NEW YORK – Joan Jett loves rock ‘n’ roll, but not on a tribute album she says an ex-employee put together without her permission.
The “I Love Rock N’ Roll” singer-guitarist and 1970s bandmate Cherie Currie sued Thursday to try to stop the June 28 release of “Take It or Leave It: A Tribute to the Queens of Noise,” an intended homage to the Runaways, the punk bank that launched their careers and helped light a path for other brash, hard-edged female rock groups.
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The two-disc album features Runaways songs covered by artists ranging from the all-woman Japanese pop-punk band Shonen Knife to David Johansen, of the 1970s glam-rock pacesetters the New York Dolls, according to the website of the label releasing it, Main Man Records. The group was best known for such tracks as “Cherry Bomb” and “Queens of Noise.”
But the lawsuit says the independent Main Man Records label used their names to promote the album without their say-so and that a Main Man staffer who once worked at Jett’s record label used that connection to imply the project had her blessing.
Jett and Currie ultimately just “want them to stop,” said their lawyer, Oren J. Warshavsky. “This isn’t about money. This is strictly about preserving reputation and quality that both Joan and Cherie are known for.”
Twain’s stumble edited out of CMT Music Awards show
NASHVILLE, Tenn. – Shania Twain’s stumble during the CMT Music Awards show is being edited out of replays to save her from more embarrassment.
Twain slipped and fell on her way to the stage Wednesday night during a live telecast. The channel left the spill out of a replay following the show and during another replay Thursday.
John Hamlin, the show’s executive producer, says the last thing the channel wants to do is embarrass anyone, particularly someone as gracious as Twain.
While CMT edited out the fall, clips of it aired on cable news channels and was available on the Internet.
Actress faces multiple charges after car crash
LOS ANGELES – Los Angeles prosecutors have charged former model and actress Estella Warren with four misdemeanors, including hit and run, stemming from a recent arrest.
The “Planet of the Apes” actress is also facing drunken driving, resisting arrest and battery on a peace officer counts.
She is due in court on June 17 for arraignment.
City Attorney spokesman Frank Mateljan says Warren refused a breathalyzer test when she was arrested early May 24 after crashing into three parked cars and then tussling with police.
Mateljan says the 40-year-old was also convicted of driving under the influence in 2007.
An email to Warren’s manager was not immediately returned.
She starred opposite Mark Wahlberg in Tim Burton’s 2001 version of “Planet of the Apes.”
Racy ‘Skins’ gets MTV ax
NEW YORK – MTV says it won’t be bringing back its racy teen drama “Skins” for a second season. The show “didn’t connect with a U.S. audience as much as we had hoped,” MTV spokesman Nathaniel Brown said Thursday.
A hit on British television, “Skins” premiered on MTV in January in an Americanized version. But the initial 3.3 million viewers shrank to 1.2 million viewers for the season finale.
A TV watchdog group blasted the show’s content, and a newspaper story suggested that scenes with underage actors might violate federal child pornography laws.
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