T.I. Fights for His Right to the B-Word

“I know the B-word, the H-word and the N-word are the words under attack right now. And I don’t know if you know it or not, people, but there are b*tches, n*ggas and hos who live in America. And as long as that fact exists, I think rappers deserve the right to talk about it.� —T.I., defending his rights [Billboard]

“CBS didn’t want me mentioning Watergate or Richard Nixon. Not for political reasons, but for commercial reasons. They said if we did that, the show would have no afterlife in syndication. In two or three or 10 or 12 years, they said, nobody would understand or care about Watergate or Nixon.� —All in the Family creator Norman Lear, on the network’s restrictions on topical issues [Miami Herald]

“He’s an amateur. He’s using it as a gimmick to let people know he’s hip, to get that edge so he can get over by doing that. He’s not really laying it down and his attitude doesn’t really say, ‘I believe in this.’� —Beatboxer Kenny Muhammad, calling out American Idol’s Blake Lewis [MTV]

“I do remember having a great time, but I was wishing I was in camp. It was going to be the first summer I could go to camp, and all my friends were there. And then everybody on the set was like, ‘Oh, the pilot probably won’t even be picked up.’ For this, I’d missed camp!� —Robert Iler, on shooting the first episode of The Sopranos [MSN]

“I am really excited, but also a little nervous about this much responsibility … it is an actual job. There are responsibilities and commitments that I must make to be the voice of dolphins, whales and conservation issues.� —Nick Carter, on representing the U.N.’s “Year of the Dolphin� campaign [US Magazine]
—Lindsey Thomas