Congress has been investigating the mega-churches of Bishop Eddie Long, Creflo Dollar and Joyce Meyer for over a year now. The initial congressional investigation led by Sen. Charles Grassley (R-Iowa) ended with an audit last fall and was concluded but with open questions. Funds and property were the lynch pins for queries. All the churches investigated submitted paperwork that was either missing key facts or were cloudy with names and slight misdirections. In response to that Congress gave suggestions to all ministries. Although Grassley’s inquiry is ongoing, his office released some initial findings Monday. Four ministries have declined to cooperate or have provided incomplete information, Grassley said. They are Bishop Eddie Long of New Birth Missionary Baptist Church; Creflo and Taffi Dollar of World Changers Church International; Randy and Paula White of Without Walls International Church; and Kenneth and Gloria Copeland of Kenneth Copeland Ministries. Joyce Meyer Ministries is undertaking internal reforms in the wake of the congressional inquiry into its finances. The extent of the changes is unclear. Grassley’s staff declined to elaborate. And Roby Walker, a spokesman for the Missouri-based Joyce Meyer Ministries, founded by popular TV evangelist Joyce Meyer, said the specifics were being worked out. The action comes nearly a year after Grassley, the top Republican on the Senate Finance Committee, launched an inquiry into six ministries including Long’s. Grassley said at the time that he was disturbed by reports about preachers living lavishly while their tax-exempt churches escaped scrutiny. The Finance Committee oversees tax laws and the IRS. Grassley said Monday that Joyce Meyer Ministries and one other ministry, Texas-based Benny Hinn’s World Healing Center Church, had been very cooperative with his inquiry and were taking internal steps to address concerns about their financial dealings. The two ministries have engaged in “open and honest dialogue” with the committee staff, Grassley said in a statement. “Both Joyce Meyer and Benny Hinn have indicated that they are also instituting reforms without waiting for the committee to complete its review,” he said. RELATED: Bishop Paul Morton Says Eddie Long No Longer Takes His Calls [VIDEO] RELATED: Atlanta Pastor Says Eddie Long’s “Got Problems,” Invites Ex-New Birth Members To His Church [VIDEO] RELATED: Woman Gives Eddie Long Huge Wad Of Cash During Sermon At New Birth [VIDEO] RELATED: Report Says Bishop Eddie Long Settled For $24.8 Million, Gave Private Apology RELATED: Creflo Dollar Tells Former New Birth Members To Go Back, Compares Scandal To Car Wreck [VIDEO] RELATED: Sherri Shepherd Goes In On Eddie Long [VIDEO] RELATED: Eddie Long’s Church Is Collapsing, Says Source
‘We’re each like different neighborhoods in a city,’ Blink bassist tells MTV News of his bandmates. By James Montgomery Mark Hoppus Photo: Frazer Harrison/ Getty Images Last week was a big one for Blink-182 … and their fans. Not only did the band debut “Up All Night,” their first new song in almost eight years, but they revealed the title of their much-anticipated new album, too: Neighborhoods. Of course, while all of this was happening, Blink bassist and vocalist Mark Hoppus was e-mailing MTV News , first to express his excitement about the new music, and then to reveal just how “Up All Night” went from being a rehearsal favorite to Blink’s official comeback single . And now he’s at it again, this time talking about the inspiration behind the album’s title. As is the case with everything involving Blink these days, it seems the Neighborhoods name owes much to the long road Blink have taken since going on indefinite hiatus back in 2005. “As Blink-182 reformed, we came to realize that, as close as Travis [Barker], Tom [DeLonge] and I are, we are all very different people. With very different tastes. Travis just released a hip-hop album, Tom always talks about U2, Coldplay and the Police, and I listen to obscure indie rock stuff,” Hoppus wrote. “We each bring a very different aesthetic, talent and sound to the band. And in the differences between our ideas, the struggle and edge of all the different directions, is where the good things happen when we write together. “So we’re each like different neighborhoods in a city. Everybody in the world thinks of something unique unto themselves when they hear the word ‘Neighborhoods,’ ” he continued. “To some it is a big city, others a small town, others suburbia, everything. The world is wide, exciting and very different. That’s what Neighborhoods means to me.” Blink-182 will return to the road alongside My Chemical Romance on the 2011 Honda Civic Tour, which kicks off August 5 in Holmdel, New Jersey. Neighborhoods is tentatively due in stores on September 27. Related Artists blink-182
Gaga sang ‘Edge of Glory’ and talked about her difficult early years. By Gil Kaufman Lady Gaga visits SiriusXM July 18, 2011 Photo: Maro Hagopian/SiriusXM For months, Sirius radio host Howard Stern has been bellyaching about how Lady Gaga seemed to be talking to everyone except him. So, when the singer stopped in to chat on Monday morning (July 18), the notorious radio host made sure to make the most of it, indulging in one of his show’s longest celebrity chats in recent memory, a nearly 90-minute ramble in which he got Gaga to talk about fame, fashion, sex, drugs and rock and roll. For the most part, the interview hit many of the highlights of Gaga’s now-legendary rise to superstardom: her childhood fascination with piano, the first song she ever wrote, her move to Manhattan as a teenager and the one-year ultimatum her dad gave her after she dropped out of college. But she also revealed a bit more about her offstage self and the inspirations behind some of her most beloved tunes. “I really don’t give a f— about money at all,” Gaga said when Stern tried to get the singer to dish on how much money her album sales and tours have grossed . In fact, she said she still lives in a tiny Brooklyn apartment and has only bought two things with her newfound riches: heart surgery and a car for her dad. “The Monster Ball was really expensive and the next show will be really expensive and I will pay for it,” she said of the 2012 extravaganza that she’s planning. There was, however, one topic even the famously prying Stern couldn’t goad Gaga could into talking about: her love life. “What boyfriend? … Who’s Jean Luc?” she joked when Stern asked about what her closest friends call her offstage. (Even her parents call her Gaga at this point, she said, especially when they’re mad at her.) “It’s hard to find a boyfriend who doesn’t mind a good tuck,” she added, throwing more fuel on the fire of the absurdly tenacious Internet rumors about her gender. “My first love is music,” she explained, though when Stern asked whether she had been intimate with anyone recently, she laughed, “I got laid last night … the guys who are here are my best friends in the whole world. You’re talking about Luc Carl ; he’s been my best friend since I was 19.” Gaga stressed that Carl is still her best friend, sidestepping the boyfriend issue once again — and that he’s going to launch a Sirius satellite radio show soon. One of the stories Stern was predictably fascinated with was the fact that Gaga’s first piano teacher was a stripper who danced at one of the radio host’s favorite New York gentleman’s clubs, Scores, leading him to wonder if he’d ever gotten a lap dance from Gaga’s instructor. Back in the day, in fact, before she was famous, Gaga said she used to dance on fire escapes and pretend she was a star, an image she re-created for her “The Edge of Glory” video . But those pre-fame days were also difficult, as she toiled at waitressing jobs and turned to drugs when she felt lonely, something she now really regrets. “To any little sweethearts that are listening … don’t touch [cocaine], it’s the devil.” Though she’s best known for writing her own songs, Gaga discussed the two tracks she’s written for Britney Spears, “Quicksand” (which appeared on the Circus album), and “Telephone,” which Spears recorded, but never released. Asked if it bummed her out that “Telephone” was rejected by Spears, Gaga said, “Hell no! Frickin’ Britney Spears sang my record! I was doing back flips and ordering drinks!” After describing how she came up with “Born This Way” while in the shower, Gaga pulled out her BlackBerry and played a number of early demos of her songs, including the first, vocals-only take on “Highway Unicorn,” her first pass on the chorus to “Judas” and a snippet of a bouncy new song she wasn’t ready to unleash yet. She also described how “Marry the Night” was inspired by the moment when she decided that she was not willing to become another one of those California club people after spending some time on the Left Coast early in her career trying to fit in. ” ‘No thanks … see you later, it’s been nice in the sun,’ and I went back to New York and I married the night,” she said of why she would never move to Cali, preferring the divey, shots-and-pool-table bars in her native city. “Do I feel like a powerful person in show business? Yeah,” she said when Stern wondered if she will use her newfound powers in the industry for good or evil. The appearance also featured a performance of “Glory,” with Gaga prefacing with a story about how it was inspired by her grandfather’s passing, the first death of a close family member she’d ever experienced. “When my grandma was saying goodbye [to my grandfather], there was something so intense that happened for me that I saw … as sad as the moment was, they both were acknowledging that they had really won in life because they had each other,” she said of the 60-year marriage of her grandparents. On the day her grandpa died, Gaga said she and her father sat down at the piano in their home and traded shots of tequila and she told her pops, “Grandpa’s about to cross over into his glorious moment. It’s hard now because he’s on the edge.” Right then, Gaga said she began playing piano and the song just tumbled out of her. She recorded it and played the emerging tune for her grandfather that day over the phone, and she’s convinced he could hear it. He passed just hours later. “It’s about also knowing in your heart that you may never reach that glorious moment until you die, so live life on the edge — halfway between heaven and hell — and let’s all dance in the middle in purgatory,” she said before playing an affecting solo piano version of the tune. And, in honor of Stern’s notoriously luxurious locks, she also performed the Born This Way tune “Hair,” explaining that it was inspired by her rebellious teenage Grateful Dead phase, when her mother would sneak in and chop off her gross, dread-y hair in her sleep to keep her looking neat and clean. Related Photos The Evolution Of: Lady Gaga Related Artists Lady Gaga
‘It really hurts us,’ C-Smoove says on ‘RapFix Live.’ By Rob Markman, with reporting by Sway Calloway “RapFix Live” with Cali Swag District Photo: MTV News Since the shooting death of Cali Swag District’s Mante “M-Bone” Talbert in May, rumors have swirled while his loved ones search for answers. Rumblings of jealous rivals and gang activity have surfaced, but what bothers CSD the most is a rumor that suggests the group’s surviving members had something to do with Bone’s death. “[There’s] nothing we can do about the rumors,” Yung said on Wednesday’s “RapFix Live.” “We can talk like we’re talking right now because it ain’t gonna change anything, but once it comes to the light, then we can breathe.” C-Smoove called the setup rumor “crazy.” “We made it together. We’ve been knowing that dude since we were kids,” he said. “It really hurts us and our label and the team. How could you believe something like that when we did everything together?” The setup theory is particularly baffling for the group, who emerged as stars from their Inglewood, California, neighborhood thanks to their 2010 hit single “Teach Me How to Dougie.” “We succeeded together, we got out the ‘Wood together. We had fun all the time, everything we did was to have fun because that’s what we do,” Smoove said. “We wanted to have fun and give the people what they wanted. And for people to think something like that, it’s just mind-boggling. How could you figure?” Yung added: “It’s crazy. We think about that all the time, like, how could you even think something like that? We’re family, we’re brothers. So we want the rumors to just stop.” Sound off about the M-Bone rumors in the comments below. Related Videos ‘RapFix Live’ With Cali Swag District Related Photos Cali Swag District’s M-Bone: A Life In Photos Related Artists Cali Swag District
The franchise finale seems to have magically transformed critics into full-blown fans. By Terri Schwartz Daniel Radcliffe in “Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows, Part 2” Photo: Warner Bros. Pictures After 10 years, “Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows, Part 2” is sending the beloved series out with a bang. Early reviews that trickled in last week pegged the movie as being the best “Harry Potter” installment. Now that the grand finale has hit theaters, “Deathly Hallows: Part 2” has solidified itself as far and away the series’ most critically beloved. Up until now, “Harry Potter and the Prisoner of Azkaban” held that title, with a score of 91 percent fresh on Rotten Tomatoes. But “Part 2” has blown that out of the water with a whopping 97 percent fresh and only five dissenters counted at press time. Read our own “Deathly Hallows, Part 2” review over on the Movies Blog, and if that and the critical praise below get you to the theaters, send us your own reviews ! The Performances “A decade later Harry (Daniel Radcliffe) and his friends, Hermione (Emma Watson) and Ron (Rupert Grint), have become powerful adult wizards, while the actors are now stars. Look closely and you can see the beard inching along Harry’s, or rather Mr. Radcliffe’s pale chin. Meanwhile Ms. Watson, smoldering in bruising dark lipstick on the cover of the July Vogue, has her own hair and makeup artist, and the director, David Yates, even trains the camera on her generous peekaboo cleavage. Just as startling is the transformation of Mr. Grint who, in one early, anxious scene wears a goatee and a panicked look that together suggest a junior Paul Giamatti. My, how the children have grown — and the movies too.” — Manohla Dargis, The New York Times Check out photos from the magical NYC premiere of “Deathly Hallows, Part 2.” The Split “Splitting the final ‘Potter’ volume into two films was also to the advantage of Part 2, as was the fact that this film deals only with roughly the final third of the book. This enables it to avoid the tiresome teen angst that hampered Part 1 and devote almost all its time to action and confrontation, starting with the film’s initial image of the dread Voldemort (Ralph Fiennes) pointing the all-powerful Elder Wand to the sky and creating … the Warner Bros. logo. Once this bit of business is out of the way, the plot kicks in with a vengeance.” — Kenneth Turan, The Los Angeles Times The Conclusion of the Series “So many good films come to bad ends, but not the tales of Harry Potter. The final episode of Harry’s epic journey, part 2 of ‘The Deathly Hallows,’ is the best possible end for the series that began a decade ago. In contrast to part 1, which was a ponderous exercise in stage-setting and dramatic incipience, this film, directed by David Yates and adapted by Steve Kloves, is a climax worthy of the term. It’s a dark and thunderous pageant that sets its bespectacled hero in the midst of vast forces, yet never loses track of who he is — a brave boy, to borrow both parts of Dumbledore’s fond phrase, on the way to becoming a wonderful man.” — Joe Morgenstern, The Wall Street Journal The Farewell Factor “Nothing quite like this series has ever been tried before in cinema history, and as I wrote last year, following the central trio of Radcliffe, Grint and Watson through the aging process has itself forced the movies to confront Rowling’s central themes, which I take to be ‘the painful transition from childhood to adulthood, the loss of parents and loved ones, the first intimations of personal mortality.’ For better or worse, Rowling’s books and the hit-and-miss movies based on them have reshaped not just the marketplace for fiction and film but the contemporary cultural imagination, re-establishing fantasy as the central narrative mode (arguably for the first time since the Middle Ages).” — Andrew O’Hehir, Salon.com The Final Word “This movie is impressively staged, the dialogue is given proper weight and not hurried through, there are surprises which, in hindsight, seem fair enough, and ‘Harry Potter’ now possesses an end that befits the most profitable series in movie history. These films will be around for a long time.” — Roger Ebert, The Chicago Sun-Times Check out everything we’ve got on “Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows, Part 2.” For young Hollywood news, fashion and “Twilight” updates around the clock, visit HollywoodCrush.MTV.com . Related Videos Scenes From ‘Harry Potter And The Deathly Hallows – Part 2’ ‘Harry Potter’ Star Daniel Radcliffe Describes Final Film As ‘Heartbreaking’ Related Photos ‘Harry Potter And The Deathly Hallows, Part 2’ ‘Deathly Hallows, Part 2’ Brings The Magic To New York Premiere
‘He’s a great guy to be quarterbacking this thing,’ the ‘Captain America’ star tells MTV News. By Kara Warner, with reporting by Josh Horowitz Chris Evans Photo: MTV News Although most of our Marvel Comics-related movie excitement these days is pegged to the impending release of “Captain America: The First Avenger,” we can’t help but already get excited for next year’s highly anticipated, superhero-filled “The Avengers.” When MTV News caught up with Cap himself, Chris Evans , during our “MTV First: Captain America” interview Thursday, we asked for his thoughts on working with fan-favorite “Avengers” director Joss Whedon. “He’s unbelievable,” Evans said. “He’s so clever. He lives in the world of comic books, so he has in his head an amazing story already mapped out. When it comes to directing actors and understanding dialogue, he’s an incredibly talented writer. If something isn’t working for you as an actor within the words, he can walk away for 10 minutes and come back with seven options that are all fantastic and clever and witty and it’s got a pace and a banter,” he explained. “He’s a great guy to be quarterbacking this thing.” With regard to Captain America’s story line in “The Avengers,” the details of which Evans couldn’t fully divulge but are briefly teased at the end of “Captain America,” he said his character is basically a fish out of water trying to understand the modern world around him. “It’s really multifaceted. The guy has to accept the fact that everyone he knew and loved is gone,” Evans said of his character’s new arc. “Not only is he alone, [but] the world has changed so much, and I think a big part of what makes Cap Cap was his connection to the way things used to be, this kind of pro-American morality and good-ol’-boy sense of life and the way of doing things,” he added. “In the modern era, there’s a bit of a disconnect. There’s not as much human interaction. I think there’s more cynicism than there was back then, so it’s him trying to come to terms with the way things are.” Check out everything we’ve got on “Captain America: The First Avenger.” For breaking news and previews of the latest comic book movies — updated around the clock — visit SplashPage.MTV.com . Related Videos MTV First: Captain America Related Photos ‘Captain America’ ‘Captain America: The First Avenger’ Chris Evans On The ‘Captain America’ Set
‘I knew Ice Cube was a movie star before he knew he was a movie star,’ director tells MTV News. By Rob Markman, with reporting by Vanessa WhiteWolf Ice Cube in “Boyz N The Hood” in 1991 Photo: MTV News When John Singleton wrote and directed his 1991 film “Boyz n the Hood,” there was no grandiose cinematic inspiration or abstract muse. Instead, the Los Angeles native just wrote about what he knew best. “My biggest influence for making the film was my friends, my friends growing up, and how Los Angeles was in the ’80s and ’90s,” Singleton told MTV News. “None of the movies that we saw growing up had anybody, any characters in them that were like us. So we were like, ‘We should make a movie about what we go through, about what we see.’ ” Released on July 12, 1991, “Boyz n the Hood” was nominated for two Academy Awards and is hailed as a classic 20 years later. On July 19, the film will be re-released in Blu-ray. The movie’s impact doesn’t seem to surprise Singleton much; he kind of always knew things would turn out this way. “I was like, ‘Wow if I can get this in a film, a little bit of what this is, that life on film, then I think I’ll have something that will have a hard effect on people,’ ” he recalled. The film, starring Ice Cube, Cuba Gooding Jr., Morris Chestnut and Laurence Fishburne, is set in South Central, Los Angeles, a California neighborhood notorious for gang violence. At the center of the film is Tre Styles (Gooding Jr.), who tries to balance his father’s (Fishburne) life lessons with the harsh realities of the ‘hood in which he lived. Then there are half-brothers Doughboy (Cube) and Ricky Baker (Chestnut), two characters who couldn’t be more different. Doughboy, a stone-cold gangster, has street respect but very few prospects. His brother Ricky, however, is a young father and a star high school football player fielding sports scholarships from multiple colleges. In the end, Ricky’s bright future is brought to a dark close when he’s gunned down in an alleyway. Noted for its social message, “Boyz n the Hood” also marked the acting debut of rapper Ice Cube , who has gone on to star in movies like “Friday” with comedian Chris Tucker and “Anaconda” alongside Jennifer Lopez. Cube has also written, directed and produced a number of films as well. “I knew Ice Cube was a movie star before he knew he was a movie star,” Singleton said. “He just embodied that role and did a great job.” In fact, the director had a vision — not just for Cube, but for all the members of his former group as well. “The script was originally written for all of N.W.A. The character Doughboy was always meant for Ice Cube, but the whole script was written for all of the N.W.A guys to be in it,” Singleton revealed. Unfortunately, the casting didn’t go as planned, and years later, Dr. Dre expressed a bit of regret. “It’s funny, because when I told Dre that later on, he said, ‘Man, if you got any great ideas, you come to me again, you come to me,’ ” Singleton said with a chuckle. When asked why he thought the film holds up after 20 years, John Singleton offered this: “I think people are still talking about ‘Boyz n the Hood’ because it’s part of who they are. Even if they’re not from that environment, they really identify with those characters. Ultimately, the movie is kind of like a teenage story, it’s a teenage coming-of-age movie. People watch that movie and say, ‘Wow, look at the journey of these characters,’ and then they think about their own journey.” Check out everything we’ve got on “Boyz n the Hood.” For breaking news, celebrity columns, humor and more — updated around the clock — visit MTVMoviesBlog.com . Related Videos ‘Boyz N The Hood’: A Look Back Related Artists Ice Cube
Couple surprised 35 friends and family with the wedding ceremony. By Kara Warner Vanessa Minnillo and Nick Lachey Photo: Getty Images Some happy news to offset the recent announcement that Jennifer Lopez and Marc Anthony have split : Longtime lovebirds Vanessa Minnillo and Nick Lachey officially tied the knot Friday evening (July 15) on a tropical island in front of 35 friends and family. “For us, this is just a stepping stone to do what we ultimately want and that’s to start a family together,” Minnillo told People magazine. Despite that planning-ahead state of mind, the couple, who began dating in 2006 and became engaged last November, decided to do the opposite with regard to exchanging vows; they didn’t tell their guests that they were being whisked away to a wedding ceremony. “Nobody knew where they were going,” Minnillo told the mag. “Our wedding invitations were in the form of a plane ticket,” Lachey added. “We told them they were going away and the attire was ‘island chic.’ It was all very vague.” For those who didn’t score a fancy invite, you can still be a part of the newlyweds’ special day. Lachey and Minnillo’s destination wedding will be televised on a TLC special called “Nick & Vanessa’s Dream Wedding,” premiering July 30 at 9 p.m. ET. Although the couple split briefly in 2009, they’ve maintained a very healthy relationship ever since. The key to keeping things interesting, according to Minillo, are their twice-daily showers together. “It’s not a sexual thing and it’s not a romantic thing,” she told People. “It just becomes an intimate thing. … I’ve had some of my most intimate conversations with him in the shower.” It was the first marriage for Minnillo; Lachey was previously married to Jessica Simpson. Share your well-wishes for the newlyweds in the comments below! Related Photos Love Birds: Vanessa Minnillo And Nick Lachey
Beyonce’s dad Mathew Knowles is blaming his daughter’s business partners for negative things said about him recently. Mathew filed papers in a Texas court this week alleging that members of her camp have made “negative comments” about him. Earlier this week, it was reported that Mathew stole money from his daughter Beyonce . However, in an interview with the Associated Press yesterday, he denied the claim, saying: “We absolutely have not taken any money from Beyonce, and all dollars will be accounted for. In no way have we stole money. Again, this [is] about the people who have made these claims — they have to come into the light.” Read more excerpts from the interview below: On his current relationship with his daughter: The relationship with Beyonce is extremely amicable. I want to make that clear. On her business partners: Where there’s concern is the people that she’s doing business with. I’m challenging all of these folks on integrity, professional integrity. The team ironically appeared to be a cross-pollination of Beyonce’s team, Roc Nation’s team, and Live Nation’s team, who ironically have the most to gain. I’ll let people come to their own conclusion. On finding a solution: The only way we will be able to understand this is through a court of law. That’s the only way either one of us will be clear if someone in our camps did something that was not correct. On if he and Beyonce have spoken since she fired him: We have not had that conversation. Beyonce’s Dad Mathew Knowles Denies Stealing Money From His Daughter Beyonce Drops Her Father As Manager, Jay-Z To Step In [RUMOR] Beyonce & Dad Mathew Knowles Announce Management Split: “Business Is Business” Michelle Williams Has Finally Dumped Matthew Knowles AKA Beyonce’s Daddy
