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| T.I. Testifies In Murder Trial, Recalling Shootout That Resulted In Philant Johnson's Death Posted: 21 Nov 2008 12:35 AM PST Rapper denies allegations that he sparked the incident by showering crowd with money at Cincinnati club.
CINCINNATI — T.I. made the painful trip back to Cincinnati to testify on Friday morning (November 21) in the murder trial of the man police claim shot and killed the rapper's childhood friend and assistant, Philant Johnson, two years ago. Taking the witness stand for just over 40 minutes in Judge Ralph E. Winkler's courtroom on the third floor of the Hamilton County Courthouse, T.I. (born Clifford Harris) explained the chaotic scene on the night of the May 2006 incident. He also stoically recalled the pain of breaking the news about Johnson's death to his friend's mother and 5-year-old daughter. He only occasionally looked out into the courtroom to lock eyes with 34-year-old Hosea Thomas, who is charged with murder, felonious assault and other charges in the shooting, which also injured three other members of T.I.'s entourage. T.I. told the jury that while he didn't see the shooters, he knew the shots were meant for him. Thomas was led into the courtroom in handcuffs, wearing black low-top Chuck Taylors, a crisp white dress shirt, black paints and gold-framed glasses. He immediately began scribbling down notes on a large yellow legal pad and took a moment to look up as T.I. entered the room, wearing baggy, dark jeans, an untucked dark-blue dress shirt, black sneakers and a black suit jacket. The gallery appeared to be a mix of a few friends and family of the accused and young T.I. fans, who came to catch a glimpse of their hero. With a steady voice, T.I. described to the prosecuting attorney how he met his assistant and best friend Johnson when the two Atlanta natives were toddlers and how their mothers were very close friends. "We were born in the same year, so we grew up together," T.I. said, as the racially mixed jury looked on intently. "[He] was my oldest living friend. We knew each other since 2 years old, at least. ... He had a role in my life, personally as my best friend, a role in my organization ... as my assistant." At one point, he cracked a smile as he remembered how Johnson would often describe himself as weighing 230 pounds, when in reality he was likely 30 pounds heavier. He then described how he came to be in Cincinnati on the night of May 2, 2006, while on a tour with Yung Joc. After a show at the local club Bogart's, T.I. said the rappers and their crews moved across town to the gritty neighborhood of Roselawn to appear at an afterparty at Club Ritz, where they were installed in a VIP section at the packed club. Though there were reports that the incident may have been sparked by hurt feelings from some local rappers when T.I. showered the crowd with money during Joc's performance, T.I. denied that he tossed bills at the Ritz. "You see, you make it rain in strip clubs around beautiful women taking their clothes off, not in packed holes in the walls," he said. "You don't throw money in there. That's not part of the celebration." At some point, T.I. described an altercation that broke out at the club when someone tried to get into the VIP section and began getting "irate" and "ornery" with venue security. The scuffle caught the attention of T.I.'s entourage, and as the heated discussion turned into a brawl involving 15-20 patrons, he said he tried to make sure his group was together as they made their way to the door. Licking his lips and narrowing his eyes, T.I. then described getting into the backseat of a black van, as Johnson sat in front of him. He said he realized very quickly that something unusual was going on as the van pulled away and he saw headlights going into oncoming traffic from a vehicle that was attempting to get alongside the black van. "Before I knew it, shots rang out," he said, explaining that they came from the left side of the van and that he immediately took cover as an unnamed person in his van returned fire. After the shooting, T.I. said his driver pulled over and then attempted to get on a highway, but realized the van's tires were flat. "At that point, we're calling everybody's names out to see if everybody is all right," he said. "Called Phil's name out, Phil didn't respond, so at that point everybody was trying to get out of the car, picking Phil up, trying to get Phil out and the car come back and open fire again." Asked what Johnson looked like when he dragged him from the vehicle, T.I. said with a hard stare at no one in particular, "lifeless," describing the blood running down his friends face, a shirt wet with blood and an entry wound on Johnson's left temple. While they were moving Johnson out of the first van and into a second, shots rang out again, shattering the back window of the second vehicle, T.I. said. Moments later, the police showed up and Johnson and the other injured were taken to a local hospital. While T.I. spoke, Thomas took careful notes, glancing up at the rapper as the prosecuting attorney showed T.I. crime-scene photos of his friend's deadly wounds. "Yeah, it's Phil, or that's his body," T.I. said, glancing quickly at a second photo with a close-up of the entry wound. T.I. said he called his friend's mother first, then Johnson's cousin, and once back in Atlanta, he broke the news to Johnson's father and 5 -year-old daughter. "I told her her daddy's gone and he's in a better place and he won't be coming back. And I told her how much he loved her," T.I. said. As for Johnson's mother, "First, I apologized, because I felt that all those rounds were fired for me ... and then I told her what happened. ... There wasn't much else to say." T.I. faced a brief cross-examination from Thomas' defense attorney, Charles Isaly, who focused at first on Club Ritz patrons' complaints that the rapper and his entourage had bought up all the liquor in the club for themselves that night, an allegation T.I. denied. When asked about where the unnamed "ladies" who were traveling with him that night were sitting in the van, the father of six flashed a brief smile and said "no comment." At one point when asked about the aftermath of the first round of shooting, T.I. looked over at Thomas for several long seconds and then at the gallery. A smile crossed his face as he appeared to be making eye contact with a woman in the audience and seemed distracted from the questions coming from Isaly. Asked if he'd ever been in this kind of shootout before, T.I. calmly said he had, but before he became a performer. Isaly once again brought up T.I.'s past conviction on cocaine-distribution charges and his more recent felony firearms conviction. When the attorney attempted to ask the rapper about some lyrics from his hit "Live Your Life," he mixed up words from two different songs from Paper Trail, eliciting a chuckle from Tip. "I don't know about the 'however you want' part," T.I. said, as the gallery laughed. "Forgive me for being amused." Isaly took a moment to confer with his client and then ended his examination by asking again about T.I.'s recent conviction, specifically about the rapper's charges regarding an attempt to buy silencers for machine guns. Moments later, outside the quickly emptying courtroom, Thomas' cousin, Michael Carter, 30, claimed that the entire incident could have been avoided if he'd been at Club Ritz that night. Carter, the owner of Cincinnati's Aristocrat Records, said he was in prison in Atlanta on the night of the shooting, so another family member was hosting the afterparty for him. According to Carter, T.I. was about to start working with Aristocrat after hearing a tape from one of their artists, K. Riley, though Tip said on the stand that he was only aware of the label after the shooting. "I think it's looking bad for Hosea," Carter said. "Nobody had no beef with T.I. I think it just got out of hand. Even if Hosea Thomas ... if they found out he did it, I think he's remorseful and wishes it never happened, if in fact he did it or not. This city loved T.I. If I was here, none of this would have happened. I would have had more control." Thomas' older brother, Padron Thomas, who told police he was in the car with his brother on the night of the shooting, has agreed to testify against Hosea Thomas in exchange for prosecutors dropping murder charges against him. Related Artists |
| Bronx Mowgli Wentz Welcomed By Jessica Simpson, Fall Out Boy, Gym Class Heroes Posted: 21 Nov 2008 03:11 AM PST GCH frontman Travis McCoy says, 'Uncle Travie's ready to babysit the little guy.'
As news of Pete Wentz and Ashlee Simpson's new baby, Bronx Mowgli, makes the rounds, friends of the couple have been reaching out to MTV News to share their congratulations, well wishes and, um, babysitting offers. "I woke up to the news this morning, I couldn't be more elated, I cried like a pu---," Gym Class Heroes frontman Travis McCoy said in an e-mail. "I know how excited Pete and Ash have been [in] anticipation of this moment. Uncle Travie's ready to babysit the little guy, he's gonna be the greatest rapper alive by age 5 if I have my way!!!"
Fall Out Boy guitarist Joe Trohman also chimed in with a message for the happy couple, writing that he can't wait to meet Bronx when he flies out to Los Angeles next week. "Whenever a friend is about to have a baby, you just hope it'll come out healthy, with all its fingers and toes. It seems like this baby not only came out healthy, but with a little personality to boot. That made me smile, and laugh a bit. I'm nothing but ecstatic for Pete and Ash," Trohman wrote. "I'm literally on the other side of the country, and am still in some sort of shock. I guess it'll hit me in a few days when I head off to Los Angeles, and perhaps meet the little man for the first time. Either way, this is a big deal, and I don't think I have anything to say that can really encompass how important this is to everyone, including myself. Salud, Pete Wentz! You're a dad, and I think dads are pretty damn cool. I'm jealous (in a loving way)." "Bronx is beyond precious," Ashlee's sister Jessica told Usmagazine.com in a statement. "I'm over the moon with joy. Life is a beautiful miracle. Ashlee and Pete [are] healthy, happy and enjoying every moment." Ever the multitasker, Cobra Starship frontman Gabe Saporta managed to work not only a few congrats but also a proposed nickname (and a thinly veiled bribe) into his e-mail. "I just want to congratulate you guys on your new arrival (which I know you will nickname Gabey Baby)," he wrote. "Just to let you know, I am having a custom purple hoodie made with a special baby-proof bling gold chain with my face in it." And it didn't take long for someone to take a dig at young Bronx Mowgli's rather, uh, unique name, either. Of course, it was all done with much love. "We couldn't be happier for Pete and Ashlee. When I first heard the kid's name, I thought it was a new Fall Out Boy song title," wrote Bob McLynn, co-owner of Crush Management, which reps FOB. "I'm hoping he sings more like his mother than his father though." And while the whole Decaydance Universe seems to be supportive of young Bronx Mowgli, we decided to ask some residents of the actual Bronx for their take on the name. And not surprisingly, the reviews were mixed. "That's not a bad look, because naming your kid anything after New York is a good look already. And the Bronx is the best borough anyway. You name your kid Bronx, it speaks for itself," Bronx resident Gregory Davis told MTV News. "Brooklyn's more West Indies, a little Caribbean. Bronx is everything. We're versatile in the Bronx, you feel me?" "I think it's very interesting, though I don't know why she chose Bronx if she ain't from the 'hood," another BX resident, Jeremiah Silva, laughed. "Honestly, I think it's stupid for people to name their kids after a borough. Name your kid a regular name, you know? Everyone naming their kid Apple, sh-- like that. Name you kid a normal name." [This story was originally published at 5:30 pm E.T. on 11.21.08] Related Videos Related Artists |
| Travis Barker Sues Plane Company Over September Crash: Report Posted: 21 Nov 2008 05:26 AM PST Drummer, along with late bodyguard's mom, also cites jet-charter company and Goodyear in the suit.
Former Blink-182 drummer Travis Barker is suing Bombardier Inc., a Canadian Aerospace conglomerate and makers of the Learjet; Clay Lacy Aviation, a jet-charter company; and Goodyear Tire & Rubber Company for monetary damages stemming from a South Carolina plane crash he survived in September, according to TMZ.com. The crash resulted in the deaths of four of the plane's six occupants, including Barker bodyguard Charles "Che" Still, whose mother, Thelma Martin Still, filed suit in L.A. County Superior Court alongside the drummer. DJ AM was the crash's only other survivor. A federal inquiry into the crash two months ago led investigators to conclude that a blown tire could have contributed to the incident. The suspicions were reportedly confirmed by a sound on the cockpit voice recorder, which was deemed "consistent with a tire blowout." In the suit, Barker claims the parts, and therefore the plane itself, were defective. "Its landing gear, tires, wheels, brakes, reverse-thrust system, squat switches and component parts were not airworthy," the lawsuit reads, according to TMZ. "One or more of the tires failed, leaving tire debris and portions of airplane components along the 8,600-foot runway." Audiotapes from the incident filled in more detail, showcasing an increasingly distressed pilot trying desperately to abort the takeoff. According to TMZ, Barker's suit alleges that the pilots committed gross negligence in trying to abort the takeoff. "The pilots' decision was a breach of their duty owed to the passengers onboard and was a substantial factor in causing the crash and resultant injuries and deaths," the suit reads, according to the Web site. Barker is suing for "pain and suffering, psychological and emotional distress and disfigurement and pre-impact fear of death and burning." Barker made his first televised appearance since the crash on "Total Finale Live," during which he spoke about the challenges he's faced since suffering extensive second- and third-degree burns as a result of the incident. Related Videos Related Artists |
| Vivian Girls' Phantom Punk Packs A Punch, By John Norris Posted: 21 Nov 2008 04:55 AM PST 'Wild Eyed' Jersey girls made good are among indie-dom's 2008 successes.
What's the secret to the appeal of the Vivian Girls? How have they been able to break through in an ever more crowded punk-pop field, grabbing the attention of blog after blog, booking gig after gig? What accounted for their debut album becoming a certifiable collector's item, only a couple of months after its release? "I would say it's that we're really, really good musicians," the Girls' Cassie Ramone said, adding, "we're like geniuses of sound." "Kind of like, you know, virtuosos?" Kickball Katy concurred. "We all went to music college." Uh, they kid. They may not have a Juilliard or Berklee diploma among them, but the Vivian Girls — whose ranks are rounded out by drummer Ali Koehler — have certainly got a sound. If you haven't had the pleasure of hearing them yet, think '60s girl group the Shangri-Las (God knows enough critics have) meets the reverb-loving indie pop of the short-lived Black Tambourine — though the VGs themselves cite Nirvana and their punk forebears the Wipers as their top two essentials. Whatever the ingredients, the result is a band that's gotten a ton of attention in indie and college ranks — first with the spring release of the single, "Wild Eyes," and then with their self-titled debut album, initially released by indie imprint Mauled By Tigers with a pressing of only 500 copies. The limited number created — to put it mildly — a demand. "We were originally going to only make 300," Cassie explained. "We thought, 'There is no way 500 people are going to buy this.' " How wrong they were. Within two weeks, the album had sold out, and, Katy said, they could hardly believe it. "We were high-fiving and were like, 'How is this possible?' " Then came eBay. "Yeah, someone sold it unexpectedly on eBay for $100," Cassie recalled, "and then suddenly everyone was selling it." All good news for L.A.-based label In the Red, which re-released the Vivian Girls' album last month, to the tune of another 4,000 copies sold since. Need any more indication that the Vivians are catching fire? Try the list of indie names they have shared the bill with in 2008: Jay Reatard, King Khan, TV on the Radio, F---ed Up (who happen to have a song called "Vivian Girls") and, most recently, Deerhunter, a band that also likes some reverb. Matter-of-fact, it seems to be everywhere you turn nowadays — I've lost count how many reverb-lovin' acts I have talked to this year alone — but the Vivian Girls have developed as much a signature sound as any of them. It's been called "spooky" and "ghostly," a feeling certainly enhanced by the scary-drive-in-movie-complete-with-cheesy-bats-and-zombies look of their video for "Tell The World." That resounding reverb really happened by accident, when the girls were recording their first demo back in 2007. "It was our friend Craig from the band Hunchback — they recorded it, and he was like, 'Oh, let's put some reverb on these backing vocals.' And then we decided to put 'em on all the vocals." The girls swear by the Holy Grail — an effects pedal not meant for vocals — which makes for a lot of sweet echo-y sounds, but also for lots of feedback when they play live, which causes the occasional run-in with sound men. "This guy the other day was like, 'These little girls are feeding back too much,' " Katy recalled, "so the whole time he kept turning off our mics!" As Cassie, not to be trifled with, put it, "He was a di--. But you know what? Feedback is sweet and it annoys people and we like that." That includes one fan at a recent show — apparently uninitiated to the Girls' love of feedback, reverb and vocals buried in the middle that are often indecipherable, he decided to weigh in. "Your sound guy sucks!" he yelled. "Oh really?" replied Katy. "I don't think so. He rules. I think it's maybe you that sucks." Enough said. The Vivian Girls' path to this point was, in their own words, a "musically incestuous" one that began in 2002 and traversed New Jersey — from high school in Ridgewood, where Cassie fronted a lo-fi/novelty band called Upholstery; down to New Brunswick, where Katy and Ali formed the "surf/ riot grrl" band Four Way Milkshake, and later, a poppier duo, the Pot and the Kettle; to Brooklyn, where, as a student at Pratt Institute, Cassie joined the punk trio Bossy. "The best band in the world," Ali said. She moved to Germany for school just before Katy, Cassie and original drummer Frankie Rose formed the Vivian Girls, who made their live debut in May of 2007. "Beef" is something you generally encounter in hip-hop circles, or metal, maybe, but not with fledgling indie pop-punk bands. Yet the VG's did have a slice of beef this summer, when Frankie — who came up with the band's name (after Henry Darger's hermaphroditic warrior princesses, of course) and appears in credits and photos on the album — abruptly left the band just as Vivians buzz was reaching a fever pitch. The girls firmly decline to talk about the split — "Can we just move on? Next question!" — but it apparently had to do with Frankie doing double-duty with the Vivians and another of Brooklyn's finest new bands, Crystal Stilts. In any case, as a replacement on drums, longtime friend Ali proved a quick study. "I pretty much knew all the drum parts," she said. "I had been listening to them for so long already, going back to their first demo." If there was a turbulent patch, it is decidedly in the Vivian Girls' rear-view mirror, as they spend a huge amount of time on the road. They're already looking forward to the May 2009 release of their second full-length album, about half of which they estimate is already written. "We listen to Cassie's demos on an iPod in the car," Ali explained, "then make up harmonies and stuff." Or, if they have a day off, "We go to the music-equipment store in town and 'practice' there. Everyone gets really mad, but we don't care," Ali added. Before 2008 is out, the girls will play a UK tour, and, to wind up this most momentous of years, a New Year's Eve show in Jersey with Yo La Tengo and the Feelies. Now that's a Garden State triple bill. The Vivian Girls' debut album is out now. To hear more from the band, including a live performance at Market Hotel in Brooklyn, go to rhapsody.com. Related Videos |
| Miley Cyrus To Follow In Dad Billy Ray's Country Footsteps? Posted: 20 Nov 2008 11:57 PM PST 'That's something I would want to do,' Disney star says of recording a full-length country LP.
Miley Cyrus' platinum-selling second studio album, appropriately titled Breakout, was the 15-year-old artist's first recording not to have any official affiliation with her insanely popular character Hannah Montana — in name at least if not in spirit, since so many of the songs could still be best classified as "bubblegum" or teen-pop.
But, while Cyrus remains indefinitely attached to the "Hannah Montana" TV show, she seems readier than ever to abandon the character's trademark sound, revealing to MTV News that one of her biggest goals is to release a full-on country album. "I would love to," she said of the prospect of releasing a record of country-music songs. "That's something I would want to do." Despite being the daughter of chart-topping country-music star Billy Ray Cyrus, Miley has only occasionally dabbled in the sound that made her old man famous, collaborating with "Nashville Star" judge Jeffrey Steele, for instance, on a song for the new movie "Bolt," which Cyrus described to MTV as having a "country twang." For her first country-music album, though, Cyrus thinks she'd call in the big guns — no, the really big guns. "I would love to work with Dolly [Parton]. If I would do anything, I would want to collaborate with her," Cyrus said of the legendary country star who, as luck would have it, doubles as her godmother. "I would love to do something, at one point, if I get to go back to Nashville. I would love to work with her again 'cause she's just fabulous. She's always so done-up. I think that'd be fun to work with someone as legendary as she is." Check out everything we've got on "Bolt." For breaking news, celebrity columns, humor and more — updated around the clock — visit MTVMoviesBlog.com. Related Photos Related Artists |
| Ashlee Simpson Contemplates Motherhood In 2003 Posted: 21 Nov 2008 09:03 AM PST Long before marrying Pete Wentz, the singer wasn't sure she'd want her kids growing up in the industry.
Long before Ashlee Simpson married Pete Wentz and gave birth to their son, Bronx Mowgli, late Thursday night in Los Angeles, she was an up-and-coming pop singer who was trying to break out of big sister Jessica's shadow and make a name for herself in the music industry. In November 2003, MTV News sat down with a 19-year-old Simpson, who admitted that, despite appreciating growing up in a music-industry family, she wasn't sure she wanted that kind of fate for her future offspring.
"Growing up in the industry has been sort of crazy and sort of been awesome for my family," she said. "Back in Texas we weren't as close as we are now. Usually when you're 14, you're like, 'Go away, Mom. Go away, Dad,' but I was going on tour with my family. They were all that I had. All of us are very different and loving of each other and very supportive of whatever and whoever." With two parents in the entertainment industry, little Bronx seems poised to one day front a band like Dad's Fall Out Boy or even star in his own reality show like Mom or Aunt Jessica, right? Well, Ashlee seemed skeptical of that future five years before she would become a mother. "I don't know if I'd want my kids to do it," she explained. "But I think that if it's what they wanted to do, then it'd be cool. Then, if not, go play soccer and have fun." Related Videos Related Artists |
| Britney Spears Doc Shows 'Where She Is And Where She Is Going,' Manager Larry Rudolph Says Posted: 21 Nov 2008 09:05 AM PST 'For the Record' is part of the big game plan for Brit's comeback, Rudolph explains.
Britney Spears' longtime manager Larry Rudolph has been by his client's side as she stages her comeback with the release of Circus and her documentary, "For the Record" (premiering on MTV November 30). "I was very involved in putting [the film] together, so I saw the process," Rudolph told MTV News on Thursday night at a media preview of the film in Los Angeles. "It was a very interesting process. We made a deal from the very beginning — everybody sort of shook hands with the understanding that there were going to be no boundaries on this thing. We were going to make an open and honest film and that we weren't going to leave the good stuff on the cutting room floor.
"We went there with it," he added. "You see Britney in a light you're not used to seeing her in. She's intelligent, she's introspective, she's honest. By the end of the film you really understand who she is in a way that you just never imagined. ... It is so not a puff piece." Rudolph, who is credited with shaping Britney's early career, wouldn't speak about how he and Spears reunited after a falling-out in 2007. At the time, many speculated that she fired him for encouraging her to enter rehab. Focusing the conversation on the doc, Rudolph insisted that it shows everyone what he already knows about the singer: "She's got a unique set of talents. She's got a blend of certain talents. She's a great singer. She's a great dancer. She's got an amazing image. She's incredibly likable," he listed. "She's got this intangible thing that makes her a star." "For the Record" is part of the game plan for reintroducing Britney, the pop star rather than the tabloid magnet, back to her fans, Rudolph said. The movie makes a case for Spears' future, by giving the audience "a good taste of the music and where she is and where she is going." The next step in Brit's comeback is a video for the album's second single, "Circus," shot by "I'm a Slave 4 U" director Francis Lawrence, set to debut around the release of the album on December 2. "It is amazing," Rudolph said. "The video is extraordinary. It is really, really good." Although Blackout came out only a year ago, Rudolph said that this was an organically right time for her to put out new music again. "It wasn't that there was a rush," he explained. "The album got completed on its natural timetable. And it just was the right time to put it out. So we decided to put it out on her birthday and make it a birthday present to her and to the world." Getting pumped about the Britney Spears documentary? Share your thoughts by uploading a video to YouRHere.MTV.com, or sound off in the comments section below. "For the Record" airs Sunday, November 30, at 10 p.m. ET on MTV. Related Videos Related Artists |
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