinced him to stay clean.

In addition to cocaine and crystal meth, the Los Angeles county coroner’s report noted the presence of seven other drugs found during the autopsy–specifically Xanax, Valium, Wellbutrin, Celexa, Digoxin, Chlorpheniramine and Vicodin. No single drug was found in quantities that would establish lethal quantities, hence the accidental death ruling.