The Gossip Rag: Celebrity life, photos, gossip, and news

Dita Von Teese’s mother, a former manicurist, in New York City on Wednesday.

Her mother, who is in her mid-50s, looks great!

The “Greatest Rapper Alive” Lil’ Wayne has appeared in a Public Service Announcement (PSA) for J-Prince’s Strapped Condoms line:

While critics are complaining that the advertisement is plagued by homosexual undertones, I think Lil’ Wayne has got the right idea here. HIV is a big problem in the black American and homosexual communities, and anything he can do to spread awareness is right. XXLMag talks about it a little more:

Launched by the Rap-A-Lot Records founder in 2005, Strapped has embarked on a campaign to educate youth in identifying high risk behavior patterns that contribute to the continuous spread of HIV & sexually transmitted diseases. “In the midst of this crisis where HIV & AIDS is the #1 killer where our race of people is concerned, I salute Lil Wayne as an authority figure for taking a stand to inform our people to use Strapped Condoms & to Stay Strapped for Life,” J-Prince said in a statement announcing the effort.

After being dropped by Verizon, Akon (Aliaune Thiam) issued a public apology for the incident at the Zen nightclub in Trinidad where he simulated sex with an underage girl:

“First, and most important to me, I want to sincerely apologize for the embarrassment and any pain I’ve caused to the young woman who joined me on-stage, her family and the Trinidad community for the events at my concert in Port of Spain on April 12th. It was never my intention to embarrass or take advantage of my fans in any way, especially those under the age of 18. That is why we tried to make sure that the club did not admit anyone under 18 in the audience. Somehow, that standard was not met.”

The girl, age 14, is Danah Alleyne who uploaded the following photo to her MySpace account with the caption “girls nite out! best time!!”, according to TMZ:

If you want to see the video that sparked all this mess, Shout Mouth has it. It’s odd that a 14 year old girl claiming to be 15 years old would be admitted to a club where you should be at least 18 or 21 (I’m not sure which). Apparently they only checked ID in the VIP section. The long, conflicting, story can be read in it’s entirety at Hollywood Grind… whose name sounds like a really bad pun for a story like this.

On her MySpace page she claims to be 19. She certainly looks older than 14 to me:

After this, the pastor’s daughter probably won’t be going clubbing for a long time. Hopefully her parents have suitably grounded her and explained to her what rap stars like to do on stage.

There’s a CNN story about R Kelly’s magical escape from Justice. It highlights:

How Singer R. Kelly has been waiting five years for his sex-tape trial. In that time, he has made six albums and gone on three tours. Kelly will appear Friday for a status hearing in a Chicago courtroom. Judge’s fall from ladder, appendicitis, busy lawyer contribute to delays.

It has be hard to live with a trial looming over you, but for R Kelly it may be a litigation advantage:

Kelly’s lawyers may figure that the delays have worked in their client’s favor, and not only because they’ve given him the chance to keep working and making millions. “You may have a jury that’s going to come in and say, ‘So this happened in the 1990s and this is 2007? I’m just not buying it,”‘ Helfand said.

You can go check out the CNN story for more sordid details. Given his predilection for young women–Aaliyah who was 15, for example, I wouldn’t be surprised to see a conviction and 15 wonderful years without another Sex in the Kitchen.

Wow!! Topless photos of sexy starlet Britney Spears have leaked onto the web. The photos portray Spears naked holding red flowers which appear to be carnations, over her breasts, while outside kneeling on a rock:

The Daily Star reports that a close friend told Britney:

“Britney’s furious these photos have become public. She never dreamed they’d be leaked. She’s concerned the photos will damage her credibility and just make her look trashy. She’s concentrating on her career and this draws the focus from her music.”

Here’s the full uncensored picture. I say “uncensored” but it’s totally just a PG-type glamour shot. Her music videos are WORSE:

I wonder who took the shot? Kevin Federline? One of her lovers? An ex-husband? Justin TIMBERLAKE perhaps!??!?! Anyway, here are two more:

These will probably have to deleted sooner or later…