KVBC Reports
He partied and gambled heavily in Las Vegas. And now, another sports figure finds himself in legal "foul trouble."
Tuesday afternoon, a Las Vegas judge issued an arrest warrant for ex-NBA star Antoine Walker. He's facing felony bad check charges for allegedly not paying back some enormous casino debts.
News 3's Steve Crupi is digging deeper into the details of this case and reports that three big casinos are involved.
According to the criminal complaint, Caesars Palace, Planet Hollywood, and the Red Rock Station gave former NBA star Antoine Walker huge amounts of gambling money.
He allegedly received $1 million in all, most of which he has not re-paid.
Walker played last year for the Minnesota Timberwolves. And before that, he was a three-time all-star with the Celtics.
And he is again racking up big numbers, but not on the scoreboard.
The criminal complaint against Walker says he received ten separate casino loans for $100,000. He has failed to pay back more than $800,000-worth of that money, lost gambling last year at Caesars, Planet Hollywood, and the Red Rock.
Walker is not the first sports figure to run up massive unpaid debts. Last year, it was former NBA star Charles Barkley who was late with his payments. He spoke about his love of blackjack back in 2007.
"I like to gamble. I'm going to gamble. I like to gamble, it's my money."
But it's not always a gambler's money: Casinos routinely "loan" players vast sums, having them sign markers that are treated like checks under Nevada law.
The Clark County District Attorney's Office sees a lot of bad check cases involving casinos.
"On a daily basis, we see large amounts of money that people don't repay," confirms prosecutor Bernie Zadrowski.
The arrest warrant for Antoine Walker comes at a time when the NBA's attention is already on Las Vegas, with its summer league in its fifth day. The event features young players, however, most of whom aren't making big money yet.
But one question people always ask is aren't the casinos just as much at fault in these cases? They hand over such big sums of money to people who may not be making the best decisions.
But this is something the casinos don't like discussing.
A court date of July 20 has been set for Antoine Walker; no word yet on whether he's made any arrangements to turn himself in.
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Mediatakeout has published a pic reported to be Michael Jackson in his casket. The pic has been slammed by many media outlets as fake. This calls into question the ethics of MediaTakeOut and other websites like it that are desperate for a big story. The picture is shown below, it may be disturbing to some.
AllHipHop
Reports
Curtis "50 Cent" Jackson has opted to have some of his very prominent tattoos removed, to better accommodate his burgeoning career in Hollywood.
“I took some of the tattoos off because on the movie set, if we got a six o’clock call time, I have to be there two o’clock the night before,” 50 Cent told AllHipHop.com. “I gotta go through four hours of make up before we go ahead and play the role. So, I just took it off my arm. My right arm."
The G-Unit founder has not completely done away with his tattoo. He still bears the two on his back, the signature “50 Cent” and “Southside” tattoos.
The move may be working for 50 Cent as he stars in upcoming film Streets Of Blood.
The drama, which stars Val Kilmer, Sharon Stone and Michael Biehn, portrays the street gangs and corrupt law enforcement in post-Hurricane Katrina New Orleans.
Outside of Hollywood, 50 Cent’s current single "Ok, You're Right" from his highly anticipated album Before I Self Destruct, continues to receive heavy radio rotation.
The rapper also recently dropped his new mixtapes, War Angel and Forever King, the latter being dedicated to the late King of Pop, Michael Jackson.
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XXL Reports
With Raekwon and Rza currently on the Rock the Bells tour, there is no hope for a full-fledged Wu-Tang tour this summer, but two of its most popular rappers Ghostface Killah and Method Man will be hitting the road together starting at the end of July.
Fellow Def Jam MC and Meth’s longtime rap partner Redman will also be joining the bill, titled as The Foot Print in Hip-Hop Tour. Set to kick off in Asheville, North Carolina on July 22, the rappers’bus will make stops in cities like Washington, D.C., Baltimore, New York, New Orleans, Houston, Dallas, Austin, Las Vegas and L.A., before their last show in San Fransisco on August 16.
Meth and Red will be promoting the release of their latest disc, Blackout! 2, the sequel to their multi-platinum selling 1999 debut, while Ghost will be plugging both his greatest hits collection, Ghostdeini The Great released last December, as well as his upcoming R&B album,The Wizard of Poetry.
In related news, Tony Starks recently announced plans to release his first comic book. Following in Meth’s footsteps, the book entitled Cell Block Z, will be published by Hachete Book Group who put out the Iron Lung’s self-titled graphic novel last year.
For a full list of tour dates and to purhase tickets fans can visit ticketmaster.com.
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NYDailyNews Reports
Brazilian cops put the bloody purse strap and knife that killed Arturo Gatti on display Monday as his wife's lawyer insisted she's too "fragile, young and skinny" to kill a boxing champ.
Police said there's no way anyone but Gatti's 23-year-old wife, ex-stripper Amanda Rodrigues, was inside the couple's luxurious rental apartment when the former champ was killed.
"It was technically impossible for a third person to have been in the flat," lead investigator Moises Teixeira said Monday. "She did this alone."
There were no signs of forced entry. Electronic locks indicated no one else had entered the room.
Rodrigues' lawyer Celio Avelino said her client "is fragile, young and skinny. How could she kill a boxing champion?"
Police believe Rodrigues was capable of strangling her husband because he was drunk - and she stabbed him in the back of the head with a knife.
She then used her nylon purse strap to strangle the passed-out fighter, cops said.
Gatti's distraught sister Anna-Maria Gatti told CTV News Montreal that Rodrigues always provoked fights. "She always said, 'I'm gonna kill you, I'm gonna kill you,'" said Gatti.
"My mother told him to leave her. The only reason that he didn't want to leave her was the boy," she added, referring to the couple's 10-month-old son.
The boxer, his wife and Arturo Jr. were to fly to Florida this week for Anna-Maria Gatti's wedding.
Rodrigues was arrested Sunday. She is being held near Porto de Galinhas, the seaside resort town where the couple went for a second honeymoon.
Rodrigues told cops she and Gatti had a fight Friday night at a bar, and that her husband pushed her, causing minor injuries to her elbow and chin.
Later on Friday night, they both made it back to the rental apartment, where they slept in separate rooms.
Rodrigues told police she slept in the bedroom with her son, while Gatti slept in the living room.
She said she awoke at 6 a.m. to feed her son and three hours later realized Gatti was dead. He had been dead for hours.
"When [Rodrigues] awoke, she presumed he had committed suicide. But she had nothing to do with it," her lawyer said.
Witnesses told a different story.
They said Gatti left his son to sleep in the apartment, then returned to the city center to find his wife.
She arrived at the apartment before he returned and waited for him, cops said, and they went upstairs together.
Gatti's brother Fabrizzio was on his way to Brazil yesterday to claim the body, the boxer's former manager said.
"They were getting divorced around a year ago, and somehow she lured him back in," Pat Lynch said.
"They were having problems from the beginning, almost from day one. I saw it, his family saw it, everyone saw it except him. It was just horrible.
"She was an evil person. She has no soul. Someone who's capable of doing this - I hope she rots in hell."
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NYDAILYNEWS Reports
His HBO character might have a taste for violence but a star of the crime show "The Wire" said he had nothing to do with gunplay that erupted outside his wife's baby shower.
One man was killed and two others wounded in a gunfight outside the Brooklyn bash hosted by actor Jamie Hector - who played drug dealer Marlo Stanfield on the former hit show.
Hector said in a statement released Monday that his " heartfelt prayers and condolences" went out to the victims' families.
"I would like to make it clear that the shooting incident [Sunday] did not take place at my home, nor did it involve me, my wife, nor any of the invited guests," the actor said.
Local residents, though said two of the young men injured in Sunday's 1:20 a.m. East Flatbush shootout had attended the baby shower.
Linton Williams, 17, and Walter Parker, 22, had just left the party, neighbors said, when a car drove up and opened fire on the men. Williams died at the scene. Parker survived with a leg wound.Alison Gendar
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XXL Reports
Jay-Z has confirmed his hopes to release a series of books, with one book describing the meaning behind some of his most disputed songs on track to hit shelves first.
During an interview on Atlanta radio station V-103, Jay told radio personality Ryan Cameron all about his literary plans. “Well it’s not done, the other two books, it hasn’t kicked in yet, I haven’t signed that deal,” he said about the rumored three book contract. “But I’ve done a deal to do a book and the name of it is called Decoded. It’s called Decoded because I’m going to decode all the lyrics from my records. I’m gonna pick the select ones, you know all the double entendres and things that people may have missed or may have gotten and want confirmation on it. That’s what the book is about.” [Listen here]
Last week The New York Observer reported that Jay was close to inking a deal with the Spiegel & Grau imprint of Random House for three books: one memoir, one business book and the other one about the meanings behind his lyrics that he revealed to Cameron.
This will be the first book written by Hov, who came close to releasing a memoir back in ’03 with MTV. Titled The Black Book, Jay famously backed out at the last minute due to privacy issues.
As of press time there is no release date for Decoded
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XXL Reports
Since being arrested last month on attempted murder charges, fans have yet to hear from Tru Life. XXLMag.com recently reached out to his attorney to find out how the former Roc La Familia rapper is holding up and to gain more insight into the case.
As previously reported Tru, born Roberto Guzman Rosado, was arrested on second degree murder and gang related charges on June 22, for allegedly fatally stabbing a man and leaving another man in critical condition. Tru’s brother Marcus Rosado, was also picked up for the supposed incident that authorities believe occurred on June 15 in a Midtown Manhattan lobby, as part of an ongoing dispute between both parties.
“At this point [Tru Life’s] still incarcerated and he’s awaiting arraignment in Supreme Court,” Tru’s lawyer, Alan Abramson, told XXL, after declining to answer how his client’s spirits are behind bars.
Although Tru has already entered a not guilty plea, Abramson explained to XXL that the rapper has not officially been charged for the crime. “This is just the initial court appearance so we can find out exactly what he’s being charged with.”
Once charged, Abramson is completely confident that his client will be cleared of any wrongdoing. “He is an extraordinarily talented young artist and we believe that he will be vindicated of any charge they throw against him.”
According to Abramson, Tru is scheduled to appear in Manhattan Supreme Court on July 27.
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XXL Reports
Since being arrested last month on attempted murder charges, fans have yet to hear from Tru Life. XXLMag.com recently reached out to his attorney to find out how the former Roc La Familia rapper is holding up and to gain more insight into the case.
As previously reported Tru, born Roberto Guzman Rosado, was arrested on second degree murder and gang related charges on June 22, for allegedly fatally stabbing a man and leaving another man in critical condition. Tru’s brother Marcus Rosado, was also picked up for the supposed incident that authorities believe occurred on June 15 in a Midtown Manhattan lobby, as part of an ongoing dispute between both parties.
“At this point [Tru Life’s] still incarcerated and he’s awaiting arraignment in Supreme Court,” Tru’s lawyer, Alan Abramson, told XXL, after declining to answer how his client’s spirits are behind bars.
Although Tru has already entered a not guilty plea, Abramson explained to XXL that the rapper has not officially been charged for the crime. “This is just the initial court appearance so we can find out exactly what he’s being charged with.”
Once charged, Abramson is completely confident that his client will be cleared of any wrongdoing. “He is an extraordinarily talented young artist and we believe that he will be vindicated of any charge they throw against him.”
According to Abramson, Tru is scheduled to appear in Manhattan Supreme Court on July 27.
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XXL Reports
The divorce case between Nas and Kelis continues to get super ugly. Nas claims Kelis over-reported his income by more than two times his actual earnings in their bitter breakup.
According to tmz.com, the Queens rapper claimed in legal documents his album deal earned him $4 million, not the $11 million that Kelis suggests.
“I did not receive even half that amount,” Nas’s papers read.
Kelis says Nas hasn’t provided any child or spousal support since they couple split in April. Meanwhile, Nas claims he’s agreed to drop $350 for a stroller, $450 for a baby sling and $1,598 for two baby cribs.
Kelis, who is pregnant with Nas’s child, unsuccessfully attempted to move the hearing date forward last month, as not to conflict with her impending delivery. The judge was on vacation, so the date remains set for July 21.
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Mike Tyson may or may not be one of the best heavyweights ever, that's debatable. What's not debatable is that he is the funniest man to ever get in a boxing ring.
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