Spears faces battery probe
The Ventura County (California) sheriff ’s department has launched a misdemeanor battery investigation into Britney Spears after one of her housekeepers reported to deputies that the pop singer struck her during an argument.
Ventura County Sheriff Capt. Eric Buschow said the incident unfolded Monday and the housekeeper contacted deputies in the aftermath and filed a report. He declined to discuss specifically how the housekeeper claimed Spears made physical contact.
Buschow said the housekeeper showed no visible signs of injury and the investigation will be forwarded to the Ventura County District Attorney to decide.
Representatives for Spears did not immediately respond Thursday to the Los Angeles Times’ request for comment.
A source said it was a dispute involving a pet belonging to Spears, and the housekeeper accused the singer of slapping or trying to swat at the phone she was holding. For such a misdemeanor offense to be charged, prosecutors usually require a law enforcement officer to witness the incident or for there to be other physical evidence of the battery. Spears lives in Thousand Oaks.
According to TMZ, a source “connected to” Spears has denied any physical altercation between the Grammy winner and her staff member. The same source claimed the sheriff ’s department told Spears’ team the investigation wouldn’t amount to anything.
The complaint comes amid an ongoing legal battle waged by Spears in an effort to terminate her long-running conservatorship.
Last week, Spears’ father and longtime conservator filed a petition asking a Los Angeles judge to deny his daughter’s request to immediately remove him from the conservatorship — though he did agree to step down eventually, on his own terms.
The #Freebritney movement gained fresh momentum earlier this summer after Spears demanded an end to what she called an ”abusive“legal arrangement before a Los Angeles court.
The next hearing in Spears’ conservatorship case — which could determine the fate of her father’s role in her estate — is slated for Sept. 29. —Los Angeles Times
New Nas album atop Billboard R&B chart
The “King ’s Disease” spreading the way it did actually turned out to be a good thing for Nas.
The veteran rapper has a new No. 1 album with his recent opus “King ’s Disease II.”
Released through his own Mass Appeal Records label, the 15-track opus is ruling the Billboard Top R&B/ Hip-hop Albums chart with its first week of release. This marks the Queens native’s 10th album to top the chart, and his first in nine years to hit No.1.
“King ’s Disease II,” featuring EPMD, Eminem, YG, A Boogie wit da Hoodie, Charlie Wilson, Blxst and Ms. Lauryn Hill, sold 56,000 equivalent album units in its first week of release, according to MRC Data.
The Hit Boy-produced project amassed a whopping 47.4 million on-demand streams of the set’s tracks.
With the latest charttopper, the 47-year-old legendary lyricist — who has been recently making a name for himself as a successful entrepreneur (Forbes ranked him at No. 98 on its Celebrity 100 list in 2018) — is the 12th artist to have at least 10 No. 1 albums on the Billboard chart.
Iconic Motown group The Temptations leads the pack with 17, followed by Jay-z with 14, Future and R. Kelly both with 12, and Drake has 11.
Nas is tied with Queen of Soul Aretha Franklin, Eminem, Lil Wayne, Queen of Hip Hop Soul Mary J. Blige, Stevie Wonder and The Isley Brothers, all of whom claim 10 chart-topping albums.
Nas, whose real name is Nasir bin Olu Dara Jones, celebrated the new album by hitting the streets this week, posting an Instagram video showing him randomly giving out makeshift copies and sharing fist bumps with other men of color.
“This new album got me out here acting like a bootlegger in 2004,” Nas, who debuted in 1994 with the critically acclaimed “Illmatic,” commented.
“King ’s Disease II” is the follow-up to 2020’s “King ’s Disease,” which won the Best Rap Album Grammy earlier this year, his first win after 13 nominations.
While that set peaked at No. 3 on the chart, it was considered a triumphant return to form for an artist that many consider the greatest of his generation.
In May, Nas was among the rap royalty present during the groundbreaking of the Universal Hip Hop Museum (UHHM), currently under construction in the South Bronx and scheduled to open in 2023.
The Rocky Bucanohelmed project has been newly under way since the state of New York pledged to donate $3.7 million to the museum in late 2019. —New York Daily News