Maybe I'm a little late with this, but I'm beginning to think that Gabrielle Union has a case of arrested development. Consider the close company she keeps.

While Dupri hunkered down with gal pal Janet Jackson in the VIP booth, across the way sat Nas and rapper wife Kelis, who were all over each other. Union stuck close to Diana Ross' son Evan, with whom she came. But the two aren't dating. "They're just pals," said mutual friend Jay Galvin.

Now whether Evan Ross and Gabrielle Union are really just pals or actually dating (I believe the former), what on earth does a 35-year-old woman have to talk about with a 19-year-old boy? Why are they making appearances together? She's old enough to be his teenage mom.

[NYDN]

Jermaine Dupri and friends celebrated the release of his book, Young, Rich, and Dangerous: The Making of A Music Mogul. Although, I'm pretty sure the only person at the party who had either read it or had plans to read it was Janet Jackson. And that's just a maybe.

In Touch magazine is officially five years old, and, although you probably don't care at all, quite a few people (your favorite blog editor included) chose to attend their big celebration last night at NYC's Tenjune. And I'm sure Kanye West's special performance had nothing to do with it.

As I hinted in this morning's Rewound, Janet Jackson was there with Jermaine Dupri, and, pardon me if I engage in a bit of exaggeration, she saved everyone in the packed club from a fiery death! Okay. Actually, she spotted a girl whose hair was on fire and put it out. So she saved the woman in question from some serious burns, which is commendable.

Check out some red carpet pics from the event after the jump, although a few people, such as Swizz Beatz, Evan Ross, Miss USA Rachel Smith, and LL Cool J aren't pictured. The latter stood emotionless, his eyes concealed by mirrored sunglasses, during Kanye's entire (amazing) performance. Could LL be taking out his Jay-Z aggression on K.W.?

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• Melanie Brown would now like to be referred to as "Lady Spice." Good luck making that one stick. [SP]

• Would I take a cell phone call from my father's killer on my way out of Costco? The jury's still out on that one. [EUR]

• Seriously, Whoopi? I have a feeling Sherri Shepherd wouldn't even take a part in Homie Spumoni. And she thinks the world is flat. [C&D]

• Evan Ross and Hilary Duff as romantic leads? The tweens will like it, at least. [BV]

• I couldn't care less about Barry Bonds, and this woman lost me at "shriveled balls." [Jossip]

Chris Tucker partied with friends and fans in Atlanta yesterday for a Southern celebration of his new movie, Rush Hour 3. Evan Ross, Jermaine Dupri, Dallas Austin, and none other that the baby wipe bandit himself, Terrence Howard. More pics after the jump.

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Target threw Common — 9th best MC in the game right now, according to MTV — a nice little Finding Forever release party attended by a random group of people, including two Diana Ross progeny, Serena Williams and Lauren London. No rapper friends showed love?

Pics after the jump.

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Look how happy Amerie is to be posing with her very own leather BET bag! Yesterday, more stars in town for the BET Awards filed into the "Backstage Creations Talent Retreat" to pick up some free electronics and bags embossed with the network logo. The only one not posing with some merchandise is Flavor Flav, but probably got the publicists didn't think an image of him touching one of their products would make any of us plebes consider going out and buying them. Check out the rest of the pics after the jump.

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With all the black music stars in Los Angeles for tomorrow's BET awards, the parties, gifting suites, rehearsals, profoundly ridiculous fashion choices (ahem, Luda), and ill-timed brawls (ahem, T.I.) abounded. Check out more pics from the weekend's BET-inspired events after the jump.

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