Is Katt trying to kick crack and get back on track? Katt Williams Pays Off $284,000 Tax Lein According to TMZ reports : Hey everyone, we actually have GOOD NEWS about Katt Williams … seriously … he just paid off $284,000 in back taxes!!!!! The IRS had filed the federal tax lien against Katt in 2010, claiming Katt dropped the ball on his income taxes from 2007 and needed to cough up $284,419.67 to Uncle Sam. Well, Katt finally paid up — and the lien was officially unliened on January 23. Of course, the troubled comedian’s still knee-deep in tax debt … TMZ broke the story, the IRS filed another lien against him late last year for $4 MILLION. Gotta crawl before you walk. Image via WENN
Well it took long enough!!! And even though Robney’s shady azz released them to the public, the dude still gets a side-eye from us because what millionaire Presidential Candidate doesn’t have his prior year taxes wrapped up before April 15th like the majority of us normal folk?!?! Here’s the breakdown on Money Mitts numbers: The Robneys earned $13.69 million in 2011, mostly income from his investments, and paid $1.9 million in taxes for an effective tax rate of 14.1 percent. Romney earned $6.8 million from capital gains and another $3.6 million in interest. ZERO percent of his income came from wages which, you know, is the primary source of income for most Americans. Capital gains are taxed at a substantially lower rate than wages and salaries for high-earners. Romney earned about $190,000 in author and speaking fees, as well as $260,390 for sitting on the board of Marriott International. The Robneys donated $4.02 million to charity in 2011, nearly 30 percent of their income, helping to reduce their tax obligation AND the majority of Romneys’ charitable contributions went the Tyler Charitable Foundation (Romney’s own foundation). Romneys trustee released a statement saying that the Romneys only claimed a tax deduction for $2.25 million of those charitable contributions to engineer a higher tax rate than they otherwise would have paid. This move was to “conform” to the candidate’s statement in August that he paid a federal income tax rate of at least 13 percent of his income in each of the last 10 years. According to The Washington Post… At a Republican presidential debate in January, on the same night he released his 2010 tax returns, Romney scoffed at the notion that he would pay more taxes than he is legally required. “You’ll see my income, how much taxes I’ve paid, how much I’ve paid to charity,” Romney said. “I pay all the taxes that are legally required and not a dollar more. I don’t think you want someone as the candidate for president who pays more taxes than he owes.” In case you didn’t know, Romney’s 2011 return is 379 pages long however, the 2011 return of VP candidate Paul Ryan is only 32. One other note–Romney’s 2011 income and tax obligation are significantly less than what his campaign estimated earlier in January. They released an estimate saying that Romney earned $20.9 million in 2011 and would pay about $3.2 million in taxes–for an effective rate of 15.4 percent. “The Romneys’ income can vary significantly from year to year, depending primarily on what investments are sold and how much they have appreciated or depreciated,” Davis said…the couple filed for an extension in April, as they had in prior years, because the investment information required to prepare their tax returns was not available by the April 15 tax deadline. She said, however, that all taxes owed for 2011 were paid by April 15 and that they filed their returns on Friday. Romney, like many other Americans with large investment portfolios, pays a lower tax rate than those whose incomes come from wages. Investment profits are taxed at a flat 15 percent rate, way below the highest rates taxed on “regular” wages. One last round of facts for you to take in: Barack released his 2000-2011 (Federal and Illinois) returns, Biden submitted his taxes from 1998-2011 (Federal, Delaware, and Virginia), and before that, Clinton released his taxes from 1992-1999. As far as Republicans are concerned, their release record is astounding. Mitt, Lyan, McCain, and Crazy Palin only released two years worth of taxes (Newt released one). Before that George Dubya and Shady Cheney both released 2000-2007 but…Bush only released partial returns. For tax year 2000, Bush released only his Form 1040; Cheney provided a summary of his taxes, but released no forms. SMH…Let the shadiness ensue. This is making us real happy that election season is almost over! Images via WENN
Ok, first things first. Put your pitchforks away, because high-powered ad exec and Make Love Not Porn founder Cindy Gallop contends that she is NOT anti-porn. ” I’m a fan of hardcore porn. I watch it regularly ,” she insists. Cindy’s problem is with guys– the younger men she dates, specifically–who can’t seem to tell the difference between the fantasy (porn) and the reality of sex. ” We live in a puritanical double standards culture…it’s not surprising that hardcore pornography has become de facto sex education, ” she said at the 2009 TED talk that launched the site. ” Porn tends to present one world view. Porn says, ‘this is the way it is.’ What I want to say is, not necessarily ,” she adds. And to prove that her beef isn’t with sex, just the way it’s portrayed in the media, she’s set up a new site, MakeLoveNotPorn.TV . Currently in its invite-only beta stage, MakeLoveNotPorn.TV is an attempt to harness the power of social media and viral video to…well, to get people to upload videos of themselves screwing. For $5 a pop (to filter out spammers, Cindy says), users can upload their personal stash of fuck films for the world to see. For another $5, users can “rent” content submitted by other users for three weeks of, uhm, sex education. What makes this different from sites like YouPorn (besides the price tag)? The good vibes, we guess. That, and when someone rents your sex video, half of their $5 goes back to MakeLoveNotPorn.TV , and half goes to you. So if you think you’ve got what it takes to be a home-grown sex star, your income opportunities (among other things) are pointing straight up. Is MakeLoveNotPorn.TV the wave of the future or just a cash grab? See the rest of founder Cindy Gallop’s TED talk after the jump, and let us know what you think in the comments!
Also in Wednesday afternoon’s quick news roundup, The Hobbit is set to premiere in Down Under later this year, Paul Rudd and Emile Hirsch complete a “secret” indie and Captain America 2 appears to have found its directors. Also up is news on a network starring Asian Americans and Universal chief Ron Meyer heads to UCLA festivities. IFC Midnight Takes Rights to Antiviral U.S. rights to Brandon Cronenberg’s Cannes debut Antiviral have been picked up by IFC Midnight. The film, also with a screenplay by Cronenberg, stars Caleb Landry Jones, Sarah Gadon, Douglas Smith and Malcolm McDowell. The film follows “Syd March, an employee at a clinic that sells injections of live viruses harvested from sick celebrities to rabid fans. Syd supplements his income by selling illegal samples of these viruses on the black market,smuggling them out of the clinic in his own body. When he becomes infected with the disease that kills superstar Hannah Geist, Syd becomes a target for collectors and obsessed fans. Arianna Bocco, Senior Vice President of Acquisitions & Productions of Sundance Selects/IFC Films negotiated the deal with Gregory Chambet of TF1 International. Asian Americans Take Spotlight in Network’s Film Fest Mnet , the first national, 24/7 English-language television network in the U.S. for all things Asian, kicks off the third season of Short Notice with a film festival that allows fans to select their favorite short film created by and starring Asian Americans . As one of Mnet’s original programming series, the show premieres on Wednesday, June 13 at 8 p.m. ET/PT with new host George Wang. Universal Chief Ron Meyer to Deliver UCLA Commencement Ron Meyer, Universal Studios President and COO, will be the 2012 Commencement Speaker for this year’s UCLA School of Theater, Film and Television’s (TFT) commencement ceremony. Recipients of TFT’s 2012 Distinguished Alumni Awards are director and screenwriter Penelope Spheeris for Film and Shirley Jo Finney, the award-winning international director/actor, for Theater, both of whom will receive their awards at the ceremony. UCLA Names New Chair of Dept. of Film, Television, and Digital Media William McDonald, award-winning cinematographer and professor, has been appointed the new Chair of the Department of Film, Television and Digital Media (FTVDM) at UCLA School of Theater, Film and Television (TFT) and will assume his new position on July 1st. GKids Takes Rights to Japan’s From up on Poppy Hill GKIDS is handling theatrical, home video, television and VOD rights and will qualify the film for the Academy Awards in the Best Animated Feature category. Directed by Goro Miyazaki, the film is set in Yokohama in 1963, about a high school couple’s innocent love and the secrets surrounding their births. The story takes place in a Japan that is picking itself up from the devastation of World War II and preparing to host the 1964 Olympics. GKids plans a March 2013 release. Around the ‘net… Elvis will Appear in Film and TV – Virtually CORE Media Group, which owns the Elvis Presley brand, has signed a deal with digital production company Digital Domain Media Group to develop, produce a series of “virtual” Elvis Presley apparitions for film and TV projects, Deadline reports . The Hobbit to Debut November in New Zealand The screening at Wellington’s Embassy Theatre will take place two weeks ahead of the film’s release on 14 December. Oscar-winning Lord of the Rings director Peter Jackson said it was fitting to hold the premiere “where the journey began.” Based on the novel by J.R.R. Tolkien, The Hobbit is set 60 years before the Lord Of The Rings trilogy of films, BBC reports . Paul Rudd and Emile Hirsch Complete ‘Top Secret’ Indie The actors worked on Prince Avalanche by writer-director David Gordon Green, based on Hafsteinn Gunnar Sigurosson’s Icelandic comedy Either Way . The film revolves around two men whose lives intersect while working on a road striping crew together. Green and his longtime collaborators Lisa Muskat and Craig Zobel produced the film with James Belfer and Derrick Tseng, Variety reports . Russo Bros. Appear to be Headed to Captain America 2 Anthony and Joe Russo are close to signing on to direct the Captain America sequel for Marvel. The Russo’s credits include You, Me & Dupree and NBC’s comedy Community , THR reports .
Beyonce is back on stage and back in shape. Not even five months after giving birth to daughter Blue Ivy, she performed live over the weekend, showing off a slender figure that belied her recent pregnancy. The megastar revealed her weight loss secrets to a capacity, awe-inspired crowd at her Atlantic City concert, with Michelle Obama and daughters in attendance . At a red carpet appearance earlier this spring, Bey had already slimmed down . During the second of her four concerts at the Revel Beach Ovation Hall in New Jersey, the 30-year-old star said, “Y’all have no idea how hard I worked.” “I had to lose 60 pounds. They had me on that treadmill. I ate lettuce!” It certainly paid off for Bey who had looked sensational in all her custom-made Ralph and Russo costumes, particularly a midriff-baring two-piece. But she added: “Now tonight I’m gonna get chocolate wasted!” [Photo: WENN.com]
In an ironic twist, Basketball Wives star Kenya Bell is being hit up for money by her former NBA player husband, as she now makes more money than him. Former Michigan State star Charlie Bell feels he supported Kenya for years with his wages, but says it’s his estranged spouse’s turn to get his back now. Charlie filed for divorce from Kenya months ago. She’s raking it in on the VH1 show, and while he’s still playing internationally, the money’s not the same . Kenya Bell – Choices Despite having over $1 million in the bank, Charlie says Kenya’s the one with the income – from Basketball Wives and her “music career” (see above). It’s her turn to lend him a helping hand, in other words, in the form of spousal support. Poor guy makes “only” $100,000 a season balling in Italy. Hey, it seems like a pittance compared to your average NBA salary … or the $300,000 per season Kenya Bell is getting from VH1 for Basketball Wives . Kenya, who denies trying to stab Charlie last year, shot back, denying that their income disparity is that high. She also wants a cut of that $1M.
Despite her initial claims, McDonald’s worker Mirlande Wilson didn’t actually win the Mega Millions lottery. She just made that story up … for reasons unknown. The Maryland woman claimed she won the lottery but couldn’t find the ticket, perhaps in hopes that someone would just take her word and cut her a check. Alas, three winners – all female teachers from Maryland who wish to remain anonymous – have come forward to claim the record $218 million winnings. This was a disappointment to Wilson, but she’s hanging in there. “I’m doing OK,” she said about finding out that her “missing ticket” ultimately didn’t have the winning numbers. “That’s alright that I didn’t win this time.” The winners, who call themselves “the three amigos,” were “privately laughing” about Wilson, who publicly proclaimed herself the winner before they did. When asked why she claimed to have the winning ticket, Wilson said, “I don’t even know what happened, but everybody doesn’t know what really happened.” Okay then. “If the money is for getting then I’m going to get it,” she added, while her sister added that she will “no doubt” keep playing Mega Millions. “If she has $20 and spends $19, she’ll take the last $1 and buy a ticket,” she said. So she spends five percent of her income, after taxes, on lotto tickets. Smart.
How to Make It in America ‘s Lake Bell is engaged! To tattoo artist Scott Campbell! So, how did the proposal go down? Details are being kept under wraps for now. But it looks like starring on the HBO show paid off in the romance department for Bell, who reportedly met her newly cemented fianc
In sad, but not entirely surprising news, Octomom Nadya Suleman is doing what she swore she would never do and going on welfare, reports say. The mother of 14 is getting $2,000 a month from the State of California, which sends it directly to a special debit account (see welfare card image ). The card can ONLY be used for food and is closely monitored to ensure its holder isn’t making illegal purchases … i.e. toys, pregnancy tests, etc. Just two years ago, after giving birth to children 7-14, she said she refused to become “a self-fulfilling prophecy” by accepting state assistance. She also said we’d never see Nadya Suleman nude . It’s a week of firsts. Octo got for the card because her income is less than $119,000 a year and a family of 15 that makes less than that is entitled to welfare benefits. The $119,000 figure is based on around $8,000 for each member of the household. The more kids, the more you can make and still receive welfare. [Photo: WENN.com]
Deion Sanders soon to be ex wife Pilar Sanders is claiming she is being held in financial bondage. She says the only way Deion will give her any money is if she has sex with him. Pilar filed for emergency motion from a Texas courtroom claiming the NFL legend has canceled her credit cards and left her without any financial means to support herself and their children … and she needs the judge to force Deion to give her money so she can survive. In the docs, Pilar claims, “Since [Deion] filed for divorce on December 21, 2011, he has given [Pilar] $300.00. Pilar also claims Deion has canceled her cell phone and has “engaged in a pattern of systematically removing my belongings from the house and haphazardly throwing them into piles in the garage of the residence.” Pilar claims Deion still rakes in more than $1 million per year … and she NEEDS a cut of his income to survive.
