Filed under: Music, Movies, Television, Gossip, News, Celeb Updates

CAN YOU GUESS WHAT OCHO CINCO STANDS FOR?

SOME STERN WORDS

DESPERATE TIMES CALL FOR DESPERATE MEASURES

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Filed under: Television, News, Celeb Updates

The hit CW sitcom 'The Game' may be over, but one of the popular show's star continues to forge ahead with new work.

Hunky actor Coby Bell -- who played the penny pinching jock Jason Pitts -- has landed a new gig.

The former 'Third Watch' star will join the upcoming season of the hit USA show, 'Burn Notice.' The 39 year-old Orange County, California native will be a series regular for the fourth season of the network's flagship series, which kicks off this summer.

He will play Jesse Garcia, a cocky, smooth-talking, counter intelligence expert, who has a chameleon-like ability to assume different aliases. According to the Hollywood Reporter, his character is committed to finding out who burned him and tracks down the one person in Miami he has something in common with - Michael Western, played by Jeffrey Donovan.

Bell, who owns a kids play space called Look What I Made in Long Beach, California, is the first lead actor from 'The Game' to get another full-time television series role since the show was abruptly canceled by The CW last year.

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Filed under: Movies, Interviews, Celeb Updates

Lance Gross has come a long way since his days at Howard University, where he contemplated a career as a professional track and field athlete. Making the decision to pursue his dream of acting and taking the jump to move to Hollywood has proved to be life changing.

This week, the 28 year-old actor will star opposite heavy-hitters like Academy Award-winner Forest Whitaker, Regina King and America Ferrara in the romantic comedy 'Our Family Wedding.' The film tackles the topic of an interracial couple who decided to get married and the difficulties they face when they meet each other's family.

It marks, perhaps, the first wedding movie to tackle the subject of what happens when a Latino and African-American decide to tie the knot.

For Gross, the timing to shoot a wedding film couldn't have been better. The Oakland native is marrying 'America's Next Top Model' winner Eva Marcille in July. So wedding planning has really been on the brain.

"It's weird, working on this movie...was like a really bad test run of my wedding," he joked. "But, I felt like this is all the stuff that went wrong [and] it went wrong in this movie, so it's not going to go wrong on my wedding."

The NAACP Image Award-winning Tyler Perry discovery added, "I caught myself pulling things I didn't want for my wedding from this movie, like no goat at all...and a better cake."

Unlike Marcus, his character in the Rick Famuyiwa-directed film, Gross said the most stressful part of planning his real-life nuptials has been "writing the checks because I write the checks and I gotta pay for it."

After the large-scale wedding, complete with four hundred guests, the couple will honeymoon in Portofino, Italy.
Then, in August, Gross will begin shooting the sixth season of the hit TBS series 'Tyler Perry's House of Payne,' where he stars as Calvin Payne.

"It's definitely a lot more relaxed doing a film -- working with Tyler Perry is unlike any other sitcom show," he shared.
Perry has been known to pack in a hectic shooting schedule of three or four episodes a week, with only one day for rehearsal, which Gross said is "the best boot camp you can get."

In between 'Payne' and the film promotion, Gross revealed that he got really close to nailing a part in the upcoming revival of August Wilson's play 'Fences' opposite Denzel Washington and Viola Davis. He's staying positive that one day he'll be bigger than Will Smith.

"I'm a person who believes in the law of attraction, so if you claim it, it's going to be," he said.

"I didn't expect Tyler Perry to walk in my acting class and basically give me a job. I knew it would be hard work to break in, but I was always hopeful and knew it was going to happen."

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Filed under: News, Celeb Updates

Since making music industry history by being the first artist to have five consecutive number one albums on the Billboard Top 200 charts, DMX has battled with staying out of trouble with the law.

After serving half of his 18 month probation, the former Def Jam Records superstar has found a way to find himself back in jail.

The 39 year-old rapper (real name: Earl Simmons) was arrested in Arizona on March 9 for allegedly violating his probation by using drugs, including cocaine.

This marks the fifth time the MC has been arrested by deputies in Phoenix.

The 'Belly' actor previously served a 90-day sentence for felony convictions including cruelty to animals, theft and two drug counts and was released from jail in May.

In other news, DMX's wife Tashera Simmons is planning on writing a tell-all book about her life with the 'Where My Dogs At' rapper. The book, titled 'Strength of Woman,' plays on the title of DMX's short-lived 2006 reality series 'DMX: Soul of a Man.' The couple, who have been married since 1999, have withstood DMX's off-again, on-again jail terms, not to mention several child paternity suits.

According to her rep, the book will highlight "her account of survival and family strength in a chaotic life and the fame that came with that life."

Tashera Simmons previously appeared on the VH1 reality show 'Gotti's Way' as a friend of music mogul Irv Gotti's wife, Deb.

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Filed under: Television, News, Celeb Updates

Bravo's 'Real Housewives of Atlanta' star Nene Leakes is speaking out about her eldest son's recent arrest for possession of marijuana outside of Atlanta on March 7.

The tell-it-like-it-is reality television star released a statement to the BV Newswire, letting it be known that she is not happy with her son Bryson Bryant, a former Clark Atlanta University student. Since Bryant is a minor, he was taken to Gwinnett County Detention Center.

"Like any parent, I am disappointed with the actions and arrest of my son, Bryson," she said.

"Certainly, my husband and I will deal with this family issue in a private manner."

Gwinnett County Police officers arrested Bryson, an aspiring party promoter, after they say they found him with less than an ounce of marijuana. He was also picked up for a failure to appear warrant.

The 'Never Make the Same Mistake Twice' author says that she hopes the situation will help other parents going through similar circumstance with their children and drug use: "My son is not the first young adult to experiment with marijuana and he certainly won't be the last. Still, as parents, this is a chance for us to have an open dialogue with him about the dangers of any substance abuse."

"I realize as a parent that my job is never done," she continued. "And as I've tweeted, tough love was in order. Still, I ask that you respect our privacy during this trying time."

Both of Leakes' sons, as well as her husband, have appeared on the top-rated Bravo reality TV show, which will return for a third season later this year.

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Filed under: Movies, Star Quotes

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