MTV chiefs are cracking down on the money-grabbing “Jersey Shore” stars’ lucrative personal appearances that are netting them up to $7,500 a night according to sources.
They’ve ordered the cast — including Nicole “Snooki” Polizzi, Mike “The Situation” Sorrentino, “Pauly D” Delvecchio and Jenni “JWoww” Farley — to rein in their appearances at clubs and bars or face strict fines or even legal action.
But sources say certain cast members are blatantly ignoring the rules and pushing to rake in as much money as possible — despite having all signed $180,000 contracts to film a second season this summer.
A source close to the cast told us, “MTV has told the ‘Jersey Shore’ crew they can only do two personal appearances a week, and that all of their gigs have to be approved by producers. They’ve threatened the cast that they will be fined if they flout the rules — but some don’t care and are blatantly going ahead to earn as much cash as they possibly can.”
A second source told us MTV honchos fear the show’s “brand” could turn to trash if the cast continues “pimping themselves” at the current rate. The source said, “We have to put in controls to protect the brand. We don’t want them out all over the map at every single bar in the country.
“They have to get permission from MTV prior to doing a personal appearance — we don’t want one of these kids appearing in a topless bar. Pauly D’s fan base is about 85 percent women between 12 and 21, we have to protect that.”
Michael Schweiger, who manages the cast members except Snooki, confirmed, “We’re incredibly busy. It’s a hell of a ride right now. This is something like America hasn’t seen before as far as reality TV goes. Rather than let it run like a train out of control, there has to be some rules put in place.”
DJ AM gave MTV his final interview before his untimely passing. In the interview he discussed his battle with crack cocaine, his 11yrs sobriety, and the new reality show he was working on with MTV that would document his second passion help addicts turn their lives around.
Details of AM’s Death:
On Friday Aug. 28 2009, a close friend of DJ AM was so worried when the spinner didn’t show up for a flight or answer his cell phone that he sped to the star’s Manhattan pad – and discovered he was dead, a police source said Saturday.
Brooklyn actor Alex Burns knocked on the door of DJ AM’s $2 million SoHo apartment on Friday night, but there was no answer, cops said. He asked the building’s super to unlock the door, but the security chaing was latched inside, so they called the police.
Cops broke in a short time later and found DJ AM facedown on his bed, with a crack pipe and prescription drugs nearby, police said.
When they rolled him over, cops discovered a near-empty bag of crack stuck to his chest, a source said. The mercurial and tragic 36-year-old, whose real name was Adam Goldstein, had died of an apparent drug overdose.
Medical examiners in Manhattan performed an autopsy Saturday, but said they needed more time to determine how he died. Burns, an actor best known for his role in the 2004 film “Garden State,” was set to fly to Las Vegaswith Goldstein for a performance at The Palms Casino Resort on Friday.
Palms paid tribute to the spinner Saturday night, cutting the lights on the “P,” “L” and “S” letters from their giant Palms sign, leaving just “A M” illuminated over the Vegas strip.
Jigga’s rocking with MTV for the premier of his new video according to Billboard:
MTV has got the exclusive for the global premiere of the new Jay-Z video “Run This Town,” featuring Rihanna and Kanye West. The video will debut on Aug. 20 at 8pm EST across all MTV properties including MTV, MTV2, MTVu, MTV Tr3s, MTV Hits, MTV Jams in the U.S. as well as on MTV’s international network of channels.
There are 68 MTV channels in 161 countries, in addition to local Web sites that will show the video. International broadcast times will be confirmed by local channels. ”Run This Town” (Roc Nation/Atlantic) is the second video from the rapper’s album “Blueprint 3,” which is released Sept. 11. It was shot in New York and directed by Anthony Mandler, who also directed Jay-Z’s last video, “D.O.A. (Death of Auto-Tune).”
“Jay-Z is one of those artists that every time he makes a move, he creates excitement and buzz,” said Amy Doyle, EVP, MTV music & talent, in a statement. “He continues to marry music with cinematic visuals that raise the bar in the video art form, and MTV is excited to be able to bring this video to fans worldwide.”
Bruce Gillmer, SVP talent & music, MTV Networks International, added: “MTV’s ability to deliver fresh music content simultaneously across our global network of properties gives music fans exclusive access to their favorite recording artists while providing these artists unprecedented exposure. Jay-Z is an absolute powerhouse in the music industry, and MTV is thrilled to offer the world a first look at his video ‘Run This Town,’ a stellar collaboration between three of the biggest acts in music today.”
Reported by Britneyspears.com she has just announced on her official blog that she will launch an exclusive line of virtual gifts on Facebook. This marks the first time that a global recording artist has offered virtual gifts specific to their likeness on Facebook.
The gifts, all signed by Spears herself, include Britney themed cakes and balloons for birthdays, limited edition images of memorable Britney moments and exclusive “Circus” tour related gifts. The first six virtual gifts will be available for purchase in the Facebook Gift Shop at beginning tonight at 7:40 p.m. EST.
The unique line of gifts were designed though a collaboration between Spears and Influential computer Iconographer, Susan Kare.
In addition, Britney is celebrating other good news with MTV announcing that she is receiving seven nominations at this years VMA’s considering she only released one video.
Poppa Diddy Pop P. Diddy/Puffy/Take Dat Take Dat is back with another season of Making the Band. This time homie will be creating a instrumental band for his Last Train To Paris LP. Diddy is a marketing and promoting genius, you got to respect the grind and hustle of this cat.
MTV:You’ve seen Diddy create a hip-hop group, a female pop group, and a male R & B group. Now the grande impresario is creating a group for himself, to perform on what he is calling his last album. Diddy and his team will leave no stone unturned as they scour the country for musicians and back-up singers to bring his music to life. Those who make it through the early auditions will spend several weeks proving their worth and ultimately Diddy will choose the best of the best to be in his band.
It was announced that MTV Networks, part of Viacom, was cutting about 75 people from their staff, about one percent of its total employees in the U.S. but according to oursourcethe figure is more like 50 with the other 25 jobs being reconfigured. The cuts affected mainly the mid-level execs in the program-development department, digital division and scheduling at the company’s Music and Logo group (which included MTV, VH1, CMT and Logo channels), according to B&C, clearly indicating the troubled division within the company. The ones not affected: the Entertainment group (which houses Comedy Central) and Kids & Family Group (which houses Nickelodeon).
Just last week, MTV’s head programming czar Brian Graden, president of the Music and Logo group and responsible for cultural touchstones such as South Park,” “The Osbournes” and “Pimp My Ride”, announced that he would be leaving the company after December. Variety had a good story last week on Graden’s departure, and the generational shift going on within MTV’s main division, and the company’s attempt to reinvent itself as the network for “millennials”, with new shows such as “It’s On With Alexa Chung”, a social media heavy TRL replacement. This follows about 850 layoffs that parent Viacom did late last year, the majority of which were from MTVN.
Updated: The company wouldn’t confirm the divisions affected, or the total number, but did send us this statement: “As evidenced by many companies today, the current economic climate dictates we continue to look for more efficiencies in how we run our businesses. These are difficult decisions that need to be made in order to better position us for future growth.”
Super producer Scott Storch talk with MTV about losing his fortune (reportedly $30 million) due to drug abuse and excessive living. There is definitely a lesson to be learned for established and up-and-coming artist. Check out the interview below:
Plenty of funny stuff went down at the MTV Movie Awards last night but nothing more funny than the happy naked bird that landed crouch first on Eminem’s face. It seemed to be staged but the expression on Em’s face was very serious, so it was either some good acting on his part and a well executed PR plan or MTV really funked this one up. you be the judge video below.
Alexis Diaz has always been a natural born Actress. From the start of a young age she had participated in plays and competed in talent shows. Always driven she had attended Temple university in Philadelphia, where she received her Bachelors of Arts Degree in theater.MORE
