People: We’re sure it will be in good taste
Watch out, world – Flavor Flav is getting serious.
Sure, he still peppers his conversation with some “Yeahhhh, boyeeee!” and occasionally busts out one of those wild cackles that have made him one of hip-hop’s most recognizable rappers as part of Public Enemy.
But Flav’s new sitcom, “Under One Roof” (tonight at 8 on MyNetworkTV), is a change from his hit reality show “Flavor of Love.”
“It’s a brand-new challenge,” he says. “And I call it a challenge for myself because I have a serious case of CRS – Can’t Remember Stuff.”
Actually, he bases his character – an ex-convict who goes to live with his wealthy brother when he gets out of prison – on his experiences growing up in Long Island.
“A lot of the stuff I learned when I was young, I apply to my life today,” he says. “I learned how to survive …
“(I)f I couldn’t get a job, to this day, I still know how to go out on the street and hustle and make a living. I know how to go to an abandoned house and get the copper pipes out the well and put it in a shopping cart and take it to the place to sell the copper.”
Lowe, lower …
One of three former employees being sued by Rob Lowe says the actor sexually abused her for years, but she continued working for him and his wife because she loved their two boys and needed the job.
Last week, Lowe said that Jessica Gibson had demanded $1.5 million to remain silent about the abuse allegation, which his attorney dismissed as “outrageous” and “untrue.”
Like a dementor to him
A Harry Potter fan who wants to publish an encyclopedic guide to the wildly popular books cried on the witness stand Tuesday as he faced off against his idol, J.K. Rowling.
Rowling sued Steven Vander Ark claiming the “Harry Potter Lexicon,” based on his Web site, infringed on her copyright.
“It’s been difficult because there has been a lot of criticism … and that was never the intention,” he said. “This has been an important part of my life for the last nine years or so.”
Walking the gangplank
Grammy winner Alicia Keys tells Blender magazine that “gangsta rap” was “a ploy to convince black people to kill each other. ‘Gangsta rap’ didn’t exist.”
Keys, who said she’s read several Black Panther autobiographies and wears a gold AK-47 pendant around her neck “to symbolize strength, power and killing ‘em dead,” added that the bicoastal feud between slain rappers Tupac Shakur and Notorious B.I.G. was fueled “by the government and the media, to stop another great black leader from existing.”
DJ Jell-O?
Bill Cosby has recorded a hip-hop album, “Cosby Narratives Vol. 1: State of Emergency” – though guest rappers provide the rhymes.
“I do not rap on any of these things,” says the 70-year-old Cosby. “I wouldn’t know how to fix my mouth to say some of the words.”
The birthday bunch
Singer Bobby Vinton is 73. Actress Ellen Barkin is 54. Singer Jimmy Osmond is 45. Actor-comedian Martin Lawrence is 43. Actor Jon Cryer is 43. Actor Peter Billingsley (“A Christmas Story”) is 37. Actor Lukas Haas is 32.