• Sean Patrick Thomas still gets press? Congrats on the baby, SPT. [People]

• It just gets worse and worse with DMX. [Bossip]

• Jennifer Hudson goes back to her singing roots. [SB]

• Ashanti says a little something (emphasis on little) about her relationship with Irv Gotti and Ja Rule. [Str8NYC]

• Kelly Rowland's writing a children's book. Is this what you do when you can't sell records? [EUR]

2007 was the year of the celebrity screw up. And we're talking celebrities of all colors, ages, and levels of fame. For Stereohyped's purposes, I'm going to stick with the ones of a certain hue — and there are more than enough to list without getting into the Paris Hiltons and Keifer Sutherlands and Lindsay Lohans of the world. From DUIs to drugs to assaults to illegal weapons, there are far too many* young (and not so young) famous (and not very famous) people whose mugshots belong on the 2007 Hall of Shame.
*I'm sure I'm missing a few!

CONTINUED »

• DNA technology that identifies a suspect's race works, but law enforcement isn't exactly lining up to make use of it. [WN]

• A new book about Hair Wars is hitting the shelves. [DN]

• PitBull, the Reggaeton rapper, not Michael Vick's favorite dog breed, got arrested for DUI. [MH]

• Does anyone care who Ja Rule and Irv Gotti think have the top 5 best bodies in the industry? Or worse, who they want to "knock down?" [SOHH]

• Cynthia McKinney has joined the presidential race on the Green Party ticket. [QT]

Ja Rule on the Hip Hop police:

He says, "We have a bad stigma on us - so anything that we do gets amplified 10 times. People are waiting for us to do those things so that when we do them they can say I told you so, look at those rappers.'"

Yep, that's how life works. As a liberal, I chuckle and feel vindicated when Rush Limbaugh admits he's a druggie, and Bill O'Reilly, who is fervently anti-rap, feels triumphant when rappers get arrested. But the way around that is to not break the law, isn't it?

[SP, WI]

Like a racist who justifies his ignorant comments by naming all of his black friends, Ja Rule has set out to downplay his previous homophobic remarks by explaining that he has the "homosexuals in [his] family" over for Christmas. See! How could he possibly dislike gays if he lets them in his house? At Christmas-time?

How would you react if one of your kids told you that he or she was gay?

That's their own preference. I'm going to love them regardless. I have relatives that are homosexuals and, you know, they come over for Christmas, hang out. It's something that starts with us. That's why my album is named 'The Mirror' — because everybody has to look at themselves and take it upon themselves to educate. It's my responsibility to educate my children — not the TV. I think a visual is more influential than audio, but that goes without being said. You know, that's the world we live in and people are tight in the collar about a lot of issues. It is what it is.

Those gay relatives might be choosing a different house to celebrate the holidays at this December.

[QT]

So, Ja Rule, are you sticking with the "gay people on MTV are what's wrong with America" argument? If so, I've got to ask you a question. What's wrong with hip hop? I think the answer is somewhere in the video for your new song, "Body."

Ja Rule, who was most recently in the news for getting arrested on weapons charges, thinks that gay people on afternoon television are a terrible influence on his kids.

…We need to go step to MTV and Viacom, and lets talk about all these fucking shows that they have on MTV that is promoting homosexuality, that my kids can’t watch this shit.

Dating shows that’s showing two guys or two girls in mid-afternoon. Let’s talk about shit like that! If that’s not fucking up America, I don’t know what is.

Why don't you give your cute kids some guns and have them threaten to shoot MTV execs? Then they'll play your crappy sub par videos instead of crappy sub par dating shows. And the Atkins family will live happily and heterosexually ever after. The end.

[QT]

See Kim Porter?

If you scroll through the rest of the pictures from Tenjune's 1st anniversary party in NYC last night, you'll also see a certain someone named Sean Combs.

Coincidence? I think not.

CONTINUED »

• Small town protesters cry racism in the arrest of two college-bound black teens for the murder of a white woman. [DN]

• That guy from Everybody Loves Raymond hit a paparazzo over the weekend. He also might be racist. For some reason, TMZ didn't make a big of a deal about this incident at the Gary Dourdan debacle. [TMZ]

• The more advanced the breast cancer, the wider the racial gap in survival rates. [CBS]

• Ja Rule is clearly more interested in paying his bail than some contractors who fixed a leak in his house. [NS]

• A new study suggests MLB umpires make calls based on race. Except widespread outrage shortly. [MSNBC]

The powers that be certainly chose an opportune time for the video for Ja Rule and Lil Wayne's single, "Uh Oh," to drop. I can picture the discussion now:

"So when can we leak this video?"

"Let's wait until both rappers get arrested on the same night in the same city for illegally carrying the same weapon!"

"Perfect! Then all the blogs can make some kind of "Uh Oh" joke."

[NR]

If I know NYPD cops, they are patting themselves on the back in a big way this morning. Two rappers arrested in one night! Uh oh.

Ja Rule and two others were in a luxury car that was pulled over just after 10:30 p.m. Police said a .40-caliber pistol was recovered from inside the vehicle. The Queens native, whose real name is Jeffrey Atkins, is known for dissing rival rappers 50 Cent, Eminem and Dr. Dre in his songs.

Just an hour later, police said cops witnessed rapper Lil Wayne and another man smoking marijuana. Upon being searched, police found a .40-caliber pistol. The rapper, whose real name is Dwayne Michael Carter Jr, had finished a show Sunday night at the Beacon Theater.

This situation probably sucks a little more for Weezy. Ja Rule's arrest screams, "I have an album coming out — why don't I conspicuously pull my luxury vehicle over and have an unregistered pistol inside!"

[NYDN]