TYRA ANGERS AUDIENCE

A recent taping of the "Tyra Banks Show" got started nearly two hours later than scheduled – which angered audience members because the delay appeared to be for no good reason. An audience was brought into the West 26th St. studio for a taping of her episode "Celebrating Black Models, Past, Present and Future." But, an audience member tells the New York Post's Page Six that Tyra kept them waiting nearly 120 minutes as she stood backstage giggling, snacking and chatting with the crew. "You could hear her going on and on because she was standing right behind the stage curtain," said the audience member. "She's talking and talking. Meanwhile, you have the entire audience waiting almost two hours for the taping to start." The spy also said Banks had the nerve to have a bad attitude when she finally started the show. "She leaves us waiting, and everyone is sitting there complaining, and then she comes out and doesn't say a word about it. She didn't even say hello, she got right into her script," said the source. "She acted so cold towards everyone. She's a phony." Another audience member told Page Six that Tyra's guests couldn't get a word in edgewise. All along, "Tyra kept saying, 'When I was a model,' and would hardly let them talk," said the audience member. "It was all about her, as usual."

LL Cool J says people need to kill the divorce talk about him and his wife Simone.  Rumors swirled recently when LL was spotted for the last few weeks without Simone…and without his wedding ring.  He says the rumors of a looming divorce are completely false, he promises they’re not breaking up, and he actually has an explanation why there’s been no ring on his finger lately, “To be honest with you, I’m getting my wedding ring upgraded,” explained LL, who just celebrated his 14th wedding anniversary on Aug. 7. “I’m getting it hooked up… She’s going to get hers upgraded too.” Well, no divorce and some upgraded diamonds?  What else does a  chick really  need in life? 

CELEBRITY QUICKIES

• CBS announced Monday that Laurence Fishburne is a go to replace departing actor William Petersen in its top rated drama series "CSI: Crime Scene Investigation." The Emmy and Tony winner will make his first appearance in episode 9 of the forthcoming 10th season, reports the Associated Press. "I am elated and delighted to be joining the cast of `CSI,'" Fishburne said in a statement, adding that he anticipated a "wonderful collaboration" with the other stars of the show. Fishburne will play a forensics scientist who is also a college lecturer and former pathologist focused on the reasons why people commit violent acts. Gil Grissom, will be reappraising his life after years of high-tech forensics investigations with the Las Vegas Police Department and after facing personal turmoil. The actor will remain an executive producer on the series, the network said.

• Actress Christina Applegate says she has a clean bill of health after undergoing treatment for breast cancer. She tells "Good Morning America", "I'm clear. I am absolutely 100 percent clear and clean. It did not spread. They got everything out, so I'm definitely not going to die from breast cancer." Applegate's mother battled breast cancer, and says she began getting mammograms at the age of 30. She is scheduled to appear on a one-hour TV special, "Stand Up to Cancer," to be aired on ABC, CBS and NBC on Sept. 5 to raise funds for cancer research.

THOUSAND MOURN BERNIE MAC IN CHICAGO

Cedric the Entertainer was one of more than 6,000 gathered on Chicago's South Side to remember Bernie Mac on Saturday. Mayor Richard Daley recalled that Mac was in his office recently, asking how he could help fight violent crime in the city. "He wanted to help get children away from a life of crime and violence." Daley said, "That's why he's the king of comedy. He never lost his soul in Chicago." Mac died Aug. 9 at age 50 of what his publicist said were complications from pneumonia. He had been at Chicago's Northwestern Memorial Hospital since the middle of July. Samuel L. Jackson co-stars with Mac in the upcoming movie "Soul Men". He spoke at the church, saying he knew Mac "was having some health issues, but he always said to me every morning that he was always good." Mac's co-stars from "The Original Kings of Comedy" - Steve Harvey, D.L. Hughley, as well as Cedric the Entertainer took the stage together at the church. Many other friends and celebrities showed up.Click Here

• Master P oh, excuse me, I mean P. Miller is launching a TV channel next year called Better Black Television, or BBTV.  According to a company statement, the network will provide, quote, "positive content for a black and brown culture."  Basically, it'll compete with BET, but it'll be geared more towards families.  The network plans to have everything from original programming, to reality shows and, quote, "responsible hip-hop music and videos".  The channel's advisory board includes DENZEL WASHINGTON, NBA player DEREK ANDERSON (who plays for the Charlotte Bobcats), and the head of the NAACP.
• Today's scheduled memorial for Isaac Hayes has the unfortunate making of an ugly showdown between members of Hayes' Scientology faith, and Christian members of Hope Presbyterian Church in Memphis, where the service is to be held. According to the Memphis Commercial Appeal, critics of Scientology bombarded the newspaper with "scathing e-mails and phone calls" to protest an article mentioning the appearance of a Scientology minister at the memorial. Hayes was an outspoken Scientologist and helped found the Memphis Church of Scientology. However, many of the angry letters described Scientology as a cult that has no business inside of a church.

DIVORCE PROCEEDINGS TO BE STOPPED

During an interview about the launch of her new video-sharing web site, Shaunie O’Neal told The Associated Press that the couple plans to stop divorce preceedings soon. “Neither one of us could probably answer why we were getting one in the first place,” Shaunie O’Neal said. Shaquille O’Neal filed for divorce in Miami-Dade Circut Court in September 2007, after nearly five years of marriage. “Things have been going so great, that someone actually had to remind us that ‘Hey, you do remember those papers are still there.’ Literally, it was days ago,” Shaunie O’Neal said. “So, we’ve agreed that before we leave Florida in a few days we’ll make sure that that’s gone away.” The couple has six children: four together, and each had one of their own before the Dec. 26, 2002, wedding. “The kids and I kind of learned about the divorce at the same time,” Shaunie O’Neal said. “So that was hard. That was probably the worst part of the whole thing, was being able to deal with how hurt the whole kids were.”

DONDA WEST BILL PASSES CALI SENATE

With a vote of 37 to 1, the California Senate passed a bill Wednesday that makes it mandatory for patients seeking cosmetic surgery procedures to first undergo a physical exam. The measure, known as AB 2968, was crafted in response to the death of Kanye West's mother Donda West. The former educator/author died last year from a heart condition that was exacerbated by cosmetic surgery. Earlier this year, Donda West’s niece, Yolanda Anderson, and California State Assemblywoman Wilmer Amina Carter introduced AB 2968 into the state’s legislature. According to Sen. Mark Ridley-Thomas, the tragedy comes as a wake-up call for patients and their families to take steps to ensure a safe medical experience.

CELEBRITY QUICKIES

• Donald Trump will soon be Ed McMahon's landlord. Trump has agreed to buy McMahon's mansion so that the financially strapped TV legend can avoid foreclosure, and keep living there. Trump said, "I don't know the man, but I grew up watching him on TV". Helping him would "be an honor." The real estate tycoon said that he plans to buy the six-bedroom, five-bathroom residence from the lender and lease it to the former "Tonight Show" cohost and his wife. McMahon is behind on more than $640,000 in payments on a $4.8 million mortgage loan.
• Cypress Hill, De La Soul, Slick Rick, Naughty By Nature and Too $hort will be saluted by VH1 for their fifth annual "VH1 Hip Hop Honors," premiering Tuesday, Oct. 7 at 10 p.m. "Now in its fifth year, the 'VH1 Hip Hop Honors' has come to represent the pinnacle of innovation and achievement in hip hop music," said Tom Calderone, Executive Vice President and General Manager, VH1. Hosted once again by Tracy Morgan, this year's musical celebration will feature a host of current rap stars performing musical tributes for the honorees.

NEW MOVIES OUT THIS WEEKEND

Tropic Thunder
Ben Stiller, Jack Black and Robert Downey Jr. are Hollywood actors on the set of a war movie where everything goes wrong.

Fly Me to the Moon 3-D
A 3-D animated adventure about three young house flies who
stow away aboard the historic Apollo 11 mission to the moon.

Mirrors
Kiefer Sutherland is a department store security guard who becomes wrapped up in a mystery involving the store's mirrors.

Star Wars: The Clone Wars
Jedi Knights Anakin Skywalker and Obi-Wan Kenobi return in a new animated chapter in the saga of the Star Wars universe

Vicky Cristina Barcelona
Scarlett Johansson, Penelope Cruz and Javier Bardem become amorously entangled in the latest film from director Woody Allen

ANOTHER LISARAYE UPDATE

Don’t let the good looks fool you; LisaRaye is a home girl who will throw down. (Ya’ll remember her in ‘PLAYERS CLUB)! In the continuing soap opera that is the marriage of actress LisaRaye and Turks and Caicos president Michael Misick, the two reportedly came to blows in the mansion Wednesday night, resulting in both receiving emergency medical attention for bites. The Misicks have each filed a police report against the other, according to Caribbean Net News. The site also reports that the fight went down in the presence of several government officials, including the Minister for Health and Education, Lillian Been-Boyce. A rep for Misick released a statement Thursday denying that he assaulted his wife, and accusing LisaRaye, of initiating the drama. “Last night LisaRaye, her cousin Phillip Travis, and her publicist Lynn Jeter assaulted the guard at the Premier's home, proceeded to ransack the house, and then assaulted the Premier and his sister". "As the result of her assault on them, both the Premier and his sister were taken to the hospital with injuries and later released. The Premier at no time had any physical contact with LisaRaye. If you don’t remember how ghetto she can act, let’s refresh your memory. CLICK HERE **(PARENTAL ADVISORY; EXPLICIT CONTENT)**


JLO TAKES IT TO ABC

Jennifer Lopez is taking another stab at series television as an executive producer on "Maid in Manhattan," a new hour-long comedy-drama for ABC based on her hit 2002 romantic comedy. According to the Hollywood Reporter, the TV version will star a young Latina from the Bronx working at a Manhattan hotel who tries to make it in the world. But the series will focus mostly on her relationships with co-workers. Lopez will not star in the series, she will be very integral to the pilot and series. This will mark the second time ABC has attempted to adapt "Maid," following a script developed with a different writer during the 2004-05 development seasons. Lopez's last TV project, UPN's "South Beach," was cancelled eight episodes into its first season in 2006.

CELEBRITY QUICKIES

• Dallas Mavericks star Jason Kidd, currently in Beijing leading the Men's Basketball Squad in pursuit of a gold medal, has reportedly dumped his girlfriend; model May Anderson, because of her wild lifestyle. "Jason couldn't take her hard partying," a source tells the New York Post's Page Six. "While he was training for the Olympics, she told him she was staying in, but then he would read in Page Six that she was out with celebrities like Lindsay Lohan. It was too distracting, and he decided it better to focus on training and bringing home the gold for the US."
• Labelle, the formidable trio of Sarah Dash, Nona Hendryx and Patti LaBelle, has named their first full-length studio album in over 30 years "Back to Now." The set will be released by Verve Records on Oct. 21 and features production by Gamble & Huff, Wyclef Jean, and Lenny Kravitz. Hendryx says of the project: "It's as if we never stopped. The thread just continues." LaBelle adds: "We have a sound like no one else has." Dash says: "This new album definitely represents Labelle today."

LISARAYE GETS THE BOOT

On the heels of infidelity accusations leveled by actress LisaRaye against her husband, Turks & Caicos Premier Michael Misick, he announced late Tuesday that their marriage is over and done. “I am announcing that I am separated from LisaRaye McCoy-Misick," Premier Misick said in a statement emailed to EUR from his PR rep, Judy Smith. "I am committed to dissolving the marriage amicably.  I believe that this is a private matter and will have no further comments. I hope that our privacy will be respected." The separation follows recent rumors that Misick was cheating with BET on-air personality Rocsi, who was said to be holding court in the mansion while LisaRaye was in the U.S. last week. A publicist for the actress sent out a press release about the alleged infidelity. Misick has also been accused of raping a woman who was described as an American friend of LisaRaye.

UPDATE: ISAAC HAYES

Soul legend Isaac Hayes died from an apparent stroke. His family doctor said the cause of death as a stroke brought on by chronic hypertension. No autopsy is scheduled, so this is being treated as the official cause of death. The 65-year-old Hayes died Sunday at his home in Memphis.

CELEBRITY QUICKIES

• Bengals wide receiver Chad Johnson was fined $5,000 for wearing “Ocho Cinco” on the back of his jersey before a game in 2006. To avoid getting fined, Johnson hasn’t done it since then. But Johnson now has a plan for how he can get away with having “Ocho Cinco” spelled out over the “85″ on his back. We’ve learned that Johnson has taken the first steps in the state of Florida toward legally changing his last name to Ocho Cinco.
• Kelly Rowland put a dent in her bank account at a recent party. Kelly allegedly spent almost $400,000 on a night out with friends at Amika’s Weekend Takeover in St. Tropez, France on Friday. A source says, “Kelly was the ultimate host and even when the bar bill began to spiral out of control, she refused to close the tab. She had 30 very thirsty pals, so it was a pretty big night. The tab included 24 bottles of Patron, 10 bottles of Cognac and 50 bottles of Dom. Girlfriend was partying like rock star.