Rapper Ludacris hosted the Ludacris Foundation’s 6th Annual Benefit Dinner Saturday evening (Oct 24) in Washington, D.C. The Atlanta native presented Congresswoman Maxine Waters (Democrat – California) with the Congressional Leadership award in the name of his foundation prior to the event.

On giving the Congressional Leadership award to Congresswoman Waters, Ludacris said “I just think she is a great woman and a great individual.” He suggested the relationship between the two bridged the generation gap.

In a later interview, Waters praised the rapper for reaching out to her generation. “For more mature people like me to be recognized by younger people is really important,” she said. She argued that Ludacris’ style of music should be more widely accepted.

“The hip hop culture has a profound influence on our country on our young people – for many many years it has been known as violent or vulgar,” she said. “Instead of running away from it we should embrace it.”

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Other celebrities at the benefit dinner were Raheem DeVaughn, Common, Omarosa and more. Continue reading for the rest of the pics!

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Nearly three months after his surprising death, Michael Jackson was finally laid to rest Thursday evening (Sep 3) in an intimate ceremony only attended by close family and friends at Forest Lawn Memorial Park, located in the Glendale district of Los Angeles. According to reports, guests were told the ceremony would start promptly at 7 P.M. (sunset) but the Jackson family left them waiting for about an hour until they showed up a little after 8 P.M. (PT). Jackson’s brothers, Randy, Marlon, Tito, Jackie and Jermaine, wheeled his gold casket to the front of the service once they arrived, and his three children, Prince Michael, Paris and Prince Michael Jr., placed a gold crown on top of the flowers adorning it. They also wrote letters to their father that were placed inside of his casket, alongside one of his signature white gloves.

Celebrities among the attending guests were, of course, the Jackson family, Chris Tucker, Elizabeth Taylor, Quincy Jones, Berry Gordy, Macaulay Culkin, Rev. Al Sharpton, MJ’s ex wife Lisa Marie Presley and Gladys Knight, who sang a gospel song after a prayer by Pastor Lucius Smith. Clifton Davis also performed “Never Can Say Goodbye,” the popular song he wrote for the Jackson 5. After the ceremony was over, MJ’s brothers carried his casket to the Grand Mausoleum, where Michael Jackson entered his final resting place.

After the service, the family ate dinner at an Italian restaurant in Pasadena, CA.

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Justin Timberlake can be seen here lugging around his Louis Vuitton bags as he arrives at Tom Bradley International Terminal at LAX airport in Los Angeles Thursday (Jul 2) after returning from Germany.

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In the wake of VIBE Magazine closing its doors indefinitely, musical pioneer Quincy Jones, who founded the popular urban magazine in 1993, says he would like to buy the magazine back and run it online because “print and all that stuff is over.”

“I’m trying to buy my magazine back now,” Jones told EbonyJet.com. “They just messed my magazine all up, but I’m gonna get it back. You better believe it, I’m gonna take it online because print and all that stuff is over.”

This is good news! We can’t wait to see what Mr. Jones does to revamp the online version of VIBE Magazine, which can currently be found at Vibe.com. With VIBE’s fanbase and circulation of over 600,000 subscribers, running it as an online entity should definitely work. The world is moving towards online media being the dominant force so VIBE’s owners should’ve taken note long ago and it shouldn’t have even came to them having to shut down.

And another one bites the dust… Due to the recession, VIBE Magazine has been forced to shut down. The urban-music magazine was founded in 1993 by Quincy Jones and had a great amount of success during that decade. But under its new owner, the Wicks Group, the magazine has fallen and has lost many of its readers. In February, Vibe’s circulation went down, salaries were cut, and employees were no longer working five-day workweeks.

Christina Milian and The Dream were set to cover the next issue of the magazine, which according to Rap Radar unfortunately will not be hitting newsstands. Follow the break to read a statement from CCO/Editor-in-Chief Danyel Smith.

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Quincy Jones: “I am absolutely devastated at this tragic and unexpected news. For Michael to be taken away from us so suddenly at such a young age, I just don’t have the words. Divinity brought our souls together on The Wiz and allowed us to do what we were able to throughout the 80’s. To this day, the music we created together on Off The Wall, Thriller and Bad is played in every corner of the world and the reason for that is because he had it all…talent, grace, professionalism and dedication. He was the consummate entertainer and his contributions and legacy will be felt upon the world forever.”

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Singers Adrienne Bailon (the Cheetah Girls) and Solange posed for a couple of photos together on the red carpet of the 6th Annual Woman’s Day Red Dress Awards. The annual event was held Wednesday night at the Frederick P. Rose Hall (in the Lincoln center) in New York City.

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