In one of the stranger pairings in Hollywood, Marc Jacobs and Lil’ Kim are good friends. They have similar taste in fashion, and in 2005 Marc designed teeshirts featuring Kim’s face to benefit The Door, a program for at-risk kids in New York. Kim has credited The Door for helping get through her own childhood.

Marc also proved his friendship during Lil’ Kim 10-month stint in prison, sending her letters every week. Kim, a fan of the Bratz dolls, sent him pictures from a Bratz coloring book decorated with Marc Jacobs clothing. When he received the present, he blew up the images and hung them in his home.

Lil’ Kim: Rapper, fashion provocateur, jailbird, and, now, artist. With her work hanging in Marc Jacobs’ home, no less. The pint-size star, cutting the rug these days on ABC’s “Dancing With the Stars,” says that while she was serving 10 months in jail on perjury charges in 2006, Jacobs’ letters helped keep her going.

“He’s one of my best friends and was actually a huge supporter when I was in prison,” she said in an interview with StyleList.com. “He wrote me every week! “I decided to buy a coloring book – I’m a huge Bratz fan – and I painted the Bratz and made them all wear Marc Jacobs, and sent it to him. He blew it up and framed it, and now it’s hanging in his house. So Marc Jacobs is the best.”

Lil’ Kim and Jacobs are long-time pals. In 2005 Jacobs announced he was designing T-shirts featuring huge photographs of Kim to benefit The Door, a New York non-profit that helps at-risk youths with everything from health care to homework. Kim said at the time that The Door had helped her while she was growing up in Brooklyn.

[From Style List]

I never thought that Marc Jacobs had a particularly traditional design sense, but this is truly original. A large picture from a Bratz coloring book decorated by Lil’ Kim while in jail – certainly a conversation-starter.

It would be great to see the two of them collaborate again. They both have very unique and fashion-forward looks, and come from different parts of the entertainment industry. Think about it: “Home Accessories by Kim and Marc.” What do you guys think? What should these two collaborate on?

Here are Kim and Marc at Fashion Week February 2008. Images thanks to PR Photos.com.

Before dedicating her moves on Dancing With the Stars to the women in correction facilities, Lil Kim gave an interview to Rap Radar. In it she talks about her casting in DWTS (who would have thought that it’s the most-watched show in jail?), her music career, and the new movie about Biggie. She was publicly unhappy about the film, and in this interview claims that she should have been allowed to cast her own role. She also claims that Biggie has come to her in her dreams. Some highlights:

Dancing With The Stars seems like a career stretch. How were you approached to do the show?
When I first came home from prison they actually called to get me on the show then, but my life was so hectic. I was still on house arrest for a month, and it was hard for me to maneuver. They wanted me to come in then, but I couldn’t do it. Wasn’t the right timing. So I said, “Let me do it this year” cause we really love the show.

Were you controlling the jailhouse television set?
[Laughs] We had to agree on what channels we were watching because sometimes fights break out. The crazy thing is all of us like the same shows, mostly. But what happens though is that when there are fights over the shows, they take the TV from us for the whole week. But Dancing With The Stars believe it or not was the number one show [in jail].

Switching gears, you’ve been publicly unsupportive of Notorious. If Biggie were alive, do you think he would’ve been pleased with the film?
I’m a very spiritual person and he’s come to me many of times in my dreams. But, I don’t think he’s happy at all, at all! Because Ms. Wallace doesn’t know Biggie at all and she barley knows Christopher, if you know what I mean. At all! And I was around. Even before he blew up so crazy, so I know how he felt about his mom. And Biggie was so much more than what they put him out to be in that movie. And to be honest with you, I know for a fact he’s not happy. He’s not satisfied at all. At all. And regardless of the fact, everybody who is involved in this movie, he has love for. Everybody. But at the end of the day, he knows who’s who and what’s what. Believe that. And let me tell you something, the way he’s feeling is going to come out. Like, trust me. Everything is going to come out later. You’re going to see who he really loved and the ones that’s standing up for him the right way is the ones representing him the right way.

Fair enough. But didn’t you want Christina Milian to play you in the movie?
Just know how they put that crap out there is straight bull. That’s not the truth. Christina Milian is a real good friend of mine and she happened to be on the phone with me at the time and we talked, you know what I mean? And she knew how unhappy I was. And at the end of the day, I had a couple of friends that’s in Hollywood that was like Kim, “I’ll do that, I know you very well. I’ll play it for you.” So I wanted to get someone who actually knew me and knew my sexiness and knew my sophistication and who can pull it off. But at the end of the day, the movie wasn’t about me. If it wasn’t about me, then why did you show the personal [stuff]? Why didn’t you show me as a part of the group? They basically sensationalized the movie around Lil’ Kim. I’m the only person that they’re like talking about.

But what about how your character was portrayed?
[The] whole point and the matter of the fact [is that] I should’ve got to pick the girl that played me. And not necessarily Christina Milian or whoever else, but she could’ve damn sure played it better than that girl and I know that because Christina is my friend. But at the end of the day, that’s not who I would’ve picked. I wouldn’t have picked Chrisitina Milian to be honest with you. I wouldn’t have picked a known actress. I would’ve went to Brooklyn [and] had a casting call to be honest with you. Because there is nobody who could’ve pulled off that Lil’ Kim-Brooklyn feeling besides a Brooklyn girl who grew up in Brooklyn and knows what that’s like. That’s what I would’ve done.

[From Rap Radar]

Her comments about who is supporting Biggie’s memory in the right way is a huge slap in the face to everyone involved with the film – including Biggie’s old manager, who was a producer. It’s also probably directed at Faith Evans, Biggie’s wife, on whom he cheated with Lil Kim. Evans wrote a tell-all memoir in which she didn’t portray Kim as a particularly sympathetic character.

I see what Kim’s saying though: she’s still alive, and Biggie was a part of her life, so why couldn’t she be part of the project? That doesn’t mean that I agree with her. The movie was about Biggie, not her (no matter what Lil Kim says in this interview – she’s a bit self-centered). She’s obviously still trying to associate herself with Biggie by talking at such length about him and saying that he comes to her in her dreams, rather than moving on with her life. This is a one-sided feud that Kim just needs to let go.

Here’s Lil Kim dining at Katsuya in Hollywood last night. Images thanks to Fame.com.

There has been a lot of speculation on who will and who won’t perform on Dancing With the Stars for its eighth season, but now the official list has been published. The list includes some obvious contestants (Denise Richards), and some not so obvious (Lil Kim and Steve Wozniak, the man who co-founded Apple).

Lawrence Taylor
The former NFL star, 50, played his entire career as a linebacker for the New York Giants.

Belinda Carlisle
The singer, 50, was the lead vocalist and founding member of the 80s band The Go-Go’s.

Shawn Johnson
The 17-year-old Olympic-gold-medal-winning gymnast is the youngest DWTS competitor in the show’s history.

Denise Richards
After a contentious divorce from Charlie Sheen, the 37-year-old actress and mother of two daughters got her own reality show, Denise Richards: It’s Complicated.

Lil’ Kim
The Grammy Award winning rapper, 33, spent 10 months in jail in 2006 for lying to a federal grand jury.

Gilles Marini
The actor is best known for playing Kim Cattrall’s sexy — and predominantly naked — neighbor in 2008′s Sex and the City movie.

Steve-O
The daredevil performer, 34, showcased ridiculous stunts on MTV’s Jackass and the spinoff Wildboyz.

Steve Wozniak
Nicknamed “The Woz” by ex Kathy Griffin, the computer engineer, 58, co-founded the Apple computer company with Steve Jobs.

Jewel
The singer-songwriter, 34 – who became a household name in 1995 with her song “Who Will Save Your Soul” – has released seven albums.

Ty Murray
The former rodeo cowboy, 39, is married to fellow contestant Jewel.

David Alan Grier
The actor, 53, came to fame on In Living Color and currently hosts the Comedy Central sketch news show, Chocolate News.

Chuck Wicks
The country singer is currently dating fellow crooner and two-time DWTS champion Julianne Hough. Wicks, 29, will be paired up with the professional dancer this season.

Nancy O’Dell
The entertainment journalist currently serves as the co-host of Access Hollywood with Billy Bush. O’Dell, 42, also hosted NBC’s pre-show for the 2009 Golden Globe Awards in January.

[from Us]

The cast looks like it’s going to be an interesting one – there are contestants from every walk of life, every genre of entertainment. DWTS used to be considered the lowest of the low – the place you turn to when your career is on the downturn and The Surreal Life denies your application. But with people like Steve-O, Lil Kim and Jewel as cast members, maybe that stereotype is changing.

All photos credit: WENN

Lil Kim is not pleased with her portrayal in a new biopic on the Notorious B.I.G. that will be released on Friday called Notorious. According to IMDB, the film follows Biggie’s life from childhood up to his murder in 1997. The movie features portrayals of other hip hop heavyweights, including Sean Combs and Lil Kim. Biggie was a mentor to Kim and also had a romantic relationship with her. But Kim is now concerned that the filmmakers created a “character” instead of accurately representing her life and relationship with Biggie.

In a statement, she said: “The film studio and producers involved were more concerned about painting me as a ‘character’ to create a more interesting story line instead of a person with talent, self-respect and who was able to achieve her own career success through hard work.”

She added: “Even though my relationship with Big was at times very difficult and complicated (as with most relationships we have all experienced at one time or another), it was also genuine and built on great admiration and love for each other. Regardless of the many lies in the movie and false portrayal of me to help carry a story line through, I will still continue to carry his legacy through my hard work and music.”

[from Yahoo]

One of the producers of the film, and Biggie’s former manager, responded to Kim’s comments with this soundbite:

“Our job as producers … was to deliver for three individuals. That’s his mom and his two children. Everybody else: Stand in line, buy a ticket and enjoy the show.”

[from Yahoo]

Writing a living character into a biopic must be difficult, especially when that character is a celebrity with a notoriously big mouth. And Kim probably wouldn’t have been happy with any portrayal. But releasing a preemptive public statement seems a bit over the top. The movie doesn’t come out until Friday, and then we’ll be able to see what Kim’s complaints are. But it seems like the filmmakers have the right idea by not starting some sort of feud. Kim probably wouldn’t be able to afford it anyway – she has other legal troubles to worry about at the moment.

This also isn’t the first time that Kim has recently been portrayed in a less-than-perfect light. Back in August, there was a story about a tell-all memoir by Biggie’s widow, Faith Evans. In it, Evans wrote about Biggie’s infidelity with numerous women, including Kim.

Now seems like a perfect time for Lil Kim to follow in the footsteps of every other celebrity and release an autobiography telling her side of the story. She could likely use the money.

Lil Kim is shown at the BET Awards on 6/24/08. Credit: Fame

Ears around the world rejoice! Grammy award winning female rapper Lil Kim, better known for flashing her T&A than her actual skills as a hip-hop artist, is embroiled in a dispute with her record label that effectively forbids her to record new material elsewhere until a deal is worked out. The record label, Brookland, is claiming that it paid out hundreds of thousands to Kim’s former label, and then paid for her rent at her NYC apartment while she was in town to record. Kim’s people say the pint-sized rapper backed out of the deal with Brookland because they failed to hold up their end of the bargain. Now, the dispute has gone to court- and a judge has sided with the record label.

A New York judge has temporarily barred the Hardcore rapper from recording any new material in light of a breach-of-contract lawsuit filed by her latest label, Brookland Media.

The upstart company accused Kim (real name: Kimberly Jones) of making diva-esque demands and then backing out of a deal, after Brookland had paid Atlantic Records $200,000 to get her out of her previous contract, spent $240,000 to produce eight songs and shelled out $12,000 per month in rent for a pad near Kim’s Alpine, N.J., home.

Per the lawsuit, Brookland had planned to spotlight Kim as its debut artist.

Which, if you ask Kim, could still happen—although, if it doesn’t, it’s no fault of hers.

“We think they’re wonderful people and we expect to do business with them,” Kim’s attorney Londell McMillan told the New York Daily News. “But they did not honor the terms of the agreement.”

[From E!Online]

If Lil Kim thinks she still has enough star power to jerk around a record label, she is sadly mistaken. Her last hit single was the theme from the movie “Moulin Rouge,” a remake of “Lady Marmalade” with Christina Aguilera, Pink and Mya. Since then, she’s been in the headlines for her legal woes more than her hits. She did release a CD from prison in 2005 which was received well by the critics but didn’t make much of a dent in the music charts. At this point she’d be well advised to cool the diva demands and get back to work, before people forget who she is.

Lil Kim is shown at the BET Awards on 6/24/08. Credit: Fame Pictures

The widow of slain hip hop star Biggie Smalls, Faith Evans, has released a tell-all memoir about her life with the rapper called Keep the Faith. Gee, that’s original. Faith writes about her husband’s many infidelities, and says that her method of keeping him in line was to bust in on him while having sex with another woman and beating the crap out of her. Hmmm. Not really solving the problem there. Anyway, one of the women Faith caught Biggie with was fellow rapper Lil Kim.

As soon as I saw a small lump next to Big’s large frame, I flew into a rage, ran over to the side of the bed, and pulled back the covers. I grabbed some chick out of the bed and started beating her ass. At some point, the chick’s wig came off in my hand; It was a short, cropped wig. I stopped throwing punches for a minute to get a good look at the chick I was beating up. It was Lil Kim. She was completely butt-naked, yelling as I pushed her around the room.
“So you not f’ing her, right?” I screamed at Big. “Yeah, you not messing with her anymore,right?”

When they heard all the commotion, Cease, D-Roc, and Gutter came running into the room. ‘Oh shit!” they yelled in unison. “It’s Faye! How the hell she get in here?”

Big sat up in bed and pointed at Kim, who was standing in a corner of the room, trying to cover her naked body with her hands while I was still yelling at Big. “Yo, get her outta here,’ Big said. They led Kim out of the room and she screamed and cursed the whole way.

It was absolutely crazy in that house. Kim was naked and being led somewhere to get dressed. I was still screaming on Big. Damion, Cease, and Gutter were laughing in amazement that I would be so bold. And Big looked like he was just too through with all of us. He sat up in bed shaking his head. Kim left the house and I stayed, talking to Big about why he couldn’t be honest with me about her.

‘I thought it was all about Tiffany?” I asked. “You still messing with Kim, too?” Big had nothing to say. I have to say I actually felt some pity for Kim. Big had a wife, and she settled for messing with him. Then he started dating Tiffany and Big had a wife and a mistress. And Kim still settled for being other other woman. It seemed pretty sad to settle for that.

When I left a few hours later to get the kids, I noticed that Kim had taken my key to my Land Cruiser and scratched up my entire car, from the hood to the back bumper. Even though we ended up having sex that day, at that point I decided I was 100 percent through. I was not going to be a ride or die chick, always going to lengths to show Big how I felt. I was the mother of his child and his wife. But I was going to have to let go.

[From Rhymes With Snitch]

That must have been some kind of cat fight- Lil Kim and Faith Evans. But then you realize that these two women were fighting over Biggie Smalls. Not exactly a looker, that guy. And if you believe Evan’s memoir, not much of a husband, either. It’s just another example of how women are so quick to let their cheating husbands off the hook while placing full blame on the other woman. It’s as though women can’t believe that their men are capable of having an affair unless they are led astray against their will. Anyway, Lil Kim probably had worse beatings on her in jail, so maybe this one was just training.

I have to get this book. It’s probably a bunch of badly-written lies, but I don’t care, it’s fascinating!

Faith Evans is shown performing at Taste of Chicago 2005 on 6/24/05. Credit: Adam Bielawski / PR Photos. Lil Kim is shown on 2/21/08 at a Reebok event. Credit: Janet Mayer / PR Photos

A guest at Lil Kim’s birthday party Sunday night at a club near Times Square was found dead three days later in a utility closet on the roof of the building. Police believe she was beaten to death with a blunt object and then left there by someone with knowledge of the layout of the place.

The body of a 24-year-old woman who attended a birthday party for the rapper Lil’ Kim on Sunday was found Wednesday on the roof of the Midtown karaoke club where the party was held, the police said.

The woman, identified by the police as Ingrid Rivera of Queens, was discovered shortly before 5 p.m. in a utility closet on the roof of Spotlight Live, a live-music venue, nightclub and karaoke bar at 1604 Broadway near 49th Street. An investigator said they believed the woman had left the party and was beaten with a blunt object — possibly a Champagne bottle — and left for dead.

The police said that she was last seen on Sunday night and was reported missing on Tuesday.

The investigator said the party for Lil’ Kim, whose real name is Kimberly Jones, was attended by many musicians, actors and other entertainers.

[NY Times via We Smirch]

Update: I mentioned in an earlier version of this story that the victim has the same name and is the same age as the current Miss Puerto Rico Universe who accused another contestant of pepper spraying her gown. It’s not the same woman, though. The NY Daily News identifies her as “a ticket agent for British Airways at Kennedy Airport.” Rivera was last seen being kicked out of the club by bouncers there. [thanks Elisha]

I’m pretty sure that there are few better ways to save a marriage than television. And nothing is more likely to salvage your precious relationship than going on some reality TV show… except perhaps going on a court TV show. And since that’s clearly the best route (and makes a lot more sense than marriage counseling) that’s the way that prestigious star Gary Coleman, 40, and wife Shannon Price, 22, decided to go.

The pair showed up for Divorce Court with Judge Lynn Toler, where they proudly claim that they have a dramatic and stormy relationship. And I say proudly because they can never stop talking about it. As fiery and temperamental as Coleman appears to be, Price appears dumb as a box of rocks, and more like a teenager than a 22-year-old.

She tells the story of being frustrated with Coleman’s lack of support when she got into a disagreement with a friend who claimed to know when the world was going to end. Yes, that story really was worth bitching about on national television. Apparently Coleman tried to pacify Price and said the guy had the right to his end-of-the-world opinions, and that pissed her off. But really, what marriage hasn’t suffered from this exact same fight?

Apparently the two often fight because Shannon wants kids, and Gary hates them. You’d think that would have come up before the two walked down the aisle together, but apparently not so much. Shannon also says that Gary has a bad temper, and says that “If he doesn’t get his way, he throws a temper tantrum like a five-year-old.” I love that she has the nerve to compare little Gary Coleman to a child not just to his face, but on national television. Both parties admit that when he’s pissed, Gary bangs his head against the wall. And he gets so upset that he can’t even breathe. Sounds like the cornerstone of a loving relationship if you ask me.

Apparently they also fight until three in the morning, because “We’re night people. Sleep all day, up all night,” according to Price. She also dislikes that Gary doesn’t want to have any friends or a social life, and says his general negativity is bringing her down. And Judge Toler gives them some great advice.

While I’m not entirely sure it serves a purpose, Judge Toler makes Gary Coleman list all the things that he thinks are wrong about him. He mentions not only his temper but also says he has low self-esteem and doesn’t feel that he’s been “very successful in life.” He also says he doesn’t feel financial secure and feels like he’s wasting Shannon’s time.

It seems pretty clear that Coleman and Price aren’t on Divorce Court to divorce so much as to get some cheap dime store counseling. And milk the novelty of their relationship for as long as they possibly can. And frankly, given how little work Gary Coleman sees these days, I can’t really blame him. Tomorrow they’ll be on again, and we’ll get to find out if they’ve actually had sex yet. My money is still on… no. Actually it’s more that I hope they haven’t, because I want to keep unsettling images out of my head.

- Lil’ Kim is getting out of jail just in time for 4th of July [popbytes]
- Brandy taking Star Jones’ place? [Concrete Loop]
- David Hasselhoff was injured in the hand or maybe the arm in a freak “shaving” accident [Mollygood]
- Co-editor gets fired at Gawker ’cause they want to be “mainstream” Maybe I’ll be able to read it now since it was too high-brow for me before. [Jossip]
- Lindsay Lohan celebrates her 20th birthday [PopSugar]
- 2006 World Cup Babes [The Bastardly]
- Rush Limbaugh and Mary-Lynn Rajskub?! [Tabloid Whore]
- Celebrity Photoshop with Ashanti, Beyonce and Halle Berry [Faded Youth]
- Freddie Prinze Jr. took a crap in Matthew Lillard’s trailer for a laugh [DListed]
- Victoria Beckham walks her bra. [Hollywood Tuna]
- Rachel Weisz looks fabulous [I'm not obsessed]
- High class madam says that Time Warner CFO Wayne Pace was one of her biggest clients [Blog NYC]

Here are a bunch of pictures of ‘Lil Kim at various events in honor of her early release from jail today. Thanks to Hollywood’s Best for these photos.

She misses gum and fur, and uses a reference to Martha Stewart to make a veiled comparison to her own imprisonment:

If I learned anything from John Grisham novels, it’s that federal prisons are pretty cushy compared to state prisons. “Club Fed,” where white-collar criminals get to golf and play tennis, is a myth, but federal prisons are still safer and more comfortable than state detention centers. Lil’ Kim is up for release in August of this year.