50 Cent has a beef with Taco Bell — and yes, it's a spicy beef, to the tune of a $4 million lawsuit. The rapper has sued the fast-foodery, claiming that its "Why Pay More?" ad campaign uses his name without permission, by publicly asking him to call himself 79, 89 or 99 Cent. (It's a value-menu joke. Har.)Court papers say that Taco Bell sent a letter "requesting" the name change — and offering to donate $10,000 in 50 Cent's name to charity for doing so — to news outlets, but never actually to the rapper. Instead, 50 Cent learned of his name's appropriation through a news report. Taco Bell responded to the suit by maintaining the overture was "a good faith, charitable offer." — Matt Mitovich
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MTV on Thursday announced its roster of new summer and fall shows, which will include a mix of reality, competition, music and issue-oriented series. The net's biggest celeb pairing of the season may be with Curtis "50 Cent" Jackson for an Apprentice-meets-Real-World type of combo, where 16 contestants compete for a scholarship to a graduate or undergraduate business program — ostensibly so that they can become a mega-mogul like 50. The Untitled 50 Cent Project, however, is just one of several newbies hitting MTV airwaves in the months to come. The others include:Buzzin: A reality series following the paths of music artists Shwayze (apparently self-described as "the only black kid in Malibu") and his BFF, Cisco Adler. Sounds like: Making the Band meets The Hills.Busted: Sounds like Cops meets Juvies. Need we say more?Baby Dolls: A half-hour, doc-style scripted comedy about celebrity worship, from the perspective of an assistant to a rising Hollywood starlet. Sounds like: The De...
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How does the song go? "If I Were a Rich Dog... "? The late Leona Helmsley's dog, Trouble, earns $12 million per year and makes Parade magazine's annual "What People Earn" survey. But trouble loves company: The pooch is joined by Ryan Seacrest at the $12 mil mark.But that's kibbles & bits when compared to other celebs, like Miley Cyrus ($18.2 million), 50 Cent ($33 million), Dr. Phil ($90 million) and Oprah ($260 million).The magazine also surveyed regular folks (that is, folks who don't turn up on tabloid covers) and found they make roughly 1/100th of the top-paid celebs.So who's worth it: Is Miley worth $18.2 million? Is Dr. Phil a bargain at $90 mil? — J.R. Whalen
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Moments after wrapping up a press conference for television critics last weekend, Weeds star Romany Malco joined TVGuide.com in the Beverly Hilton Hotel lobby to dish about the dark comedy’s third season, his character Conrad’s sexual tension with Nancy and what it’s really like to work with an Olsen twin. TVGuide.com: Tell me something nobody else knows about the new season.Romany Malco: Perhaps one of the most unpredictable things, at least for me, is U-Turn. So far, when I’ve been reading the scripts, the one time where I went, “No!” is U-Turn. The way that dude comes into Nancy’s life, everybody is going to be so hurt because everybody wanted Conrad to be with Nancy. Then U-Turn comes into the picture and — I haven’t told anybody else — it ain’t about Conrad right now.TVGuide.com: So Nancy is attracted to U-Turn?Malco: Yeah. It’s very interesting. He has this charm and he has this thick skin and swagger that Nancy takes...
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Laurence Fishburne is adapting the best-selling novel The Alchemist into a feature film fancied as "Harry Potter meets Indiana Jones." Fishburne will also direct.... Rapper 50 Cent is in final talks to join Robert De Niro and Al Pacino in the crime thriller Righteous Kill, playing a drug dealer who helps track a serial killer.... Djimon Hounsou is a mixed-martial-arts coach in Get Some, an indie drama also starring Sean Faris, Amber Heard (Hidden Palms) and Cam Gigandet (The O.C.).... Alfred Hitchcock's first film, The Lodger, is being remade as a modern-day urban thriller set in Los Angeles.... Oliver Platt will play television exec Bob Zelnick in Ron Howard's Frost/Nixon film.
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