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MP3 News Breakers: Aiken, Axl, Paris, Proof, Rogue Wave
Idol star says gay claims are invasive; art deal sues GNR frontman; Paris downplays her intelligence; Proof killer convicted of weapons charges; Bay Area band's drummer needs kidney.
Clay Aiken: "Why do you care?"
Clay Aiken
With a new album in stores this week, former American Idol runner-up Clay Aiken is facing a new round of speculation about his sexuality, but he's not having any of it. In an interview with Diane Sawyer on ABC's Good Morning America, Aiken said his personal life is nobody's business. "I've gotten to a point now where I, A., am tired of trying, and B., I feel it's kind of invasive, you know?" Aiken said. "What I do in my private life is nobody's business anymore. It's one thing to try to be open and talk to people and try to share as much as I can and, and of course I want to. But at some point it becomes just really rude, you know?"
Aiken called the inquiries a waste of his time. "I don't understand why it's any of your business," he told Sawyer. "I don't think you're rude because I figure, you know, people have a job to do."
Axl hit with lawsuit over Warhol painting
Axl Rose.
In the midst of a tour with the latest incarnation of Guns N Roses, Axl Rose has been hit with a lawsuit from an art dealer claiming the singer backed out of a deal to pay $2.36 million for an Andy Warhol portrait of John Lennon. Acquire d'Arte, in a lawsuit filed earlier this month in Los Angeles Superior Court, said it negotiated with a New York art gallery and was able to lower the price of the artwork from $2.65 million to $2.36 million for Rose. But after agreeing to buy the portrait, the Guns N' Roses frontman paid only $1.21 million, according to the suit. Rose's manager and attorney told the broker that the rocker would not pay the remaining balance because he didn't have enough money and "the painting was not worth the price he had agreed to pay," the lawsuit stated. Rose's lawyer, Howard Weitzman, told the Associated Press that Rose was a victim of fraud and that the terms of the deal had been misrepresented to him. The art deal is seeking $1.15 million in damages.
Paris Hilton: "I'm not that smart"
Paris Hilton
Faced with a police interrogation about her knowledge of a 2004 incident involving Girls Gone Wild producer Joe Francis, heiress-turned-singer Paris Hilton gave it up: She's not that smart. In Los Angeles Police Department tapes released to NBC's Dateline this week, Hilton is asked about the robbery of Francis' home, during which the producer of the lurid film series was allegedly forced to pull his pants down and claim that he enjoyed gay sex. Hilton reportedly told Francis what she had heard about the incident, and that information eventually led to the arrest of and conviction of Darnell Riley on residential burglary and extortion charges. When asked why she could not recall the information she'd passed on to Francis, Hilton replied, "Like I really...I don't remember what I said. I'm not, like, that smart," Hilton said. "I like forget stuff all the time." A police detective immediately responds, "Don't cut yourself short."
Proof killer convicted on weapons charges
Proof's 2005 solo debut.
The man authorities say killed D12 rapper and Eminem sidekick Proof in lawful defense of another man during a nightclub shootout has been convicted of two weapons charges related to the incident. Mario Etheridge, a 28-year-old bouncer at the nightclub where the April incident took place, was convicted of carrying a concealed weapon and discharging a firearm inside a building. The charges are punishable by up five and four years in prison, respectively, but Etheridge will likely get probation because he has no criminal record, Wayne County Assistant Prosecutor Elizabeth Walker told the Detroit Free Press. According to police, Etheridge shot and killed Proof after Proof fatally shot Etheridge's cousin, Keith Bender.
Rogue Wave drummer to get benefit
Rogue Wave
Pat Spurgeon, drummer for the Bay Area rock band Rogue Wave, is in need of a new kidney, and his medical insurance won't pay most of the costs associated with a transplant. But some of the stars of the indie rock scene are stepping in to help him pay it. A September 30 benefit for Spurgeon in San Francisco will feature performances by Rogue Wave, Death Cab for Cutie's Ben Gibbard, Nada Surf's Matthew Caws, Guster's Ryan Miller, John Vanderslice, and others. According to the band's Web site, Spurgeon was born with one kidney that eventually failed. A 1993 transplant was successful, but that kidney has started to deteriorate. "Provided he finds a donor, there will be an enormous amount of costs that both Pat and his donor will incur," the band wrote on its site. The benefit is being held at The Independent. Tickets are available through Ticketweb.
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