Jill Scott just scored a regular gig on HBO now that her two-hour film, "The No. 1 Ladies' Detective Agency," will serve as the pilot for a 13-episode run on the cable network. The film was shot on location in Botswana by director Anthony Minghella ("The English Patient") from a script he wrote with Richard Curtis ("Four Weddings and a Funeral"). Based on the best-selling crime books by Alexander McCall Smith, the series stars Scott as Precious Ramotswe, the owner of the only female-owned detective agency in Botswana. Anika Noni Rose plays her quirky secretary, Mma Makutsi, and Lucian Msamati stars as Ramotswe's devoted suitor, JLB Matekoni. HBO has secured U.S. and Canadian television and home video rights, and the BBC has taken U.K. television distribution, reports Reuters. The Weinstein Co. controls all other international territories.
Rapper Juvenile did not attend the funeral service held Saturday for his slain 4-year-old daughter Jelani, her 11-year-old half-sister Micaiah and their mother, Joy Deleston in James Island, South Carolina Saturday. According to TMZ.com, a rep for the artist did not want to attract further media to the ceremony. Police have arrested Deleston's 17-year-old son, Anthony Tyrone Terrell Jr., and charged him with three counts of murder and three counts of aggravated assault in the Feb. 28 killings. He is currently being held in a DeKalb County prison. Because of his age, prosecutors cannot seek the death penalty against him.
Reality star turned entrepreneur Saaphyri Windsor is known to many as the chick on "Flavor of Love 2" that didn't get a nickname from Flava Flav because she got into a fight with another contestant just moments after entering the reality show digs. But it was that incident that brought her even more fame. Not only did her altercation win her a spot on the show's spin-off (of sorts) "Flavor of Love Girls: Charm School," which she ultimately won the 'Charm School" prize of $50,000, but it also was the catapult for her Lip Chap lip balm line - she offered "lip chap" to her "Flavor of Love" adversary on the show. "I prayed all the time and just stayed out of trouble," the Los Angeles native said of her secret to winning the monetary prize. "I didn't really talk to anybody. I didn't have any problems with Mo'Nique. I knew what I was there for - I was there to get that money. Anybody I got problems with, I'm gonna put that to the side because I want to get to the end of the rainbow." The plan worked. Saaphyri found the pot of gold and used pert of it to launch her line of lip balm and hair; two things she's very familiar with. "The Lip Chap actually came from 'Season 2.' I offered a girl some Lip Chap. Then I had people come up to me all the time and ask for it," she said. Saaphyri's Lip Chap is a unisex lip balm. "It will not make your lips glossy," she claimed, "but it will keep them extremely moist. It has SPF 15 in it. You have to take good care of your lips. People are always looking at them. We have flavors like cookie dough, mojito, piña colada, bubble gum, wintergreen, and there will be some other flavors added later on."
She said that she uses lip balms all the time, but that her product "is better than anything" she's ever used. In addition, Saaphyri is launching a line of hair. The reality star began braiding hair when she was just nine years old. Her grandmother owned a beauty salon, where a young Saaphyri watched intently as stylist would put in hair weaves. But Saaphyri didn't think the hair looked realistic. Saaphyri's Ultimate Indian Hair is the answer to the unrealistic hair blues. In addition, the new business owner is also promoting a hair donation drive to help those with cancer and alopecia. "I have a show that we're going to be doing called 'Weavathon,'" she said. "I want to make wigs. The show is to come up with a way to have people to donate their hair; not necessarily hair that you grew out of your head. A lot of us ladies that wear weaves get new hair and put the old hair in a box in case we want to put it back on. I know there are a lot of celebrities that do that. I've heard Tyra talk about taking out her hair and labeling it. But if you switch the colors, you can't do that. So, basically it's a show to raise hair." Saaphyri explained that she was inspired to do the "Weavathon" because of a childhood friend. "Her hair started falling out and people would tease her. And When they had problems with her, they were gonna have problems with me. So we would get into a lot of altercations at school," she said. "But all her hair fell out she stopped going to school." In the meantime, Saaphyri is working to get her lip balm in stores and her hair line off the ground. To order either, just go to her website at www.saaphyri.com.
- On March 15, 2008, superstar recording artist and actor Bow Wow will celebrate his 21st birthday in a major way in Sin City. The world famous Jet Nightclub at the Mirage will welcome Bow Wow and scores of his famous friends from the worlds of music, film & TV and sports for a night filled with the type of glitz and splendor that only Las Vegas can provide. The world has watched Bow Wow grow from a boy to a man since he first burst onto the scene in 2000 with his smash debut album, Doggy Bag. Since then, he's released five more hit albums, including the most recent, Face Off, with Omarion, and starred in a half a dozen feature films such as Like Mike, Roll Bounce and The Fast and the Furious: Tokyo Drift, building his popularity with each passing year. The exclusive invitation-only bash will feature a performance from hitmaker T-Pain and uber producer Swizz Beatz will be at the helm of the turntables. A special surprise guest host will round out the star power and the fun.
