Combs arrested for driving violation

Varnit Khanna

Rap mogul Sean Puffy Combs, aka P. Diddy, is in trouble with the law again. P. Diddy was arrested and charged with driving with a suspended license, according to CNN.com.

Police pulled the rapper/producer over for making an illegal lane change while he was riding a scooter along Ocean Drive, a strip on South Beach, Miami.

P. Diddy was released 20 minutes after the arrest after signing a promise to appear in court. The charge is a misdemeanor punishable by a fine of up to $500 and possible jail time, CNN.com reported.

He was acquitted last month of bribery and weapons charges relating to a New York nightclub shooting in which three people were injured, according to CNN.com.

Rapper Jay-Z pleads innocence in gun incident

Speaking of rappers in legal trouble, Jay-Z has declared himself to be 100 percent innocent after police allegedly found a loaded gun in his bodyguard’s waistband, according to MTV online.

“That’s my mother,” Jay-Z said pointing into crowd after leaving the courtroom. “She can go anywhere she wants and hold her head up because her son is 100 percent innocent.”

After an arraignment on a charge of criminal possession of a weapon in the third degree, Judge Laura Ward released him on $10,000 bail – $30,000 less than what was demanded by the prosecutor, according to MTV online.

The judge appeared baffled when Jay-Z’s lawyer, Stacey Richman, declared him a musical genius in asking for reduced bail, MTV online said.

MTV plans Michael Jackson special

Pop megastar Michael Jackson is returning to the public eye for more than a few moments on Sept. 7 when he presents a massive concert tribute to his own career, according to MTV online.

The show will include a reunion with the Jackson 5 for the first time since the `80s and collaborations with ‘N Sync, Britney Spears and Whitney Houston.

Jackson has dubbed the event, Michael Jackson: The Solo Years 30th Anniversary Celebration. The show, which takes place at New York’s Madison Square Garden, also includes performances from Marc Anthony, Shaggy, Jill Scott, Mya, Tamia and Deborah Cox, according to MTV online.

Steven Spielberg ends involvement with Boy Scouts

Directing giant Steven Spielberg has stepped down from the advisory board of the Boy Scouts of America, apparently because of the group’s exclusion of gays, according to People.com.

“The last few years in scouting have deeply saddened me to see the Boy Scouts of America actively and publicly participating in discrimination. It’s a real shame,” Spielberg said in a statement. “I thought the Boy Scouts stood for equal opportunity.”

According to Reuters, Joey Robinson, a spokesman for the Boy Scouts’ L.A. council, defended his organizations right to set its membership policies. He also said he had not been informed of Speilberg’s decision.

P-roach drummer sustains wrist injury

Rock heavyweights Papa Roach, a band known for its extensive touring, has canceled the second leg of its “Raid the Nation Tour” due to a wrist injury sustained by drummer David Buckner, according to MTV online.

“It’s unfortunate that this had to happen,” Buckner said in a written statement. “This is a huge disappointment for us … and no doubt for our fans.”

The tour, which began on March 16 in New Orleans, has found Buckner’s wrist getting consistently worse. After an April 22 show in Toronto, the band will head home so Buckner can heal, according to MTV online and the band’s publicist.

David Gray to release re-recorded music

Platinum-selling singer/songwriter David Gray will be giving fans a taste of what he was doing before his breakthrough album, “White Ladder,” according to MTV online.

Gray has re-recorded and released some of his early work in a record titled “Lost Songs 95-98” this past Tuesday on Dave Matthews’ TAO Records.

“I had a lot of sparse, kind of melancholy stuff hanging around from before the `White Ladder’ period, and I didn’t want it to go to waste or just be this messy collection or home recordings and demos,” Gray told MTV about the album.

Gray, whose “White Ladder” rose as high as 34 on the Billboard 200 albums chart, just recently set off on a 33-date tour through the US, according to MTV online.

– Kyle Moss