• LL Cool J is said to be "furious" that Jessica Simpson's debut country album did better than his new album. Furious, maybe, but is he surprised? [Bosh]

• "Meet Jose Cruz. In the long history of American jurisprudence, the West Virginia man may be the first defendant to ever be charged with passing gas in the face of a law enforcement officer." [TSG]

• T.I., who would probably prefer to stay out of courtrooms these days, was ordered by a judge to pay the mother of two of his children more child support. [SOHH]

• Jada Pinkett chronicles the hazards of being married to Will Smith: America's Sweetheart. [SP]

• Janet Jackson has severed ties with the record company her man works for, but they are still in love. Inexplicably. [CL]

Like any do-gooding multi-hundred-millionaire movie star, Hancock’s Will Smith is involved in the philanthropy scene. He’s also, as prying eyes have woefully pointed out, been involving himself with the Tom Cruise scene, which means of course that he’s basically a raving Scientologist, right? Back in 2004, Smith donated $20k to something called “HOPE: The Hollywood Education and Literacy Program,” which is the church’s “literary program,” where children get homeschooled and, we’re guessing, brainwashed in their formative years. Now, he and Jada have been plugging away at their New Village Academy, a private school they’re funding that will open in December, which got the LAT treatment over the weekend. Naturally, the first word out of the school’s mouth is that it is not a Scientology facility. (Even Will and Jada still insist they aren’t of the church.) But a certain anti-Scientology crusader is casting his eye of suspicion on this educational institution, mostly because of a … goat.

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Nicole Richie, along with scores of other nicely-dressed women, attended the Crystal Lucy Women in Film awards in LA last night. So what if her actual movie-acting experience is limited to a role as a lesbian cheerleader in 2005's Kids In America. It counts!

"What I found is divorce just can't be an option," Will Smith said on Ellen. "It's really that simple. And I think that's the problem with L.A. – there are so many options. So a huge part of the success for [Jada] and I is that we just removed the other options. We're like listen, we're going to be together one way or the other so we might as well try to be happy," he said.

Jada Pinkett, with hubby Will Smith, was one of the honorees at Essence's first annual Black Women In Hollywood Luncheon in Beverly Hills yesterday. And were there's Will and Jada, there's…you guessed it, TomKat. Kerry Washington, a not-pregnant-looking Paula Patton, Gabby Union, Star Jones, and plenty of others were also in attendance. Check 'em out after the jump.

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• Da Brat needs to make sure the next person she smashes in the face with a rum bottle isn't so litigious. [EUR]

• Sam Fine, makeup artist to the black stars, blogs! [SFB]

• Jada Pinkett-Smith steps behind the camera to direct The Human Contract. [SP]

• Isiah Thomas should cease and desist from sharing juicy secrets with Stephon Marbury from now on. [NYDN]

• Shut up, Shar. [People]