BROCKTON, Massachusetts (AP) — The star of a hip-hop reality TV show was injured after being shot by his nephew on a Massachusetts highway Saturday while riding in a funeral procession for a family member, according to authorities and his hip-hop magazine.
Benzino, whose real name is Raymond Scott, is a cast member of the VH1 reality show “Love & Hip Hop: Atlanta” and CEO of Hip-Hop Weekly. The magazine confirmed on its website Saturday night that Benzino had been shot.
The 48-year-old Benzino was traveling on a highway south of Boston just before noon when 36-year-old Gai Scott pulled alongside and fired several shots into a red SUV driven by Benzino, the Plymouth County District Attorney’s Office said in a statement. Officials say there had been growing tension between the two.
Benzino, of Mansfield, Massachusetts, got out of the SUV after being struck and was taken by a passerby to the Duxbury Police Department and then transferred to a hospital.
Hip-Hop Weekly said he was shot in an arm, and his back was grazed by a bullet.
He was listed in good condition, a spokeswoman for South Shore Hospital in South Weymouth said Sunday morning.
The magazine said Benzino was in the area to bury his mother. He was heading to a church in Plymouth at the time of the shooting, the District Attorney’s Office said.
Gai Scott, of Randolph, Massachusetts, was taken into custody and charged with assault with intent to murder. He is scheduled to be arraigned Monday in the Plymouth District Court.
The “Love & Hip Hop” series is known for its over-the-top drama and fights — making it a ratings success, but also a target for criticism. The fourth season of the show’s New York series ended in January. The third season of the Atlanta spinoff debuts in May.
Benzino is a former co-owner of The Source magazine. In its prime, The Source was the pre-eminent magazine for rap, and it helped fuel the rise of urban magazines such as XXL and Vibe.
Benzino left the publication in 2006 and later launched Hip-Hop Weekly, which chronicles the lives of urban music stars.
Sultry actress Meg Imperial promoted her ABS-CBN debut soap, "Moon of Desire," which will premiere today (March 31). Imperial admitted that it is not easy playing her role Ayla, who's suffering from hypertrichosis or abnormal hair growth.
Singer Elton John (right) and long-time partner David Furnish. (AFP)
WASHINGTON | Pop icon Elton John says he will tie the knot with partner David Furnish now that his native Britain has legalized gay marriage.
The top-selling artist told NBC’s “Today” show that “we’ll do it very quietly.”
“But we will do it and it will be a joyous occasion,” John added.
The couple, who have two children together, entered into a civil partnership in 2005.
A historic law legalizing same-sex marriage took effect in England and Wales on Saturday, the final stage in the long fight for legal equality for gays and lesbians.
Civil partnerships have been legal there since 2005.
“I’m very proud of Britain and the laws that we’ve seen come into existence since we’ve been together,” John said in excerpts of the interview set to air Monday.
“For this legislation to come through is joyous, and we should celebrate it. We shouldn’t just say, ‘Oh, well we have a civil partnership. We’re not going to bother to get married.’ We will get married.”
Furnish told the Las Vegas Review-Journal in a separate interview that an intimate ceremony would take place in May.
“I think what we’ll do is go to a registry office in England in May, and take the boys with us, and a couple of witnesses,” the publication quoted him as saying.
In Oct. 6 1998 file photo, British actress Kate O’Mara poses for photographers.
LONDON (AP) — British actress Kate O’Mara, best known for her role in the 1980s soap opera “Dynasty,” died Sunday at the age of 74, her agent said.
Phil Belfield said O’Mara died in a nursing home in southern England after a short illness.
The actress, who began her television career in the 1960s, became a household name for playing Cassandra “Caress” Morrell, sister to Joan Collins’ Alexis Colby, in “Dynasty.”
In Britain she is often remembered for her role in “Triangle” — a soap opera set aboard a North Sea ferry that is often cited as the worst piece of British television.
She also appeared in the original run of British series “Doctor Who” and BBC drama “Howards’ Way.” In the 1990s she starred in the comedy show “Absolutely Fabulous” with Joanna Lumley.
More recently she appeared in a 2012 stage adaptation of Agatha Christie’s “Death on the Nile.”
She is survived by her sister, actress Belinda Carroll.
Television reporter Atom Araullo made a surprise visit to Vice Ganda, who is celebrating his birthday on his show, "Gandang Gabi Vice." Vice Ganda earlier admitted that he has a crush on Araullo.
Rapper and reality TV star Benzino is recovering from his injuries at South Shore Hospital in South Weymouth, Massachusetts. (Photo from his Instagram)
BOSTON | Reality television star and rapper Benzino was shot and wounded, allegedly by his nephew, during the funeral procession for his mother outside Boston, authorities said on Sunday.
Benzino, star of the VH1 show “Love & Hip Hop: Atlanta,” was driving in the procession on Route 3 on Saturday when he was shot by his nephew, Gai Scott, who had pulled alongside in another vehicle, the Plymouth County, Massachusetts District Attorney said.
He was listed in good condition on Sunday at South Shore Hospital in South Weymouth, Massachusetts, a spokeswoman said.
There had been “growing family tension” between Scott and Benzino, whose given name is Raymond Scott, the district attorney said in a statement.
Gai Scott, 36, was charged with assault with intent to murder. It was not immediately clear on Sunday whether he had a lawyer, and he could not be reached for comment.
Benzino, 48, is chief executive officer of Hip Hop Weekly, which said on its website that he had been shot in the arm and grazed on his back by a bullet.
The online report did not identify Benzino’s nephew as the shooter.
It published photographs of Benzino lying in a hospital bed with a bandaged arm in a sling. In one picture, he is sitting up in bed to pose with a friend.
A scene from Disney's 'Frozen'.
NEW YORK | Disney’s hit film “Frozen” has become the top-grossing animated film in box office history, the studio said on Sunday as the musical topped $1 billion in global sales.
The film has sold $398.4 million worth of tickets at domestic (U.S. and Canadian) theaters since opening on November 27 on the eve of the Thanksgiving Holiday weekend. Foreign box offices have added another $674 million, for a global total of $1.072 billion, Disney said.
“Frozen,” inspired by “The Snow Queen” fairytale, is the story of a Scandinavian princess who must reconnect with her sister, the Queen, who has the power of freezing anything into ice with her hands and accidentally sets off a long winter that is destroying their kingdom.
The previous animated-film box office champion was 2010′s “Toy Story 3,” which racked up $1.063 billion in sales, according to Boxofficemojo.com. Both films were distributed by Walt Disney Pictures.
“Frozen,” which stayed in the top 10 films on domestic box office charts for more than three months, also has now become the 10th-largest grossing film in cinema history.
