PHOTO: SPLASH NEWS

PEOPLE, the same site who released the first official photos of Eddie and Tracey’s “wedding,” are now reporting that the couple has split. After only 2 weeks, Eddie Murphy and Tracey Edmonds have called it quits. The two participated in a spiritual ceremony New Year’s Day in Bora Bora, and were due to make their relationship as husband and wife official over here in the U.S.A. But it looks like that won’t be happening!

“After much consideration and discussion, we have jointly decided that we will forego having a legal ceremony as it is not necessary to define our relationship further,” Murphy and Edmonds tell PEOPLE in an exclusive statement. “While the recent symbolic union in Bora Bora was representative of our deep love, friendship and respect that we have for one another on a spiritual level, we have decided to remain friends.”

CONTINUE READING

I don’t like it. I think they should have done a beauty shot or a full body shot (becos she’s tall, this obviously butchers her beautiful figure). And why name the album ‘That Chick’? Nothing about this project phases me. I don’t know…

I know a lot of people wanted me to keep following The DEY. Here is their new video for the single “Give You the World”. For more information on this group you can: search “The DEY” in the Search bar on top, use the world’s greatest search tool known to man (Google), or you can just visit their official MySpace. Whichever is best for you…

Here’s the latest video, “Scream” featuring Nicole Scherzinger and Keri Hilson, from Timbaland’s “Shock Value” album.

According to All Hip Hop, daytime talk show host Oprah Winfrey has teamed with Discovery Communications to launch a new multi-platform media venture named The Oprah Winfrey Network [OWN].

Winfrey, who has criticized some Hip-Hop music, as well as various media outlets for their portrayal of African-American men and women, will serve as chairman of OWN. She will have full editorial over OWN’s content and will be responsible for the programming, branding and creative vision of the network. OWN is slated to debut in 2009 in more than 70 million homes, on what is currently the Discovery Health Channel. “Fifteen years ago, I wrote in my journal that one day I would create a television network, as I always felt my show was just the beginning of what the future could hold,” Oprah Winfrey said in a statement. “For me, the launch of ‘The Oprah Winfrey Network’ is the evolution of the work I’ve been doing on television all these years and a natural extension of my show.”

The network will target women, men and their families, encouraging them to “live their best lives, and by doing so, lift the lives of those around them in ever-widening circles.” OWN is currently seeking a CEO to oversee the day-to-day operations of the venture immediately. Various rappers have criticized Winfrey, claiming that her Oprah Winfrey television show tends to cast Hip-Hop music in a negative light. Rappers like Ludacris, 50 Cent, Ice Cube and others have named checked Winfrey in songs and interviews. “I listen to some Hip-Hop. I’ve been accused of not liking Hip-Hop and that’s just not true,” Winfrey said. “I got a little 50 [Cent] in my iPod. I really do. I like ‘In Da Club.’ Have you heard the beat to ‘In Da Club’? Love that, love Jay-Z, love Kanye, love Mary J. Mary J. is one of my friends.”

Vivica A. Fox is not letting it go down like that! The actress talked to PEOPLE Saturday night at the BET Honors and said: “Vivica [1] does not have a sex tape. If I did, I would be making my own money off of it.” Reports of the alleged tape, which shows a woman who resembles Fox, made its rounds across the internet over the past month, but Fox says, “As a 43-year-old woman, I would never allow a man to put me in that position. If you see me having a love scene, it’s going to be choreographed in a movie, and be fabulous.”

[1] I’m mad she referred to herself in the third person!

A rep for New York also spoke with PEOPLE recently about her alleged sex tape as well. The reality tv star’s rep said in a statement: “Tiffany Pollard 100% did not participate in any sex tape of any kind.” Tiffany is apparently upset that the grainy tape is making its rounds across the internet, says a source close to the “I Love New York” front-woman. “If she had a sex tape, she would admit to it,” says the source. “That’s her personality. She has nothing to hide. For someone to make a sex tape and say it’s her — when it’s not — is just not right.”

PHOTO: SPLASH NEWS

In addition to returning all 5 of the medals she won in the Sydney Olympics in 2000, Marion Jones was sentenced to 6 months in prison for lying to federal investigators about her steroid use and check-fraud scheme, according to a report published by People last week.

“I absolutely realize the gravity of the offenses I’ve committed. I want to apologize,” Jones told the court as she began to cry, according to ABC News. “I plead with you,” she said, to not separate “me from my boys even for a short while.”

Her lawyers asked for leniency, according to the Associated Press, but U.S. District Judge Kenneth Karas in White Plains, N.Y., sentenced the 31-year-old to the prison term as well as two years of supervised release, during which she will be required to perform 800 hours of community service. In sentencing, the judge said he gave her the maximum under her plea deal to send a message to athletes who have abused drugs and overlooked the values of “hard work, dedication, teamwork and sportsmanship.”

Jones, who used steroids distributed by the Bay Area Laboratory Co-Operative – the same lab that supplied steroids to New York Yankees star Jason Giambi and San Francisco Giants slugger Barry Bonds – is the first professional sports figure to get prison time. Jones is also now said to be in financial ruin.

The 6-month prison sentence seem a bit harsh, don’t you think?

Janet Jackson is featured on the cover of the latest issue of Billboard magazine. Looks like she’s really shooting for a successful album! If you remember correctly, Janet’s last album tanked horribly due to lack of promotion on MTV. But luckily for Janet, this time around MTV is actually considering the fact that she exists! They premiered her new video, “Feedback,” on TRL the other day.

Rapper DMX has been forced to pay out $1.5 million to the mother of his child, after he failed to turn up to a Maryland court on Friday to defend himself against allegations of defamation. The MC, real name Earl Simmons, was sued by Monique Wayne for defamation of character in 2006 after the star claimed he was raped by the woman during a hotel stay in Baltimore in 2003.

He told the magazine Sister 2 Sister, “She raped me. DNA says it is (my child). I don’t know. If I did (have sex with her), I would remember. It ain’t like she’s a pretty girl.” Wayne responded to the comments by filing a $6 million lawsuit against Simmons in Prince George’s County Circuit Court in Upper Marlboro, Md., in October 2006. Judge Thomas Smith ruled in Wayne’s favor on Friday when Simmons skipped the scheduled court hearing, ordering the rapper to pay her $518,400 in compensation, plus a further $1 million in punitive penalties, reports the New York Post.

Following the ruling, Wayne told the newspaper, “It’s not so much the price, it’s the point I wanted to get across. Let him think about what he’s going to say before he says it.”

Does he even have $1,500,000 ???

JANET JACKSON // DISCIPLINE ALBUM COVER (VIA ONTD)

Hmm … Hmmm! That’s all I have to say, for the first time ever, I’m totally speechless about this one. On another note, Janet’s PR squad revealed four new tracks from Janet’s album Discipline (in stores February 26th). They are: ‘Can’t be good’, ‘Discipline’ written and produced by Ne-Yo, ‘Roller Coaster’ produced by Rodney ‘Darkchild’ Jerkins and ‘Letchu go’ produced by hubby Jermaine Dupri (via Toya’s World). Sounds interesting …