• The past is coming back to haunt Jennifer Lopez and Diddy — it's been haunting Shyne for a while now. [SR]

• Keep Lil Wayne away from the homonyms! [BX]

• Wesley Snipes is trying to make a little money before his appeal fails and he has to go to jail. [EUR]

• Russell Simmons explains, in great detail, the custody arrangement between him and Kimora. He's happy with it. [PH]

• Rick Ross and Foxy Brown aren't getting married because, he says, he's "married to the money." Oh, sweet romance! [MTV]

FREE FOR NOW Wesley Snipes, who was supposed to report for prison to begin his three-year sentence for tax fraud on June 3rd, has been granted bail pending an appeal of his three convictions. He'll remain free during the appeal, even though the judge is "dubious" of his appeal arguments.

The Reverend Al Sharpton and the National Action Network might owe the U.S. government $1.5 million in back taxes and penalties, but, honestly, even the IRS has to know that it is impossible to pay taxes and plot to shut down major cities at the same time. Cut Sharpton some slack!

Sharpton, who sees the government inquiries into his finances as a witch hunt, disputes the accuracy of the quoted debt, but NAN representatives admit that in recent years the organization has had trouble dealing with its rise in stature and the subsequent jump in income and donations. "The infrastructure was trying to keep up with that pace, and it was not a perfect fit," Executive Director Charles King told the AP on Friday. "The National Action Network may not have been perfect, but nothing was going on that was untoward."

Sharpton also has a personal tax debt of over $1 million, which allies say the IRS has inflated based on the NAN's bookkeeping issues. Sharpton's too busy with Sean Bell and a recent police beating in Philadelphia to care. Plus, the last time he was tried for tax fraud he walked away clean. He should have sent Wesley Snipes his lawyer.

• Not surprisingly, Wesley Snipes is appealing the tax evasion conviction for which he was sentenced to three long years in prison. [E!]

• The pictures from the set of Usher's new video for "Moving Mountains" show that the director took the song lyrics very literally. [CL]

• 50 Cent his chain snatched on stage in Angola. I wish I could have seen it in person. [SR]

• $5 gas? It's coming… [CNN]

• The overexposure of Mariah Carey is getting unbearable. [SONYC]

A.

I joked in the months leading up to his eventual conviction and sentencing for tax fraud, but I probably would have joked a lot less if I had known Wesley Snipes would really be sentenced to three years in prison. I'm no big Snipes fan — as a person I find him hard to stomach — but three years seems quite excessive. They are obviously trying to make an example out of him. Famous people: pay your taxes and make sure your accountants are on the up and up!

Since he won't be making any movies over the next three years (and hasn't been making many movies lately anyway), here are some photos from some of his earlier work. Whoever guesses them all first wins!

B. C. D. E. F.

SO MUCH FOR CHARACTER WITNESSES Wesley Snipes was just sentenced to three years in prison for tax fraud. Bummer.

Wesley Snipes gets sentenced tomorrow for tax fraud, and although he faces a maximum of three years, he's hoping that character testimonies from his famous friends will help sway the judge in his favor. Here are some excerpts from the statements, via TMZ:

• "Woody recounted how he was shooting "Wildcats" and that he and Goldie Hawn were the only Caucasians on the production team. Harrelson said a few of the folks were fans of Louis Farrakhan. Woody wrote, "It was the first time I experienced racism toward me.""

• "Denzel Washington says that Wes is like "a tree — a mighty oak.""

• "Judge Greg Mathis says: "Unfortunately, it was his honest nature that forced him into these legalities" and "I can say from my personal experience as a Judge that people are always trying to manipulate and defraud people with a high profile status.""

• "Judge Joe Brown says Wesley is "one of those rare individuals possessed of an extremely developed social conscience.""

That Woody Harrelson anecdote is totally going to save Wesley. Just a prediction.

Wesley Snipes might have dodged the biggest bullet in his tax evasion case, but prosecutors are still requesting he get the maximum sentence for the crimes he was convicted of — three misdemeanor counts of failing to file federal tax returns. Each count carries a maximum sentence of one year. The prosecutor wants three years and a $5 million fine.

"This case cries out for the statutory maximum term of imprisonment, as well as a substantial fine, because of the seriousness of defendant Snipes' crimes and because of the singular opportunity this case presents to deter tax crime nationwide," U.S. Attorney Robert O'Neill wrote.

O'Neill admits they're trying to make an example out of Snipes. Here's an example of when it sucks to be a celebrity. [EUR]

OSCAR AFTER-PARTIES ARE TAXING AFFAIRS We learned how to get rid of Tyra Banks two weeks ago. Here's what you do if you want to rid yourself of Wesley Snipes.

Tax-evasion specialist Wesley Snipes looked "super-skinny and arrived completely solo" at Prince's Oscar bash, thrown by audio company Klipsch, according to a spy. But Snipes had a few fans in the house. A group of middle-aged suits called out, "We hate taxes more then you do — you're a hero!" Snipes laughed but made a quick exit out of the room.

If you're a black female, you might not even have to go so far as to open your mouth and tell a joke. Your presence should be enough for him to want to clear the room. [NYDN]

SOMEONE HAS LEARNED TO PAY HIS TAXES FROM NOW ON Those frightful KKK members in Ocala, Florida, graciously decided to give Wesley Snipes a break Friday. The jury found the actor not guilty of felony tax fraud charges, but he was convicted of three misdemeanor counts of failing to file a tax return. He faces a possible 3 years in jail, as opposed to the 16 he would have gotten with the felony charge. Phew! He'll be back on the street and populating his IMDB pages with projects that make us go "hmmmm" in no time! [USAT]

• The press is acting like Wesley Snipes' trial is the trial of the century. It is pretty amusing, though. [People]

• 50 Cent was allowed to feel "normal" when he was shooting a movie with Al Pacino and Robert De Niro. How marvelous for him. [CST]

• Advertisers spend $805 million a year targeting black radio stations and $600 million on black magazines. In total, advertisers spent $2.3 billion on ads targeted toward African Americans. [MW]

• More on the Black List, a documentary that premiered at Sundance. [HR]

THE DEFENSE RESTS The defense team in Wesley Snipes' tax evasion case in Florida talked a big talk and dropped some big names — think Muhammed Ali, Tom Brokaw, Sylvester Stallone, Goldie Hawn, and Woody Harrelson — as possible witnesses for the defense. But when push came to shove, the defense rested its case after just one hour and called no witnesses. Snipes' lawyers seem to think that the prosecution's case is so weak there is no point in even arguing against it. This sounds sort of like Rudy Giuliani's campaign strategy. [E!]

Halle Berry's so clean, so pretty, so pregnant. And now she has a new hair do! I thought a nice contrast would be her turn as a crack-head willing to do quite a bit for $5 in Jungle Fever. Also, check Wesley Snipes, whose fall from grace can only be fully measured after the verdict comes in on his tax evasion trial in Ocala, Fl.