- For all you die-hard “Girlfriends” fans, Tracee Ellis Ross is coming back to TV with a new BET comedy series called “Reed Between The Lines” about a happily married psychiatrist and mother of two who struggles with balancing work and home life. [EurWeb];
- Lauryn Hill’s performed to a crowd of lively fans in Lisbon, Portugal and debuted a new style with long braids and a low fedora. [Clutch]
- After falling down in her bathtub, Aretha Franklin has canceled her entire late August schedule including a performance at Brooklyn’s Coney Island. Franklin’s office told AP that she broke ribs and has abdominal pain. Get well soon Queen. [AP][NYDN]
- Obesity rates continue to rise — 26.7 percent of the American population is obese as of 2009 — and health officials are very worried. [NYTimes]
- Prince’s former attorney is suing him for allegedly not paying $50,000 in attorney’s fees. [RO]
- Lebron James is responding to Ohio fans outrage for him leaving the Cleveland Cavaliers. James took out a full-page add in the Akron Beacon Journal on Tuesday that reads, “Akron is my home, and the central focus of my life. It’s where I started and it’s where I will always come back to. …But as I enter the last few years of my career I felt I owed it to myself and my family to chase my dream of winning an NBA championship.” [B]
- Nicki Minaj released the name of her upcoming album via twitter late last night. It’s going to be called “Pink Friday.” [Vulture]
- Anthony Hamilton and his wife Tarsha are preparing to welcome twins this October. Congratulations! [EurWeb]
- Kanye West’s tweets paired with The New Yorker’s cartoons are causing a viral stir. [WSJ]
- In an interview, Katherine Jackson says she remembers that Michael Jackson used to dance to the rhythm of an old washing machine. [TMZ]
- Vanity Fair just released its International Best Dressed List and only two Black high profilers — Michelle Obama and Pharrell Williams — made the cut. [VF]
- NFL defensive player Albert Haynesworth is fighting a $10 million legal battle with a stripper who claims he emotionally abused her when he found out she could be pregnant with his child. Haynesworth says he did no such thing and claims that the case should be dismissed because the stripper has no legal ground to sue. [TMZ]
- Serena Williams is ticked that she didn’t get a free ticket to the Farmers Classic tennis tournament in LA after she spent time promoting it. She took to Twitter to vent, writing, “The Farmers Classic tennis tournament in LA is charging me $100 a ticket, after I plugged them! I’ll send a bill for my plug!” [LATimes]
- Will.i.am thinks the new Michael Jackson album is a bad idea. [Guardian]
- Deceased NBA player Lorenzo Wright’s assistant says his wife threatened his life weeks before he died. [USA]