When looking back at how he raised Michael Jackson, father Joe Jackson can’t find fault with his notorious disciplinarian ways.

In an interview filmed by JacksonSecretVault.com, the elder Jackson responded to the claim that he was “a bit too strict” with his most famous son.

“I had to be like that because when raising him, in those days, so many gangs out there getting into trouble, going to jail,” the Jackson family patriarch said in a clip posted to TMZ. “Most of them are dead now. He didn't have to worry about that.”

While the late King of Pop didn’t worry about those gangs, he openly admitted to living in fear of his father. Joe Jackson now dismisses the abuse talk as being overblown by the media and insists that he has no regrets.

“(Regret) for what? No!” the elder Jackson said. “They tried to make a big issue when I spanked Michael or some of the kids, ya know? Just like they didn't spank their kids when they did wrong. The media twists everything.”

Hip-hop star Kanye West is still feeling the pain over his ambush of Taylor Swift last year — and he's expressing his pain all over Twitter.

West unleashed a torrent of emotions on his official Twitter account Saturday, acknowledging once again that he was wrong for jumping on stage, grabbing the microphone from Swift at the MTV Video Music Awards and saying her trophy should have gone to Beyonce.

But the rapper-producer said that he has experienced enormous pain, been the subject of death wishes and suffered tremendous setback to his career.

"How deep is the scar ... I bled hard ... cancelled tour with the number one pop star in the world ... closed the doors of my clothing office," he tweeted.

The multiplatinum, Grammy-winning superstar had been one of the decade's most successful and critically acclaimed stars, despite sometimes boorish behavior and meltdowns at other awards shows when things did not go his way.

However, when he upstaged Swift — the then-teenage darling of pop and country music worlds —the public had had enough. There was tremendous backlash against West — even President Barack Obama was caught calling him a "jackass."

At the time, he went on Jay Leno's prime-time show to apologize and said he still had not recovered from his mother's death two years prior. He said he would be taking time off from the public eye.

That time off came sooner than expected. He canceled a joint tour with Lady Gaga that fall, apparently due to low ticket sales. On Twitter, West talked about the backlash.

"I'm the guy who at one point could perform the Justin Timberlake on stage and everyone would be sooo happy that I was there," he wrote.

After the incident, he said, "People tweeted that they wish I was dead ... No listen. They wanted me to die people. I carry that. I smile and take pictures through that."

West said he's now "ready to get out of my own way. The ego is overdone."

He also apologized to Swift again, and said he has written a song for her that he hopes she will perform.

"If she won't take it then I will perform it for her," he said.

West is working on a new album that is supposed to come out sometime this fall. A recent member of Twitter, West has been an active user, posting not only his feelings, but new songs and other updates. He has over 900,000 followers since he joined earlier this summer.

"Man I love Twitter ... I've always been at the mercy of the press but no more ... The media tried to demonize me," he tweeted Saturday.

Lab tests on suspected illegal drugs taken from rapper T.I.'s car Wednesday night should be completed by Friday, according to a Los Angeles County Sheriff's spokeswoman.

Police arrested T.I., whose real name is Clifford Harris, and his wife, "Tiny" Tameka Cottle, during a traffic stop on Sunset Boulevard in West Hollywood on Wednesday night.

Harris, 29, and Cottle, 35, allegedly possessed a controlled substance, the spokeswoman said.

During the stop, police said, they smelled an odor of marijuana coming from the couple's car.

Harris and his wife were released Thursday morning on $10,000 bail, according to his lawyer.

Their mug shots will not be made public until investigators confirm through lab tests that the seized substance was an illegal drug, sheriff's spokeswoman Nicole Nishida said,.

Steve Sadow, the Atlanta, Georgia, lawyer who represented Harris in his federal firearms case in 2008, was coincidentally in Los Angeles, where he is the lead defense lawyer in the Anna Nicole Smith drug trial.

He and Christopher Smith, his Los Angeles co-counsel in representing Smith defendant Howard K. Stern, will also represent Harris and his wife in the newest case, he said.

"It was a late night," Sadow said at one point in the Smith trial Thursday morning.

Harris will have an initial hearing in November since he has already posted bond, Sadow said.

Sadow would not comment on what affect the drug arrest might have on Harris' probation in the federal conviction.

In 2008, Harris was sentenced on charges of unlawfully possessing firearms as a convicted felon. The charges came after an arrest by federal agents a year earlier while Harris was buying three machine guns in the parking lot of an Atlanta grocery store.

Harris was released after serving nine months in prison and three months in a halfway house.

Usher's marriage to Tameka Foster may have ended in divorce, but the singer doesn't consider the relationship a failure.

"I appreciate the relationship for what it was," he says. "Even though it didn't work out, I'm glad we got together. I love her as the mother of my children; we just couldn't be married."

So what went wrong? Usher says that shortly after the birth of their second child, he and Foster started to disagree over everything from parenting style to his busy schedule.

"We're two different people," he says, "and we have two different goals. It just was never going to work out 100 percent."

The singer, 31, who sat down with PEOPLE in his Atlanta-area home, says that the couple's priority continues to be their children. (He and Foster share custody of Usher V, who turns 3 in November, and Naviyd, who turns 2 a month later.)

"We had to put our issues aside and focus on raising them," he says. "There will never be another mother for my sons, and I'll always be their father."

Like Father, Like Sons

Raising two boisterous boys can be challenging, especially when they take after their famous dad. "Usher [V] is always in everything," he says. "He's an instigator. He's the one who leads his brother astray. I was like that when I was his age."

Naviyd is more of a follower, doing whatever his big brother does. "So if one gets in trouble, the other one does, too," says Usher. "They both have a lot of energy. They can wear me out."

Fortunately, Usher has a babysitter nearby -- his mom, Jonetta Patton, lives around the corner. "She spoils them," Usher says with a sigh. "She lets them do everything that she wouldn't let me do. Sometimes, when I'm scolding the kids, I sound just like my mom. I'm like, 'how did Jonetta get in here?' "

His Career

Usher, who released his new EP "Versus" last week, says that his work continues to evolve as he evolves in his own life.

"My music is about where I am at the time," he says. "In 'Raymond vs. Raymond,' I was going through a lot of things, and it came out in my music. My marriage fell apart and I was suddenly a single father. But now, with 'Versus,' I'm singing about being adating father."

And will he sing about falling in love again? "I still believe in love," says Usher. "I believe in marriage. When I fall in love again, everyone will know. I'll sing about it."

A Chicago-based comedian and radio personality who said he was denied the right to buy a house in Bridgeport because of race Thursday sued the homeowners and real estate agents involved in the deal.

George Willborn and his wife, Peytyn, filed the discrimination lawsuit in federal court, charging that homeowners Daniel and Adrienne Sabbia refused to sell them the home because the Willborns are black. The suit contends the couples had a verbal deal last January for $1.7 million on a five-bedroom home at 3300 S. Normal but that the Sabbias then declined to sign contracts.

George and Peytyn Willborn (pictured) leave the Federal Building after their attorneys filed a discrimination lawsuit Thursday.

The suit also names Prudential Rubloff Properties and Jeffrey Lowe of Lowe Group Chicago Inc., Realtors who were representing the Sabbias.

This month, the U.S. Department of Housing and Urban Development filed a discrimination complaint against the Sabbias and the real estate agents. The Willborns have exercised their right to transfer that administrative hearing to federal court, requiring the Justice Department to seek damages on the couple's behalf.

The HUD case hinges on testimony Lowe gave to a federal investigator in which, according to the complaint, he said the Sabbias decided they would rather not sell to a black family.

Willie Gary, an attorney for the Willborns, said it is likely the separate cases will be consolidated. For now, the two-track legal process provides pressure for a financial settlement.

An attorney for the Sabbias could not be reached. Lawyers for the Realtors vociferously denied that their clients did anything wrong. Edward Feldman, an attorney with Miller Shakman & Beem LLP representing Lowe, said his client supports fair housing laws. "He wanted very much for the Sabbias to sell to the Willborns" and doesn't believe race led to the ultimate denial, Feldman said.

Lowe afterward "helped the Willborns by showing them other houses," Feldman said.

Attorney Ben Heller of the firm said the HUD case shows the agents took no part in discrimination. "There is simply no evidence that Jeff or Prudential acted inappropriately at any time," said Heller, of the firm Wilson Elser Moskowitz Edelman & Dicker LLP.

The Sabbias refused to close the sale despite protracted negotiations with the Willborns, the HUD complaint said, then took their home off the market. They re-listed it a couple of months later for $1.799 million, but have withdrawn it from the market again.

Willborn co-hosts the syndicated "Michael Baisden Show" on WSRB-FM (106.3) and formerly worked at WVAZ-FM (102.7).

The Bridgeport neighborhood, cradle of the Daley dynasty, has been known for hostility to blacks, although many think bigotry in the neighborhood has declined.

Asked why he would want his family there, Willborn said, "I didn't care where the home was. It was a specific type of house that my wife and I felt that we had earned the right to live in. . . . It just happened to be in Bridgeport."

A birthday fit for a king! Michael Jackson's native Gary, Ind., will hold a tribute outside the pop star's boyhood home Saturday.

Jackson, who died last year after overdosing on sedatives, would have turned 52 on Sunday.

He grew up in Gary, Ind. before he and his family struck it big as the Jackson 5. His family moved to Los Angeles in 1969.

Jackson's mother, Katherine, will be in attendance at a tree planting outside the family's home at 2 p.m., according to a press release. She also particpated in an event marking the one-year anniversary of her son's death in Gary, Ind.

August 26-29 also marks the first MJFanvention, www.mjfanvention.com , which will be held the Radisson Hotel and Star Plaza Theatre in Merrillville, Ind. Members of Jackson's family are expected to attend the four-day event. Tickets start at $78 and packages range into $2,000.

Jackson's niece and first cousin will be performing.

A federal appeals court has upheld a jury's verdict that actor-screenwriter Tyler Perry didn't steal material for his 2005 movie "Diary of a Mad Black Woman."

Two years ago, jurors in East Texas found actress and writer Donna West failed to support her copyright infringement claim.

West appealed the verdict. The 5th U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals ruled Monday there was nothing improper in the way the trial was conducted.

West wrote a play titled "Fantasy of a Black Woman" that was performed three times in 1991 in Dallas. She claimed Perry could have seen the script when he presented his plays at the Dallas Black Academy of Arts and Letters in 1998.

Perry testified his screenplay was an original work. The $5 million film grossed more than $50 million.

Rapper turned actor Ice-T has been cleared of allegations he was caught driving without insurance last month in New York City after a Manhattan prosecutor acknowledged his arrest stemmed from a clerical snafu at the Department of Motor Vehicles.

The current star of " Law and Order: Special Victims Unit" was heard shouting, "That's what I'm talking about - dismissed!" as he exited the courtroom.

The incident occurred on July 20, when the 52-year-old rapper, whose real name is Tracy Marrow, was apparently caught driving with a suspended license, invalid insurance and without his seat belt. At the time, Morrow claimed he had both valid insurance and an up-to-date license.

He even took to his Twitter page to prove he was innocent and even called the officer who arrest him a "punk."

In court, prosecutors said the state's Department of Motor Vehicles suspended Morrow's license two years ago on the basis that he had failed to obtain insurance. However, according to research, Marrow's records were up to date. The clerical error came about when the entertainer switched his license and plates to reflect he had moved to New Jersey -- a change that was apparently never registered in the DMV's computer records.

"I knew I didn't do anything wrong," Morrow said outside the courtroom. In addition, he said he didn't plan to sue over the matter.

A decision on who is eligible to run for president in Haiti has been postponed until Friday, leaving hip-hop artist Wyclef Jean and the other presidential hopefuls in limbo, said Berto Dorce, Jean's lawyer.

Haiti's election commission was scheduled to make a decision Tuesday night.

Jean's eligibility was under question after claims that he has not lived in Haiti for five consecutive years before the election; a mandate in the nation's Constitution.

Jean's lawyer said his client meets that criteria.

"His candidacy has been contested and we went to court and proved that he is legally entitled to run for president," Dorce said. "Jean's position is pretty strong. He should be on the list."

Dorce said Wyclef has been paying taxes in Haiti, which makes him eligible.

"Wyclef has been a shareholder of the local TV corporation called Telemax, and was paying taxes at least for five years; this was sufficient for the Justice of the Peace to issue a certificate of residence for Mr. Wyclef and confirm his residency," Dorce said.

Jean announced August 5 on "Larry King Live" amid fanfare that he had filled out the paperwork to run for president.

But since then, Jean's announcement has met with some criticism.

Pras, who once performed alongside Jean and Lauryn Hill in the '90s group The Fugees, said he supported Jean's opponent.

Actor Sean Penn, who has lived in Port-au-Prince for months helping displaced Haitians, also questioned whether the Haitian-born musician could make moves to lead the devastated nation.

And now, Jean said he has received multiple death threats.

"We have been getting threats since last night telling me if I know what's good for me, I would get out [of] the country," Jean wrote in an e-mail to reporters late Tuesday.

Jean's lawyer also talked about the alleged threats.

"Wyclef has been repeatedly getting anonymous threats from people who are saying that he should think twice before running for the president. We cannot tell who are sending these threats, but the closer the announcement, the more threats Jean is getting," Dorce said.

Just hours after DMX was released from LA County lockup yesterday, he was pulled over by cops on Sunset Blvd. for a minor traffic violation.

According to TMZ, the rapper was coming from a recording studio around 11:20 p.m. when police stopped his rented Mercedes-Benz on Sunset Blvd for a minor traffic violation.

Once officers asked for X’s information, they learned that he didn’t have a valid driver’s license, the website reported.

DMX wasn’t taken into custody, but he was issued a citation and is due to appear in court sometime in the near future. According to TMZ, cops allowed a passenger in the car to drive the rapper home.

DMX was released from jail Thursday after serving 18 days of a 90-day sentence stemming from a reckless driving conviction in 2002.

Rapper Foxy Brown has been indicted on charges of violating an order of protection stemming from a 2007 confrontation with her neighbor in New York City.

Prosecutors say Brown violated the order in July by screaming at neighbor Arlene Raymond before bending over, baring her buttocks at Raymond and showing her underwear while shouting an obscenity.

The 31-year-old Brown was issued the order of protection after pleading guilty in 2008 to menacing Raymond with her cell phone.

The two had been in a dispute over Brown blasting her car stereo outside their Brooklyn building.

The indictment announced Friday charges Brown, whose real name is Inga Marchand, with criminal contempt in the second degree. She could face up to one year in jail.

A lawyer for Brown did not immediately respond to a request for comment.

Police believed they were responding to an attempted suicide after "American Idol" winner Fantasia overdosed on aspirin and other pills at her home in Charlotte, but her manager says she wasn't trying to kill herself.

The Charlotte-Mecklenburg Police report released Wednesday did not name the victim but Fantasia's manager confirmed that she overdosed. A man told a 911 dispatcher that she took a bottle of aspirin and was slowly losing consciousness. Police did not identify the caller.

Manager Brian Dickens said Fantasia overdosed on the pills and a sleep aid but that her injuries were not life-threatening and that it wasn't a suicide attempt. She was released from the hospital Wednesday, Dickens said. Earlier, he said she was "in great condition, very stable, very alert and looking forward to returning to work."

The overdose came days after a woman accused Fantasia in court documents of having an affair with her husband. Fantasia was "overwhelmed by the lawsuit and the media attention," Dickens said in a statement Tuesday.

The 911 caller described the victim as awake and breathing. Family members doused her in the shower trying to keep her awake. The dispatcher told the caller to take the victim out of the shower.

Dickens acknowledged Tuesday that Fantasia had a relationship with a Charlotte man named Antwaun Cook for 11 months. In a court filing last week seeking alimony and child support payments, Paula Cook alleged that her husband and Fantasia had recorded sex tapes.

Fantasia read the complaint Monday, Dickens said.

"Fantasia fell in love with Mr. Cook and believed that he loved her," Dickens' statement said. "Fantasia is heartbroken and is sorry for any pain she may have caused."

Since winning the "American Idol" crown in 2004, Fantasia has seen success and troubles. While she's had both platinum and gold albums and starred on Broadway in "The Color Purple," she almost lost her home in 2008.

A VH1 reality show, "Fantasia For Real," debuted earlier this year, chronicling her struggles as a single mother trying to support her family, as well as her attempts to jump-start her career, which has sagged in recent years.

"At this moment it's too soon for us to speak to how these events will change the show and or if anything will be re-worked," a VH1 spokeswoman said.

Cameras were not rolling when she checked in and "we are not currently filming but will most likely resume filming in the near future," she said.

Hospitalization delay cost comedian-actor his life, suit contends.

A day after a South Side dermatologist denied claims he delayed emergency care for Emmy-nominated comedian Bernie Mac -- hastening his death -- an attorney for the late actor's family says medical experts back up allegations that the skin doctor dragged out a nine-hour appointment rather than summon an ambulance for the ailing Mac.

By the time Mac left the office of Dr. Rene M. Earles and arrived at Northwestern Memorial Hospital that July 17, 2008, his condition was so bad he was unable to recover, dying weeks later due to complications from pneumonia, said Chicago attorney Larry Rogers Sr.

"We had the records reviewed, and a dermatologist told us he [Earles] shouldn't have kept Bernie in the office as long as he did with his vital signs as bad as they were," Rogers told the Sun-Times. "I also talked to a pulmonologist who said the same thing."

Rogers is representing the actor's wife, Rhonda McCullough, in a wrongful death lawsuit filed last week against Dr. Earles.

On that fateful July day, Mac had been diagnosed with pneumonia, Rogers said. But the actor told another physician he was first going to an appointment at Dr. Earles' clinic, 2930 South Michigan Ave., before checking in to the hospital, Rogers said, citing witness and medical accounts.

Earles told the Sun-Times this week that Mac, a 20-year patient, had an appointment that day to be treated for lesions on his head, neck and face caused by the chronic lung inflammatory disease sarcoidosis.

While Mac was able to walk in and out of the clinic, the actor looked weak, Earles recalled. Mac told Earles that he had a cold and had received "an injection" for it, Earles said.

With that, Earles decided to forgo the skin treatment, gave him oxygen and let him sleep for four hours at the clinic.

After that, Earles said he gave Mac a physical exam, determining the actor had a "low-grade fever, was wheezing, was breaking out in a rash, and his heart started beating faster."

Earles said he believed the actor, a Chicago native whose real name is Bernard J. McCullough, was suffering from an allergic reaction to the injection he was given earlier in the day.

He treated Mac and called his doctor, who is affiliated with Northwestern Memorial Hospital. It was then, Earles said, he learned Mac had pneumonia. He ordered Mac to go to the hospital immediately; the actor walked out to his chauffeur-driven car and was whisked away to the hospital just after 10 p.m.

But Rogers questions why Earles treated him for this reaction instead of summoning an ambulance.

"He's a dermatologist, why would he be treating him for a reaction to an injection another doctor gave him earlier? It doesn't make sense. If Bernie was in critical condition., he should have called 911 and taken to the hospital right away."

Rogers also questions Earles' assertion he didn't treat Mac for his skin problems; the attorney points out that the lesion treatments can last nine hours.

"There's no reason for Bernie to stay in Earles clinic unless he was being treated," Rogers said.

Doctors that Rogers consulted say Mac might have lived, had he received immediate medical attention, Rogers said. Instead he suffered from pneumonia and then contracted MRSA-- the drug-resistant superbug.

Ultimately, Mac died weeks later, on Aug. 9, 2008, at age 50.

Earles denies the negligence allegations and told the Sun-Times this week he doesn't understand how Mac's wife could point the finger at him, when her husband died weeks after being treated at his office.

Saying that he was like a brother after all these years, Earles told the Sun-Times that Mac's death was "devastating" to him.

Fantasia Barrino again is making negative headlines. The "American Idol'' winner and Broadway star is named in a North Carolina lawsuit, with Paula Cook claiming Barrino not only engaged in an affair with her husband, Antwaun Cook, but made a sex tape with him.

Mrs. Cook filed the suit to seek child support from her estranged husband, further charging Barrino and Antwaun Cook began their ''covert adulterous affair'' in August 2009 -- after meeting at a T-Mobile store.

"American Idol" winner Fantasia Barrino denies any romantic ties with a man she allegedly met in a T-Mobile store.

Barrino has denied any romantic involvement with Cook and has not commented on the filing of the lawsuit.

North Carolina is one of seven states with ''home wrecker'' laws on the books. However, no lawsuit specifically targeting Barrino has yet been filed.

Along with claiming Barrino and Cook ''recorded their illicit activity,'' Paula Cook further claims Barrino told her in a phone conversation, ''He don't want you. Maybe the next time that you get a husband you'll know how to keep him. That's why he is here with me.''

• Since winning the third season of ''American Idol'' in 2004, Barrino has been plagued by a number of unflattering stories, including tales of financial problems and missing many performances in the Broadway production of ''The Color Purple.'' A longtime ''Idol'' staffer said Sunday, ''I don't think you'll be seeing Fantasia in any way used in the upcoming season of the show.''

People planning to attend a certain garage sale in New Jersey should make sure they bring along a lot of cash.

One-time couple Russell and Kimora Lee Simmons are selling their house and everything in it. The Saddle River mansion, once featured on MTV's "Cribs" is currently open to the public giving people the opportunity to cash in on all the pricey items.

However, this isn't your typical yard sale. Some of the items up for grabs include a $200,000 designer bed, $20 doggie bed, $12,000 Persian rug, a $20,000 pair of brass lion statues and two couches from the South Beach home of the late Gianni Versace that went for $7,500 each.

People can also have their pick of a $200,000 painting by Faith Ringgold, $20,000 bronze lions, $7,500 red and blue Versace chairs, $5,000 chaise lounge or $3 coffee mugs. The sale began Thursday and comes to an end on Saturday.

Visitors roaming through the home may want to be careful, though. Signs posted throughout the estate warn people, "If you break it, you bought it."

Russell Simmons, co-found of Def Jam records and the Phat Farm Clothing line, and Kimora, creative director of the Baby Phat fashion line, split last year. In July, they sold their sprawling mansion for a whopping $13.9 million. Sign Up To Receive WPIX Breaking News Email Alerts

The wife of the late comedian and Chicago native Bernie Mac has filed a wrongful-death suit against his longtime doctor.

Rhonda McCullough alleges in court papers that South Side dermatologist Rene M. Earles kept her ailing husband at his clinic for nine hours on July 17, 2008, rather than calling an ambulance to take him to the hospital -- setting in motion a catastrophic series of health setbacks that led to his untimely death weeks later from pneumonia.

The suit, filed last week in Cook County Circuit Court, claims Earles "failed to recognize cardiopulmonary instability in Bernie" and "failed to recognize and act upon abnormal vital signs and signs of respiratory failure" during that July visit to his clinic.

Earles told the Sun-Times on Thursday that, indeed, Mac had an appointment that day at his clinic in the 2900 block of South Michigan.

"He walked in, he looked a little weak and I said, 'Bernie what's wrong?' and he said, 'I had a little cold and a doctor at Northwestern gave me an injection for it.' "

Earles didn't know what the injection was for, but he didn't believe Mac was in good enough shape to undergo therapy to treat lesions on his head, face and neck caused by his inflammatory lung disease, sarcoidosis.

For the last 20 years, Earles said he had treated the lesions -- involving injecting medications into the skin -- regularly, sometimes weekly.

He arrived at the clinic about 2:30 p.m. and, Earles recalls, he gave him oxygen and let him sleep until about 6:30 p.m.

After that, Earles recalled giving Mac a physical exam that determined the actor had a "low-grade fever, was wheezing, was breaking out in a rash, and his heart started beating faster."

"It seemed to me he was having a drug reaction to whatever the doctor gave him at Northwestern that day."

Earles stabilized Mac, giving him medications to stop the drug reactions. During that time, Earles said he called Mac's doctor either at or affiliated with Northwestern Memorial Hospital, who revealed Mac had been diagnosed with bilateral pneumonia -- that is, pneumonia in both lungs, Earles said.

The doctor, Earles recalled, believed Mac was to be admitted to the hospital. Earles got off the phone and went straight to his patient.

"I said 'Bernie, get up, you've got to go to the hospital,' " Earles said.

Mac was able to walk out of the clinic, just after 10 p.m., and climbed into a chauffeur-driven vehicle that whisked him to the hospital, Earles said.

Mac, whose given name was Bernard McCullough, died from complications related to pneumonia on Aug. 9, 2008, at age 50.

The 69-year-old Earles said Mac's death has been tough on him.

"It was entirely devastating. Look, Bernie was my patient. Bernie was my friend. We became extremely close -- we were like brothers."

He said he doesn't know how to respond to negligence accusations in the suit because he believed he took good care of Mac.

"He didn't die the next day, he didn't die in two days. He died in two weeks and he got over his original strain of pneumonia. He got another strain of pneumonia while he was in the hospital."

Mac's wife is seeking at least $50,000.

An attorney for Mac's wife did not return a call for comment on Thursday.

The gangster rapper known to his fans as "Twelve A'Klok" was fatally shot early Monday in eastern New Orleans.

Argell White, 36, died from multiple bullet wounds to the back, coroner's chief investigator John Gagliano said. His identity was released Wednesday, after authorities managed to get in touch with his relatives.

According to police, a newspaper deliverer found White lying on the ground bleeding in the 6800 block of Parc Brittany Boulevard about 5:15 a.m. The deliverer called 911, but White died before Emergency Medical Services paramedics treated him, Gagliano said.

Investigators have not released details about a motive or suspect in the killing.

White considered himself one of the founding members of the Cut Throat Committy record label. The group's most famous founder was White's cousin, renowned rapper James "Soulja Slim" Tapp, who is believed to have been the victim of a $10,000 hit in 2003 that played out on the lawn of Tapp's mother's home just as he appeared poised for mainstream stardom.

"(White) must have been (talented) if my son" entered business with him, said Linda Tapp, Soulja Slim's mother and the label's owner. "(Slim) liked to bring up a bunch of young, good rappers."

White released a number of albums for Cut Throat with titles such as "Lost 2 the World," "Cold Case," "Over Kill" and the two-volume "Still Standin'." On one of his MySpace profiles, he described his style as "real ... street (music). . . . We don't do love song(s) and we don't dance. Forget about it!"

He never enjoyed the fame his cousin did, Tapp said, but White's work earned him a decent following in the metro New Orleans area. Webpages featuring his music tallied tens of thousands of visits and counted hundreds of users as "friends."

White weathered serious run-ins with the judicial system during his life. He spent several years in prison after pleading guilty to an armed robbery in 1991. Almost a year to the day before his death, White was named a person of interest in the mysterious disappearance and death of an aspiring rapper who he had apparently argued with. Police, however, never booked him with a crime.

According to authorities, White lived in Harvey. He claimed on his MySpace to be married and a "proud parent."

You know those Weight Watchers commercials starring Jennifer Hudson, where she talks about winning at weight loss?

It looks like the former "American Idol" contestant is far from all talk. Hudson, 28, landed the on the cover of InStyle Makeover, and she's showing off all of her hard work in a skintight banded dress. The actress went from a size 16 to a size 6.

And if that seems like a lot of change, Hudson said she has a more radical urge to switch up her hairstyle.

“I’m actually thinking about shaving my head," Hudson admitted. "Because I feel I’ve got a good structure now [gingerly feels cheekbones]. My cousin’s a beautician, and she always tells me, ‘You could wear any hairdo.’ So I’m thinking, What if I shave my hair? Not completely off, but low. I think that would be so hot.”

But her fiance and father of her nearly year-old son, David Otunga, may not take to her new 'do too kindly; he's still trying to adjust to her new physique, Hudson said. "David doesn’t like change. He tells me I have no breasts anymore. He tries to feed me," she said.

In reality, though, Hudson is happy where she is now, and doesn't have plans to shed any more weight. "I don't want to lose any more weight, and you're never going to see me skinny," Hudson told the magazine. "I think this is a good, natural size for me."

To read more about Hudson's transformation, pick up the new issue of InStyle Makeover, on newsstands Friday, August 6.

Supermodel Naomi Campbell took the stand Thursday in the trial of former Liberian President Charles Taylor and said she received a gift of "dirty-looking stones" that she assumed was from him.

Campbell was handed the stones following a dinner hosted by Nelson Mandela in 1997.

"When I was sleeping I had a knock on my door. I opened the door and two men were there. They gave me a pouch and said, "A gift for you.'"

The men didn't introduce themselves nor say anything else, Campbell said.

The next morning, she opened the pouch and saw a few "very small, dirty-looking stones."

She then shared what happened with her then-agent, Carole White, and actress Mia Farrow at breakfast.

Asked if she thought the stones came from Taylor, Campbell said, "I just assumed that it was."

Prosecutors asked the Special Court of Sierra Leone in May to order the supermodel to testify about allegations she got a "blood diamond" from Taylor, and requested permission to reopen their case against him.

Taylor faces war crimes charges over a brutal conflict in Sierra Leone which was fueled by rough diamonds, also known as blood diamonds or conflict diamonds.

He has testified that he never handled the precious stones that fueled the conflict.

When I was sleeping I had a knock on my door. I opened the door and two men were there. They gave me a pouch and said, 'A gift for you.'

Campbell said she didn't keep the diamonds.

She passed them on to a friend, and asked him to use the stones to auction them in a charity to raise money for underprivileged children.

Prosecutors had rested their case against Taylor in February 2009, but reopened it specifically to call Campbell to testify after learning in June of that year that Taylor had given the supermodel a diamond.

Prosecutors also want to call Farrow and White to testify, court papers show.

Prosecutors have said that Farrow confirmed that Taylor gave Campbell a diamond.

When arguing to reopen the case, prosecutors said Campbell's testimony would prove that the former president "used rough diamonds for personal enrichment and arms purchases," according to papers filed with the U.N.-backed court.

Campbell did not want to be involved in the trial but was subpoenaed July 1.

Taylor, 62, was president of Liberia from 1997 to 2003.

The war crimes charges against him stem from the widespread murder, rape and mutilation that occurred during the civil war in Sierra Leone.

It was fought largely by teenagers who were forced to kill, given addictive drugs to provoke violent behavior, and often instructed to rape and plunder.

Taylor is charged with five counts of crimes against humanity, including murder, sexual slavery and violence, and enslavement.

He also faces five counts of war crimes, including acts of terrorism and torture, and one count of other serious violations of international humanitarian law.

He has pleaded not guilty.

The Queen of Soul, Aretha Franklin, has canceled two free concerts in New York as she recovers from injuries she sustained in a fall.

Franklin's office tells the Associated Press that the singing legend broke ribs in a fall on Sunday and is currently experiencing abdominal pain.

Her shows, which were scheduled for next Monday and Thursday, might be rescheduled for late August, the AP says.